Much hay is made about women in leadership roles, but what happens when an island nation is ruled entirely by women, you might ask, and I’m glad you did, because here is the story of how generation after generation of strong Madagascan women ruled the tiny nation of Madagascar into a financial powerhouse.
Long before the war-mongering French ever stepped foot on their shores, the nation of Madagascar was governed by decades of female rulers such as : Ranavalona I (1828-1861), Rasoherina (ruled during the 16th century), Ranavalona II (1868-1883), Ranavalona III (1883-1897). Unlike England, Spain, or France, the island nation’s penchant for women rulers was not a fluke but a populace supported, generational dynasty of leadership.
As queens, these women were endowed with the power to declare war, sign international treaties, and refuse European ships entry into their ports, a dismissal the Madagascan queens took great pleasure in issuing European vessels.
Having a voice
Madagascar’s Merina aristocracy guaranteed inheritance laws and marriage customs that benefitted women in the form of land titles, keys to business warehouses as well as access to ledgers.
By the late 1800s, the women, along with trade and commerce, fully took over the island nation, leaving the most powerful merchants in the capitol city of Antananarivo all women.
When the fancy European men washed up on their shores to conduct business, they quickly found they would be dealing with women—from their lodging to their fortune. When foreign traders needed a building to conduct business in, they had to see a woman.
By most modern accounts, it is claimed the women of Madagascar were far wealthier than the average European trader they engaged in business.
Living Merina
Truly the best of both worlds, the Merina dynasty combined the dual leadership roles of male kingship and female agency. Male rulers chased land and developed state, while a female queen, consort, or advisor focused on shaping government, culture, and branding for the small but mighty nation.
The thriving island established its own newspaper, coined its own currency, penned its own constitution, and entered a formal treaty with the United States—all before France decided to come for a visit and never leave.
Enter the French
The French invaded the tiny island of Madagascar in December 1894, declaring a protectorate before annexing the nation two years later and officially declaring it a colony of France in 1896.
Queen Ranavalona III, ruler at the time, did not take kindly to France’s offer of protection, refusing to recognize the order entirely. Her dismissal of the protectorate spurred France to invade the country again in September 1895, launching a ground invasion and occupying Antananarivo. Finally seizing control and annexing Madagascar in 1896, France sent Queen Ranavalona III and her prime minister packing, deporting them first to Réunion, then to Algeria—marking the collapse of the Merina dynasty and turning the page of history to direct French rule.
France retained control of Madagascar until the country won its freedom in 1960.
A picture is worth a 1,000 words
History is often compared with the sudden slowness of shifting sand, and it is anyone’s guess which events, or who, will be remembered.
What remains now of the women who ruled Madagascar, who called the tiny island home, are memories and photographs.
Photography arrived in the 1860s in Madagascar, and women lined up in their best dress to have their picture taken.
The black and white stills depict elaborate hairstyles unique to the culture, high-collared lace gowns, flowy dresses, and ornate jewelry customary of the elite class; haunting images of women secure in their power, beautiful in the knowledge of their worth. Their names may be lost to history because catalogers of the time could only be bothered to record the names of males, yet, the women pictured owned land, built houses, negotiated contracts, ran major shipping hubs—all while raising the next generation of Madagascar’s future—its queens.
Exuding power, these women did not ask permission to rule, and their images now grace museums around the world—in the Smithsonian, Antananarivo, Paris, London—and now you know.