Djoumbé Fatima

Djoumbé Fatima (c. 1837–1878), also known as Djoumbé Soudi or Queen Jumbe-Souli, was the Sultana of Mohéli in Comoros from 1842 to 1865 and 1874 to her death in 1878.

Early life Jumbe-Souli inherited the throne of the island of Moheli (Mwali) after the death of her father, King Ramanateka-Rivo, also known as Sultan Abderahmane. Ramanateka was a Malagasy prince who ran away from Madagascar after the death of King Radama I. She was also a cousin of King Radama II. She had a sister, Jumbe-Salama, who died young.

Her mother, Ravao (daughter of Andriantsiahofa, of Imamo West) was Merina of Madagascar. Her father, Field-Marshall Ramanetaka, was brother-in-law to Radama I, King of Madagascar. He died in 1842 and Djoumbé ascended to the throne. Her mother, Ravao, ruled as regent for a time and married her husband's former adviser, General Ratsivandini, in 1843. Ravao died by poison in 1847. He became Djoumbé's tutor and started making arrangements for her marriage to the sultan of Zanzibar.

Reign When the missionary David Griffiths returned to Moheli in 1841, expecting to meet her father he in fact found his young daughter Jumbe-Souli on the throne. Jumbe-Souli, like the majority of people on the island was Muslim and did not convert to Christianity.

Ravao and Tsivandini divorced in 1846. Mayotte had recently been ceded to France, and the French, eager to develop their presence on Mohéli, arranged for a Madame Droit to serve as governess for Djoumbé. The French also arranged for her coronation at the age of 12, in 1849. Two years later she expelled the governess and married Saïd Mohammed Nasser M'Kadar, who was cousin to Zanzibar's sultan. M'Kadar became prince consort and ruled with Fatima until 1860, when he was ousted by the French. Fatima held on to the throne, marrying two sultans. She renounced the throne for her son. He recorded that she seemed "melancholy and sickly" and had a number of attendants. She was dressed extremely finely in a "robe of rich Turkish tissue of silk and gold". Her dress covered most of her face, with only her hand visible. The purpose of the visit had been to impress upon the young queen the advantages of becoming a French colony; she resisted. Bakoko (–1901), Prince of Mohéli Salima Machamba (Fomboni, 1 November 1874 – Pesmes, Haute-Saône, France, 7 August 1964), Sultana of Mohéli (1888–1909), married at Saint-Denis, Réunion to French gendarme Camille Paule (Pesmes, 1 March 1867 – Champagney, Jura, 22 September 1946) on 28 August 1901, and she had three children