Almost a quarter of a millennium ago, in February 1774, the first European settlement in Madagascar was founded by the restless adventurer Móric Benyovszky.
The XV. The history of Louisbourg, named after King Louis of France, gives an exciting picture of the early period of colonization. The question is whether the popular belief that the Europeans, relying on their impressive superiority in power, robbed the natives is true. Benyovszky's diary shows the work of a large-scale civilizer rather than the robbery campaign of an unscrupulous conquistador.
Móric Benyovszky was the Hungarian traveler who got involved in France and reached the XV. Louis, to let France colonize Madagascar.
De Boynes summarized the purpose of the enterprise to the Minister of State as follows:
"His Majesty wishes to establish a colony on the island of Madagascar [...] with the help of which the material existence of the Isle de France and the Isle of Bourbon can be ensured or new branches of trade can be established, and a certain number of people who can serve in India in the war that may break out can find a way of living."
The text written in Bikkfan language is performed much more vividly by the civilizer when he calls together the princes of the area at the fortress under construction. Thus: "I informed the chiefs that the king of France, intending to take the inhabitants of Madagascar [...] under his protection [...] decided to found a colony that would protect them from their enemies. He also decided to establish stores in which they could always find at cheap prices such articles as they might need, notably cloths, mulled wine, gunpowder, bullets, rifles, etc. In exchange for these goods, they will be at the mercy of their own crops, especially rice, which they could not produce in large enough quantities.
I finally stated that for the advantages that His Majesty is willing to heap upon them, I would only impose the following three conditions: First, that they would enter into a treaty of friendship and alliance with me and hand over the area necessary for my installation, otherwise they would allow the inhabitants of the island to sell such land for French nationals who would like to settle among them. Secondly, that they would allow me to build hospitals and warehouses in the interior of the country, close to the sources of the Tingballe River […] And finally, thirdly, that they would oblige themselves to defend the property of the colony.”
The natives gladly accept the offer of the whites, but they demand that Benyovszky take an oath: he has no rights over them, he only supports them as a good friend against their enemies.
The entire article can be read in Magyar Nemzet!
Featured image source: monkeystale.ca (Dauphin Gate, Fortress of Louisbourg, Cape Breton)
