The Fifohazana: Madagascar’s Indigenous Christian Movement By Cy ...

Rahamefy states that as a native of Ambatoreny, Rainisoalambo was one of the royal servants of Isandra, in charge of looking after and educating the princes and attending to royal funerals.⁷ His status as a royal servant excluded him from all alliances with free groups, guaranteed his faithfulness to the royalty, and bestowed much power on him and on the other royal servants in the determination of royal succession. Rainisoalambo succeeded his father in acting as the keeper of the royal sampy—talismans or charms—and in being the diviner-counselor, before he became the main spokesman of the king. Eloquent in kabary—royal or ceremonial and ritual speech—through which the laws of the kingdom and judicial decisions were proclaimed and proficient in science, divination, and healing, he enjoyed great authority over the people as he traveled about performing his duties for Isandra’s prince, Rajoakarivony II. His duties allowed him to confront the Merina administration’s representative, and according to Radaniela, “…he always defeated his opponents, even when he defended someone who was guilty.”⁸

When King Rajoakarivony died in 1892, he was succeeded by his sister, Ramavo. Rainisoalambo felt old and appointed his son to replace him as holder of the royal sampy. He moved, then, to stay in his native village of Ambalavato-Ambatoreny.

So, by the year 1894, Rainisoalambo was deeply rooted in the traditional religion of the Betsileo people, as an idol keeper, diviner, and traditional healer. In his younger years growing up in the palace with the princes, he knew of Christianity from the royal family, who belonged to the Protestant Church,⁹ the official religion of the monarchy at that time. According to Raison-Jourde, membership and participation in the Protestant church was enforced by the military after the queen converted in 1869.¹⁰ In 1884 Rainisoalambo accepted baptism in order to attain the status of catechist or pastor and to have access to the resources provided by the missionaries. This means that he adhered to the Protestant religion and, particularly, to the London Missionary Society (LMS).