Bezanozano

The Bezanozano lived in fortified villages in Ankay, between the Merina highlands and Madagascar's eastern lowlands. During the eighteenth century they profited as intermediaries in the slave trade, with Moramanga becoming a major trading center. A slave revolt broke out in 1768 and was suppressed with European assistance.

Randrianjomoina emerged as their king in the late eighteenth century, when Imerina forced the Bezanozano into vassalage. Radama I subdued them in 1817, and Merina rule imposed heavy labor carrying goods between Antananarivo and Toamasina.