Dahomey s famous women soldiers were the elite troops in the kingdoms army, in what is now the republic of benin. Pdf the kingdom of dahomey rose to power on the slave coast of west africa during the. This gave dahomey direct access to the coast where they could profit from the slave trade directly and aquire firearms for further expansion and conquest. The rise of the slave trade and the emergence of dahomey the sectio onf the west african coast later known as the slave coast was originally discovere bdy the portuguese in the 1470s, but did not become important in the atlantic trade until much later i. This civil power, lacking the means of really efficient exploitation, in the absence of a crystallized class system, of a mature internal structure.
T h e historiography of the kingdom of dahomey, which emerged as the most powerful state on the slave coast of west africa1 in the early eighteenth century. The dahomey were a warring nation who actively participated in the slave trade, turning it to their advantage as they captured and sold their enemies. How important were africans to the atlantic slave trade. The viceroy of ouidah 1980 by bruce chatwin is the story of a brazilian who, hoping to make his fortune from slave trading, sails to dahomey in 1812, befriending its unbalanced king and coming to a bad end. The egbadahomey war was the third of the destructive wars that plagued the yoruba nation in the nineteenth century, proceeding the owuife war. Europeans called the bight of beninwhere ouidah is locatedand the surrounding region the slave coast because of its importance in supplying american markets with african. On the african role in the transatlantic slave trade in dahomey. High profile academic journals, trade book authors and atr african. Slavery in dahomey and asante was not primarily an economic af fair. Slavery and the slave trade in precolonial africa by dr. By karl polanyi in collaboration with abraham rotstein. That is what he found embodied in dahomeys ports of trade. Ouidah also known as whydah is a commercial center in the modern african nation of benin that was one of the most active slave trading ports in all of africa.
Ghezo finally ended dahomey s tributary status to the oyo empire but also dealt with significant domestic dissent and pressure from the british to end the slave trade. An analysis of an archaic economy american ethnological society monographs, 42 karl polanyi, paul bohannon, abraham rotstein on. It considers, and refutes, the view that the rulers of dahomey had originally intended to bring the slave trade to an end. Abomey, dahomeys capital, was founded around 1620 by dogbari. The women soldiers of dahomey elite troops of women soldiers, probably established in the early eighteenth century, contributed to the military power of the kingdom of dahomey in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Imprint seattle, university of washington press 1968, c1966 physical description xxvi, 204 p.
Other articles where dahomey and the slave trade is discussed. The rise of the kingdom of dahomey coincided with the growth of the slave trade in the area, and consequently has often served as a case study of the impact of. Of all published articles, the following were the most read within the past 12 months. The kingdoms of oyo, dahomey and asante from the 1640s, four inland states near the gulf of guinea were growing in wealth and power from the slave trade. Fage examines three widely held and influential views about slavery and the slave. Dahomey and the slave trade 239 the rise of the slave trade and the emergence of dahomey the sectio onf the west african coast later known as the slave coast was originally discovere bdy the portuguese in the 1470s, but did not become important in the atlantic trade until much later i. An analysis of an archaic economy american ethnological society monographs, 42. Dahomey, kingdom in western africa that flourished in the 18th and 19th centuries in the region that is now southern benin. The rise of the kingdom of dahomey coincided with the growth of the slave trade in the area, and consequently has often served as a case study of the impact of the slave trade upon african societies. As elsewhere, polanyis purpose in his 1966 dahomey and the slave trade was to advocate an alternative to the market system in which prices were state. To further obscure and complicate matters, in the west, the first independent black republic, haiti, is also universally credited by western scholars of developing the vodoun religion, or at least, introducing the vodou religion into america. Factional conflict in dahomey in the context of the ending of the atlantic slave trade by robin law university of stirlingyork university, ontario in 1858, after a reign of forty years, king gezo of dahomey died and was succeeded by one of his sons called badahun, who took the royal name of glele by which he is more generally known.
Dahomeys women warriors history smithsonian magazine. Tracing two hundred years of the history of dahomey up to the french colonial conquest in 1894, the book follows change in two central institutions. Responsibility by karl polanyi in collaboration with abraham rotstein. Dahomey and the slave trade, an analysis of an archaic economy karl polanyi, abraham rotstein, paul bohannan on. Dahomey has played a prominent role in debates about the dahomey and the atlantic slave trade. Their goal was to seize the african countries immense natural wealth. King agaja of dahomey, the slave trade, and the question of west. He promised to end the slave trade in 1852, but resumed slave efforts in 1857 and 1858. King gezo, dahomey images the abolition of the slave trade.
The correspondence between dahomey, portugal and brazil allow us to better understand the diplomatic, political, economic, and cultural relations connecting these three regions during the era of the atlantic slave trade. An evil west african king and the atlantic slave trade a. Dahomey and the ending of the transatlantic slave trade. The area was named the slave coast because of this flourishing trade. An evil west african king and the atlantic slave trade. The slave trade took place from the 1500s to the early 1800s. Sorne of the first european traveliers visited the country and left eyewitness accounts of the splendour and organization of the royal court.
Dahomey and the slave trade, an analysis of an archaic economy. Whydah 1727, which at that time were the principal centres of the. Dahomey, then, is a type of early or protostate, in the service of the slave trade, organized by military conquest from without, and the civil power was essentially a tributary mechanism. There were at least a few contemporary examples of successful warrior queens, the.
Akosua perbi fulbrightscholarinresidence manchester college indiana, u. During the era of the atlantic slave trade, the kingdom of dahomey sent at least. Africa was carved up among europeans on conditions agreed upon at the 1885. Wives of the leopard explores power and culture in a precolonial west african state whose army of women and practice of human sacrifice earned it notoriety in the racist imagination of late nineteenthcentury europe and america. Wonders of the african world episodes slave kingdoms. He had an army of several thousand female warriors, the famous amazons. Introduction slavery and the slave trade have been age old institutions and practices in almost every continent in the world. Dahomey amazons were a significant part of the military and royal bodyguard of the kingdom of dahomey following the death of agaja in 1740, the empire was defined by significant political struggle although limited largely to within the palace walls and deepening engagement with the slave trade. Jan 29, 2018 the trade largely stopped by the end of the 19th century, but benin never fully confronted what had happened. The history of the kingdom of dahomey black history 365. Abomey, dahomey s capital, was founded around 1620 by dogbari. Though the leaders of dahomey appear to have initially resisted the slave trade, it flourished in the region of dahomey for almost three hundred years, beginning in 1472 with a trade agreement with portuguese merchants.
It benefited from terrain sufficiently unforested and free of the tsetse fly and other. Agaja initially wanted to ban the slave trade, but the need for european firearm proved too enduring. A myriad of misinformation and myths abound concerning the origins. King gezo, like his predecessors, was feared for his military power and his numerous slave raids. That is what he found embodied in dahomey s ports of trade. However, slavery in africa was somewhat different than the type of slavery that went on in the americas during the years of the slave trade. Trade rivalry was intense between the other power of the slave coast oyo and led to clashes. Slavery has existed in africa since the time of the ancient egyptians. On the african role in the transatlantic slave trade in. Ghezo died in 1858, possibly assassinated, and his son glele became the new king. In the third of george mcdonald frasers flashman novels, flash for freedom 1971, flashman dabbles in the slave trade and visits dahomey. Dahomey, situated in the modern republic of benin, emerged in this period as one of the principle agents in the transatlantic slave trade and an exemplar of west african state formation. From the 1720s to the 1860s, dahomey s trade was conducted mainly through the port of whydah and was oriented principally toward brazil.
Dahomey and the slave trade work by polanyi britannica. Dahomey traded prisoners, which it captured during wars and raids or. Roberta walker kilkenny, the slave mode of production. At the same time, the empire continued slave raids throughout the region and became a major supplier to the atlantic slave trade. From the 1720s to the 1860s, dahomeys trade was conducted mainly through the port of. Before looking at dahomeys involvement in the slave trade and the effect that the transition to palm oil had on the state, a short explanation of the. From the 1640s, four inland states near the gulf of guinea were growing in wealth and power from the slave trade. The abolition of the brazilian slave trade in 1851 and the installation of a british consul in lagos rang the death knell of the atlantic slave trade, and by 1865 palm oil had entirely replaced. The dahomey kingdom, which was then part of the oyo empire, seized the opportunity to declare herself independent from oyo in 1930 but soon discovered that the independence wasnt worth it because of her extremely low economy caused by her barren northern land where probably only plantain could grow, and the crumbling slave trade at the coast. Thers in facet no record of any portuguese trade with the area until 1553, when an. Ashanti and dahomey claimed they would be ruined by the end of the slave trade and that palm oil was a poor substitute. The majority of its population lives on the small southern.
Dahomey reached the height of its power and prestige during the heyday of the atlantic slave trade in the 18 th and 19 th centuries. Slavery and the kingdoms of oyo, dahomey and asante. Karl polanyi, economic development and cultural change 17, no. Histoire africaine dov nen purdue university on the african role the transatlantic slave trade dahomey between the end of the seventeenth century.
Dahomeys famous women soldiers were the elite troops in the kingdoms army, in what is now the republic of benin. The kingdom of oyo, around 300 kilometers 190 miles inland, was the most successful of these kingdoms. Guezo, king of dahomey had an army of 3000 women, to each of which he was married, having sold all the menfolk as slaves. In order to bring an end to slave dealing the british navy went in search of the final traders and offered them large sums of money in exchange for firm promises to give up their lucrative business. The viceconsulate in the coastal port of ouidah, in the kingdom of dahomey, west african now in the modern republic of benin was established in18512 as part of the british governments efforts to suppress the transatlantic slave trade. In the late 18th century, oyo put pressure onto dahomey to reduce its participation in the slave trade largely to protect its own slave trade and dahomey complied by limiting some of the slave trade.
Dahomey and the slave trade cambridge university press. Dahomeys female troops were not the only martial women of their time. Court protocols, which demanded that a portion of war. The dahomey kingdom, which was then part of the oyo. For entertainment he indulged in the sacrifice of trespassers from. 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. Often recruited as teenagers, the women soldiers lived in the royal palace, isolated from society. Jan 04, 2016 the correspondence between dahomey, portugal and brazil allow us to better understand the diplomatic, political, economic, and cultural relations connecting these three regions during the era of the atlantic slave trade. In the spring of 1863, the british explorer richard burton arrived in the west african coastal nation of dahomey on a mission for the british government, trying to make peace with the dahomey people. Archaeology and political order on the bight of benin. The kingdoms that captured and sold slaves still exist today as tribal networks, and. It is bordered by togo to the west, nigeria to the east, burkina faso to the northwest, and niger to the northeast.
Dahomey, an ancient west african kingdom 2 vols, new york, 1938. Meet the most feared women in history messy nessy chic. Dahomey and the slave trade, an analysis of an archaic. The trade largely stopped by the end of the 19th century, but benin never fully confronted what had happened.
African role in slave trade in turn bears direct relevance to the nature of the activities related to the slave trade itself pointing out some of the salient features of the traditional daho mean system intend to underline the following suggestions con cerning the slave trade in dahomey the profit motivation of the african kings in the slave trade was minimal or altogether nonexistent the. Lombard in earlier times danhomewas the name given to the fabulous kingdom of abomey. Ghezo finally ended dahomeys tributary status to the oyo empire but also dealt with significant domestic dissent and pressure from the british to end the slave trade. Wonders of the african world slave kingdoms ouidah. Slaves, palm oil, and political power on the west african coast jstor.
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