France Beheaded An African King 100 Years Ago. His Skull Is On Its Way Home

France has returned three human skulls, including one believed to be that of a 19th-century Malagasy King Toera of the Sakalava people, to Madagascar. This comes 128 years after they were carried to France. 

The restitution was carried out in a ceremony held at the French Ministry of Culture on August 26. It marks the first use of the 2023 French law that enables the return of human remains to a country for funeral purposes.

The other two skulls belonged to Sakalava warriors who fought with King Toera and were also put to death during the bloody uprising against the Menabe kingdom in western Madagascar, CNN reported.

French troops defeated the Sakalava kingdoms in the late 19th century and colonised Madagascar. King Toera was killed and beheaded by French forces during the August 1897 massacre. His skull was then taken as a trophy to Paris and placed in the National Museum of Natural History, along with numerous other remains from Madagascar.

"These skulls entered the national collections in circumstances that clearly violated human dignity and in a context of colonial violence," said French Culture Minister Rachida Dati.

Her Madagascar counterpart, Volamiranty Donna Mara, hailed the handover as a groundbreaking gesture that ushers in a new era of cooperation between the two nations, Al Jazeera reported. "Their absence has been, for more than a century, 128 years, an open wound in the heart of our island," she said.

Since taking office in 2017, French President Emmanuel Macron has admitted to certain previous wrongdoings by France in Africa. While visiting the capital Antananarivo in April, Macron mentioned that he was seeking "forgiveness" for France's "bloody and tragic" colonisation of Madagascar.

The country gained independence in 1960 after more than 60 years of colonial control. The skulls are scheduled to return to the Indian Ocean island on Sunday for their burial.