- We don’t believe even Indiana Jones would think this skull belonged in a museum.
A conquered king’s head is unceremoniously chopped off and placed on public display. Sounds like something they would’ve done in the ancient world, or maybe in the medieval period, right?
Well, that was something the French did less than 130 years ago.
After France colonized Madagascar in the late in 19th century, there was an uneasy coexistence between the Menabe kingdom on the island’s western coast and their new foreign overlords. As these things often went, the Malagasy natives rose up in revolt, only to be brutally crushed by the colonizers.
To hammer down the message that they wouldn’t tolerate dissent, the French decapitated the Menabe king, Toera. Then they took his skull and transported it to the National Museum of Natural History in Paris.
You know, as you do.
Now, the French have finally relented and allowed Toera’s skull to return to Madagascar. There, the skulls will be buried in the western Menabe region that Toera once ruled over.
Brother Against Brother
But who is king Toera? And why did the French want his head?
Well, Toera (or Itoera) belonged to the Sakalava people inhabiting the western coastal areas of Madagascar. He was the eldest son of the king of the Menabe kingdom and a local princess.
Despite his high pedigree, it wasn’t given that Toera would inherit the throne from his father. After all, he had been born outside the royal palace, which left his actual status unclear.
His half-brother Ingereza, on the other hand, had been born in the palace — but his mother wasn’t a royal. This sounds like a recipe for a brother-on-brother power struggle, and that’s exactly what happened.
Ingereza almost came out on top, too, after his troops blocked vital trade routes along Madagascar’s rivers. However, he was never able to win the heart of the people, and Toera ultimately triumphed thanks to popular support.
So, Toera sat on his throne and all was well. And then the French came.
Off with His Head
Between 1883 and 1895, France waged two military campaigns on Madagascar, which was an important strategic location on oceanic trade routes leading to the Indian Ocean. The French intervention on Madagascar culminated in the island becoming an official French colony with a military government.
Many local kings and chiefs rebelled against French rule, but Toera — perhaps tired of fighting due to his own power struggle — tried to exist peacefully with them. However, a French ban on slave trading on Madagascar ruined the economy of Toera’s kingdom.
Although that might’ve been a victory for human rights, Toera wouldn’t stand for it. So, he rebelled, and French general August Gerard was sent to put an end to his rabble rousing.
What actually happened is unclear, as both the Menabe and the French accused each other of treachery. Toera claimed Gerard promised peace negotiations while actively marching toward the Menabe capital; Gerard stated Toera kept suing for peace while amassing troops and weapons at the same time.
Finally, things came to a violent end. On August 30, 1897, the French bombarded Toera’s capital, marched in, captured the king, and chopped his head off.
Then, they took the head to Paris’ National Museum of Natural History.
Nobody is quite sure why the French looted Toera’s skull. Records show that the French governor of Madagascar reprimanded Gerard for unnecessary brutality during his campaign, which enraged the Menabe and led to a further seven-year uprising.
He didn’t feel it necessary to return Toera’s skull, though.
Heroes’ Return
The skull stayed at the museum in Paris for 128 years. Madagascar gained independence in 1960 but it took until 2017 for the French to start making overtures to make up for some of their colonial history.
That year, a report initiated by French president Emmanual Macron recommended France return thousands of artifact looted during the colonial period to their home countries. On the list was Toera’s skull as well.
It takes a long time to return a severed head, apparently, because it still took another eight years to do so. However, at the end of August 2025, France finally handed the skulls of Toera and two of his generals back to Malagasy authorities.
What, you thought they were happy with just one skull?
The return of the skulls was announced by the culture ministry of Madagascar, which celebrated the arrival of old “heroes” to the island.
“I welcome the return of these three skulls, including that of King Toera of the Sakalava people … This is not only the repatriation of human remains, but the return of a part of our history and memory. We will now be able to honor these remains as they should be,” Fetra Rakotondrasoava, Madagascar’s Ministry of Culture, said.
The skulls of Toera and his generals will be buried in the western Menabe region, which covers much of the same area as his kingdom once did.