HISTORY
In pre-colonial Madagascar, the royal family employed a team of ritual professionals whose job it was to play Fanorona on days important to the state, when important decisions needed to be made, or when the outcome of events involving combat needed to be known. These important days of state were chosen according to either astrological calculations or according to numerological calendar correspondences, and interpretations of the games were carried out with those astrological or numerological significance in mind.
One of the last official acts of Queen Ranavalona III of Madagascar was ordering the ritual professionals to play a game of Fanorona. The date was September 30, 1895. The Malagasy had revolted against the French colonials in an attempt to regain their independence from France, and the French army was starting to besiege the capital, Antananarivo. Queen Ranavalona ordered the ritual professional game players to play a game of Fanorona in order to determine the outcome of the war. The people of Madagascar had been forced to convert to Christianity a few years earlier, but the Queen and older court attendants still retained their pre-Christian beliefs, hence their vital-concern with the outcome of the game. To them, the game was as relevant a source of information as any battle reports coming from outside the city. Sadly, the game proved accurate. The player representing France won, the player representing Madagascar lost, and indeed, the Malagasy lost the war to the French.