Dahomey and the Slave Trade

Karl Polanyi's work, Dahomey and the Slave Trade, analyzes the economic structure of Dahomey, a historical kingdom in western Africa that flourished in the 18th and 19th centuries. Dahomey became a powerful state by conquering neighboring regions and engaging heavily in the slave trade with European traders on the Gulf of Guinea coast. The kingdom was an absolute monarchy with a rigid social hierarchy and a strong military, including female soldiers known as Amazons.1

Polanyi's research, detailed in his posthumously published work, explored how Dahomey's economy was structured around the export of enslaved people, which provided the kingdom with weapons and resources. While the slave trade was lucrative, the kingdom later transitioned to exporting palm oil as the overseas slave trade declined. The French eventually established a protectorate over Dahomey in 1892, absorbing it into their colonial territory.123