28
This European period marks the beginning of a particularly eventful cycle that would mark this part of the eastern coast of
Madagascar:
Period
Event
Descriptions
1694 to 1725
Period of the Pirates
Fear and disturbances to slave trade
1720 to 1754
Reign of Ratsimilaho
A period of stability and growth
1774 to 1785
Benyowsky
Benyowsky attempted trading, and rivalries, between Europeans
1790 to 1810
Foray against the Comoros
Maritimes expeditions against the Comoros
1810 to 1828
Accession of King Radama I
Expansion towards Toamasina
1817 to 1826
Reign of Jean-René
Pursuit of control of the eastern region with Radama I
After their departure, the Pirate descendants took advantage of their inheritance to challenge other groups in the region. Ratsimilaho
5,
a
malata
, imposed a relative level of peace after defeating his main rivals. Yet, the Pirate era is not the only factor that disrupted
the lives of the population in this region. Driven by the temptation of quick gains, associated with domestic economic problems,
the people of the east coast decided to join forces with groups on the west coast to attack the Comoro Islands. Sometimes their
expeditions led them all the way to the shores of Africa. Started in 1790, these murderous plunderings, the atrocities of which are still
alive in the memory of the Comorians, continued until the advent of a new political order in the Mascarene Islands in 1810.
Nowadays, the cities of Toamasina (Tamatave) and Moramanga are regional economic capitals. This has not always been the case.
Toamasina had long been isolated from the circuit of big business at the time of slave trading. Traders favored layovers in Fénérive or
Foulpointe. Moramanga only started to become known early in the 19th century as a major slave market, and in the 20th century it
became a city serving as the crossroads of major roads and railways.
The development of their respective histories will help understand the socio-economic evolution of Ambatovy’s affected region in the
21st century.
5
Ratsimilaho is the son of an English pirate, named Thomas Tew.
