24. Madagascar’s Dangerous Ruler
To most people today, Madagascar is best known for the lighthearted DreamWorks Animation franchise of the same name, and its bevy of anthropomorphic wildlife. In the nineteenth century, though, the island was better known for darker reasons: as the realm of a psychotically dangerous ruler. She was Queen Ranavalona I (1778 – 1861), who had a tongue twister of a birth name, Rabodoandrianampoinimerina, and ruled Madagascar from 1828 until her death in 1861. Nicknamed “Ranavalona the Cruel“, she was a tyrant at best, and possibly a certifiably insane madwoman at worst.
Whatever her deal was, Ranavalona’s 33-year reign was a complete and utter disaster for her people. She cut off Madagascar from the outside world, pursued a policy of isolation and self-sufficiency, made heavy use of forced labor, and crushed all opposition, real or imagined. Between murder, massacre, mass enslavement, repression, and the resultant famines, millions of her subjects perished. During the craziest stretches of her reign, it is estimated that half the population of Madagascar died, either directly according to her orders, or as a result of her disastrous policies.