Online Encyclopedia
Search over 40,000 articles from the original, classic Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Edition.
DAHOMEY (Fr. Dahome)
Online EncyclopediaEncyclopedia Home :: DAH-DEM
del.icio.us it!
|
See also:DAHOMEY (Fr. Dahome) , a See also:country of See also:West See also:Africa, formerly an See also:independent See also:kingdom, now a See also:French See also:colony. Dahomey is bounded S. by the Gulf of See also:Guinea, E. by See also:Nigeria (See also:British), N. and N.W. by the French possessions on the See also:middle See also:Niger, and W. by the See also:German colony of See also:Togoland. The French colony extends far See also:north of the limits of the See also:ancient kingdom of the same name. With a See also:coast-See also:line of only 75 in. (1° 38' E. to 2° 46' 55" E.), the See also:area of the colony is about 40,000 sq. m., and the See also:population over 1,000,000. As far as 9 ° N. the width of the colony is no greater than the coast-line. From this point, the colony broadens out both eastward and westward, attaining a maximum width of 200 M. It includes the western See also:part of See also:Borgu (q.v.), and reaches the Niger at a spot a little above Illo. Its greatest length N. to S. is 430 M. See also:Physical Features..—'-=The littoral, part of the old Slave Coast (see GUINEA), is very See also:low, sandy and obstructed by a See also:bar. Behind the seashore is a line of lagoons, where small steamers can ply; See also:east to west they are those of - See also:Porto Novo (or See also:Lake Nokue), Whydah and See also:Grand Popo. The Weme (300 M. See also:long), known in its upper course as the Ofe, the most important See also:river See also:running See also:south, drains the colony from the Bariba country to Porto Novo, entering the See also:lagoon so named. The Zu is a western affluent of the Weme. Farther west is the Kuffu (150 M. long), which, before entering the Whydah lagoon, broadens out into a lake or lagoon called Aheme, 20 m. long by 5 M. broad. The Makru and Kergigoto, each of which has various affluents, flow north-east to the Niger, which in the part of its course forming the north-east frontier of the colony is only navigable for small vessels and that with See also:great difficulty (see NIGER). For some 50 M. inland the country is See also:flat, and, after the first mile or two of sandy See also:waste is passed, covered with dense vegetation. At this distance (5o m.) from the coast is a great swamp known as the Lama See also:Marsh. It extends east to west some 25 M. and north to south 6 to 9 M. North of the swamp the See also:land rises by See also:regular stages to about 165o ft., the high See also:plateau falling again to the See also:basin of the Niger. In the north-west a range of hills known as the Atacora forms a See also:watershed between the basins of the Weme, the Niger and the See also:Volta. A large part of the interior consists of undulating country, rather barren, with occasional patches of See also:forest. The forests contain the See also:baobab, the coco-See also:nut See also:palm and the oil palm. The See also:fauna resembles that of other parts of the West Coast, but the larger See also:wild animals, such as the See also:elephant and See also:hippopotamus, are rare. The See also:lion is found in the regions bordering the Niger. Some kinds of antelopes are See also:common; the See also:buffalo has disappeared.
See also:Climate.—The climate of the coast regions is very hot and moist. Four seasons are well marked: the See also:harmattan or long dry See also:season, from the 1st See also:December to the 15th See also: The Dahomeyans (Dahomi), who inhabit the central part of the colony, See also:form one of eighteen closely-allied clans occupying the country between the Volta and Porto Novo, and from their common See also:tongue known as the See also:Ewe-speaking tribes. In their own tongue Dahomeyans are called Fon or Fawin. They are tall and well-formed, proud, reserved in demeanour, polite in their intercourse with strangers, warlike and keen traders. The See also:Mina, who occupy the See also:district of the Popos, are noted for their skill as surf-men, which has gained for them the See also:title of the See also:Krumen of Dahomey. Porto Novo is inhabited by a tribe called Nago, which has an admixture of Yoruba See also:blood and speaks a Yoruba See also:dialect. The Nago are a peaceful tribe and even keener traders than the Dahomi. In Whydah and other coast towns are many mulattos, speaking Portuguese and bearing high-See also:sounding Portuguese names. In the north the inhabitants—Mahi, Bariba, Gurmai,—are also of Negro stock, but scarcely so civilized as the coast tribes. Settled among them are communities of See also:Fula and Hausas. There are many converts to See also:Islam in the northern districts, but the See also:Mahi and Dahomeyans proper are nearly all fetish worshippers. See also:Chief Towns.—The chief See also:port and the seat of See also:government is Kotonu, the starting-point of a railway to the Niger. An See also:iron See also:pier, which extends well beyond the surf, affords facilities for See also:shipping. Kotonu was originally a small See also:village which served as the seaport of Porto Novo and was burnt to the ground in 189o. It has consequently the See also:advantage of being a See also:town laid out by Europeans on a definite See also:plan. Situated on the See also:beach between the sea and the lagoon of Porto Novo, the See also:soil consists of heavy See also:sand. See also:Good hard roads have been made. Owing to an almost continuous, cool, See also:westerly sea-breeze, Kotonu is, in comparison with the other coast towns, decidedly healthy for See also: Whydah, during the See also:period of the slave-See also:trade, was divided into five quarters: the See also:English, French, Portuguese, Brazilian and native. The three first quarters once had formidable forts, of which the French fort alone survives. In consequence of the thousands of See also:orange and citron trees which adorn it, Whydah is called " the See also:garden of Dahomey." West of Whydah, on the coast and near. the frontier of Togoland, is the trading town of Grand Popo. Inland in Dahomey proper are Abomey (q.v.), the ancient See also:capital, Allada, Kana (formerly the country See also:residence and See also:burial-See also:place of the See also:kings of Dahomey) and Dogba. In the See also:hinterland are Carnotville (a town of French creation), Nikki and Paraku, Borgu towns, and Garu, on the right bank of the Niger near the British frontier, the See also:terminus of the railway from the coast. See also:Agriculture and Trade.—The agriculture, trade and See also:commerce of Dahomey proper are essentially different from that of the hinterland (Haut Dahome). The soil of Dahomey proper is naturally fertile and is capable of being highly cultivated. It consists of a See also:rich See also:clay of a deep red See also:colour. Finely-powdered See also:quartz and yellow See also:mica are met with, denoting the See also:deposit of disintegrated See also:granite from the interior. The See also:principal product is palm-oil, which is made in large quantities throughout the country. The district of Toffo is particularly noted for its oil-palm orchards. Palm-See also:wine is also made, but the manufactureis discouraged as the See also:process destroys the See also:tree. Next to palm-oil the principal See also:vegetable products are See also:maize, guinea-See also:corn, See also:cassava, yams, sweet potatoes, plantains, coco-nuts, oranges, limes and the See also:African See also:apple, which grows almost wild. The country also produces ground-nuts, See also:kola-nuts, See also:pine-apples, guavas, spices of . all kinds, See also:ginger, okros (Hibiscus), See also:sugar-See also:cane, onions, tomatoes and papaws. Plantations of See also:rubber trees and vines have been made. See also:Cattle, See also:sheep, goats and fowls are scarce. There is a large fishing See also:industry in the lagoons. See also:Round the villages, and here and there in the forest, clearings are met with, cultivated in places, but agriculture is in a backward See also:condition. In the, grassy uplands of the interior cattle and horses thrive, and See also:cotton of a fairly good quality is grown by the inhabitants for their own use. The prosperity of the country depends chiefly on the export of palm-oil and palm-kernels. See also:Copra, kola-nuts, rubber and dried See also:fish are also exported, the fish going to See also:Lagos. The See also:adulteration of the palm-kernels by the natives, which became a serious menace to trade, was partially checked (1900-1903) by See also:measures taken to ensure the inspection of the kernels before shipment. Trade is mainly with See also:Germany and Great See also:Britain, a large proportion of the See also:cargo passing through the British port of Lagos. Only some 25 % of the commerce is with See also:France. Cotton goods (chiefly from Great Britain), machinery and metals, See also:alcohol (from Germany) and See also:tobacco are the chief imports. The See also:volume of trade,. which had increased . from £701,000 in 1898 to £1,230,000 in 1902, declined in 1903 to £826,000 in consequence of the failure of See also:rain, this causing a decrease in the See also:production of palm-oil and kernels. In 1904 the See also:total See also:rose to £873,399. In 1905 the figure was £734,667, and in 1907 £853,051. By the Anglo-French See also:Convention of 1898 the See also:imposition of See also:differential duties on goods of British origin was. forbidden for a period of See also:thirty years from that date. Communications.—The Dahomey railway from Kotonu to the Niger is of See also:metre See also:gauge (3.28 ft.). See also:Work was begun in 1900, and in 1902 the See also:main line was completed to Toffo, a distance of 55 M. Some difficulty was then encountered in See also:crossing the Lama Marsh, but by the end of 1905 the railway had been carried through Abomey to Pauignan, 120 M. from Kotonu. In 1907 the rails had reached Paraku, 150 M. farther north. A See also:branch ;railway from the main line serves the western part of the colony.. It goes via Whydah to Segborue on Lake Aherne. Besides the See also:railways, See also:tramway lines exist in various parts, of Dahomey. One, 28 m. long, runs from Porto Novo through the See also:market-town of AAdjara to Sakete, See also:close to the British frontier in the direction of Lagos. This line serves a See also:belt of country rich in oil-palms. Kotonu is a regular port of See also:call for steamers from See also:Europe to the. West Coast, and there is also regular steamship communication along the lagoons between Porto Novo and Lagos. There is a steamboat service between Porto Novo and Kotonu.. A See also:telegraph line connects Kotonu with Abomey, the Niger and See also:Senegal. See also:Administration.—The colony is administered by a See also:lieutenant-See also:governor, assisted by a See also:council composed of See also:official and unofficial members. The colony is divided into territories annexed, territories protected, and " territories of See also:political See also:action," but for administrative purposes the See also:division is into " circles " or provinces. Over each circle, is an See also:administrator with extensive See also:powers. Except in the annexed territories the native states are maintained under French supervision, and native See also:laws and customs, as far as possible, retained. Natives, however, may place themselves under the See also:jurisdiction of the French See also:law. Such natives are known as " Assimiles." In See also:general the administrative See also:system is the same as that for all the colonies of French West Africa. (q.v.). The chief source of See also:revenue is the customs, while the capitation tax contributes most to the See also:local See also:budget.
See also:History.—The kingdom of Dahomey, like those of See also:Benin and See also:Ashanti, is an instance of a purely negro and See also:pagan See also:state, endowed with a highly organized government, and possessing a certain amount of indigenous cibilization and culture. Its history begins about the commencement of the 17th century. At that period the country now known as Dahomey was included in the extensive kingdom of Allada or Ardrah, of which the capital was the See also:present town of Allada, on the road from Whydah
to Abomey. Allada became dismembered on the See also:death of a reigning See also:sovereign, and three See also:separate kingdoms were constituted under his three sons. One state was formed by one See also:brother round the old capital of Allada, and retained the name of Allada or Ardrah; another brother migrated to the east and formed a state known under the name of Porto Novo; while the third brother, Takudonu, travelled northwards, and after some vicissitudes established the kingdom of Dahomey. The word Dahomey means " in Danh's belly," and is explained by the following See also:legend which, says See also:Sir See also:Richard See also:Burton, " is known (1864) to everybody in the kingdom." Takudonu raving settled in a town called Uhwawe encroached on the land of a neighbouring chief named Danh (the snake). Takudonu wearied Danh by perpetual demands for land, and the chief one See also:day exclaimed in anger " soon See also:thou wilt build in my belly." So it came to pass. Takudonu slew Danh and over his See also:grave built himself a See also:palace which was called Dahomey, a name thenceforth adopted by the new See also: It is related that the repulses they met with in that See also:quarter led to the See also:order that no Dahomeyan See also:warrior was to enter a See also:canoe. • Porto Novo at the beginning of the 19th century became tributary to Dahomey. Such was the state of affairs at the See also:accession of King Gezo about the year 1818. This monarch, who reigned See also:forty years, raised the See also:power of Dahomey to its highest See also:pitch, extending greatly the border of his kingdom to the north. He boasted of having first organized the See also:Amazons, a force of See also:women to whom he attributed his successes. The Amazons, however, were state soldiery long before Gezo's reign, and what that monarch really did was to reorganize and strengthen the force. In 1851 Gezo attacked See also:Abeokuta in the Yoruba country and the centre of the Egba power, but was beaten back. In the same year the king signed a commercial treaty with France, in which Gezo also undertook to preserve " the integrity of the territory belonging to the French fort " at Whydah. The fort referred to was one built in the 17th century, and in 1842 made over to a French See also:mercantile See also:house. See also:England, See also:Portugal and See also:Brazil also had " forts " at Whydah—all in a ruinous condition and ungarrisoned. But when in 1852 England, to prevent the slave-trade, blockaded the Dahomeyan coast, energetic protests were made by Portugal and France, based on the existence of these " forts." In 1858 Gezo died. He had greatly reduced the See also:custom of human See also:sacrifice, and See also:left instructions that after his death there was to be no general sacrifice of the palace women. Gezo was succeeded by his son Glegle (or Gllele), whose attacks on neighbouring states, persecution of native Christians, and encouragement of the slave-trade involved him in difficulties with Great Britain and with France. It was, said See also:Earl See also:Russell, See also:foreign secretary, to check " the aggressive spirit of the king of Dahomey " that England in 1861 annexed the See also:island of Lagos. Nevertheless in the following year Glegle captured Ishagga and in 1864 unsuccessfully attacked Abeokuta, both towns in the Lagos hinterland. In 1863 See also:Commander See also:Wilmot, R.N., and in 1864 Sir Richard Burton (the explorer and orientalist) were sent on See also:missions to the king, but their efforts to induce the Dahomeyans to give up human sacrifices, slave-trading, &c. met with no success. In 1863, however, a step was taken by France which was the counterpart of the British See also:annexation of Lagos. In that year the kingdom of Porto Novo accepted a French See also:protectorate, and an Anglo-French agreement of 1864 fixed its boundaries. This protectorate was soon afterwards abandoned by See also:Napoleon III., but was re-established in 1882. At this period the rivalry of See also:European powers for possessions in Africa was becoming acute, and German agents appeared on the Dahomeyan coast. However, by an arrangement concluded in 1885, the German protectorate in Guinea was confined to See also:Togo, See also:save for the town of Little Popo at the western end of the lagoon of Grand Popo. In See also:January 1886 Portugal—in virtue of her ancient rights at Whydah—announced that she had assumed a protectorate over the Dahomeyan coast, but she was induced by France to withdraw her protectorate in December 1887. Finally, the last See also:international difficulty in the way of France was removed by the Anglo-French agreement of 1889, whereby Kotonu was surrendered by Great Britain. France claimed rights at Kotonu in virtue of See also:treaties concluded with Glegle in r868 and 1878, but the chiefs of the town had placed themselves under the See also:protection of the British at Lagos. With the arrangements between the European powers the Dahomeyans had little to do, and in 1889, the year in which the Anglo-French agreement was signed, trouble arose between Glegle and the French. The Dahomeyans were the more confident, as through German and other merchants at Whydah they were well supplied with See also:modern arms and See also:ammunition. Glegle claimed the right to collect the customs at Kotonu, and to depose the king of Porto Novo, and proceeded to See also:raid the territory of that potentate (his brother). A French See also:mission sent to Abomey failed to come to an agreement with the Dahomeyans, who attributed the misunderstandings to the fact that there was no longer a king in France! Glegle died on the 28th of December 1889, two days after the French mission had left his capital. He was succeeded by his son Behanzin. A French force was landed at Kotonu, and severe fighting followed in which the Amazons played a conspicuous part. In October 1890 a treaty was signed which secured to France Porto Novo and Kotonu, and to the king of Dahomey an See also:annual See also:pension of Boo. It was unlikely that See also:peace on such terms would prove lasting, and Behanzin's slave-raiding expeditions led in 1892 to a new See also:war with France. General A. A. See also:Dodds was placed in command of a strong force of Europeans and Senegalese, and after a See also:sharp See also:campaign during September and October completely defeated the Dahomeyan troops. Behanzin set See also:fire to Abomey (entered by the French troops on the 17th of November) and fled north. Pursued by the enemy, abandoned by his See also:people, he surrendered unconditionally on the 25th of January 1894, and was deported to See also:Martinique, being transferred in 1906 to See also:Algeria, where be died on the loth of December of the same year. Thus ended the independent existence of Dahomey. The French divided the kingdom in two—Abomey and Alladaplacing on the See also:throne of Abomey a brother of the exiled monarch. Chief among the causes which led to the collapse of the Dahomeyan kingdom was the system which devoted the See also:flower of its womanhood to the profession of arms. Whydah and the adjacent territory was annexed to France by General Dodds on the 3rd of December 1892, and the See also:rest of Dahomey placed under a French protectorate at the same See also:time. The See also:prince who had been made king of Abomey was found intriguing against the French, and in 1900 was exiled by them to the See also:Congo, and with him disappeared the last vestige of Dahomeyan See also:sovereignty. Dahomey conquered, the French at once set to work to secure as much of the hinterland as possible. On the north they penetrated to the Niger, on the east they entered Borgu (a country claimed by the Royal Niger See also:Company for Great Britain), on the west they overlapped the territory claimed by Germany as the hinterland of Togo. The struggle with Great Britain and Germany for supremacy in this region forms one of the most interesting chapters in the See also:story of the See also:partition of Africa. In the result France succeeded in securing a junction between Dahomey and her other possessions in West Africa, but failed to secure any part of the Niger navigable from the sea (see AFRICA: History, and NIGERIA). A Franco-German convention of 1897 settled the boundary on the west, and the Anglo-French convention of the 14th of June 1898 defined the frontier on the east. In 1899, on the disintegration of the French See also:Sudan, the districts of Fada N'Gurma and Say, lying north of Borgu, were added to Dahomey, but in 1907 they were transferred to Upper Senegal-Niger, with which colony they are closely connected both geographically and ethnographically. From 1894 onward the French devoted great See also:attention to the development of the material resources of the country. The " Customs."—Reference has already been made to the Dahomey " Customs," which gave the country an infamous notoriety. The " Customs " appear to date from the middle of the 17th century, and were of two kinds: the grand Customs performed on the death of a king; and the See also:minor Customs, held twice a year. The horrors of these saturnalia of bloodshed were attributable not to a love of See also:cruelty but to filial piety. Upon the death of a king human victims were sacrificed at his grave to See also:supply him with wives, attendants, &c. in the spirit See also:world. The grand Customs surpassed the annual See also:rites in splendour and bloodshed. At those held in 1791 during January, See also:February and March, it is stated that no fewer than 500 men, women and See also:children were put to death. The minor Customs were first heard of in Europe in the See also:early years of the 18th century. They formed continuations of the grand Customs, and " periodically supplied the departed monarch with fresh attendants in the shadowy world." The actual slaughter was preluded by dancing, feasting, speechmaking and elaborate ceremonial. The victims, chiefly prisoners of war, were dressed in See also:calico shirts decorated round the See also:neck and down the sleeves with red bindings, and with a See also:crimson patch on the left See also:breast, and wore long white See also:night-caps with spirals of See also:blue ribbon sewn on. Some of them, tied in baskets, were at one See also:stage of the proceedings taken to the See also:top of a high See also:platform, together with an See also:alligator, a See also:cat and a See also:hawk in similar baskets, and paraded on the heads of the Amazons. The king then made a speech explaining that the victims were sent to testify to his greatness in spirit-land, the men and the animals each to their See also:kind. They were then hurled down into the middle of a surging See also:crowd of natives, and butchered. At another stage of the festival human sacrifices were offered at the See also:shrine of the king's ancestors, and the blood was sprinkled on their See also:graves. This was known as Zan Nyanyana or " evil night," the king going in procession with his wives and officials and himself executing the doomed. These semi-public massacres formed only a part of the slaughter, for many women, eunuchs and others within the palace were done to death privately. The skulls were used to adorn the palace walls, and the king's sleeping-chamber was paved with the heads of his enemies. The skulls of the conquered kings were turned into royal drinking cups, their See also:conversion to this use being esteemed an See also:honour. Sir Richard Burton insists (A Mission to Gelele, King of Dahome) that the horrors of these rites were greatly exaggerated. For instance, the story that the king floated a canoe in a tank of human blood was, he writes, quite untrue. He denies, too, that the victims were tortured, and affirms that on the contrary they were treated humanely, and, in many cases, even acquiesced in their See also:fate. It seems that See also:cannibalism was a sequel of the Customs, the bodies of the slaughtered being roasted and devoured smoking hot. On the death of the king the wives, after the most extravagant demonstrations of grief, See also:broke and destroyed everything within their reach, and attacked and murdered each other, the uproar continuing until order was restored by the new sovereign. Amazonian See also:Army.—The training of women as soldiers was the most singular Dahomeyan institution. About one-See also:fourth of the whole See also:female population were said to be " married to the fetich," many even before their See also:birth, and the See also:remainder were entirely at the disposal of the king. The most favoured were selected as his own wives or enlisted into the regiments of Amazons, and then the chief men were liberally supplied. Of the female captives the most promising were drafted into the ranks as soldiers, and the rest became Amazonian See also:camp followers and slaves in the royal households. These female levies formed the flower of the Dahomeyan army. They were marshalled in regiments, each with its distinctive See also:uniform and badges, and they took the See also:post of honour in all battles. Their number has been variously stated. Sir R. F. Burton, in 1862, who saw the army marching out of Kana on an expedition, computed the whole force of female troops at 2500, of whom one-third were unarmed or only See also:half-armed. Their weapons were blunderbusses, See also:flint vu. 24muskets, and bows and arrows. A later writer estimated the number of Amazons at moo, and the male soldiers at 1o,000. The system of warfare was one of surprise. The army marched out, and, when within a few days' See also:journey of the town to be attacked, silence was enjoined and no fires permitted. The regular highways were avoided, and the advance was by a road specially cut through the See also:bush. The town was surrounded at night, and just before daybreak a See also:rush was made and every soul captured if possible; none were killed except in self-See also:defence, as the first See also:object was to See also:capture, not to kill. The season usually selected for expeditions was from January to March, or immediately after the annual " Customs." The Amazons were carefully trained, and the king was in the See also:habit of holding "autumn manoeuvres " for the benefit of foreigners. Many Europeans have witnessed a mimic See also:assault, and agree in ascribing a marvellous power of endurance to the women. Lines of thorny See also:acacia were piled up one behind the other to represent defences, and at a given See also:signal the Amazons, barefooted and without any See also:special protection, charged and disappeared from sight. Presently they emerged within the lines torn and bleeding, but apparently insensible to See also:pain, and the See also:parade closed with a march past, each warrior leading a pretended See also:captive See also:bound with a rope. DAILL$ (DALLAEUS), See also:JEAN (1594-1670), French See also:Protestant divine, was See also:born at See also:Chatellerault and educated at See also:Poitiers and See also:Saumur. From 1612 to 1621 he was See also:tutor to two of the grand-sons of Philippe de See also:Mornay, seigneur du Plessis Marly. Ordained to the See also:ministry in 1623, he was for some time private See also:chaplain to Du Plessis Mornay, whose See also:memoirs he subsequently wrote. In 1625 Daille was appointed See also:minister of the See also: Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click, and select "copy." Then paste it into your website, email, or other HTML. Site content, images, and layout Copyright © 2006 - Net Industries, worldwide. |
|
|
[back] DAHN, JULIUS SOPHUS FELIX (1834— ) |
[next] DAIRY |