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  nowhere. It’s all a matter of where you look. And if one turns back to the nine-

  teenth-century literature and looks in the right places, one can, I think, already

  find strong evidence that the nature and legitimacy of the power of kings was,

  indeed, being contested, and often quite openly. The most compelling evidence

  is the fact that almost all the foreign observations about subjects’ unquestioning

  obedience to the sovereign referred not to kings, but to queens. In fact, dur-

  ing the seventy-eight years where foreign observers were present, from roughly

  1816 to 1895, only two men (Radama I and Radama II) sat on the throne, for

  a total of fourteen years between them, and both faced significant popular op-

  position. All other heads of state were women.

  Here is the canonical list of Merina monarchs, to give a sense:

  R5 King Andriamasinavalona (c. 1675–1710)

  R5 [period of civil wars, c. 1710–87, all contesting parties male]

  R5 King Andrianampoinimerina (1787–1810)

  R5 King Radama I (1810–28)

  R5 Queen Ranavalona I (1828–61)

  R5 King Radama II (1861–63)

  R5 Queen Rasoherina (1863–68)

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  R5 Queen Ranavalona II (1868–83)

  R5 Queen Ranavalona III (1883–95)

  Now, the standard narrative of the Merina kingdom runs like this: once upon

  a time, there was a wise old king named Andriamasinavalona, who managed to

  unify the numerous tiny kingdoms of the northern highlands into what was later

  to become the Merina state. After his death, the kingdom descended into civil

  wars, with his various male descendants vying for power. Up to this time, in fact,

  there is no record of female monarchs of any sort, other than legends about the

  very distant, misty past. Eventual y, the ruler of one of these principalities man-

  aged to conquer the rest, took on the name Andrianampoinimerina (“the desire

  of Imerina”), and laid the foundations of the Merina state—insisting his ultimate

  goal was to bring the entire island of Madagascar under his suzerainty. His son,

  Radama, managed to accomplish his father’s vision by entering into an al iance

  with British agents from Mauritius, who sent military aid and advisors to help

  him create a standing army, and invited foreign missionaries to enter his king-

  dom on condition they establish a school system on which he could train civil

  service. But Radama’s early death threw the kingdom into crisis. Commoner

  generals seized power, and placed his widow, Ranavalona, on the throne.

  Ranavalona reigned for the next thirty-three years, and is remembered both

  as a terrifying tyrant who fostered endless wars against coastal “rebels,” and

  a protonationalist who restored the ancient rituals, expelled missionaries and

  other foreign agents, and demanded world powers recognize Madagascar as a

  fully independent modern state. Her death provoked another crisis, and after a

  brief attempt by her son Radama II to open Madagascar to foreign powers once

  again, another military coup in 1863 led to a compromise where from then on,

  only women would actually sit on the Merina throne. The last three queens were

  all selected by, and secretly married to, the commoner prime minister, Rainilaia-

  rivony, the general who actually held ultimate political authority.

  Such is the canonical version. The story is true as far as it goes. But one

  must ask: If what we are dealing with is essential y a ploy, a series of queens

  put up as figureheads by what was really a commoner military junta, what

  was it that made the generals think such a ploy would be effective? As I’ve

  noted, there was little precedent for women rulers in Merina history.7 Even

  7. According to legend, in very early times there were two female monarchs named

  Rafohy and Rangita, but these were “Vazimba” monarchs, Vazimba often being

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  259

  in world-comparative terms, what they came up with was an extraordinarily

  unusual arrangement. In fact it may wel be unique. I am not aware of any

  other kingdom on record, anywhere in the world, where a clique of commoners

  seized power and legitimated their rule by placing a series of exclusively female

  monarchs on the throne.8

  Even more, one has to ask why the ploy actually was effective. Because while

  both Radamas faced strong popular resistance, by all accounts, the queens—

  however oppressive the military cliques that actually ran their governments (and

  they were often very oppressive indeed)—did not. Even the terrifying Ranava-

  lona I seems to have inspired genuine devotion.

  * * *

  So far the story of Leiloza, which purports to explain the end of the monarchy

  in Imamo, has led us to a series of historical puzzles. Let me arrange them in

  reverse order:

  1. Why is it that in the nineteenth century, the legitimacy of male kings fell

  into question, but the legitimacy of female ones did not?

  2. Why is it that after the French conquest, popular history was quickly rewrit-

  ten so that all ancient monarchs were represented as being oppressive or

  even outright evil during their lifetimes, but benevolent and protective after

  their deaths?9

  3. Why is it that when describing their unjust and oppressive behavior, kings

  are so often represented in their lifetimes as petulant, egotistical, “naughty”

  children?

  represented as an early, aboriginal people expelled by the current inhabitants of the

  country.

  8. There are a few cases where the paramount political position is always expected to

  be held by a woman: the Lovedu “rain queen” (Krige and Krige 1943) being perhaps

  the most famous. But it is surprisingly rare.

  9. It’s worth pointing out here that almost all documented eighteenth- and nineteenth-

  century rulers, including the queens, were quickly forgotten in the colonial period.

  The founder of the Merina state, Andrianampoinimerina, is still an important curing

  spirit, and there are still shrines to a few earlier kings, but the latter are of virtually

  no ritual importance. The “kings” remembered now are a peculiar hodgepodge of

  ancient figures almost none of whom were actually rulers, let alone important rulers,

  during their lifetimes.

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  The best way to start to think about answers to these questions, it seems to me,

  would be to reexamine the history of Leiloza himself. Because there was a his-

  torically documented prince of Imamo named Leiloza, who did in fact fal from

  power, and it happened just around the time that the fabled Leiloza of Ambohit-

  rambo is supposed to have tumbled from his bridge. It’s actually rather remark-

  able we know the story, because most stories from Imamo have been irrevocably

  lost. By a peculiar historical accident, history has been preserved, in the unpub-

  lished journals of one James Hastie, a British infantry sergeant dispatched to the

  court of king Radama by the governor of Mauritius in 1817, and who was at the

  time acting as the king’s chief military advisor. In this very early account, many

  of the key elements that were later to come together in Merina attitudes toward
/>
  their rulers—from mediumship to female rule—are already very much present,

  and might be said provide a kind of structural foretaste of what was to come.

  Let me begin, then, with Hastie’s account.

  The real Leiloza and the bandit queen

  The Leiloza in Hastie’s account was not from Ambohitrambo but from a small

  kingdom called Valalafotsy, also part of the region of Imamo, but on the very

  western fringes of the highlands, where it drifts into uninhabited no-man’s land.

  His story appears in account of the death of Leiloza’s son, Rabevola, at the

  hands of the Merina king, Radama I.

  In October 1824, Radama’s new British-trained army, fresh from its con-

  quest of the Sakalava kingdom of Boina, was marching south through a terri-

  tory called Mivamahamay. It was largely open country, dotted with occasional

  forests, renowned for its dense herds of feral cattle, which the soldiers stopped

  to hunt. The only inhabitants of this desolate land were a band of several thou-

  sand runaways from the highlands, most of them Manendy—members of a

  famous warrior caste who had once served Radama’s father (Domenichini and

  Domenichini-Ramiaramanana 1980; Rakotomanolo 1981). They had presented

  themselves at the court of the king of Boina, who granted them leave to estab-

  lish themselves in this no-man’s land. There they formed what Hastie referred

  to as a “Manendy Republic,” welcoming a variety of other refugees from the

  highlands, who ranged from escaped slaves to various unseated princes and their

  retainers. This motley crew soon became notorious for launching marauding

  raids on Radama’s subjects in the highlands, and in the process, accumulating a

  great deal of moveable wealth.

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  261

  In fact, the “Manendy Republic” was only a republic in a certain very broad

  sense of the term. It had a supreme leader: a “prophetess,” as Hastie describes

  her, widely feared across the region. This woman went by the unwieldy name of

  Triemanosinamamy.10

  This is where the story becomes relevant to us, because in describing the ori-

  gins of this prophetess, Hastie begins telling stories, obviously culled from her

  followers, about events in the highlands several generations before. As it turns

  out, Sergeant Hastie explains, Triemanosinamamy was not originally the name

  of the prophetess, but the name of an earlier ruler of Valalafotsy, a kingdom on

  the very western marches of Imamo. What’s more, the prophetess was the suc-

  cessor to the recently deceased former chieftain of the Manendy Republic, who

  was, precisely, Leiloza. Leiloza had himself originally been king of Valalafotsy:11

  It is said that four generations back, a Chieftain named Triemanosinamamy

  governed the district Valalafotsy in so equitable and successful a manner as to

  render himself highly respected and even revered by all his subjects. His good ac-

  tions had such an effect that they transferred his influence and popularity to his

  descendants and particularly to the Chieftain from whom the late Leiloza was

  descended. During the reign of Leiloza, a slave boy that was sent for firewood

  returned with a dry faggot and placed it under the cave, outside his master’s

  house, where it was soon discovered to grow luxuriantly, and the boy ran into a

  little building or cemetery which was erected over the remains of Triemanosi-

  namamy; a place considered so sacred by the natives that they suppose any per-

  son not of noble blood would die immediately on entering it. The boy, however,

  10. Since the text was written just before Malagasy spelling was standardized in its

  current form, I follow the version adopted by the English missionary William Ellis,

  who summarizes Hastie’s account in his History of Madagascar (1838, II: 345–48).

  Ellis’ version abbreviates the narrative, leaves out several elements such as the magical

  charms and prophetess’ harem, but otherwise remains fairly faithful to the original.

  The most peculiar omission is the name Leiloza, whose name is written Lahilooza

  in Hastie’s text—Ellis for some reason renders this Sahiloza and incorrectly ascribes

  the name to the first “prophet” in the story, rather than to the king. There’s also the

  question of the old king’s name, which takes an unusual form. Trie- is a rare prefix,

  and manosimamy would literally mean “to confiscate that which is sweet,” which

  doesn’t seem to make a lot of sense. I follow Ellis but suspect the real name was

  different. Hastie’s first mention of the name is Tsiemamoshima maam, which seems

  better rendered Tsiemamotsiramamy, which would make slightly better sense.

  11. I have kept the original, but changed the spelling of the Malagasy names to standard

  form.

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  soon began to sing, and roar loudly; and after singing, and roaring alternately for

  some time, he declared himself to be filled with spirit, and ultimately to be the

  absolute person of the long-deceased Chief Triemanosinamamy, whose voice it

  was imagined by those on the outside he had assumed. Under this assumed title

  he issued from the tomb and was received by many as a true prophet; the miracle

  of the dry faggot growing being considered an incontrovertible proof, that he was

  not an imposter, and it so occurred that he gained confidence with the people by

  happening to foretell, with exactness in several instances, their success or defeat

  in marauding expeditions.

  Leiloza finding his own power declining, and that of the prophet fast in-

  creasing, charged him with being an imposter and urged that his dark colour and

  particularly his curly head proved that he could not be the personage that he

  represented himself to be. And Leiloza caused him to be put to death.

  At that period commenced the victorious career of Radama’s father An-

  drianampoinimerina, who, aiming at conquest, attacked the district of Valala-

  fotsy, and met little opposition from Leiloza, who was deserted by the greater

  part of his subjects; it being their belief that in the prophet they had lost the

  only means by which the invaders could be restrained. And Leiloza, with a few

  fol owers, sought safety in the Boina district, where they were joined by the

  Manendy and other immigrants or runaways from Imerina. They al settled at

  Mivamahamay, where Leiloza died, leaving the settlement without a leader of

  distinction.

  Much confusion succeeded until a female of more than ordinary talent

  raised herself to notice among them, and in confidence told Rabevola (the son

  of Leiloza) that she was the identical person that his father had caused to be put

  to death; in testimony of which she showed the wounds inflicted on her former

  person, when in the character of a man, and this she asserted to be the cause of

  her now assuming the character of a female.

  Rabevola gave full credit to her story, and several of the persons who had

  witnessed the execution of the slave boy prophet testified that the report she

  made of the wounds was correct. She had no difficulty consequently in get-

  ting herself installed as the leader of the people. However she always permitted

  Rabevola and Tsiafondrazana [her sec
ond husband, the Manendy leader] to ap-

  pear to share the power of Government with her; and the several petty Chief-

  tains that have since joined the population under her sway have been allowed to

  form their parties, and enjoy all the privileges of royalty, within their respective

  divisions; so that she has thus kept in favor with all. And though she had only

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  263

  two reputed husbands, she exercised her extensive prerogative in that respect as

  a true-born Princess of the country is entitled to do. (Hastie n.d.: 402–6)12

  After having defeated the main force of Manendy a few days previous, Radama’s

  soldiers had captured the prophetess and her chief followers red-handed, trying

  to make off with some royal cattle. Curious to meet so extraordinary a figure,

  Hastie accompanied two officers who had been sent to interrogate the captives.

  Her people, probably numbering not more than a few hundred, had, it would

  seem, established a certain reputation for themselves, not so much for military

  might, as for knowledge of dangerous medicines. Their forest camp, serving as

  temporary capital, was guarded only by ody: “pieces of sticks, and roots in various

  forms, and rubbed with oils, were suspended on the trees around them” (ibid.:

  402) without, to Hastie’s surprise, any more conventional fortification. At the

  center of the camp, they encountered the prophetess herself. Hastie found her

  decidedly unimposing in appearance: about twenty-five-years of age, short and

  fat, dark of complexion, with frizzy hair but excellent teeth, she appeared flanked

  by her two “copper-colored” husbands. Backed up by Leiloza’s son Rabevola,

  “she launched into vigorous protestations of innocence, swearing endless fidelity

  to the Merina king” (ibid.). Rabevola added that any accusations of their being

  in possession of ody mahery, or evil medicine, were entirely unfounded: they had

  12. Some liberties have been taken with punctuation. That Leiloza was indeed a

  historical ruler of Valalafotsy is confirmed in the Tantara ny andriana (Callet 1908:

  567), a series of manuscripts assembled sometime in the late nineteenth century,

  where the king reigning in Valalafotsy at the time of Andrianampoinimerina’s