Radama I and the Alphabet That Replaced an Older Script

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By Jordan Lamont · Last updated 7 October 2026

Say it like a local: Radama (rah-DAH-ma); Sorabe (soo-rah-BEH), the older Arabic-based script he set aside.

At seventeen, he inherited a kingdom and a promise: that the sea would be its only border. By thirty-five he had conquered two-thirds of Madagascar, signed treaties with a European empire, and changed the way his language was written forever. Radama I is the hinge on which Madagascar swings from a cluster of highland chiefdoms into a recognised nation — and the decisions he made still shape how Malagasy is read today.

The heir who finished his father’s map

Radama I came to the throne in 1810, aged about seventeen, on the death of his father Andrianampoinimerina. He took up the same goal — unify the island — and pursued it with a modern army. Within his reign he brought roughly two-thirds of Madagascar under Merina control, pushing Merina authority toward coasts his father had only named. He became the first Malagasy sovereign that a European state, Great Britain, formally recognised as “King of Madagascar.”

The British bargain

That recognition came with a deal. In exchange for abolishing the export of enslaved people from his ports and accepting a British agent at his court, Radama received firearms, ammunition, an annual subsidy and military training for his troops. It was a calculated trade: Britain gained an ally against the slave trade and French influence in the Indian Ocean; Radama gained the tools to finish unifying the island. The alliance also opened the door to the missionaries who would transform Malagasy literacy.

The decree that changed a language

Radama’s most lasting act was not a battle but a decision about letters. Malagasy had already been written for centuries in Sorabe, an Arabic-derived script used by the south-eastern Antaimoro. When London Missionary Society teachers arrived, they debated whether to build on that Arabic-based system or import the Latin alphabet. Together with Radama, they chose Latin — and on 26 March 1823 he issued a royal decree making it the official script for Malagasy. That single choice is why Malagasy today is written in the same letters as English and French, and why the language was so quickly standardised, printed and taught.

Schools, Bibles and a modern state

Radama invited the missionaries to open schools that taught literacy and trades to nobles and future officials. They printed books, translated scripture and trained a first generation of literate administrators — the foundation of a modern civil service. In barely two decades, a kingdom that governed by memory and oratory gained a written bureaucracy. The speed of the change was extraordinary, and not everyone welcomed it; the backlash would come under his successor.

Why it matters today

Radama died in 1828 at just thirty-five, his health broken by heavy drinking, and was succeeded by his senior wife, Ranavalona I, whose long reign would reverse much of his opening to the outside world. But his alphabet decree never reversed. Every Malagasy road sign, newspaper and school book you will see on a trip through the highlands or Antananarivo is written in his chosen letters. For the sweep of the kingdom he helped build, read our Madagascar travel guide.

FAQ

Who was Radama I?

The son of Andrianampoinimerina and the first Malagasy ruler recognised as King of Madagascar by a European power (Britain). He reigned 1810–1828.

What did Radama I change about writing?

In an 1823 royal decree he adopted the Latin alphabet for Malagasy, replacing the older Arabic-based Sorabe script for official use.

How did he expand the kingdom?

Through military campaigns backed by British arms and training, he brought roughly two-thirds of Madagascar under Merina rule.

How did his reign end?

He died young, at 35, and was succeeded by his highest-ranking wife, Queen Ranavalona I.