MADAGASCAR. 



MAHDI, EL. 



507 



ma II, reigned in her stead. He attempted to 

 restore Christianity ; but he had not inherited 

 the abilities of his parents, and for some cause 

 he became obnoxious to his people, and in 1863 

 he was assassinated. His widow became his 

 successor by election (the government being 

 constitutional), under the name of Rasuahe- 

 rina I. This queen gave to the missionaries and 

 Christians free toleration, abolished the slave- 

 trade, and checked infanticide and the trial 

 by ordeal. Early in 1868 Queen Rasuahe- 

 rina died, and was succeeded by her sister, 

 who assumed the title of Ranavalena Manjaka 

 IT, and in 1869, on the occasion of her mar- 

 riage with her prime minister, both publicly 

 professed Christianity. The schools were all 

 reopened, and greatly increased in numbers. 

 A large printing-office was established in the 

 capital, and the Scriptures, religious books, and 

 school-books were produced to the amount of 

 more than a million volumes in a year. Many 

 new churches were erected, the number of 

 communicants was stated at 350,000, and the 

 whole of the Hovas and a considerable portion 

 of the Sakalavas and the subject tribes became 

 nominally Christian. There was, however, a 

 strong heathen element among these tribes. 



The French, who had regained their former 

 standing on the south of the island and on a 

 small island (Nossi-Be') at the northwest, had 

 stationed Jesuit missionaries there, and these 

 attempted to win the other tribes away from 

 the Hova influence, and if they could not draw 



em to alliance with France and to a profes- 

 sion of the Roman Catholic faith, determined, 

 at least, to drive them back to heathenism, 

 and to rebellion against the Hova government. 

 It is a singular fact that since the establish- 

 ment of the republic in France, while its 

 home policy has been exceedingly liberal, its 

 foreign policy has been controlled entirely by 

 Jesuit influences. At the prompting of these 

 Jesuit missionaries, France soon found or made 

 a cause of quarrel with Madagascar. She 

 claimed that her citizens had met with losses 

 in the island, and she demanded a large in- 

 demnity. Unwilling to be involved in a quar- 

 rel with a great power, the queen, though be- 

 lieving the claim to be unjust, offered to pay 

 the indemnity, but thereupon the French ad- 

 miral demanded that Madagascar should be 

 placed under the protection of France, and be 

 governed by French officers. To this gross 

 and unwarranted assumption the queen gave a 

 prompt but courteous refusal, and the French 

 admiral issued his ultimatum, requiring her 

 consent, or he would bombard the port of 

 Tamatave. She persisted in her refusal, and 

 the port was bombarded, and some injury done 

 to English citizens, which the French Govern- 

 ment was afterward obliged to apologize and 

 pay for. The Jesuit missionaries were now 

 required to leave the capital; but while the 

 Hovas had been driven out of Tamatave on an 

 hour's notice, and all their goods seized, these 

 Jesuits were allowed three days to dispose of 



! 



their effects, and to remove them, and by the 

 queen's orders they were provided with trans- 

 portation and sustenance to the French lines. 

 Queen Ranavalena sent ambassadors of the 

 highest rank to the Governments of France, 

 Germany, England, and the United States, pro- 

 testing against the course pursued by the French 

 officers, and asking for treaties with the Ger- 

 man, English, and American Governments, and 

 for their protection. Treaties were made with 

 these governments, that with the United States 

 being ratified in March, 1883. They recognize 

 the fact that the Hova government is the only 

 organized government on the island, and make 

 provision for the protection of our commerce 

 there, and of their rights here. While the em- 

 bassadors were absent from Madagascar, Queen 

 Ranavalena II died, in July, 1883. Her hus- 

 band carried on the government till the elec- 

 tion of a new queen, which took place in No- 

 vember. The new queen is a cousin of the 

 late queen, and takes the title of Rasuaherina 

 II. It is said that she will be required to 

 marry the prime minister, who is the real sov- 

 ereign. 



The French invasion has made no progress 

 since the early autumn. During the reign of 

 the late queen, infanticide and the trial by or- 

 deal were prohibited, under the severest penal- 

 ties, the slave-trade was completely abolished, 

 the negro slaves, from the African coast, were 

 emancipated, and the domestic slavery a mild 

 form of peonage, the peons being natives of 

 the island, and belonging to the subject tribes 

 was greatly mitigated, and will soon be en- 

 tirely abolished. A regular Parliament is to 

 be established during 1884. The Sakalavas, 

 once a powerful tribe, are now broken into 

 small fragmentary tribes. (For latest explora- 

 tion, see page 387.) 



MAHDI, EL, commonly called "the False 

 Prophet." This name is the title of an ex- 

 pected deliverer of Islam, signifying " He 

 whose path is directed by God." The Fagih 

 Mohammed Achmed claims to be the prophe- 

 sied Mahdi. The prophecy is ascribed to Mo- 

 hammed, and is to the effect that in the year 

 1300 of the Hegira an inspired leader will 

 appear who will complete the victory of the 

 Mohammedan faith on earth. Some of the 

 signs by which he is to be known are, that he 

 shall bear the same name as the founder of 

 Islam ; that his right arm shall be longer than 

 his left ; that he shall have a wart on his right 

 cheek, etc. Several persons in recent times 

 have been supposed to fulfill the prediction, 

 among them the Emir Abd-el-Kader. The 

 Fagih Ibrahim Sherif ed Din, in Bagirmi, at- 

 tracted thousands of followers as long ago 

 as 1857, in the character of t-he Mahdi. Oth- 

 ers, in various Mohammedan lands, have un- 

 dertaken the role. The most noteworthy is 

 the head of the Senussi order, Sidi-Mahdi-ben- 

 Senussi, who was announced by his father, Sidi- 

 Mohamrned-ben-Ali-es-Senussi, as the coming 

 divine emissary, whose epoch would be marked 



