Post by scv on Aug 31, 2010 19:19:37 GMT -5
www.museeouidah.org/Theme-Dahomey.htm
History of Dahomey
www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Kingdom_of_Dahomey
The origins of Dahomey can be traced back to the Fon people of the interior of the African continent, who banded together in a conglomerate in order to oppose the political authority of the Yoruba People of Oyo. Technically an official subject of the Yoruba of Oyo, the Fon people were forced to pay tribute to their political conquerors and were subjected to cavalry raids made by the Oyo armies in order to supply the slave trade.
In order to unite the Fon people in opposition to the Yoruba, leaders who rose to positions of power capitalized on the ability to perform well on the battlefield. With military skill being prized as the ultimate expression of authority, the king of the Fon came to embody uncontested authority, and his will was enforced by the army.
King Wegbaja rose to power in roughly 1650 and came to embody the militaristic values that had become embedded among the Fon people. Based in his capital of Abomey, Wegbaja and his successors succeeded in establishing a highly centralized state with a deep-rooted tradition of autocratic centralized government. Economically, Wegbaja and his successors profited mainly from the slave trade and relations with slavers along the Atlantic coast. As he embarked on wars to expand their territory, they began using rifles and other firearms traded with French and Spanish slave-traders for young men captured in battle, who fetched a very high price from the European slave-merchants.
Later expansion of Dahomey towards the coast met with resistance from the alafin, or ruler, of Oyo, who resented the political and economic rise of their subject. Soon after the march to the sea, the alafin of Oyo sent cavalry raids to Oyo in 1726, completely defeating the army. Later cavalry invasions in 1728, 1729, and 1730, in which Oyo proved sucessful, hindered the plans for coastal expansion.
In 1902 Dahomey was declared a French colony. In the movement of African decolonization following World War II, Dahomey became an autonomous republic, gaining full independence in 1960. The Republic of Dahomey changed its name to Benin in 1975.
Dahomey has been featured in a variety of literary works. For example, "In Dahomey" by Paul Laurence Dunbar, produced in 1903, was the first all-black musical performed on Broadway.
In 1971, American novelist Frank Yerby published The Man From Dahomey, a historical novel set partially in Dahomey, which introduces rich Dahomean culture to the reader.
The history of the Kingdom of Dahomey , with its capital
Abomey, is rich and intense, and the authority and influence its kings had over their subjects and the kingdoms they subsumed are indisputable. The kingdom had a greater degree of centralization and militarization than previously dominant area kingdoms, and its conquests and traditions are notable for their violence. When King Agadja of Dahomey defeated the kingdoms of Allada and Xwéda in 1724 and 1727 respectively, thousands of the defeated were either killed or sold as slaves. Through these conquests Dahomey gained control of the slave trade with the Europeans at Gléwé (now Ouidah).
Extreme reverence for the kings of Dahomey is an important part of Dahomean culture. Traditionally, each king is represented by a symbol, and each king's symbol is displayed collectively on an appliquéd quilt. Though kings were not deified, they did have great religious significance. Dahomean tradition is marked by elaborate regularly-staged ceremonies, often involving human sacrifice.
In 1894, France sent troops against Dahomey , and though Dahomey was victorious in several notable battles including the battle at Dogba (at which the chief of the French army was killed), Dahomey was eventually defeated and became a colony of France . King Béhanzin was exiled to Martinique, and King Agooli Agbo ruled until his exile to Gabon in 1900. However, the power of Dahomey was not extinguished: in 1961 when modern-day Bénin gained its independence from France , the name given to the new country evoked past glory: Dahomey .
Abomey, is rich and intense, and the authority and influence its kings had over their subjects and the kingdoms they subsumed are indisputable. The kingdom had a greater degree of centralization and militarization than previously dominant area kingdoms, and its conquests and traditions are notable for their violence. When King Agadja of Dahomey defeated the kingdoms of Allada and Xwéda in 1724 and 1727 respectively, thousands of the defeated were either killed or sold as slaves. Through these conquests Dahomey gained control of the slave trade with the Europeans at Gléwé (now Ouidah).
Extreme reverence for the kings of Dahomey is an important part of Dahomean culture. Traditionally, each king is represented by a symbol, and each king's symbol is displayed collectively on an appliquéd quilt. Though kings were not deified, they did have great religious significance. Dahomean tradition is marked by elaborate regularly-staged ceremonies, often involving human sacrifice.
In 1894, France sent troops against Dahomey , and though Dahomey was victorious in several notable battles including the battle at Dogba (at which the chief of the French army was killed), Dahomey was eventually defeated and became a colony of France . King Béhanzin was exiled to Martinique, and King Agooli Agbo ruled until his exile to Gabon in 1900. However, the power of Dahomey was not extinguished: in 1961 when modern-day Bénin gained its independence from France , the name given to the new country evoked past glory: Dahomey .
History of Dahomey
www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Kingdom_of_Dahomey
The origins of Dahomey can be traced back to the Fon people of the interior of the African continent, who banded together in a conglomerate in order to oppose the political authority of the Yoruba People of Oyo. Technically an official subject of the Yoruba of Oyo, the Fon people were forced to pay tribute to their political conquerors and were subjected to cavalry raids made by the Oyo armies in order to supply the slave trade.
In order to unite the Fon people in opposition to the Yoruba, leaders who rose to positions of power capitalized on the ability to perform well on the battlefield. With military skill being prized as the ultimate expression of authority, the king of the Fon came to embody uncontested authority, and his will was enforced by the army.
King Wegbaja rose to power in roughly 1650 and came to embody the militaristic values that had become embedded among the Fon people. Based in his capital of Abomey, Wegbaja and his successors succeeded in establishing a highly centralized state with a deep-rooted tradition of autocratic centralized government. Economically, Wegbaja and his successors profited mainly from the slave trade and relations with slavers along the Atlantic coast. As he embarked on wars to expand their territory, they began using rifles and other firearms traded with French and Spanish slave-traders for young men captured in battle, who fetched a very high price from the European slave-merchants.
Later expansion of Dahomey towards the coast met with resistance from the alafin, or ruler, of Oyo, who resented the political and economic rise of their subject. Soon after the march to the sea, the alafin of Oyo sent cavalry raids to Oyo in 1726, completely defeating the army. Later cavalry invasions in 1728, 1729, and 1730, in which Oyo proved sucessful, hindered the plans for coastal expansion.
In 1902 Dahomey was declared a French colony. In the movement of African decolonization following World War II, Dahomey became an autonomous republic, gaining full independence in 1960. The Republic of Dahomey changed its name to Benin in 1975.
Dahomey has been featured in a variety of literary works. For example, "In Dahomey" by Paul Laurence Dunbar, produced in 1903, was the first all-black musical performed on Broadway.
In 1971, American novelist Frank Yerby published The Man From Dahomey, a historical novel set partially in Dahomey, which introduces rich Dahomean culture to the reader.