By blood and by heart, passed down through generations
🥚 Well done — you found the hidden page of the Grand Table. Behind this footer phrase lie four centuries of history: that of the Andrianavalona of Ambohimalaza, descendants of Prince Andriantompokoindrindra.
The eldest son of King Ralambo
Andriantompokoindrindra was the eldest son of Ralambo, king of Imerina (~1575-1610), and of Rabehavina, also known as Ratompokoamanandrainy. While his half-brother Andrianjaka would seize Antananarivo in 1610, he established his seat on the hill of Ambohimalazabe, some fifteen kilometres east of the capital.
When Ralambo divided the Merina nobility (the andriana), he made his eldest son and his direct descendants one of the foremost noble groups — gathered at Ambohimalaza.
No blue blood
Unlike European nobility, the andriana were not set apart by any particular blood. The tradition of Ambohimalaza itself recalls it: King Ralambo's blood was worth no more than that of his servants — all men shared the same blood, handed down from the Ntaolo. What made rank was the hasina (sacred force), alliances and closeness to the reigning sovereign — not a frozen "right of blood".
Another major difference from the French model: women passed on the royal right. A king could not disinherit his sisters' children, and if a son succeeded his father, it was because his mother had transmitted that right to him. Nor was the nobility a tribe or a caste — colonial vocabulary with no scientific validity — but an open, political status: the sovereign, tompon'ny razana ("master of the ancestors"), could raise whole families into it or remove them from it.
A game of Fanorona for a throne
Two versions compete over Ralambo's succession — like two players around a board.
The classic version tells that Ralambo, wishing to test his sons' allegiance, had them informed that he was gravely ill. Andriantompokoindrindra replied that he could not come: he was absorbed in his game of Fanorona. Andrianjaka rushed to his father's side at once. The throne went to the younger son — on condition that he always keep his elder on the pedestal he deserved, for he would forever remain the firstborn.
The descendants' version tells it differently: the eldest saw through the ruse at once and sent the messengers back to their trickery. Ralambo then recognised his son's intelligence and passed the power to him. Andriantompokoindrindra did reign — until the day he chose to hand the throne to his brother, in whom he placed his trust.
The Zanatompo — the Ambohimalaza lineage
Andriantompokoindrindra had three sons: Ratompoindraondriana, Andriambe and Andriamahatsiravina. Upon his death, he was buried in two silver pirogues at Ambohimalazabe.
His tomb is crowned by a Tranomanara — a "cold house", a small wooden hut set upon the stone roof. He himself instituted this tradition, fearing that dogs might tread upon his final dwelling. The trano manara became the signature of the tombs of the Zanatompo — his descendants — and remained reserved exclusively for the descendants of the two brothers.
The descendants of Andriantompokoindrindra and Andrianjaka were moreover expected to marry among themselves, to preserve the purity of the royal blood: this is the tradition of the lova tsy mifindra, "the inheritance that does not move".
Ambohimalaza today
The hill is one of the twelve sacred hills of Imerina. At Ambohimalazabe, three kilometres from the present-day village, stretches the necropolis of the descendants — and one can still find the stone where the Fanorona board the prince loved so much was carved. The site, threatened by a fire a few years ago, was restored by the descendants; its remains remain fragile.
Four centuries of memory
How does such a story get passed down? Under colonisation, speaking Malagasy was banned from schools; then, under the first two republics, displaying aristocratic origins was hardly advisable. Families therefore kept their history as a lova secret — a whispered inheritance, passed by word of mouth from grandparents to grandchildren.
Historian Jean-Pierre Domenichini documents elders able to recite four centuries of family genealogy in complete silence. That is exactly how ours survived: handed down within the family, until today.
The Andrianavalona name
The name is borne by several branches of the Merina nobility. The Andrianavalona of Ambohimalaza belong to the lineage of Andriantompokoindrindra — that of the Zanatompo, whose family necropolis still watches over the hill. Domenichini's work confirms it: descendants of Andriantompokoindrindra and ZanadRalambo became lords of andriamasinavalona rank in north-eastern Imerina — the Ambohimalaza region.
Misaotra 💐
Misaotra betsaka Tatie Jocelyne — thank you for guiding the family in understanding its history, and for keeping the thread alive when memory had to be whispered.
Sources
This page draws on oral tradition (Tantara ny Andriana), on Jean-Pierre Domenichini's article "Andriamasinavalona et les Andriamasinavalona" (Académie Malgache, 2007), and public sources: Wikipedia (Andriantompokoindrindra, Merina Kingdom, Andriana), madonline.com, madatana.com, hitamasoko, Geneanet, Royalark. Dates and versions vary between sources — divergences are flagged. It owes much to the research and transmission of Jocelyne Imbach Rakotomalala, the family's historian.