When a French colonial force marched into Lougou in 1899, it expected another community to fall before its guns.
Instead, it met Sarraounia Mangou, a powerful African ruler whose name would survive the violence of empire.
The battle that followed became one of the most remarkable encounters of the Voulet-Chanoine expedition. French soldiers fought through dense bush, suffered casualties, and faced resistance they had not expected. But what really happened at Lougou? Was Sarraounia the warrior queen later generations imagined, or is the truth more complicated?
The Panther Queen of Lougou takes you into the battle, the woman behind the legend, and the colonial expedition that would eventually turn against its own commanders.
A forgotten chapter of African history. A queen surrounded by legend. And a battle whose real story is stranger than the myth.