Madagascar Before The Conquest

Download or read book An Economic History of Imperial Madagascar, 1750-1895 written by Gwyn Campbell and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2005-03-14 with total page 444 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The first comprehensive economic history of pre-colonial Madagascar, this study examines the island's role from 1750 to 1895 in the context of a burgeoning international economy and the rise of modern European imperialism. This study reveals that the Merina of the Central Highlands attempted to found an island empire and through the exploitation of its human and natural resources build the economic and military might to challenge British and French pretensions in the region. Ultimately, the Merina failed due to imperial forced labour policies and natural disasters, the nefarious consequences of which (disease; depopulation; ethnic enmity) have in traditional histories been imputed external capitalist and French colonial policies.