Slavery in Madagascar included both internal enslavement and participation in the western Indian Ocean trade. Under the expanding Merina kingdom in the nineteenth century, captives and enslaved people were incorporated into households, agriculture, royal service, and other forms of compelled labor. Status and experience varied, so this history is not reducible to a single plantation model.

France abolished legally recognized slavery after conquering and annexing Madagascar in 1896. The date marks a change in legal authority, not an immediate end to labor coercion: colonial rule subsequently imposed compulsory labor and taxation. Slavery, emancipation, and colonial forced labor are therefore related but legally distinct parts of Madagascar's history.

External links

Encyclopaedia Britannica: History of Madagascar

International Labour Organization: Forced Labour Convention, 1930