This paper analyses the demography of nineteenth-century Madagascar in the light of the debate generated by the demographic transition theory. Both supporters and critics of the theory hold to an intrinsic opposition between human and ‘natural’ factors, such as climate, famine and disease, influencing demography. They also suppose a sharp chronological divide between the pre-colonial and colonial eras, arguing that whereas ‘natural’ demographic influences were of greater importance in the former period, human factors predominated thereafter. This paper argues that in the case of nineteenth-century Madagascar the human factor, in the form of the Merina state, was the predominant demographic influence. However, the impact of the state was felt through natural forces, and it varied over time. In the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries Merina state policies stimulated agricultural production, which helped to create a larger and healthier population and laid the foundation for Merina military and economic expansion within Madagascar. From the 1820, the cost of such expansionism led the state to increase its exploitation of forced labour at the expense of agricultural production and thus transformed it into a negative demographic force. Infertility and infant mortality, which were probably more significant influences on overall population levels than the adult mortality rate, increased from 1820 due to disease, malnutrition and stress, all of which stemmed from state forced labour policies. Available estimates indicate little if any population growth for Madagascar between 1820 and 1895. The demographic ‘crisis’ in Africa, ascribed by critics of the demographic transition theory to the colonial era, stemmed in Madagascar from the policies of the imperial Merina regime which in this sense formed a link to the French regime of the colonial era. In sum, this paper questions the underlying assumptions governing the debate about historical demography in Africa and suggests that the demographic impact of political forces be re-evaluated in terms of their changing interaction with ‘natural’ demographic influences.

²Caldwell,J. C., ‘Major questions in African demographic history’, inAHD,i,7–8Google Scholar; see alsoIliffe,John, ‘The origins of African population growth’,J. Afr. Hist.,XXX (1989),165–6CrossRefGoogle Scholar;Miller,Joseph C., ‘Demographic history revisited’,J. Afr. Hist.,XXV (1984),94.Google Scholar

³ SeeCaldwell,, ‘Major questions’,10Google Scholar;Inikori,J. E., ‘Under-population in nineteenth century West Africa: the role of the export slave trade’, inAHD,ii,297–9.Google Scholar

⁴Gavin,Kitching, ‘Proto-industrialisation and demographic change: a thesis and some possible African implications’,J. Afr. Hist.,XXIV (1983),230.Google Scholar

⁵Fage,J. D., ‘Slavery and the slave trade in the context of West African history’,J. Afr. Hist.,X (1969),393–404CrossRefGoogle Scholar; see also Helge Kjekshus, ‘The population trends of East African history: a critical review’, andWillis,R. G., ‘Comment on Dr Kjekshus' paper’, inAHD,i,358–60,363–4Google Scholar;Patrick,Manning, ‘Contours of slavery and social change in Africa’,Amer. Hist. Rev.,LXXXVIII (1983),835–57Google Scholar;Inikori,, ‘Under-population’,283–314Google Scholar, andManning,Patrick, ‘A demographic model of African slavery’,AHD,ii,371–84Google Scholar; for East Africa, seeChrétien,J. P., ‘Démographie et écologie en Afrique orientale à la fin du XIXe siècle: une crise exceptionnelle?’,Cah. Ét. Afr.,XXVII (1987),46–7Google Scholar; Kjekshus, ‘Population trends’; andBeachey,R. W., ‘Some observations on the volume of the slave trade of eastern Africa in the nineteenth century’, inAHD,i,352–62 and365–73.Google Scholar

⁶Kitching,, ‘Proto-industrialisation’,221–3Google Scholar;Caldwell,, ‘Major questions’,11–12,16Google Scholar;Cordell,Dennis D.,Gregory,Joel W. andPiché,Victor, ‘African historical demography: the search for a theoretical framework’, inCordell,Dennis D. andGregory,Joel W. (eds.),African Population and Capitalism (Boulder,1987),14–15.Google Scholar

⁷Christopher,Wrigley, ‘Population and history: some innumerate reflexions’,AHD,ii,17–18Google Scholar;Chrétien,, ‘Démographie et écologie’,47–50Google Scholar;Kjekshus,, ‘Population trends’,352–62Google Scholar;Cordell, et al. , ‘African historical demography’,14–32Google Scholar; Joel Gregory and Victor Piché, ‘Démographie, impérialisme et sous-développement: le cas africain’, inGauvreau,D. et al. (eds.),Démographie et sous-developpement dans le Tiers-Monde (Toronto,1986),11–46Google Scholar;Cordell,Dennis D. andGregory,Joel W., ‘Historical demography and demographic history in Africa: theoretical and methodological considerations’,Can. J. Afr. Studies,XIV (1980),389–416Google Scholar; Inikori, ‘Under-population’, 293.

⁸Caldwell,, ‘Major questions’,12–13.Google Scholar

⁹ However, by the close of the nineteenth century, at least, there existed sharp regional variations within Imerina, with two people per square kilometre in the extreme north, 11 in Vakinankaratra, 18 in the west, twenty in the east, and ninety in and around the capital city of Antananarivo;Alfred, andGrandidier,Guillaume,Histoire physique, naturelle et politique de Madagascar (Paris,1908), vol.4, t.i,322Google Scholar; see alsoVansina,J., ‘Long-term population history in the African rain forest’, inAHD,ii,757.Google Scholar

¹⁰Louis,Molet, ‘Le boeuf dans l'Ankaizinana: son importance sociale et économique’,Mémoire de l'Institut Scientifique de Madagascar, série C, t.ii (1953),61–2Google Scholar;Richardson,J., ‘Tanala customs, superstitions and beliefs’,AAMM,11 (1876),99–100Google Scholar;Grandidier,,Histoire vol.4, t.i,97Google Scholar;Avine,Grégoire, ‘Notes de voyage à Fort Dauphin’ (1804), in Raymond Decary, ‘Le voyage d'un chirurgien philosophe à Madagascar’,BAM,XXXVI (1958),324.Google Scholar

¹¹ SeeHubert,Deschamps,Histoire de Madagascar (Paris,1972),213–15.Google Scholar

¹²Colin,McEvedy andRichard,Jones,Atlas of World Population History (London,1978),265.Google Scholar

¹³ Rebellions continued until 1913; seeRobequain,Charles,Madagascar et les bases dispersées de l'union française (Paris,1958),110Google Scholar;Paillard,Yvan-Georges, ‘Les recherches démographiques sur Madagascar au début de l'époque coloniale et les documents de “l'AMI”’,Cah. Et. Afr.,XXVII (1987),20–1.Google Scholar

¹⁴Paillard,, ‘Recherches démographiques’,19–20.Google Scholar

¹⁵Wrigley,, ‘Population and history’,17–18Google Scholar; for Madagascar, see, e.g.,Ralinoro,, ‘Le problème démographique dans la circonscription médicale de Fianarantsoa’,Bulletin de Madagascar,99 (1954),732–40.Google Scholar

¹⁶ See note I concerning sources; see alsoPool,D. Ian, ‘A framework for the analysis of West African historical demography’, inAHD,i,50–1Google Scholar;Miller,, ‘Demographic history revisited’,93–6Google Scholar;Cordell, andGregory,, ‘Historical demography’,396–404.Google Scholar

¹⁷ See Figures 4 and 5 on disease and famine.

¹⁸ The estimates comprise both speculations by outsiders and informed sources such as Merina court officials. The estimates with the soundest statistical basis are those which arise from attempts to calculate the number of inhabitants per house. These generally fall within the range of 3·5–5·2 people per African rural household, revealed by a 1967 UN survey (quoted in Jack Goody, ‘The evolution of the family’, inLaslett,Peter andWall,Richard (eds.),Household and Family in Past Time [Cambridge,1974],115).Google Scholar In 1816, Le Sage estimated households on the north-east coast of Madagascar to average ten members, although in the 1820s, it was claimed that Andevoranto had only 4·8 inhabitants per house, close to the 1838 estimate of 4·5 for Toamasina. Estimates for Antananarivo also varied considerably: Duhaut-Cilly in 1825 and L.M.S. missionaries in the early 1830s assumed three inhabitants per house, in comparison to Davidson's 1860s estimate of four per house, Richardson's of 8·25 in the 1870s, and the Merina government's estimate of seven. It is possible that the variations reflected whether the nuclear family alone or all residents in the household were counted, as most houses in Antananarivo possessed at least one slave and frequently accommodated non-nuclear relatives as well:Sage,Le, ‘Mission to Madagascar’ (1816),60, CO 167/34Google Scholar;William,Ellis,History of Madagascar (2 vols.) (London,1838), i,18,67,96–7Google Scholar;Duhaut-Cilly,, ‘Notice sur le royaume d'Emirne, sur la capitale Tananarivou et sur le gouvernement de Rhadama’ (1825)Google Scholar, inValette,Jean (ed.), ‘Deux documents français sur Madagascar en 1825: les rapports Duhaut-Cilly et Frère’,BAM,XLVI (1968),237;Google ScholarRichardson,J., ‘Dr Mullens and the population of Antananarivo’,AAMM,11 (1876),72–4.Google Scholar

¹⁹Cordell, et al. , ‘African historical demography’,27–8.Google Scholar

²⁰Gwyn,Campbell, ‘Slavery and fanompoana: the structure of forced labour in Imerina (Madagascar), 1790–1861’,J. Afr. Hist.,XXIX, (1988),465–7.Google Scholar

²¹Gwyn,Campbell, ‘Madagascar and the slave trade, 1810–1895’,J. Afr. Hist.,XXII (1981),203–27Google Scholar;Campbell,, ‘The adoption of autarky in imperial Madagascar, 1820–1835’,J. Afr. Hist.,XXVIII (1987),395–409CrossRefGoogle Scholar;Campbell,, ‘Slavery and fanompoana’,463–86.Google Scholar

²²Campbell,, ‘Slavery and fanompoana’,478–85Google Scholar;Campbell,, ‘Missionaries, fanompoana and the Menalamba Revolt in late nineteenth century Madagascar’,J. Southern Afr. Studies,XV (1988),54–73CrossRefGoogle Scholar;Campbell,, ‘Gold mining and the French takeover of Madagascar, 1883–1914’,African Economic History,XVII (1988),113–16.Google Scholar

²³Wrigley,, ‘Population and history’,23–4Google Scholar;Kitching,, ‘Proto-industrialisation’,230–1Google Scholar; see alsoCordell, et al. , ‘African historical demography’,22–4.Google Scholar

²⁴Voas,David, ‘Subfertility and disruption in the Congo Basin’, inAHD,ii,785–6;Google ScholarPool,, ‘A framework’,49.Google Scholar

²⁵Wolf,, ‘Analysis of “Narrative of voyages to explore the shores of Africa, Arabia, and Madagascar ”’,Journal of the Royal Geographical Society,III (1833),203Google Scholar;Callet,R. F. François,Histoire des rois (5 vols.) (Tananarive,1974), i,333Google Scholar;Mondain,G., ‘Notes sur la condition sociale de la femme hova’,BAM,IV (1905–1906),85,91.Google Scholar It is uncertain what effect polygamy, which was practised in Imerina during the first half of the nineteenth century, had upon the birth rate. British missionaries to Imerina commented in 1833: ‘Polygamy is common in this part of Madagascar, if not indeed throughout the island, to all who can afford the expense…To be able to maintain several wives, to have a numerous offspring,—to hoard wealth,—and to build a commodious and handsome tomb,—these are the objects of desire and ambition in the breast of a Malagasy’; Johns and Freeman to Ellis, Antananarivo, 29 May 1833, SOAS/LMS MIL B4 F4 JB.

²⁶ See, e.g.James,Hastie, ‘Diary’ (1820),482Google Scholar, CO 167/50.

²⁷Avine,Grégoire, ‘Voyages aux îles de France, d'Anjouan, de Madagascar, de Mosambique, de Zanzibar et à la côte Coromondel’ (1802)Google Scholar,Mauritius Archives Publications (Paris,1951), V,55Google Scholar;Capmartin,, ‘Notes sur la Baye St. Augustin (côte occidentale de Madagascar)’ (1815),13–BL. Add. 18135Google Scholar;Oliver,S. P.,Madagascar: An Historical and Descriptive Account of the Island and its Former Dependencies (2 vols.) (London,1886), i,454.Google Scholar

²⁸Grandidier,,Histoire, vol.4, t.i,320–1.Google Scholar

²⁹Smith,C.G., ‘Journal’, Tulear, ‘Madagascar, 5 Sept. 1902’, in ‘Notes taken by C.G.S. on trip to Madagascar in 1902’, MS BRA. For white-Malagasy social relations in Toamasina, see Manassé Esoavelomandroso,La province maritime Orientate du ‘Royaume de Madagascar’ à la fin du XIXe siècle (1882–1895) (Antananarivo,1979),145.Google Scholar

³⁰ Jones and Griffiths to Burder, Antananarivo, 4 Aug. 1825, SOAS/LMS MIL B2 F2 JB; ‘School Report’ (1825), SOAS/LMS MIL B2 F3 JG.

³¹Iliffe,, ‘Origins’,168.Google Scholar

³² Hastie, ‘Diary’, 6 March 1823, CO 167/66.

³³ Campbell, ‘Adoption of autarky’, and ‘Slavery and fanompoana’.

³⁴Gwyn,Campbell, ‘Labour and the transport problem in imperial Madagascar, 1810–1895’,J. Afr. Hist.,XXI (1980),341–56;Google ScholarCampbell,, ‘Slavery and fanompoana’,463–86Google Scholar;Kitching,, ‘Proto-industrialisation’,221–40.Google Scholar

³⁵Kitching,, ‘Proto-industrialisation’,234.Google Scholar

³⁶ Campbell, ‘Slavery and fanompoana’.

³⁷Nurse,G. T.,Weiner,J. S. andJenkins,T.,The Peoples of Southern Africa and their Affinities (Oxford,1985),253–4.Google Scholar

³⁸Hastie,, ‘Diary’ (1817), CO 167/34.Google Scholar

³⁹Campbell,, ‘Slavery and fanompoana’,463–86Google Scholar;Campbell,, ‘Gold mining’,99–126Google Scholar;Campbell,, ‘Missionaries, fanompoana and the Menalamba Revolt’,54–73.Google Scholar

⁴⁰Gwyn,Campbell, ‘The role of the London Missionary Society in the rise of the Merina Empire, 1810–1861’ (Ph.D. thesis,University of Wales,1985),225–6,265–6,337Google Scholar;Campbell,, ‘Missionaries, fanompoana and the Menalamba Revolt’,54–73.Google Scholar

⁴¹James,Sibree,Fifty Years in Madagascar (London,1924),253Google Scholar;Decary,Raymond, ‘La population de Madagascar’,BAM,XXVIII (1947–1948),30Google Scholar;Decary,, ‘Le voyage d'un chirurgien’,326.Google Scholar

⁴² SeeShaw,Thurstan, ‘Towards a prehistoric demography of Africa’, inAHD,ii,586.Google Scholar

⁴³ SeeMiller,, ‘Demographic history revisited’,96.Google Scholar A non-venereal disease of the treponemal group appears to have been widespread in pre-nineteenth-century Africa, including Madagascar. Syphilis in mainland Africa was often confused with yaws; other treponematoses include pinta, bejel and irkinja—seeKoponen,Juhani, ‘War, famine and pestilence in late precolonial Tanzania: a case for heightened mortality’,Int. J. Afr. Hist. Studies,XXI (1988),656Google Scholar;Cockburn,T. Aidan, ‘Infectious diseases in ancient populations’, inLandy,David (ed.),Culture, Diseases and Healing (New York,1977),84–5.Google Scholar

⁴⁴ SeeEastman,Carol M., ‘Women, slaves and foreigners: African cultural influences and group processes in the formation of northern Swahili coastal society’,Int. J. Afr. Hist. Studies,XXI (1988),13.Google Scholar

⁴⁵ RH, 74;Hastie,, ‘Diary’ (1817).Google Scholar

⁴⁶Shaw,G. A., ‘The Betsileo: country and people’,AAMM,III (1877),79Google Scholar;Gran-didier,,Histoire, vol.4, t.i,330Google Scholar;Sewell,Joseph,The Sakalava: Being Notes of a Journey Made from Antananarivo to Some Towns on the Border of the Sakalava Territory, in June and July 1875 (Antananarivo,1875),12,17.Google Scholar

⁴⁷Paillard,, ‘Recherches démographiques’,23.Google Scholar

⁴⁸Paillard,, ‘Recherches démographiques’,37.Google Scholar

⁴⁹Pool,, ‘A framework’,53Google Scholar;Dubois,H. M.,Monographie des Betsileo (Paris,1938),665–6.Google Scholar

⁵⁰Voas,, ‘Subfertility and disruption’,786–96Google Scholar; see alsoHunt,Nancy Rose, ‘“La bébé en brousse”: European women, African birth spacing and colonial intervention in breast feeding in the Belgian Congo’,Int. J. Afr. Hist. Studies,XXI (1988),403–4Google Scholar; see alsoMartin,Phyllis M., ‘The violence of empire’, inBirmingham,David andMartin,Phyllis M. (eds.),History of Central Africa (2 vols.) (London,1986), ii,20.Google Scholar

⁵¹Shaw,, ‘The Betsileo’,4Google Scholar;Sibree,,Fifty Years,41.Google Scholar

⁵² For instance, pregnant Antanosy women and their husbands were forbidden extramarital sexual intercourse until the birth of the child; seeJorgen,Ruud,Taboo: A Study of Malagasy Customs and Beliefs (Oslo,1960),244–5.Google Scholar

⁵³Jean,Valette, ‘Notes sur la géographie médicale de l'Imerina à la fin de la monarchie (1889–1893)’,Bulletin de Madagascar,246 (1966),1143–5Google Scholar;Paillard,, ‘Recherches démographiques’,25.Google Scholar

⁵⁴Grandidier,,Histoire, vol.4, t.i,343Google Scholar;Paillard,, ‘Recherches démographiques’,34Google Scholar;Caldwell,, ‘Major questions’,10.Google Scholar

⁵⁵Grandidier,,Histoire, vol.4, t.i,337.Google Scholar

⁵⁶Paillard,, ‘Recherches démographiques’,33Google Scholar; for estimates of African averages, see Manning, ‘Demographic model’, 374, and for a mainland African example of a skewed age structure seeJohn,Thornton, ‘The slave trade in eighteenth century Angola: effects on demographic structure’,Can. J. Afr. Studies,XIV (1980),421–2.Google Scholar

⁵⁷Caldwell,, ‘Major questions’,9Google Scholar;Pool,, ‘A framework’,52.Google Scholar

⁵⁸Locke,Lewis, ‘An account of the Ovahs, a race of people residing in the interior of Madagascar: with a sketch of their country, appearance, dress, language, &c’,Journal of the Royal Geographical Society,V (1835),236.Google Scholar

⁵⁹ Baudin to Dubois, 25 août 1918, quoted inDubois,H.M., ‘Les origines des Malgaches’,Anthropos,XXII (1927),96.Google Scholar

⁶⁰ Caldwell, ‘Major questions’, II; Wrigley, ‘Population and history’.

⁶¹ Rinderpest, for example, devastated cattle stocks and game over much of southern and eastern Africa from 1892, thereby significantly reducing food supplies and lowering resistance to disease. SeeSwanzie,Agnew, ‘Factors affecting the demographic situation in Malawi in precolonial and colonial times’, inAHD,i,378Google Scholar;Dawson,Marc H., ‘Disease and population decline of the Kikuyu of Kenya, 1890–1925’, inAHD,ii,126.Google Scholar

⁶² As amongst the pastoral Maasai; seeDawson,, ‘Disease and population decline’,126.Google Scholar

⁶³McNeill,William H.,Plagues and People (New York,1976),3–12Google Scholar;Bruce-Chwatt,Leonard Jan,Essential Malariology (London,1980),58–67Google Scholar;Delmont,Jean, ‘Paludisme et variations climatiques saisonnières en savane soudanienne d'Afrique de l'Ouest’,Cah. Et. Afr.,xxii (1982),117–34.Google Scholar

⁶⁴Nurse, et al. ,Peoples of Southern Africa, 19,278–9Google Scholar;Ellis,,History of Madagascar,i,215,217–19Google Scholar. Outbreaks of measles in Imerina in 1822–3 and 1884 resulted in some infant deaths, although whooping cough did not appear to have affected Madagascar as seriously as it did mainland Africa. See e.g.Agnew,, ‘Factors’,378.Google Scholar

⁶⁵Delmont,, ‘Paludisme’,117–34Google Scholar;Paillard,, ‘Recherches démographiques’,39.Google Scholar

⁶⁶Dawson,, ‘Disease and population decline’,127–8Google Scholar;Robert,Ross, ‘Smallpox at the Cape of Good Hope in the eighteenth century’, inAHD,i,416–28Google Scholar; see alsoBeachey,, ‘Some observations’,369Google Scholar;Chrétien,, ‘Démographie et écologie’,51,55Google Scholar;Koponen,, ‘War, famine and pestilence’,663–5Google Scholar;Nurse, et al. ,Peoples of Southern Africa,18.Google Scholar

⁶⁷ Although isolation was still considered harsh because the Malagasy, like mainland Africans, normally incorporated their ill within a tight familial or community network. For a comparison of isolating the ill, seeLyons,Maryinez, ‘From “death camps” tocordon sanitaire: the development of sleeping sickness policy in the Uele District of the Belgian Congo, 1903–1914’,J. Afr. Hist.,XXVI (1985),69–91.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

⁶⁸ Freeman to Ellis, Tamatave, 3 Oct. 1833, and Vohitsara, 11 Oct. 1833, SOAS/LMS MIL B4 F4 JC.

⁶⁹Bruce-Chwatt,,Essential Malariology,58–61.Google Scholar

⁷⁰ Although a staggering 72 per cent of the French expeditionary troops died of malaria in the Malagasy campaign of 1895;Cohen,William B., ‘Malaria and French imperialism’,J. Afr. Hist.,XXIV (1983),24–5Google Scholar; see alsoCampbell,, ‘Slavery and fanompoana’,468–9.Google Scholar

⁷¹ Campbell, ‘Slavery and fanompoana’.

⁷²Paillard,, ‘Recherches demographiques’,38,40.Google Scholar

⁷³Campbell,, ‘Gold mining’,99–126Google Scholar;Marriot,, ‘Report’ (1905),6Google Scholar; also see Table 1 in text.

⁷⁴ Campbell, ‘Gold mining’; Campbell, ‘Missionaries, fanompoana and the Menalamba Revolt’.

⁷⁵Dubois,,Monographic des Betsileo,623.Google Scholar

⁷⁶Francis,Maude,Five Years in Madagascar (London,1895),103Google Scholar; Campbell, ‘Missionaries, fanompoana and the Menalamba Revolt’.

⁷⁷ SeePaillard,, ‘Recherches démographiques’,39.Google Scholar

⁷⁸ Likesafo-tany, which afflicted chiefly Betsileo in the late nineteenth century, although its victims apparently failed to respond to quinine; seeAnon., ‘Dr Forsyth Major's expedition in Madagascar’,AAMM,XX (1896),493Google Scholar;Rees,D. M., ‘Y “Safotany” na “Raporapo”’,Y Cronicl (1898),178–80.Google Scholar

⁷⁹ Ryder to Ropes, Emmerton & Co., and Arnold Hines & Co., Nossi Bé, 28 Feb. 1885, B44 F4, 18 Oct. 1887, B45 F6; Laborde to Whitney, Antananarivo, 22 Jan. 1887, B44 F2; Whitney to Ropes, Emmerton & Co., Tamatave, 26 Jan. and 26 Feb. 1889, B45 F2; Trumball to Ropes, Emmerton & Co., Tamatave, 26 March 1890, B46 F5; Duder to Dawson, [Antananarivo], 28 June 1890, B46 F5; Whitney to Ropes, Emmerton & Co, Tamatave, 27 March 1891, B46 F4; Ryder to Ropes Emmerton & Co., Tamatave, 28 July and 27 Aug. 1893, B45 F7; Ryder to Ropes, Emmerton & Co., Tamatave, 6 April 1894, B45 F7—REC/CR MZL;Paillard,, ‘Recherches démographiques’,38,40.Google Scholar

⁸⁰McNeill,,Plagues and People,16Google Scholar; see alsoCampbell,, ‘Adoption of autarky’,405Google Scholar;Grandidier,,Histoire, vol.4, t.i,339Google Scholar;Paillard,, ‘Recherches démographiques’,38.Google Scholar

⁸¹ By 1880 Mascarene rum was retailing for $0.25 per quart on the east coast and $0.50 in the interior; Johnson to FM, Faravohitra, 19 Okt. 1889, HH4—ANM; LMS,Ten Years' Review of Mission Work in Madagascar, 1880–1890 (Antananarivo,1890),114Google Scholar; see alsoClarence-Smith,W. G., ‘Capital accumulation and class formation in Angola’, inBirmingham, andMartin, (eds.),History of Central Africa,ii,167,174Google Scholar;‘Ny Toaka avy tany Morosy’, inNy Gazety Malagasy, 1 (no. 4) (2 Aug.1876),13Google Scholar; LMS,Ten Years' Review of Mission Work in Madagascar, 1870–1880 (Antananarivo,1880),31–4.Google Scholar

⁸² See e.g. RA, 263, 322 and RH, 136–7.

⁸³Maude,,Five Years in Madagascar,103.Google Scholar

⁸⁴ Campbell, ‘Missionaries, fanompoana and the Menalamba Revolt’; Campbell, ‘Gold mining’; Dubois,Monographic des Betsileo; see alsoKoponen,, ‘War, famine and pestilence’,644–7Google Scholar;Miller,Joseph C., ‘The significance of drought, disease and famine in the agriculturally marginal zones of West-Central Africa’,J. Afr. Hist.,XXIII (1982),17–32.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

⁸⁵Paillard,, ‘Recherches démographiques’,36.Google Scholar In the Fianarantsoa region of Betsileo from 1932 to 1946 respiratory diseases accounted for 33·28 per cent of all hospitalized patients (behind malaria at 43·80 per cent), once the plague, which became a serious affliction only during the colonial era, is discounted (bronchial pneumonia and pneumonia accounted for 53 per cent of all respiratory cases);Ralinoro,, ‘Le problème démographique’,733–4Google Scholar;Dubois,,Monographie des Betsileo,1041–2Google Scholar; see alsoShaw,, ‘Towards a prehistoric demography of Africa’.584–5.Google Scholar

⁸⁶Oliver,,Madagascar,i,459Google Scholar;Toy,R., ‘Remarks on the meteorology of Antananarivo and the neighbourhood’,AAMM (1878),73ii,74ii.Google Scholar

⁸⁷Ellis,,History of Madagascar,i,215,217–19,227Google Scholar;Griffiths,David,Hanes Madagascar (Machynlleth,1843),64–5Google Scholar;The Madagascar Times, 11 (no. 41) (1510.1884),379.Google Scholar

⁸⁸Koponen,, ‘War, famine and pestilence’,661–2,671.Google Scholar

⁸⁹ Fenn to PM, Isoavinandriana, Antanarivo, 23 Feb. 1894, HH8, 552–3, ANM; see alsoMaude,,Five Years in Madagascar,28Google Scholar;The Madagascar Times (16 April 1884).

⁹⁰Anon., ‘Madagascar et côte orientale d'Afrique’ (1860)Google Scholar, c.llg, AHVP, 6; see also Dalmond, ‘Mission apostolique de Madagascar, 1837–1847’, Diaries section 11. 1, AHVP;Robequain,,Madagascar,110.Google Scholar

⁹¹Wrigley,, ‘Population and history’,23Google Scholar; the same point applied to the slave export trade to the Americas, in which two to three males were exported to every female: seeJohn,Thornton, ‘The demographic effect of the slave trade on western Africa, 1500–1850’, inAHD,ii,694–5.Google Scholar

⁹² SeeDubois,,Monographie des Betsileo,616Google Scholar;Berg,Gerald M., ‘Sacred acquisition: Andrianampoinimerina at Ambohimanga, 1777–1790’,J. Afr. Hist.,XXIX (1988),208–9Google Scholar; see alsoKoponen,, ‘War, famine and pestilence’,650–1,654.Google Scholar

⁹³ Campbell, ‘Adoption of autarky’.

⁹⁴Delivré,Alain,L'Histoire des rois d' Imerina (Paris,1974),188,387Google Scholar;Delval,Raymond,Radama II: prince de la renaissance malgache 1861–1863 (Paris,1972),43–5,431,892–3Google Scholar;Griffiths,,Hanes Madagascar,24–5.Google Scholar

⁹⁵ RH, 42.

⁹⁶Wrigley,, ‘Population and history’,24.Google Scholar

⁹⁷Manning,, ‘Contours of slavery’,856.Google Scholar

⁹⁸Campbell,, ‘Role of the London Missionary Society’,344–64.Google Scholar

⁹⁹Griffiths,,Hanes Madagascar,24–5Google Scholar;Ellis,,History of Madagascar,i,114Google Scholar;Sibree,James,Madagascar and its People (London,1870),384.Google Scholar

¹⁰⁰Griffiths,,Hanes Madagascar,24–5.Google Scholar

¹⁰¹Daniel,Tyerman andGeorge,Bennet,Journal of Voyages and Travels, 1821–1829, ed.Montgomery,James (2 vols.) (London,1831),iii,515Google Scholar; Johns to Jones, Antananarivo, 1 July 1830, 19157E–ALGC;Sibree,,Fifty Years,35Google Scholar;Decary,, ‘La population de Madagascar’,30Google Scholar;Grandidier,,Histoire, vol.4, t.i,327Google Scholar;Lloyd,J. A., ‘Memoir on Madagascar’ (1012.1849),Journal of the Royal Geographical Society,XX (1851),66.Google Scholar

¹⁰²Raombana,, ‘Manuscrit écrit à Tananarive (1853–1854)’, transRadley,J. F.,BAM,XIII (1930),6,15.Google Scholar

¹⁰³Griffiths,,Hanes Madagascar,24–5Google Scholar;Ellis,,History of Madagascar,i,114Google Scholar;Sibree,,Madagascar and its People,384.Google Scholar

¹⁰⁴ Dumaine, ‘Voyage au pays d'ancaye, autrement dit des Bezounzouns, Isle de Madagascar’ (juillet 1790), BL Add. 18128, 275; Chapelier, ‘“Lettres”, adressés au citoyen préfet de l'ile de France de décembre 1803 à mai 1805’ (Jully,M. ed.),BAM,IV (1905–1906),53Google Scholar;Richardson,, ‘Tanala customs’,95,97Google Scholar; Raombana Bk 2, livre 13, 27;LMS,Ten Years' Review (1880),34–5.Google Scholar

¹⁰⁵Grandidier,,Histoire, vol.4, t.i,342–3Google Scholar–Caldwell posits a life expectancy of 22 years for pre-colonial tropical Africa, higher than Pool's figure of twenty years but significantly lower than the 27·5 years incorporated in the ‘South’ model of Coale and Demeny, adopted by Thornton:Caldwell,, ‘Major questions,10Google Scholar; Pool, ʿA framework’, 53–4;Thornton,, ‘Slave trade’,420.Google Scholar

¹⁰⁶Manning,, ‘Contours of slavery’,841–3Google Scholar;Sheriff,Abdul,Slaves, Spices and Ivory in Zanzibar (London,1987)Google Scholar;Lovejoy,Paul E.,Transformations in Slavery (Cambridge,1983),150–3.Google Scholar

¹⁰⁷Gwyn,Campbell, ‘Madagascar and Mozambique in the slave trade of the Western Indian Ocean, 1800–1861’, inClarence-Smith,W. G. (ed.),The Economics of the Indian Ocean Slave Trade in the Nineteenth Century (London,1989),166–93Google Scholar;Campbell,, ‘The East African slave trade, 1861–1895: the “southern” complex’,Int. J. Afr. Hist. Studies,XXII (1989),1–27CrossRefGoogle Scholar;Campbell,, ‘Madagascar and the slave trade’,203–27.Google Scholar

¹⁰⁸Campbell,, ‘Madagascar and Mozambique’,185Google Scholar;Campbell,, ‘East African slave trade’,25.Google Scholar

¹⁰⁹Manning,, ‘Contours of slavery’,850Google Scholar;Miller,, ‘Significance of drought’,30Google Scholar;Campbell,, ‘Missionaries, fanompoana and the Menalamba Revolt’,54–73.Google Scholar

¹¹⁰ RA, 263; Raombana Bk2 livre 13, 22;Campbell,, ‘Role of the London Missionary Society’,338–9Google Scholar;Wolf,, ‘Analysis’,203Google Scholar;Madagascar Times (5 Nov. 1884);Grandidier,,Histoire, vol.4, t.i,297Google Scholar;Putnam,Horace P. ‘A cruise to the Indian Ocean and a life on shore’, in ‘La Plata seaman's journal’ (12.1848 to01.1850)Google Scholar, Log. 1847W3 B.15, Ms, 1847 W.3, Essex Institute;Smith,A., ‘From Zanzibar to Nosibe’,AAMM,VII (1883),41Google Scholar; Dalmond à son frère, Madagascar, 1 fev. 1840, in ‘Lettres de M. Dalmond à ses parents entre 1826 et 1846’, C47, AHVP; Finaz au Jouen, Nossi-bé, 20 juillet 1846, Correspondance C35, AHVP; Nourse to Farquhar, HMS Andromache, 17 Nov. 1822, CO 167/66.

¹¹¹Manning,, ‘Demographic model’,371–84Google Scholar;Manning,, ‘Contours of slavery’,850.Google Scholar

¹¹²Dalmond,, ‘Mission Apostolique de Madagascar, 1837–1847’,27,94–5Google Scholar; Johns to Freeman, Antananarivo, 14 Oct. 1830, SOAS/LMS MIL B3 F5;Hastie,, ‘Diary’ (1817)Google Scholar;Hastie,, ‘Diary’ (1820),468–71,500Google Scholar;Hastie,, ‘Diary’ (1822)Google Scholar, CO 167/63;Hastie,, ‘Diary’ (1824–1825),89–90Google Scholar, CO 167/78 II; Pye, ‘A summary of the proceedings at Madagascar from 6th June to 14th June 1817’, CO 167/34; RH, 68, 79, 130–1; RA, 217–19, 244–6, 279–80, 285–6, 291, 369–71, 373, 377, 390, 392–3, 473–5; Raombana, vol. VIII, B.I, 8; Raombana, Bk2 livre 13, 6, 31, 34–5;Raombana,, ‘Annales’, Livre 12, CI,488–9,507–9Google Scholar;Raombana,, ‘Manuscrit écrit à Tananarive’,15Google Scholar;[Jouen,], ‘Journal’ (1853), C28f, ANM,3–4,6,11Google Scholar;Wastell,R. E. P., ‘British imperial policy in relation to Madagascar, 1810–1896’ (Ph.D. thesis,University of London,1944),224–6,232Google Scholar;Oliver,,Madagascar,i,64–7Google Scholar;Prud'home,, ‘Observations on the Sakalava’,AAMM,XXIV (1900),416–20,422–3Google Scholar;Baker, toStanley,, ‘Memorial’ (Antananarivo,1832)Google Scholar, SOAS/LMS MIL B3 F4 JC; Rahaniraka and Rafaralahy to Arundel, Antananarivo, 14 Aug. 1832, SOAS/LMS MIL B4 F3 JA; Johns & Freeman to Ellis, Antananarivo, 29 May 1833, and Freeman to Philip, Antananarivo, 26 Aug. 1832, SOAS/LMS MIL B4 F4 JB; Baker to Ellis, Tamatave, 15 July 1834, SOAS/LMS MIL B5 FI JC; Freeman to Ellis, Antananarivo, 18 May 1835, SOAS/LMS MIL B5 F2 JA; Johns to Ellis, Antananarivo, 26 March 1836, SOAS/LMS MIL B5 F3 JA; Johns to LMS, Tamatave, 30 June 1838 and 6 Aug. 1838, SOAS/LMS MIL B5 F3 JB;Ellis,,History of Madagascar,ii,252,287,316–17,357–8,359,367Google Scholar;Ellis,John E.,Life of William Ellis (London,1873),280Google Scholar;Ellis,William,Madagascar Revisited (London,1867),347–8Google Scholar;Griffiths,,Hanes Madagascar,55,61,64,87,130Google Scholar;Valette,Jean,Études sur le règne de Radama ler (Tananarive,1962),7–8,16–17,47,54–6,59–60Google Scholar;Vidal,E.,Madagascar: situation actuelle (Bordeaux,1845),10Google Scholar;David,Jones, ‘Journal’ (1820)Google Scholar, ‘Madagascar journals: Madagascar and Mauritius (1816–24)’, FIA, SOAS/LMS;Boudou,A., ‘Journal de route d'une expédition de Rainimaharo en 1838’,BAM,XV (1932),89–90Google Scholar;Tyerman, andBennet,,Journal of Voyages and Travels,511,514Google Scholar;Edmont,Samat, ‘Renseignements sur la côte ouest de Madagascar depuis Nossi Bé jusquʾà Crosker Cap St Marie’ (Nossi-bé, 6 mai1852)Google Scholar, inBoudou,A., ‘La côte ouest de Madagacar en 1852’,BAM,XV (1932),64,74–5Google Scholar;Raymond,Decary, ‘Contribution à l'histoire de la France à Madagascar’,BAM,XXXI (1953),56–8Google Scholar;Decary,M. andDeschamps,H., ‘Comments’, in Philippe Decreane, ‘Madagascar en avril 1971’,C.R.A.S.O.M.,XXXI (1971),249,251Google Scholar; Anon., ‘Notice sur les Sacalaves du Boény et de l'Ambongo’ (n.d.), sect. II, C8, ANM;Notices statistiques sur les colonies françaises. IV: Madagascar (Paris,1840),9–10Google Scholar;Delval,,RadamaII,95,793–800,811.Google Scholar

¹¹³Campbell,, ‘Labour and the transport problem’,341–56Google Scholar;Campbell,, ‘Slavery and fanompoana’,468–73.Google Scholar

¹¹⁴ Knott to Aitken, Mojanga, 21 March 1888, inAnti-Slavery Reporter (Nov. & Dec. 1888), 217.

¹¹⁵Manning,, ‘Contours of slavery’,853–4Google Scholar;Klein,Martin A., ‘The demography of slavery in western Soudan: the late nineteenth century’, inCordell, andGregory, (eds.),African Population and Capitalism,56–7.Google Scholar

¹¹⁶ See e.g.Manning,, ‘Contours of Slavery’,847–8.Google Scholar

¹¹⁷ (Finaz), ‘Tananarive, capitale de Madagascar: séjour d'un missionnaire catholique en 1855, 56 et 57’, Diaires section II, no. 20, AHVP, 110.

¹¹⁸Dubois,,Monographie des Betsileo,585,718.Google Scholar

¹¹⁹Campbell,, ‘Slavery and fanompoana’,463–86;Google Scholar see alsoKlein,, ‘Demography of slavery’,56–7.Google Scholar

¹²⁰Klein,, ‘Demography of slavery’,59–60.Google Scholar

¹²¹Dubois,,Monographie des Betsileo,571.Google Scholar

¹²² Bloch appears to follow Raison, who states that in the period 1833–62 the number of slaves increased fivefold in Imerina, where by the latter date they formed 66 per cent of the population, dropping to 50 per cent by 1896;Raison,Françoise, ‘Les Ramanenjana: une mise en cause populaire du christianisme en Imerina, 1863’,ASEMI,VII (1976),284Google Scholar;Bloch,Maurice,Placing the Dead (London,1971),71Google Scholar;Bloch,, ‘Modes of production and slavery in Madagascar’, inWatson,James L. (ed.),Asian and African Systems of Slavery (Oxford,1980),110.Google Scholar

¹²³(Finaz),, ‘Tananarive’,112–13.Google Scholar

¹²⁴ See previous note; see alsoAlfred,Grandidier, ‘Souvenirs de voyages’,1865–1916)Google Scholar,Documents anciens sur Madagascar (Tananarive, n.d.),32Google Scholar;Hastie,, ‘Diary’ (1817),250–1Google Scholar;Campbell,, ‘Madagascar and the slave trade’,209Google Scholar;André,E. C.,De l'esclavage à Madagascar (Paris,1899),186Google Scholar;Berthier,, ‘La tribu des Hova’,Conférence à l'Ecole Coloniale (Paris, déc.1908),3Google Scholar;Grandidier,,Histoire, vol.4, t.i,333Google Scholar;Le Journal (8 oct. 1895).

¹²⁵Inikori,, ‘Under-population’,304.Google Scholar

¹²⁶ Campbell, ‘Madagascar and the slave trade’.

¹²⁷ Until the late 1860s there existed ‘wife markets’, such as that at Ilafy, 9 km north of Antananarivo, but it is not certain whether these were signs of an overabundance or of a shortage of women; RH, 7. Also, some evidence suggests that polygamy possibly depressed fertility slightly, except in cases where postpartum abstinence was the rule;Hunt,, ‘“La bébé en brousse”’,407Google Scholar; see alsoPool,, ‘A framework’,53Google Scholar;Kitching,, ‘Proto-industrialisation’,229–30Google Scholar;Manning,, ‘Demographic model’,379Google Scholar;Kenneth,Swindell, ‘Domestic production, labour mobility and population change in West Africa, 1900–1980’, inAHD,ii,682Google Scholar;Ellis,,History of Madagascar,i,167–8.Google Scholar

¹²⁸ Campbell, ‘Madagascar and Mozambique’; Campbell, ‘East African slave trade’.

¹²⁹Paillard,, ‘Recherches démographiques’,33.Google Scholar

¹³⁰ SeeInikori,, ‘Under-population’,286–9.Google Scholar

¹³¹Thornton,, ‘Slave trade’,420Google Scholar;Thornton,, ‘Demographic effect’,696,709Google Scholar; see alsoInikori,, ‘Under-population’,290–1,295.Google Scholar

¹³² Campbell, ‘Madagascar and the slave trade’;Campbell,, ‘Slavery and fanompoana’,475–7.Google Scholar