 Because of the new limitations placed on future Merina monarchs by Rainilaiarivony and the Hova courtiers, Radama's strangling represented more than a simple coup d'état. The ruling conditions imposed on Rasoherina reflected a power shift toward the oligarchs of the Hova commoner class and away from the Andriana sovereigns, who had traditionally drawn their legitimacy from the deeply held cultural belief that the royal line was imbued with hasina, a sacred authority bestowed by the ray aman-dreny (ancestors). In this respect, the new political structure in Imerina embodied the erosion of certain traditional social values among the Merina elite, who had gained exposure to contemporary European political thought and assimilated a number of Western governance principles. It also signalled the expansion of a rift between the pro-European, progressive elite to which Rainilaiarivony and his brother belonged, and the majority of the population in Madagascar, for whom traditional values such as hasina remained integral to determining the legitimacy of a government — a divide that would deepen in the decades to come through Rainilaiarivony's efforts to effect a modernizing political and social transformation on a nationwide scale.
