Dahomey
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What was the Kingdom of Dahomey?
The Kingdom of Dahomey, also known as Abomey, was a West African kingdom that flourished in the 18th and 19th centuries in what is now southern Benin. Originally a dependency of Allada, Dahomey became an independent state in the 17th century under Wegbaja. King Agaja expanded Dahomey's territory in the early 18th century, conquering Allada and Ouidah to dominate the region.
Dahomey was an absolute monarchy with a highly trained standing army that included a female contingent called "Amazons". The kingdom thrived on the slave trade during the 18th and early 19th centuries but transitioned to palm oil exports in the mid-19th century as the slave trade declined. Dahomey was eventually conquered by the French in the late 19th century and incorporated into the French colony of Dahomey.
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Where was Dahomey located in Africa?
The kingdom of Dahomey, also known as Abomey, was located in western Africa, in the region that is now southern Benin. Dahomey was the state of the Fon people and was originally a dependency of Allada, but it became an independent state in the 17th century. The French later conquered Dahomey in the late 19th century, and it became a French protectorate and colony.
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When did the Kingdom of Dahomey exist?
The Kingdom of Dahomey flourished in the 18th and 19th centuries in what is now southern Benin. Wegbaja, grandson of Do-Aklin, turned Abomey into a powerful state in the 17th century. Under King Agaja, Dahomey expanded, taking over Allada and Whydah. The state enlarged and prospered from the sale of slaves to Europeans under Kings Tegbesu, Kpengla, and Agonglo.
Dahomey reached its peak under Gezu, who freed it from paying tribute to Oyo. However, after 1840, the kingdom faced challenges as Britain ended the overseas slave trade. Gezu shifted to palm oil exports, but it was less profitable. After Behanzin became king, the French took control, leading to conflict. In 1892, the French defeated the Dahomeyans, establishing a protectorate, and Dahomey was absorbed into the French colony.
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What was the society and government like in Dahomey?
Dahomey, a kingdom in West Africa that existed in the 18th and 19th centuries, had a rigidly stratified society led by an absolute monarch. The King was the supreme authority, surrounded by a retinue, and governed through a centralized bureaucracy of commoners. Each male official had a female counterpart at court to monitor and advise the king.
Dahomey was organized for war, maintaining a standing army that included a female contingent known as the Amazons. The army's purpose was to expand the kingdom and capture slaves for trade or to work on royal plantations. The kingdom took a regular census for military conscription. Dahomey integrated conquered territories through intermarriage, uniform laws, and a shared tradition.
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What traditions or features made Dahomey unique?
The Kingdom of Dahomey, located in what is now southern Benin, had unique traditions and features. Dahomey was an absolute monarchy unlike any other in Africa, with a rigid social hierarchy under the unchallenged authority of the king. The king appointed male officials, each of whom had a female counterpart at court who monitored his activities and advised the king. Dahomey had a highly trained standing army, including a female contingent called the "Amazons" by Europeans, who served as royal bodyguards. The rulers united disparate communities, creating a new national identity where conquered subjects identified as Fon. The kingdom had an elaborate cult of deceased kings, honored with human sacrifices at yearly public ceremonies.
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How did European contact affect the Kingdom of Dahomey?
European contact significantly shaped the Kingdom of Dahomey. In the 17th century, European nations engaged in the Atlantic slave trade, establishing trading posts in the Dahomey area. Dahomey thrived on the slave trade, selling captives to Europeans in exchange for weapons.
However, by the mid-19th century, the slave trade declined, and in 1852, King Gezo was compelled by a British naval blockade to accept a treaty abolishing it. Subsequently, France reoccupied its fort in Ouidah in 1842 for trade in palm oil and later established a protectorate over Porto-Novo. Hostilities arose when King Behanzin resisted French claims, leading to the French invasion and conquest of Dahomey between 1892 and 1894, after which the kingdom became a French protectorate.
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Dahomey, kingdom in western Africa that flourished in the 18th and 19th centuries in the region that is now southern Benin. According to tradition, at the beginning of the 17th century three brothers vied for the kingdom of Allada, which, like neighbouring Whydah (now Ouidah), had grown rich on the slave trade. When one of the brothers won control of Allada, the other two fled. One went southeast and founded Porto-Novo, on the coast east of Whydah. The other, Do-Aklin, went north to found the kingdom of Abomey, core of the future Dahomey. They all paid tribute to the powerful Yoruba kingdom of Oyo to the east.
Do-Aklin’s grandson Wegbaja (c. 1645–85) made Abomey into a powerful state. He was succeeded by Akaba (1685–1708) and Agaja (1708–32). Agaja, eager to buy arms from European traders on the Gulf of Guinea coast, conquered Allada (1724) and Whydah (1727), where European forts had already been established. The enlarged state was called Dahomey; Abomey, Allada, and Whydah were its provinces. Thriving on the sale of slaves to the Europeans, the Kingdom of Dahomey prospered and acquired new provinces under kings Tegbesu (1732–74), Kpengla (1774–89), and Agonglo (1789–97). After King Adandozan (1797–1818) was overthrown by the great Gezu (1818–58), Dahomey reached the high point of its power and fame.
The kingdom was a form of absolute monarchy unique in Africa. The king, surrounded by a magnificent retinue, was the unchallenged pinnacle of a rigidly stratified society of royalty, commoners, and slaves. He governed through a centralized bureaucracy staffed by commoners who could not threaten his authority. Each male official in the field had a female counterpart at court who monitored his activities and advised the king. Conquered territories were assimilated through intermarriage, uniform laws, and a common tradition of enmity to the Yoruba.
Dahomey was organized for war, not only to expand its boundaries but also to take captives as slaves. Slaves were either sold to the Europeans in exchange for weapons or kept to work the royal plantations that supplied food for the army and court. From approximately 1680, a regular census of population was taken as a basis for military conscription. Female soldiers, called Amazons by the Europeans, served as royal bodyguards when not in combat.
Gezu heightened the splendour of the court, encouraged the arts, and refined the bureaucracy. His armies freed Dahomey from the humiliation of paying tribute to Oyo. After about 1840, however, the kingdom’s fortunes changed as Britain succeeded in putting an end to the overseas slave trade. Gezu accomplished a smooth transition to palm oil exports; slaves, instead of being sold, were kept to work palm plantations. Palm oil was far less lucrative than slaves, however, and an economic decline followed under Gezu’s successor, Glele (1858–89). When the French won control of Porto-Novo and Cotonou and attracted coastal trade there, commerce at Whydah collapsed. After the accession of Behanzin (1889–94) hostilities were precipitated. In 1892 a French expedition under Col. Alfred-Amédée Dodds defeated the Dahomeyans and established a protectorate. Behanzin was deported to the West Indies. His former kingdom was absorbed into the French colony of Dahomey, with its capital at Porto-Novo.