Stolen African king’s skull returned after 128 years

Madagascar has finally welcomed home the skulls of a king and two warriors that were carted away by French troops 128 years ago during the colonial conquest.

The ancestral remains, believed to include that of King Toera of the Sakalava people, were seized in 1897 after his execution and shipped to Paris, where they sat in a French museum as colonial trophies.

On Monday night, the skulls arrived in Antananarivo and were received at the airport by Sakalava representatives in traditional attire.

The following day, a solemn state ceremony was held, with President Andry Rajoelina, government officials and Sakalava dignitaries leading a ceremonial procession through the capital. The skulls, carried in boxes draped with Madagascar’s flag, were later taken to the city’s mausoleum.

They are expected to be transported this week to Belo Tsiribihina, the coastal town where King Toera once reigned, for final burial.

France formally handed over the remains under a 2023 law that allows restitution of human remains taken during its colonial expansion. French Culture Minister Rachida Dati confirmed that a scientific committee verified the skulls were of Sakalava origin, though only “presumed” one belonged to the king himself.

The return marks another chapter in France’s attempt to reckon with its colonial past. Dozens of African countries, including Madagascar, still have ancestral remains locked away in French collections decades after independence.