BENIN IS A SMALL COUNTRY IN WESTERN AFRICA occupying a narrow strip of land stretching inland from the Gulf of Guinea coast.
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CLIMATE |
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The climate of Benin is tropical, with hot, humid weather year-round. In winter, cold winds blow from the north. Nights can be quite cool in winter, especially in northern regions. The Atakora Mountains in the northwest receive exceptionally heavy rainfall from June to October. In the south two rainy seasons extend from April to July and from October to November.
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The Rise of Dahomey
The countryside of Benin (buh-NEEN) is flat, open, and covered with savanna grass. Over the centuries it has proven to be an easy territory for invaders to capture. As a result Benin became home to many different peoples. Each new group of invaders set up independent communities based on hunting and farming.
Since these groups did not keep written records, the names of all these early communities and the time their inhabitants arrived in Benin are unknown. However, by around 1500 C.E. two powerful communities, Allada (AH-luh-duh) and Whydah (WIE-dah), were established in the south. By the early 1600s, European traders visiting western Africa reported that a new warlike kingdom called Dan Homey (or Dahomey) was ruling the inland regions of southern Benin and fighting to conquer new lands to the east and west.
The kingdom of Dahomey (duh-HOE-mee) became the most powerful state in Benin from around 1720 to 1850. Its wealth came from war and from the slave trade. The kings of Dahomey sold men, women, and children captured in war to European slave traders, who transported them to the Americas to work on plantations.
A French Colony
Slavery and the slave trade continued until almost 1900 in many African and American lands, but after around 1830 European traders began to visit Benin in search of different goods. They especially wanted palm oil, which was used to make soap. In 1851 King Ghezo of Dahomey made a special trade agreement with France. Then in 1868 his son, King Glele, sold the French the right to control Cotonou (koe-toe-NOO), the area’s most important port, in exchange for protection against the British, who were also trying to take over land in western Africa.
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FACTS AND FIGURES |
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Official name: République du Bénin Status: Independent state Capital: Porto-Novo Major towns: Cotonou, Djougou, Abomey, Parakou Area: 43,484 square miles (112,624 square kilometers) Population: 7,900,000 Population density: 182 per square mile (70 per square kilometer) Peoples: 26 percent Fon; 12.5 percent Gun; 12 percent Yoruba; 10.5 percent Adja; 8.5 percent Bariba (Batombu); 6.5 percent Betammaribe; 5.5 percent Fulani; remainder includes many different ethnic groups Official language: French Currency: CFA franc National days: Martyr’s Day (January 16); Independence Day (August 1); Armed Forces Day (October 26); National Day (November 30); Harvest Day (December 31) Country’s name: Called Dahomey since about 1625, the country was renamed Benin in 1975. Benin was the name of a powerful west African kingdom based in nearby Nigeria from around 1300 to 1900.
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Palaces Aplenty |
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According to local traditions, the kingdom of Dahomey was founded in 1625 in southern Benin. Twelve consecutive warrior-kings from the Fon (FOEN) people ruled Dahomey. Each vowed to increase the size of the kingdom; they achieved this by conquering neighboring lands. They also sold prisoners captured in war to be slaves. One of the most powerful Dahomey kings was Glele, who ruled in the late nineteenth century. He was said to have had eight hundred wives, with one thousand women servants to look after them and a bodyguard of women warriors. He also paid teams of expert artists to work only for him to create many beautiful things. Each Dahomey king built a splendid palace in the center of the capital, Abomey. When the French attacked the city in 1892, they found twelve huge palaces side by side. Parts of the palaces were destroyed in the fighting, but many altars, throne rooms, treasuries, and wonderful carved panels and fabric wall hangings survive today. They reveal how rich and powerful the Dahomey kings were.
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In 1889 Glele’s son, King Behanzin, came to power. He distrusted the French and tried to drive them out of Cotonou. In response the French government sent an army to fight him. In 1894 Behanzin surrendered and was sent into exile. France took control of his kingdom and large amounts of land to the north and west as well. They called this whole territory Dahomey, but it included people from several different communities who spoke different languages and followed different traditions.
In 1904 Dahomey officially became part of French West Africa. Roman Catholic missionaries arrived from France and established many schools and colleges.
