Fenoarivo Atsinanana

Fenoarivo Atsinanana, known to Europeans as Fénérive, lies on Madagascar's eastern coast in the country of the Betsimisaraka. The sea and forested interior meet along a coast where local leaders built power through alliances and access to maritime trade. Offshore is Nosy Akoho, an island associated with the burial of Ratsimilaho, the founder of the Betsimisaraka confederation.

In the early eighteenth century Ratsimilaho united northern coastal communities against the Tsikoa, whose forces had occupied Fénérive. He recaptured the settlement in 1712. The retreating Tsikoa were said to have crossed fields of wet red clay, giving rise to the name Betanimena, or people of the red earth. Ratsimilaho made peace with their leader and was chosen as ruler of the wider Betsimisaraka, taking the name Ramaromanompo.