Ratsimilaho

…the early 18th century by Ratsimilaho. He united the various chiefdoms along a 400-mile (650-kilometre) stretch of the coast and gave the Betsimisaraka their name, but the kingdom collapsed on the death of the dynasty’s third ruler in 1791. Most of the Betsimisaraka then fell under the rule of the…

Ruled by Ratsimilaho, son of an English pirate and a Malagasy princess, the viable confederation extended along more than 200 miles of coastline. After Ratsimilaho’s death in 1750, the confederation began an abrupt, though prolonged, disintegration.