What did King Agaja Trudo of Dahomey do?
During his reign, Dahomey expanded significantly and took control of key trade routes for the Atlantic slave trade by conquering Allada (1724) and Whydah (1727). Wars with the powerful Oyo Empire to the east of Dahomey resulted in Agaja accepting tributary status to that empire and providing yearly gifts.
How did the Dahomey become powerful?
Dahomey developed on the Abomey Plateau amongst the Fon people in the early 17th century and became a regional power in the 18th century by conquering key cities on the Atlantic coast.
What are the factors that led to rise of Dahomey?
Foundation of Dahomey Dahomey emerged in the environs of African savanna. Its hot and humid climate made life an everyday struggle from a people called the Fon who survived through maize and root crops. From the Fon people and the harsh environment of the lands now known as Benin rose the Kingdom of Dahomey.
Where is Dahomey located in Africa?
southern Benin
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.
Who is King GEZO?
Ghezo or Gezo was King of Dahomey (present-day Republic of Benin) from 1818 until 1859. Ghezo replaced his brother Adandozan (who ruled from 1797 to 1818) as king through a coup with the assistance of the Brazilian slave trader Francisco Félix de Sousa.
Why was Dahomey renamed Benin?
However, in 1990, Dahomey changed its name to the Republic of Benin (Republique du Benin) in memory of pre-19th century greatness of Ancient Benin of Nigeria. Thus, to avoid confusing the new Republic with the latter, the phrase “formerly Dahomey” would be added in parenthesis where necessary.
Is Dahomey now Benin?
Political legacy In 1975, the name of the country was changed from Republic of Dahomey to Benin. The King of Dahomey remains an important ceremonial position and continued through both French administration and independence.
Where did Dahomey get slaves?
At the same time, the slave trade began increasing in size in the coastal region through the Kingdom of Whydah and Allada and trade with the Portuguese, Dutch, and British. The Dahomey Kingdom became known to European traders at this time as a major source of slaves in the slave trade at Allada and Whydah.
Who was Ghezo?
When did Benin abolish slavery?
The trade largely stopped by the end of the 19th century, but Benin never fully confronted what had happened. The kingdoms that captured and sold slaves still exist today as tribal networks, and so do the groups that were raided.
Are Fon Yoruba?
The Fon, who migrated from Togo to Benin in the seventeenth century, and the Yoruba, one of the three major ethnic groups of Nigeria, have the same ethnic and cultural origins even though their geographic dispersal has located them in different modern states.