Madagascar ceremonially received three colonial-era skulls from France on Tuesday, 128 years after they were taken from the Indian Ocean nation, including one believed to be that of a Malagasy king beheaded by French troops.
Public pressure has grown in recent years for former colonial powers such as France and Britain to return artefacts taken from Africa and Asia.
The skulls, presumed to belong to King Toera and two others from the Sakalava ethnic group, were formally handed over to Madagascar at a ceremony held at the French culture ministry in late August.
A military guard of honour raised swords as three men in traditional dress carried the skulls, draped in red cloth, out of the plane that landed in Antananarivo late on Monday.
The skulls were welcomed with a ceremony on Tuesday attended by President Andry Rajoelina at the Mausoleum of Antananarivo, the resting place of Malagasy national heroes.
A police officer, a soldier and a gendarme carried the skulls into the mausoleum, where Rajoelina, wearing a traditional “Lamba Landy” textile draped over a black suit, inspected a guard of honour.
“We are here to pay tribute and honour the heroes and those who fought for the homeland 128 years ago under the leadership of King Toera and his soldiers,” Rajoelina said.
The king’s skull will now be taken to Ambiky, in the Menabe region, where he was killed in 1897, the ministry of communication and culture said, with several stops en route to accommodate ceremonies to mark the occasion.
Descendants and historians say the return of Toera’s skull carries both political and cultural significance and will allow the Sakalava people to carry out the Fitampoha, a traditional ritual of purification and blessing that requires the presence of ancestral royal relics.
“Toera is not only the king of the Sakalava, he is also a martyr of independence,” Piero Kamamy, a descendant of the monarch, told Reuters.
According to Malagasy historians, Toera’s attempt to forge alliances symbolised a rare moment of unity between different Malagasy groups against colonial forces.
His capture and beheading in 1897 were part of a broader French strategy to crush resistance through psychological intimidation, said Jeannot Rasoloarison, a historian at the University of Antananarivo.
“The Sakalava can now grieve with the return of the king’s remains and can constitute his relics.”
