 This shift was linked not to economic causes—the Bara as a whole grew richer from international trade and the raiding of Imerina in the late 19th century—but rather because of the gradual dispersal of the growing Bara population into the relatively underpopulated plains of the west and south and subsequently growing distance of the scattered population from the traditional center of Bara power.Although Queen Ranavalona I successfully established a Merina military installation at Ihosy, the 19th century military conquests of the Kingdom of Imerina never succeeded in entirely subjugating the Bara.Working from their base at Ihosy, the Merina garrison attempted to exert some degree of influence over the Bara by providing support to stronger Bara kings over their challengers in an effort to maintain friendly alliances with powerful leaders capable of exerting the control over the territory that the Merina could not.