Bengy

Bengy lies in western Madagascar, within Menabe, the region between the Mangoky and Manambolo rivers. Morondava serves as its coastal outlet, and several rivers cross the dry western landscape. The name Menabe means big red, recalling the laterite rock that dominates the ground. Tradition dates the Sakalava kingdom of Menabe to Adriamandazoala in the mid-sixteenth century.

Under Andriandahifotsy, between 1610 and 1685, the kingdom expanded and became the strongest realm in Madagascar, a position it held into the mid-eighteenth century. Its rulers became known to European visitors through their voyages and accounts. Merina expansion brought repeated campaigns by Radama I in 1820, 1821 and 1822, which pressed the Menabe kings and forced them to pay tribute. The kings united their forces against the attacks and kept the kingdom's core, drawing strength from the river valleys and the red laterite country that protected them.