Radama I "the Great" (c. 1793-1828) was the first king of Madagascar. 1793 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... 1828 was a leap year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... Madagascar is an island nation in the Indian Ocean, off the eastern coast of Africa. ...

In 1810, he succeeded his father Andrianimpoinimerina as king of Merina, a small area in the central plateau of the island, around Antananarivo. An ambitious ruler, he first took over the Betsileo area in the southern part of the central highlands, then the Sakalava. By playing off competing British and French interests, he acquired British aid for his military, which he then used to conquer most of the rest of the island by 1824. 1810 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... The Merina is the largest ethnic group in Madagascar. ... Antananarivo, population 802,000 ( 1997), is the capital of Madagascar, in Antananarivo province. ... The Betsileo along with the Merina, the ethnic group most representative of Madagascars Indo-Malayan origin. ... The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a country in western Europe, and member of the Commonwealth of Nations, the G8, the European Union, and NATO. Usually known simply as the United Kingdom, the UK, or (inaccurately) as Great Britain or Britain, the UK has four constituent... The French Republic or France (French: République française or France) is a country whose metropolitan territory is located in western Europe, and which is further made up of a collection of overseas islands and territories located in other continents. ... 1824 was a leap year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ...

Radama also encouraged social and political change; he organized a cabinet, and invited the Protestant London Missionary Society to establish schools and churches. The Society also brought a printing press, and devised a written fordaaaaaaaaaaam of the Malagasy language. Alternate meanings in cabinet (disambiguation) A Cabinet is a body of high-ranking members of government, typically representing the executive branch. ... LMS is an acronym with a few different meanings: London Mathematical Society London, Midland and Scottish Railway Learning Management System London Missionary Society This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... The printing press is a mechanical device for printing many copies of a text on rectangular sheets of paper. ... Malagasy is the westernmost member of the Austronesian language family, spoken on Madagascar where it is an official language. ...

He officially abolished the slave trade in 1817, although slave-dealing continued. This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... 1817 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ...

Radama was succeeded by his wife, Queen Ranavalona I. Ranavalona I (c. ...

External link

• Precolonial Madagascar history (http://countrystudies.us/madagascar/2.htm)