Kingdom of Dahomey
| Kingdom of Dahomey | ||||||||
| Kingdom, vassal state of the Oyo Empire (1740–1823), French Protectorate (1894-1904) | ||||||||
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| Capital | Abomey | |||||||
| Languages | Fon | |||||||
| Religion | Vodun | |||||||
| Government | Monarchy | |||||||
| Ahosu (King) | ||||||||
| • | c. 1600 – c. 1625 | Do-Aklin | ||||||
| • | 1894–1900 | Agoli-agbo | ||||||
| History | ||||||||
| • | Aja settlers from Allada settle on Abomey Plateau | c. 1600 | ||||||
| • | Dakodonu begins conquest on Abomey Plateau | c. 1620 | ||||||
| • | King Agaja conquers Allada and Whydah | 1724–1727 | ||||||
| • | King Ghezo defeats the Oyo Empire and ends tributary status | 1823 | ||||||
| • | Disestablished | 1904 | ||||||
| Area | ||||||||
| • | 1700 | 10,000 km² (3,861 sq mi) | ||||||
| Population | ||||||||
| • | 1700 est. | 350,000 | ||||||
| Density | 35 /km² (90.6 /sq mi) | |||||||
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Dahomey Kingdom (/dəˈhoʊmi/) was an African kingdom (located in the area of the present-day country of Benin) that existed from about 1600 until 1894, when the last king, Behanzin, was defeated by the French, and the country was annexed into the French colonial empire. 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.
For much of the 18th and 19th centuries, the Kingdom of Dahomey was a key regional state, eventually ending tributary status to the Oyo Empire. The Kingdom of Dahomey was an important regional power that had an organized domestic economy built on conquest and slave labor, significant international trade with European powers, a centralized administration, taxation systems, and an organized military. Notable in the kingdom were significant artwork, an all-female military unit known as the Dahomey Amazons, and the elaborate religious practices of Vodun with the large festival of the Annual Customs of Dahomey.
The Kingdom of Dahomey was referred to by many different names and has been written in a variety of ways, including Danxome, Danhome, and Fon. The name Fon relates to the dominant ethnic and language group, the Fon people, of the royal families of the kingdom and is how the kingdom first became known to Europeans. The names Dahomey, Danxome, and Danhome all have a similar origin story, which historian Edna Bay says may be a false etymology.
The story goes that Dakodonu, considered the second king in modern kings lists, was granted permission by the Gedevi chiefs, the local rulers, to settle in the Abomey plateau. Dakodonu requested additional land from a prominent chief named Dan (or Da) to which the chief responded sarcastically "Should I open up my belly and build you a house in it?" For this insult, Dakodonu killed Dan and began the construction of his palace on the spot. The name of the kingdom was derived from the incident: Dan=chief dan, xo=Belly, me=Inside of.
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