Kpengla
| Kpengla | |
|---|---|
| King of Dahomey | |
| Reign | 1774–1789 |
| Predecessor | Tegbessou |
| Successor | Agonglo |
| Born | 1735 |
| Died | 1789 |
| House | Aladaxonou |
| Father | Tegbessou |
Kpengla was a King of the Kingdom of Dahomey, in present-day Benin, from 1774 until 1789. Kpengla followed his father Tegbessou to the throne and much of his administration was defined by the increasing Atlantic slave trade and regional rivalry over the profits from this trade. His attempts to control the slave trade generally failed, and when he died of smallpox in 1789, his son Agonglo came to the throne and ended many of his policies.
The Kingdom of Dahomey had increased significantly in power since the 1720s. King Agaja (1718-1740) had expanded the kingdom to the key Atlantic ports of Whydah and Allada. Agaja's son King Tegbessou (1740-1774) had similarly expanded the kingdom. However, the kingdom remained a tributary to the Oyo Empire, owing yearly gifts to the Oyo Empire. The slave trade had increased substantially along the coast with European traders. During the last years of Tegbessou's reign, the Oyo Empire began restricting the slave trade through Dahomey and channeling slaves to other ports or to charge high prices through Dahomey. The shortage became so problematic that Tegbessou was forced to sell his own slaves to keep the trade going.
It is not entirely clear whether Kpengla was the named heir of Tegbessou; regardless, upon Tegbessou's death, he rushed with armed companions to the Royal Palace to make a claim to the throne. Large scale fighting occurred in the palace and it is reported that 285 women in the palace fighting died. Following this struggle, Kpengla was named king.
Kpengla became king at a particularly difficult period of history for the kingdom. The slave trade was the major economic resource for the kingdom and the king's personal finances, but Oyo and other inland traders had begun raising rates and playing port cities against one another. Kpengla had the opportunity to either improve the kingdom's position as middleman or to start slave raiding which would cause anger by Oyo and others. At Kpengla's coronation, he vowed to free Dahomey from the Oyo Empire in terms of both ending the tributary status of Dahomey to Oyo and breaking their control over the slave trade.
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