"The most ferocious woman in the world" an alternative label for the Queen of Madagascar

The Queen’s Palace is the most ornamental and culturally valuable landscape in Madagascar. It stands on the highest mountain in the city and overlooks the entire city of Thane. , But also a symbol of the queen's reigning power.

Speaking of this queen, her "fame" is not small. During her reign, more than 2.5 million people were killed, which earned her the title of "the most brutal woman in the world".

She is the Queen Ranavarona I of Radama I. She is the "first lady" of 11 princesses. The former king died prematurely (only 36 years old at the time of his death), and then Lanavarona initiated a coup and successfully usurped the throne in 1828 AD, and began to dominate the destiny of the kingdom.

Crimes and merits

in Ranavalona (Ranavalona) also known as Ramavo and Ranavalo , Known for her brutality, was called "Female Nero". During the reign from 1828 to 1861, Madagascar lost 50% to 75% of its population, largely due to her cruel policies.

But in diplomacy, she defeated the combined forces of Britain and France countless times to maintain the independence of the country.

Her iron-blooded rule is not focused on foreign invaders, and her own people are also suffering from shock.

The cruel regime

Ranavarona was born in 1778 in a non-royal family. However, she was married to the crown prince to show her gratitude to her father. The crown prince Radama (Radama) ascended the throne in 1810, and Ramavo became the queen. But because Ramawah was unable to give birth to an heir, their marriage soon became problematic.

More importantly, after a few years in power, Ramama began to kill his opponents, including Ramavo's family, which angered Ramama. When Radama died in 1828, she launched a coup and took the throne after overthrowing the king's nephew.

Ramavo, who became queen, was named after Ranavalona I, and immediately launched a cruel regime.

After she came to power, she announced that everyone must shave their heads for 10 months in mourning for her husband. During the mourning period, bathing, dancing, playing music, sleeping on the mattress or clapping hands are not allowed, otherwise they will be sold as slaves.

She was particularly fond of using animals to execute punishment. Until her death in 1861, she would execute tens of thousands of people every year, and most of the prisoners were ordered to swim in the crocodiles. Depending on the animal used, the prisoner was swallowed, or physically damaged, or even crushed to death.

As she gets older, the queen becomes more and more superstitious and paranoid.

Punishment expedition, collective retaliation, mass murder, from 1845 to 1855, she massacred a total of 20,000 people. There are many ways of killing: rolling people in a mat, throwing them down from the hills of Antananarivo, or behindA thorn is inserted, and the person is divided into two in public at the market, or the person is hung from a long pole to beheaded. Lanavalona I also likes to rely on oracles to punish people: extract poison from the bushes and let the suspects take it one by one, and only those who are innocent can survive.

During the 33-year reign of Queen Ranavarona I, experts conservatively estimated that 50-75% of the population of Madagascar suffered from war, disease or the Queen’s barbaric and ruthless judicial system Untimely death. With at least 2.5 million deaths, she has earned the title of "Most Killer Woman in the World". This is enough to see that her tyranny has made the country’s people unhappy.

Amazing spirit

Anyone who knows a little about the modern history of the world understands the early colonization of the West. All of them used missionary methods to infiltrate the behavior of weak and small countries. The queen is more intelligent than her husband. As soon as she became the throne, she immediately tore up all the treaties the former king had signed with the British and ordered the expulsion of all British missionaries from Madagascar.

In 1835, the Queen convened an emergency national meeting to announce that the island was forbidden to believe in Western Christianity, and offenders were put to death. On March 28, 1849, the Queen signed the death penalty for 19 Christians. That day, three men and two women Christians were burned to death in public in the northern suburbs of the capital Antananarivo. The remaining 14 people were taken to the southwestern cliff of the capital and thrown into the abyss to death.

With amazing courage, the policy of anti-foreign missionaries is enforced hard.

In 1837, four British and French ships drove to Madagascar’s largest port Tamataf for armed demonstrations. The queen did not waver and adopted a curve strategy. She ordered the prohibition of Chinese nationals from going to Mauritius Island (British occupation) and Reunion Island (French occupation) to work for Anglo-French plantations, and offenders were put to death. This cut off the source of labor for plantations in Britain and France.

In 1845, Britain and France sent another naval expeditionary fleet to Tamatave Port to demonstrate and bombard the port city to launch an armed attack. The Queen's government resolutely fought back and severely damaged the invading army. Larnavalona I ordered the cutting off of the heads of the British and French soldiers and hung them on high poles along the entire coast. The British and French powers finally realized that they could not bring the Queen’s government and the people of Madagascar to submission. At least at the time, the wisest move for Madagascar was to abandon all attempts to gain a foothold on the island.

Introducing advanced technology

Although the Queen prohibits foreign missions, it never excludes the introduction of advanced European technology. One day in the early 19th century, a high-nosed foreigner from a wrecked ship boarded Madagascar. He is a Frenchman Labaud, who is proficient in Western technology. When he came to the palace of King Lanavalona I to talk to the queen about advanced western technology, the queen decided to hire him at a high salary. On the one hand, Lanavalona I asked him to serve as the important task of educating the Crown Prince of Lakoto, on the other hand he also asked him to guide the industrial construction of Madagascar. Using advanced Western technology, a new industrial center was established, including heavy industries such as mining, iron smelting, foundry, and military industries, and light industries such as dyeing, weaving, and leather making. In agriculture, new crop varieties such as western grapes and vanilla are also introduced. Labaud also designed and built a Western-style palace for the queen.

The Queen’s Palace was built in 1839-1840 in a typical 19th century European Baroque style. The main building of the palace consists of two The main part of the inner palace is a palace basically made of red sandalwood. The outer walls are all made of granite. The whole is tall and straight, with a height of 40 meters at the highest point, which is extraordinary.According to historical records, 2,000 migrant workers died of exhaustion during the construction of the red sandalwood pillars in the palace.

Unfortunately, the original building was burnt down in 1995 due to the similarity of the "Four Olds" ideology. Later, people rebuilt it again according to the original appearance of the Queen's Palace. Nowadays, only the empty shell of the rebuilt Banteay Srei is left silently telling the past history...

Source: Internet, invasion and deletion

Source: Wikipedia, MILDRED EUROPA TAYLOR, 123Club

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