He wanted to get the biggest African island first for France, then for the United States, and finally - just for himself. He has managed to do what others have been unable to do. The locals themselves proclaimed him emperor. How did it come about?
Madagascar still has many secrets. The island of Africa, inhabited by few people and many wild animals, is difficult to get to. Even today it is not easy to navigate. And what about the eighteenth century! No wonder that in Europe at that time, expeditions to Madagascar were thought of in the same terms as expeditions to the moon.
However, it was then that the traveler Maurycy August Beniowski arrived at the exotic island. This Pole of Hungarian origin, who lived in the years 1746-1786, visited Madagascar three times. Long before he became the title character of Juliusz Słowacki's poem, the natives proclaimed him the emperor. His memory survives on the island to this day.
From Kamchatka to the French manor
Beniowski's journey to Madagascar was practically an impossible mission. Only that this word did not exist in the dictionary of a brilliant and energetic Pole. As a fifteen-year-old he fought in the war with Prussia. It was then that he began to dream of a great sea voyage to India. However, the political situation forced him to change his plans. He was captured when he fought on the side of the Bar Confederation. He was sent to Russian Kazan.
The clever nobleman fled from there quickly, but was arrested just as quickly and exiled again, this time as far as the icy Kamchatka. He got there in December 1770. The ingenious thirty-year-old had no intention of making a life there. He organized a rebellion. Together with other exiles, got out of Russian captivity ... aboard a hijacked ship. The flag of the Confederate Bar was said to have flown on the mast of the boat.
Madagascar was still an unknown land for most Europeans in the 18th century.
This is how the spectacular cruise of a Pole on a three-masted ship called St. Piotr and Paweł. As Andrzej Fedorowicz describes in his recently published book "The famous escapes of Poles" , the ship was unloaded with gold, pearls, thousands of animal skins and secret Russian files . During more than four months of sailing into the unknown, the refugees reached, among others, Taiwan. They also fought a battle with Japanese tribes. Finally, in September 1771, Beniowski and his crew found themselves in Macau, off the coast of China. After selling skins, furs and the ship itself, they continued their journey on French ships.
During their trip to Europe, the comrades stopped in Tôlanaro, Madagascar. Already during this first, short visit, Beniowski noticed that the French still did not cope with the management of this African island, although they had already mastered it in 1686.
Paris fame
The brilliant diplomat decided to take advantage of this circumstance as soon as he got to Paris. The atmosphere was favorable. As Andrzej Fedorowicz writes, the story of Beniowski's daring escape from Kamchatka quickly became a sensation in the French capital. The court became interested in the Pole. King Louis XV himself listened with interest to his reports on unknown lands and Russia's plans for expansion in Asia and North America.
Beniowski won French hearts with his history, social manners and extraordinary intelligence. Soon the nobleman had his door open to the salons of the world's greatest elite. He played chess himself with Benjamin Franklin, the then US ambassador to Paris. He could easily get a good military job and bask in the luxuries of the French court as much as he wanted. However, it was not on his mind. He dreamed of returning to Madagascar. So he proposed to the French to organize an expedition to establish a colony there. And so in 1774, with his wife and a group of colonists, he returned to his favorite island.
The first months in paradise were not rosy. The enterprising traveler and his spouse fell ill with fever. The Pole also had a conflict with his superiors in France. As an opponent of slavery, he tried to introduce his own order in the colony. He did not look back at Paris, which did not support him in any way.
The indigenous people of Madagascar did not welcome Beniowski with open arms, but the Pole was able to convince them.
There were also problems with the local population. Malagasy, indigenous people of Madagascar, by no means welcomed the foreign colonizer with open arms. Their attacks meant that the new host had to hurry up with the construction of a fortified settlement, which he named after the French king Louisbourg. Undeterred by the difficulties, he step by step built his own authority among the natives. As Mieczysław Lepecki, the author of Beniowski's biography , writes the breakthrough came after a skirmish won by a Pole. He then made a gesture that made him famous among the chiefs of the local tribes. Namely, he shook hands with the defeated and declared that he treated him as an equal.
Pole king of Madagascar
In a short time Beniowski gained recognition among the natives so much that in order to protect the country from French colonization, they chose him as their leader. The… rumor helped. An old Malagasy woman, who returned from captivity years later, began to spread that the traveler was the grandson of the local ruler, Ramini Larizona. Years earlier, he and his entire family had been sold to slave traders. Thanks to this rumor, if you believe the colorful account of the person concerned from his famous Diaries, On October 10, 1776, the leaders of the tribes proclaimed him the Great Ampanskabe, or Emperor . And so, without the help of great powers and engaging great resources, he became the monarch of one of the largest islands in the world.
It is worth adding that the Polish nobleman turned out to be an excellent organizer. As described in " The famous escapes of Poles " Andrzej Fedorowicz, he divided Madagascar into provinces, built roads, the first hospital on the island and a fabric factory. He even fought to improve sexual morals. At a women's assembly, he passed a resolution that treason in marriage was to be treated as a crime. The adulterous women were punished extremely cruelly:by capturing them and selling them to other countries.
Forced return to Europe
Meanwhile, the French have finally realized the situation. They stated that Beniowski, instead of taking the island for them, had created his independent state on it. They dismissed him from office. The "Emperor" returned to Paris to ease the situation and present the French government with further plans to use the new land. However, time was not in his favor:in the pre-revolutionary chaos, no one even wanted to hear about Madagascar.
Seeing that he would not recover on the Seine, the Pole decided to look for his happiness elsewhere. He decided to interest the Americans in the conquest of Madagascar. He began applying for admission to the US military. He also referred to his family connections with Kazimierz Pułaski, who, unfortunately, had just died at Savannah. He also tried to take advantage of his Parisian friendship with Franklin.
Beniowski was proclaimed the "Great Ampanskabe", that is, the emperor.
What was Beniowski's plan exactly? He applied for the creation of an international military corps with the goal of capturing Madagascar for the United States . The island could be used in the future as a base against England. Interestingly, the idea almost won the approval of US congressmen. In the meantime, however, the United States made peace with England, and the Pole eventually returned to Europe with nothing. But he was not going to forget Madagascar.
Unlucky skirmish
The traveler, unable to find allies, organized a private armed detachment. In June 1784 he made his third visit to the shores of Madagascar. Of course, the expedition was organized without the consent of France. The nobleman sailed with his men to the coast of Africa as far as Brazil. The journey turned out to be extremely exhausting:half of the participants of the expedition died on the way. But even the modest forces that remained allowed the experienced soldier to master the French trading post on the island.
The Pole took power again. Soon after, the French sent a punitive expedition against him. On May 26, 1786, there was a skirmish between the modest forces of the emperor and the soldiers sent by Paris. Only one was killed. He was… Maurycy August Beniowski, who was struck in the chest by a stray bullet. He fell close to the trading post he had founded and named after him Mauritania. He was buried in a hurry on the battlefield, somewhere on the bank of the Andranofotsy River.
Beniowski's memory is still alive in Madagascar to this day. The illustration shows the capital of the island, Atananarivo, circa 1860.
The legend of Beniowski in Madagascar
Traces of the Polish ruler have been preserved in Madagascar to this day. One of the streets of Antananarivo, the island's capital, bears his name. On the shores of the Indian Ocean there is also his monument. There is still alive in Madagascar the legend of the Long (Great) White Man who defended the natives against the French.
The history of Beniowski's amazing journey across the seas and oceans towards freedom and his activities on the African island fascinates next generations. Admittedly, the Pole did not reign there for long, but - as Fedorowicz emphasizes - Madagascar will always be associated with his name.