In the fall of 1861, the Spanish missionary Francesco Borgero was kindly invited by King Glele of Dahomey to a military parade. To the cheers of the aborigines, before the gaze of the monarch, who was seated on a throne decorated with the skulls of enemies, women armed to the teeth marched past the astonished priest. Father Borgero witnessed a solemn procession of black Amazons - women warriors, the backbone of the army and the main fighting unit of the African kingdom of Dahomey.
Do not look for Dahomey on the modern map - it has disappeared. Now these lands on the coast of the Gulf of Guinea belong to the Republic of Benin. Two centuries ago, at the time of its heyday, Dahomey was a paramilitary state with a well-trained army, the whole structure of which was aimed at wars of conquest. Europeans sometimes called it Black Sparta, or Slave Coast.
Every spring, Dahomey's warriors set out to plunder their neighbors and seize slaves, some of whom they sold and some they kept for themselves. But the unfortunate prisoners could have a more terrible fate than being sent to the West Indies. In Dahomey, human sacrifice was practiced - a ritual later known as the cult of voodoo.
The kingdom was enriched by the slave trade. The lion's share of "ebony" was supplied to the European slave traders by the Dahomey kings. Until the middle of the 19th century, they sold, according to some estimates, up to 20 thousand slaves annually. With the money raised, they bought alcohol, tobacco, fabrics and, most importantly, firearms, with which it was possible to capture even more slaves. In general, it was a despotic African state, profiting from the slave trade.
Yet Dahomey is a special country.
The date of foundation of Dahomey - 1625 - is rather controversial. Some historians believe that the emergence of Dahomey statehood should be attributed to the period between 1650 and 1680, during the reign of Prince Ouagbaji. It was with him that the name Dan-khome - Dahomey - came into use. Where did it come from? According to one version, the name of the country is translated as "Womb of Dakha (Dana)" or the womb of a snake. According to another, one of the generals, during the siege of the city of Cannes, made a vow to sacrifice his king named Dach, which he did, dipping the foundation stone of the city of Abomey into his ripped belly. To be honest, the snake version seems more convincing given the sacred pythons in Ouidah. But there is one more option: "dan" is the vital energy in von and ewe mythology. Most likely, it was she who was meant. True, the geographer Leo the African (1491-1540)) mentions some state of Daum in these parts, but there is no evidence that he meant Dahomey.
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In the 17th century, Allada was the main city of the region. In 1724, the Dahomeians destroyed it and killed all the inhabitants, which did not prevent later from declaring this place sacred. From now on, Abomey becomes the main city. In 1725, the Dahomeans undertook a successful campaign towards the coast and subjugate the kingdom of Ayuda with the capital Savi (Portuguese "Xavier"), the main port of Fido (Ouidu). Ayud's name is Portuguese. The Dahomey called this city Gleue. Ouidah became a symbol of grief: tens of thousands of people were sent to America annually in the holds of ships. After Benin gained independence on the sandy coast, at the very end of the "road of slaves" was erected a monument - "The Gate of No Return". Ouidah became the uncrowned capital of the Slave Coast and Dahomey its most prosperous state, eclipsing the kingdom of Ashanti in the west and Egbu in the east.in the land of the Yoruba.
Since slaves were the main export of Dahomey, the gradual abolition of slavery became the reason for its weakening already from the beginning of the 19th century. The Anlo and Krepi regions separated from Dahomey, and not without the participation of the French and Germans, whose trading posts began to transform into something more. Porto Novo became a French protectorate, although it was formally ruled by one of the Dahomey "princes". In the north, the region of Mahis, with its capital in Savalu, won full independence from Dahomey. From Nigerian Lagos, the British were stirring up the water …
What was Dahomey like on the eve of her fall?
The religion of the von people was based on the cult of ancestors. This cult was essentially the state religion. In the courtyard of the royal palace, a ritual was periodically carried out, the purpose of which was to replenish the "attendants" of the dead kings of Dahomey - people were killed so that they would serve the highly esteemed ancestors in the afterlife as servants, and along with the "servants" someone was sent to the next world from a noble family to serve as "the official ambassador of the deceased king." In addition to these daily rituals, a mass sacrifice of victims was carried out on the days of the funeral of kings, who were buried right there on the territory of the palace. The victims had to carry in their hands bundles of cowrie shells and calabash with braga "tafia" as "payment for moving" to another, better world. "Ordinary people" were supposed to be buried under the bed on which they died. At the same time, it was considered good form to cut the child's throat and put this victim together with the deceased. However, the bodies of very simple and useless Dahomeans were simply thrown into the steppe or into the forest to be eaten by wild animals.
Another cult went to the coast, the cult of the Serpent, which was personified in the "sacred python." The temple of the "sacred python" still exists in Ouidah, just opposite the Catholic Church. He did not require human sacrifice. The Dahomeans made less dramatic sacrifices on a daily basis and everywhere; fetishism is still flourishing in the cities and villages of Benin, and it is difficult to walk along their streets without accidentally stumbling upon a “sacred tree” or a clay mound with eyes made of cowrie shells - the ancestral fetish of a family living in a neighboring house.
Subsequently, the host of Dahomean spirits, gods and deities took shape in the cult of Voodoo (or Vodun), which is most popular and known in the American processing that occurred in the lands of Haiti and Brazil. Voodoo and Benin have become almost synonymous. Indeed, Voodoo "festivals" are held every two weeks in Ouidah: priests gather, slaughter chickens, fall into a trance, raise the dead (sometimes). The Voodoo cult is also practiced in Togo and Ghana, but Benin is rightfully considered its "ancestral home".
The head of the legislative, executive and, in general, all power in Dahomey was the "king". Below were the Mingang (Prime Minister), two Meo (Deputy Prime Ministers), and their deputies. In Ouidh, the king was represented by "governors" from among his most devoted slaves - "yewoghan" and "agora". Like the Roman Caesars, the King of Dahomey was considered a living deity, "Abomean lion", "Brother of the leopard", etc. No one could contemplate how the king takes food, and he listened to the reports of his subjects like a pastor in a confessional - behind a separate canopy, inaccessible to the eyes of mere mortals. It's amazing how no one was tempted to take and replace the king! Moreover, it was believed that together with the king his "astral double" reigns, the king-spirit, who gives the main orders.
King Behanzin with his wives in exile.
Despite the fact that there was one queen in Dahomey, in addition to this official wife, the king could keep as many wives as he wanted in his harem. At the same time, only the sons of the "official" queen became princes of the blood, and the sons of minor wives were given the role of pages or petty noblemen, who, at the same time, had to carefully hide who their father was. There was also a kind of "division of labor" in the harem. One of the wives kept the fire in the hearth, the other was the keeper and "bearer" of the royal spittoon. But most of the king's wives were engaged in the kitchen, so you shouldn't think that they spent the whole day in bliss.
But women in Dahomey were used not only as dishwashers, guardians of spittoons and concubines. Like the women's battalion that guarded Winter on that ill-fated evening, the palace of the kings of Dahomey was guarded by several hundred elegantly dressed Amazon virgins, ready to lay down their heads for their ruler. These Dahomean vestals, however, did not vow to remain virgin for life and cut off the heads of the peasants. They could leave the service and start a family. I think that they were even enviable brides, although it is unlikely that a seasoned grenadier in a skirt could become a good and kind wife; the slightest quarrel with her could end unequivocally in her favor.
In the 19th century, the king's personal guard, in addition to the "women's battalion", consisted of about two thousand riflemen armed with flintlocks. In case of war, the army could be quickly increased six to seven times. It was enough to subjugate small tribal unions and micro-states, but not enough to confront the European powers.
In order to prevent their fatal penetration into Dahomey, an original tactic was chosen - no roads and no canals were built in the country, although there were all the prerequisites for this. Yes, the Europeans were friends with Dahomey. First they needed slaves, then palm oil, and if earlier the military expeditions of the Dahomeans were equipped mainly for "export" slaves, now - for slaves on the oil palm plantation. It is interesting to note that the coast of Dahomey was nominally under the protectorate of Portugal until 1886. In 1877 the British pushed several Dahomey counties to secede and “voluntarily” join Lagos. But the French became the real masters of the country. The French appeared in Dahomey in the 17th century and it is known that as early as 1670 the ruler of Allada sent an ambassador to Louis XIV. However, in the next century, relations with France fell into decay, and it was not until 1844 that the French trading house of Régis & Fabre was opened in Ouidu with the permission of King Gezo, the grandfather of the last Dahomey king Behanzin. In 1863, Gezo's nephew, Prince Dassi, became King of Porto Novo under the name of Toffa. He was the first to conclude a treaty with the French for a protectorate. In 1868 and 1878, King Gle-Gle concluded a treaty with France already on behalf of Dahomey. The French established themselves in Cotonou, Godome and Abomey-Calave despite vain protests from Portugal. He was the first to conclude a treaty with the French for a protectorate. In 1868 and 1878, King Gle-Gle concluded a treaty with France already on behalf of Dahomey. The French established themselves in Cotonou, Godome and Abomey-Calave despite vain protests from Portugal. He was the first to conclude a treaty with the French for a protectorate. In 1868 and 1878, King Gle-Gle concluded a treaty with France already on behalf of Dahomey. The French established themselves in Cotonou, Godome and Abomey-Calave despite vain protests from Portugal.
Not only the Portuguese were sharpening their teeth on the French. The Germans, who settled in Togo in 1884 with the diplomatic assistance of the eminent German traveler and African expert Gustav Nachtigal, dreamed of driving the French out of Dahomey. When in 1889 Gle-Gle decided to impose additional taxes on foreign merchants in Cotonou and Ouidu, France resented, but Gle-Gle found unexpected allies in the person of the Germans and the British. In order to rectify the situation, Paris sent its envoy to Abomey - Lieutenant Jean Bayol, Governor of Guinea (with the capital in Conakry). Arriving in Cotonou, the lieutenant sent his rod to King Gle-Gle. Apparently, Gle-Gle intended to see not a rod, but a sword as a humble offering. The welcome that Bayol received at Abomey was not very kind. The lieutenant was held in custody for 36 days,forced to sign an agreement on the abolition of the French protectorate over Cotonou (in fact, on the return of Cotonou to Dahomey), and in the end, in order, apparently to bring more moral suffering to the hapless diplomat, was forced to attend the ceremony of human sacrifice as an “honored guest”. Prince Kondo was especially zealous in mocking the French ambassador. When at last Lieutenant Bayol got out of Abomey, he learned that two days after his departure Glee-Gle had died. Prince Kondo became king under the name Behanzin …Prince Kondo was especially zealous in mocking the French ambassador. When at last Lieutenant Bayol got out of Abomey, he learned that two days after his departure Glee-Gle had died. Prince Kondo became king under the name Behanzin …Prince Kondo was especially zealous in mocking the French ambassador. When at last Lieutenant Bayol got out of Abomey, he learned that two days after his departure Glee-Gle had died. Prince Kondo became king under the name Behanzin …
Bayol told his leadership about his torment, and in 1890 two companies of Senegalese riflemen and half a company of Gabonese riflemen under the command of Terillon went to Dahomey. In total, the French "expeditionary corps" consisted of 320 people. On February 20, 1890, they took Cotonau and declared it French territory. On February 23, the day of the Soviet Army and Navy, the Dahomey army suffered another defeat from the French. However, on March 1, an attack by the Dahomean Amazons-male-slayers threw the French back to Coton. French merchants in Ouidah were partly killed, partly shackled and sent inland. Terillon lost forty people killed and wounded, and Behanzin's army numbered at least two thousand riflemen. Let their guns were mostly flintlock, but the bullet is a fool, you know, Suvorov taught us this. However, Bekhanzin behaved strangely. He announced that he did not intend to recapture Cotona, but wanted to seize Porto Novo and settle accounts with his brother Toffa. The French gunboat "Izumrud" came to Toffe's aid on March 28th. She went up the Vema River and shot several Dahomey villages. Already in April, the French squadron off the coast of Dahomey has six ships, and the ground contingent is 895 people. The decisive battle takes place near the village of Atiupa on April 18. 1,500 Dahomeans and 8 French were killed. The Dahomean army disperses, gathering forces for the subsequent struggle, but the season of rains and fevers sets in. Not before the war. The new commander of the French corps, Colonel Klipfel, proposes to send a squadron up the Vema again and capture Abomey in one campaign. However, it was decided to postpone the implementation of this plan.
Negotiations begin. King Behanzin tries to appease the French. He releases the captives from Abomey, and, like Alexander Yaroslavich Nevsky, sends with them a “sound letter”: “We hold no evil against you, French busurman. Let our nobles of Dahomey go out of the full, return our cities Cotonu and Porto-Novo, give us the adversary Toffu for trial. Negotiators are sent to Behanzin, but he is already engaged in the war with the Yoruba, and clearly makes it clear that he is not up to them yet. Only the third envoy, the priest Father Dorger, achieves success, and on October 3, 1890, an agreement is signed in Ouidah, according to which Behanzin pledges to respect the rights of the French to Porto Novo and Cotonou. Moreover, France obliged Behanzin to stop human sacrifice.
Dahomey Amazons.
The Dahomey War lasted from July 4, 1892 to January 15, 1894 and included fighting between France and the state of Dahomey by the African people of Fon. Colonel Alfred Dodds' French troops entered the territory of King Behanzin. This war marked the end of the kingdom of Dahomey, which was annexed to the French colonial empire.
At the end of the 19th century, the leading European powers, primarily France and Great Britain, began a serious race for colonization. France established its sphere of influence in Africa, especially in present-day Benin. This was the kingdom of Dahomey, one of the main states of West Africa. In 1851, a friendship treaty was signed between the two countries, which allowed the French to come and trade, as well as bring missionaries to the kingdom.
However, in 1861 the small coastal kingdom of Porto Novo, dependent on Dahomey, was attacked by British ships. It asked for and received French protection in 1863, which Dahomey refused. In addition, there was another contentious issue between the kingdom and the French over the port of Cotonou, which France wanted to take control of in response to the treaty of 1868, while Dahomey exercised customary law there.
In 1882, the King of Porto Novo, Tofa (ascended the throne in 1874) restored the French protectorate. However, the Fons continued to raid Porto Novo. Relations between France and Dahomey deteriorated by March 1889, when a regiment of Dahomey Amazons attacked a village under the French protectorate on the Veme River.
The year 1890 was marked by French reaction and war between France and Porto Novo on the one hand and Dahomey on the other. After the battles of Cotonou, Dahomey had to recognize the French protectorate over Porto Novo and cede the port of Cotonou to France in exchange for an annual payment of 20 thousand francs (Treaty of Ouid). However, neither side believed in the reliability of this world, and both were preparing for a new war. After the Fonse attacks in the Veme river valley, a resident of Porto Novo, Victor Ballo, was sent to investigate. His ship was ambushed and forced to turn back. King Behanzin refused to apologize, and France declared war on Dahomey.
France sent Alfred-Amede Dods, a colonel of the Senegalese Marines, and 2,164 legionnaires, infantrymen, engineers, and gunners. These soldiers were equipped with Lebel's new bayonet rifle, which proved to be a more effective weapon in close combat. The Kingdom of Porto Novo, in turn, provided 2,600 carriers. The Fons of Dahomey possessed 4,000-6,000 Winchester and Mannlicher rifles purchased from German sellers. Bekhanzin also forced Krupp to buy machine guns and guns. However, he was not sure if these heavy weapons would be used.
The Amazons hunt the elephant.
Dahomey's legends tell of gbeto - courageous elephant hunters whom the king began to take to the palace as bodyguards. But, perhaps, it was a necessary measure. Due to constant wars, the male population of the kingdom was greatly reduced, and women had to be recruited into the army.
Physically fit girls from all over the country were sent to the palace as a tribute to the king. The best of them were selected for the guard. There remains the memory of Jean Bayol, a French naval officer. In December 1889, he watched as the teenage recruit Naniska, “who had not yet killed,” passed the test: “She approached the young prisoner, who was sitting bound, brandished her long knife, and the young man's head rolled to her feet. Then, under the roar of the crowd, she raised a terrible trophy for all to see and licked the victim's blood from the weapon."
The Amazon regiment had a semi-sacred status that was directly related to the cult of voodoo. The female warriors made bloody sacrifices. Each wore an amulet around her neck that protected from enemies and evil spirits, and the ladies-officers sported horned helmets. The Amazons were armed with spears, melee knives and long blades on the shaft with which they cut off the heads and genitals of enemies. Later, rifles were added to conventional weapons, and at the end of the 19th century, King Behanzin bought guns from Germany and formed a detachment of female artillerymen.
Girls not only fought on the battlefield and guarded the palace. They made excellent spies. Under the guise of poor tradesmen, affordable women and beggars, they easily penetrated the enemy's territory and obtained the necessary information. In addition, the spies took part in repressions and carried out sentences. The punitive squad consisted exclusively of women.
The Amazons served as the backbone of the absolute power of the kings of Dahomey. The monarchs were not afraid of coups and riots, they knew that the warriors were faithful to them literally until their death.
Having passed the baptism of fire, the Amazon became the third rank royal wife. True, the title of the wife of the monarch was only a formality - the ruler did not share the bed with them. But at the same time, not a single man had the right to even look at the warrior - the king's wife. The traveler Sir Richard Francis Burton, who visited Dahomey in 1860, wrote: “When the Amazons left the palace, slaves and eunuchs walked in front of them, banging the gong. The sound of a gong urged all oncoming men to move a certain distance and look in the other direction. Disobedience was punishable by death."
The women who became warriors transformed all their unspent energy of love and motherhood into furious courage on the battlefield and a willingness to die for the king. Iron discipline and a rigid hierarchy reigned among the Amazons.
However, parents willingly chose such a fate for their daughters. The life of a Dahomean woman was hopeless, consisting of humiliation and hard work, and the warrior girls enjoyed benefits that were inaccessible to others.
Each Amazon was served by personal slaves, including captive eunuchs. The female warriors were fed and dressed in uniforms at public expense. They were allowed to consume alcohol and tobacco. In their spare time, they practiced martial arts and ritual dances.
The female warriors were content with their position in society. One of them, at a parade attended by Europeans, said: “As a blacksmith forges an iron rod and fire changes its image, so we have changed our nature.
We are no longer women, we are men. The Amazons seemed to actually consider themselves men, if not physically, then by social status.
In September 1892, the three thousandth French corps, consisting of units of artillery, marines, cavalry and with the participation of the Foreign Legion, went to storm the capital of the kingdom. 50 kilometers from the capital city of Abomey, the French met with fierce resistance. Confusion arose in the ranks of the colonial army, because … women attacked the well-armed and trained soldiers.
Divisional General Alfred Amede Dodds wrote in his memoirs that French soldiers were initially discouraged: how to fight the ladies? But when the severed heads of comrades flew to the ground, it became clear that the girls with long knives were not at all mademoiselles from the Parisian suburbs, but skillful and brave warriors.
In close combat, they had no equal. Having broken through the fire at the cost of unthinkable sacrifices, the black Amazons deftly wielded their knives, leaving corpses around the mountain. They seemed to have no fear. Even left alone, the warrior fought until she fell breathless.
The French were amazed at the courage and fury of the Amazons. However, despite powerful resistance, the Dahomey army could not resist the Europeans, who had more advanced weapons.
Divisional General Alfred Amede Dodds.
By mid-August, they began a slow advance towards the city of Abomey, the capital of Dahomey. On September 19, the French column moved to Dogba on the banks of the Veme River, located 80 kilometers deep in Dahomey. At five o'clock in the morning, the Fons launched an attack. After three hours of fighting, the legionnaires managed to restore the situation, despite massive enemy attempts to suppress them. The Dahomey army retreated, losing 132 men killed. The French lost five riflemen and two officers (including Commander Faure). After the death of Fora, the battalion was led by Captain Battreo, and a bridge and a fort were built in Dogba, which was named "Commander of the Fora".
The French continued their advance northward, going about thirty miles up the river, after which they turned to Abomey and were attacked on October 4 by an army under the command of King Behanzin. After several hours of hand-to-hand and bayonet fighting, which revealed the uselessness of Dahomey machetes against French rifles, the Fons were forced to retreat, having lost about 200 soldiers. The French captured three Germans, one Belgian and one Englishman, who fought in the ranks of the Dahomey army, in the evening the prisoners were shot. The losses of the French in the battle of Abomey amounted to 42 people.
After the victory, the French resumed their movement towards the capital Dahomey. The Fons, in turn, changed tactics and stepped up guerrilla action to slow the advance of Dodds' column. It took the French almost a month to approach the capital, Abomey. By 15 October, the Legion lost several lieutenants, as well as Captain Baltro, who was wounded. The staunch enemy did not bend, the convoy was subjected to constant attacks.
Colonel Dodds enters the defeated Abomey.
The decisive battle of the war took place on October 6, 1892 in the village of Adegon. The Fons attacked again, but the battle resulted in 503 Fon soldiers being killed and Dahomey's famous Amazon corps defeated. The losses of the Amazon corps were so great that for another week they did not participate in the clashes, but since October 15 they took part in every skirmish. This battle was a turning point in the mindset of the Dahomeans: they resigned themselves to the theme that the war could not be won. The French in the battle of Adegon lost only six people killed and 32 wounded.
On October 15, the French bivouacked about thirty kilometers from the capital in order to reorganize their forces and wait for reinforcements. The Fons managed to block them in the Akpa village. There were daily attacks by Behanzin's soldiers and the Amazons. Reinforcements for the French arrived on October 20 in the form of a battalion under the command of Officer Odeud. On October 26, the French broke through the Fons defenses and resumed movement.
French soldiers watch a fire in Abomey, the capital of Dahomey.
Faced with casualties, the Fons were forced to free their prisoners, as well as slaves, and incorporate them into their army. From 2 to 4 November, French troops and fons clashed in several battles. Bekhanzin and about 1,500 men tried to carry out a direct attack on the French camp on November 3, but were repulsed after four hours of fighting. The next day, the French, taking advantage of their superiority in numbers, captured the royal palace after a full day of battle.
On November 5, King Behanzin sent a peacekeeping mission to the French. The mission failed, and the French columns, which entered Cana on November 6, began their march on Abomey on November 16. The city was abandoned and set on fire by the Fons. Despite his courage, Behanzin left the capital in flames. On November 18, Colonel Dodds left the armed garrison in the capital and organized reconnaissance. The rest of the columns were sent to Porto Novo to recover and await reinforcements from the metropolis.
Behanzin and the remnants of the royal army fled north. The French put their brother Behanzin on the royal throne. Bekhanzin himself, after unsuccessful attempts to rebuild the army and organize resistance, surrendered to the French on January 15, 1894 and was exiled to Martinique.
The memory comes alive at the carnival.
In modern Benin, the Amazons are remembered. On holidays, women dress up in warrior clothes and perform a ritual dance that imitates battle. But this is just a carnival, the Amazons are in the past. In November 1979, a woman named Navi died in the Benin village of Quinta, over 100 years old. Ethnographers managed to record her memories of how she was a warrior, fought against the French, how she survived colonial times and waited for the freedom of Dahomey, the present state of Benin. Navi was probably the last black Amazon