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African Kingdoms

West Africa

 

Kingdom of Dahomey / Dahomania
AD 17th Century - 1894

Situated in western Africa, the Fon kingdom of Dahomey (or Abomey in its earliest years) was formed by a mixture of various local ethnic groups on the Abomey plain. The tribal groups, possibly forced to move due to the slave trade, coalesced around a highly centralised, strict military culture which was aimed at securing and eventually expanding the borders of the small kingdom. It also practised human sacrifice in large numbers and traded captives to the slave traders who prospered along its coastline, which was part of the notorious Slave Coast.

The kingdom covered the southern third of the modern republic of Benin, and it bore its name until 1975, when it was neutrally renamed the republic of Benin to appease the large number of ethnic groups which formed part of the relatively new state. Dahomey bore no relation to the Benin empire. It was the kingdom of the Fon people, one of the groups which formed the modern Benin state.

When the Nubians conquered Meroë at the start of the sixth century BC, some of the Meroë fled west and ended up establishing themselves in what is now Nigeria and Benin. This is known because the priesthood in these countries uses technical words which are Semitic. One of these is 'Al' as a prefix, used in the names of their spirits (angels). The word also lent itself to the name of the medieval state of Alodia.

(Additional information by Edward Dawson.)

by c.1650

A group of Aja from the coastal kingdom of Allada had previously moved northwards to settle amongst the Fon people of the interior, and by this date they have gained dominance and declare a kingdom.

? - 1620

Gangnihessou

Declared the founding of the kingdom.

1620 - 1645

Dakodonou

1645

Ganye Hessu

1645 - 1685

Houegbadja / Wegbaja

1685 - 1708

Akaba

m Hanebe, who apparently co-ruled.

1702

The Akwamu cross the River Volta to occupy Whydah, a coastal state which is normally subservient to Dahomey (now in southern Benin). This and the Asante clan states are both expanding their territory in this period, often to the detriment of neighbouring kingdoms.

1708 - 1740

Agadja

Agadja conquered the kingdom of Allada,

1730

Despite conquering his ancestral homeland in Allada, the king is unable to defeat the neighbouring kingdom of Oyo, and Dahomey becomes tributary to it, although in all other respects it retains its independence.

Dahomey tribes people
Dahomey tribespeople were photographed for Hubert Howe Bancroft's The Book of the Fair, published in Chicago in 1893, by which time Dahomey was the subject of extreme interest by the French, and its former status as a regional power was eroded

1740 - 1774

Tegbessou

1774 - 1789

Kpengla

1789 - 1797

Agonglo

1797 - 1818

Adandozan

1818 - 1856

Ghezo

1821

The British presence along the West African coast is formalised with the creation of the Gold Coast crown colony. This not only helps to keep the competing French and their Ivory Coast territory from expanding eastwards, but also gives Britain a foothold in influencing the affairs of the Asante kingdom. Only grass and bush separate the French West Africa territories to the north from Asante, and the kingdom of Dahomey borders Asante to the east so the French focus their attentions here instead.

by 1850

Dahomey increasingly loses its status as the regional power.

1856 - 1889

Glele

1889 - 1894

Behanzin

1892 - 1894

The French begin take control of the territory during the Dahomey War using mainly African troops, quite possibly from neighbouring tribes only too happy to end the kingdom's dominance of the region.

1894 - 1898

Agbo Agoli

French vassal.

1894 - 1958

Dahomey is incorporated along with many other West African states into France's West Africa colony.

1899

Civilian governorship of French Sudan is temporarily ended when the entire colony is reorganised so that eleven of the southern districts are parcelled out to various French coastal territories, including Dahomey, French Guinea, and Ivory Coast. The remainder is split into two administrative regions - Middle Niger and Upper Senegal - which are subservient to the authority of other French colonies.

1933 - 1934

Jules Marcel de Coppet

French governor. Also in Somaliland, West Africa, & Madagascar.

1938 - 1940

Armand Léon Annet

French governor. Also in Somaliland, & Madagascar.

1958

The state is granted autonomy as the republic of Dahomey, followed by full independence two years later. A period of instability follows, with Marxism-Leninism being adopted as the official ideology.

 
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