Queen Ranavalona
April 11, 2026
by William P. Meyers

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Forgotten No More: Queen Ranavalona defeats the British Empire

Born Princess Ramavo in 1778 on the African island of Madagascar, the woman who would later rule the island and defeat the British Empire has been largely forgotten. On purpose. A black woman who defeated the Brits, let's write her out of history, fellow scholars. Except when we need a few Christian martyrs to spice up the recruiting of new missionaries.

Despite a long history of interacting with mainland Africa, Asian merchants and European imperialists, Madagascar was politically independent under King Radama I, Ranavalona's predecessor. Radama understood the rivals Britain and France both wanted to subjugate his island. Like Japan a few decades later, he did what he could to modernize Madagascar while otherwise minimizing the influence of foreigners.

Princess Ranavalona was by no means the heir apparent when Radama died in 1828. She had married Radama, but he had other wives, had executed some of her relatives, and she bore him no children. As with many extended royal families, and their gangs of ambitious sycophants, intrigue followed Radama's death. The army supported Ranavalona and she declared herself the successor chosen by Radama, which was likely a lie. following tradition, she assured herself a permanent throne by eliminating rivals, including the actual designated successor, Rakotobe, a nephew who was the eldest son of Radama's elder sister. She became reigning queen in June 1829 (Ranavalona was her chosen name on coronation). She was the first queen of Madagascar since the 1500s.

Queen Ranavalona had many good qualities. For instance, she hated Christianity. She knew Christian missionaries were deluded people whose real mission, aside from gathering tithes, was to act as the advanced forces for a British or French takeover. She detested foreigners, again seeing them as agents seeking to subjugate her island. She closed churches and publicly worshipped the land's native spirits. She killed a few local rivals, Christians and foreigners. She closed Christian churches. In 1835 she declared Christianity illegal. "Various outrages were committed against British subjects: a naval officer and seven of his men were killed, another was sold as a slave, others were falsely imprisoned." [Hernon, p. 531]

However, the queen realized she needed some foreign inventions to keep her nation independent. She kept on a Frenchman who set up an armory that manufactured cannon, muskets, swords and bayonets. Other factories produced a variety of modern manufactures. This was during an era when Britain was destroying native factories in India to force them to buy crap made in England.

In 1845 the British decided they would force "free trade" upon Madagascar and overthrow Queen Ranavalona. The French joined with the British. They began the war by bombarding the coastal city of Tanatave (Toamasina). Although they caused considerable destruction, European troops were unable to capture the town, partly due to the native's use of cannons. British and French heads on pikes adorned the beach.

The British and French each threatened full-scale invasions of Madagascar. The Queen prepared for war and even planned to build coastal defenses around the shores of the island.

Queen Ranavalona died at the age of 83 in 1861. She had been Queen for 33 years. Her son became king, Radama II. Unfortunately he opened up Madagascar to the French. On the plus side he abolished slavery and worked to diminish intra-island rivalries and violence. He died two years after taking office. His successors were even weaker. Madagascar became a French colony in 1894 following an invasion. It would not gain independence until June 1960.

Queen Ranavalona is typically maligned by western historians (to the extent she is not written out of history) because of her use of force against her opponents, foreigners, and particularly Christians. The slaughter of non-Christian by Christians is generally presented as an advance of civilization. A good comparison for political violence would be Abraham Lincoln and his Democrat Party rival and leader of the Confederacy Jefferson Davis. Why did Queen Ranavalona garner the same glory, for protecting her rule, that President Lincoln did. Our prejudices run deep. That does not mean I like Ranavalona's methods, basically killing dissidents, I just think they should be judged in context.

Based on a chapter of the highly enlightening book Britain's Forgotten Wars by Ian Hernon.