Empress Baddie | Queen Ranavalona
The Real Story of Queen Ranavalona I, the So-Called Bloody Queen of Madagascar
You’ve seen the headlines: “The Mad Queen of Madagascar.” “History’s Bloodiest Woman Ruler.” “The Female Caligula.” These are the titles Queen Ranavalona I of Madagascar has carried for nearly two centuries—mostly written by the very people who wanted her erased.
In this week’s episode of For the Love of History, we peel back the layers of colonial spin and historical bias to uncover the real Queen Ranavalona. And spoiler alert: she wasn’t mad—she was resisting colonization.
Ranavalona ruled Madagascar for 30 years, from 1828 to 1861, a feat nearly unmatched on a continent being carved up by European superpowers. She ascended the throne in the middle of political chaos, foreign interference, and a looming threat of colonization. Yet history remembers her not as a fierce defender of sovereignty, but as a cruel, tyrannical monster.
Where did that narrative come from? Missionaries. Colonizers. Men with pens and agendas. The sources that dominate our understanding of Ranavalona’s reign are overwhelmingly European—and overwhelmingly biased. From French historians calling her barbaric to Victorian writers sexualizing and demonizing her, Ranavalona’s legacy was carefully, deliberately rewritten to serve the colonial imagination.
But when you dig deeper, a more complicated—and far more human—story emerges.
Ranavalona didn’t immediately purge Madagascar of missionaries. For nearly seven years, she allowed Europeans to live, preach, and teach freely. She even wrote to them, expressing gratitude for their efforts and offering continued cooperation—as long as they respected Malagasy customs. They didn’t. When it became clear that conversion came with cultural erasure, she resisted. Firmly. Fiercely. And yes, sometimes violently. But to paint that resistance as madness is to ignore the violence of colonization itself.
She was navigating an impossible tightrope: defend her culture and be labeled a savage, or roll over and watch her kingdom be consumed. We know what choice she made. And we also know what followed. After her death, her son reversed her policies and signed away power to the French. Within two years, Madagascar began its long and painful descent into colonization.
This episode isn’t just about setting the record straight on one woman. It’s about questioning who gets to tell history—and why. Ranavalona’s story is a case study in how colonialism warps memory, distorts records, and buries indigenous perspectives. Written Malagasy wasn’t widely used during her reign. Most of what we have comes from outsiders who despised her. The result? A legacy shaped almost entirely by her enemies.
So no, Queen Ranavalona I was not the bloodthirsty madwoman the history books claim. She was a ruler in a no-win situation, doing what countless kings before her had done: protect her land, her people, and herself. The difference? She was a woman. And she won—for thirty years.
It’s time to give her the nuance, the complexity, and the dignity she deserves.
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