128 years ago, France beheaded its king and two generals during its colonization of Madagascar and placed the three heads in a French museum.On August 26, France returned the heads of the king of Madagascar and his generals to Madagascar.

The head of the king of Madagascar has been returned

On August 26, the French Ministry of Culture said in a statement that three Sakarava skulls had been returned, one of which was presumed to be the skull of King Toera.He was beheaded by the French army in 1897, and the other two heads belonged to two generals who fought alongside the king.France passed a law in 2023 allowing the return of human remains to their country for funerals, marking the first time the law has been enforced.

King Toera was cut off by the French army in 1897.

In the 1890s, France conquered the Kingdom of Sakarava in western Madagascar and incorporated it into the newly established French colony. The Sakarawa people are one of the oldest ethnic groups in Madagascar, with a settlement accounting for one-third of the island. French colonists invaded Madagascar in the late 19th century and clashed with the Sakarawa people. In order to conquer the Kingdom of Sakarava, France carried out bloody massacres, and King Toera and many senior officials were also killed.

The heads were kept in the collection of the French National Museum of Natural History until they were officially handed over at a ceremony held by the French Ministry of Culture on the 26th.

Fetra Rakotondrasoava, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Culture of Madagascar, said on the 27th:"We welcome the return of these three heads by France, including the skull of King Toera of Sakarawa, a Sakarawa. Nearly one-third of Madagascar's population is of the same origin as the Sakarawa." He said¡°It¡¯s not just about returning the remains, it¡¯s also returning a part of our history and memory.¡±

ty Donna Mara, Madagascar's Minister of Communications and Culture, said at the ceremony thatThe remains of ¡°our great Toera King¡± and others ¡°are not collections,¡± but ¡°the invisible, indelible bonds that connect our present with the past.¡±Their absence from Madagascar for 128 years is a wound in the heart especially for the Sakarawa. "

Madagascar King and Two Generals Heads Returned

According to the Ministry of Culture of Madagascar,These heads will be reentered.

In 2017, French President Emmanuel Macron once said,"In the next five years, I hope to see conditions in place to temporarily or permanently return African cultural heritage to Africa."

He then instructed him to write a report suggesting that thousands of African artifacts looted during the colonial period be removed from the French museums and returned to the African continent.

Source | Yangzi Evening News International News Studio, Song Shifeng