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AEGIS European Conference on African Studies
11 - 14 July 2007
African Studies Centre, Leiden, The Netherlands
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The fate of the royal relics to be determined by the Law (West Madagascar 1956-2006)
| Panel |
22. Retour sur les monarchies sacrées en Afrique
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| Paper ID | 118 |
| Author(s) |
Ballarin, Marie Pierre
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| Paper |
No paper submitted
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| Abstract | In the Sakalava’s kingdoms of the Boina and Menabe in West Madagascar, the king was sacred and the universe revolved around him. The power of the king was symbolised by the remains of his ancestors, which were preserved as relics in a sacred place and were used to exercise power over the Sakalava people. The preservation of these relics and the cult around them (the ritual of the bath and the practice of spirit possession) allowed the king to make the royalty sacred and to legitimate his power and his authority. This honouring of royal ancestors has been fundamental right up until today. Boina shrines, in Majunga town, hold the remains of four royal ancestors. They are called “Andriamisara efa dahy”. From the 18e century, the possession of the relics and the control over the place where they are still kept have been represented a stake for all the political governments which followed one another.
Since Independence, the relics have been representing all the political changes of the Malagasy society through a lawsuit based on their control which has begun in 1957 and which has not found a solution up to today. This paper will discuss how the sacred relics have been confronted to the law system through the different proceedings they have been subjected to for 40 years. Nowadays, does it mean that the ancestor’s cult, medium of the Sakalava identity, has lost its sacred aura and its magic power? Even though many tensions exist within royal families in Majunga, which with people are less tolerant of these days, we will see how the relic’s cult seems to be still efficient ideologically.
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