In 1600, the Fon people of West Africa, during their migration route, settled in a plateau that was then known as the Abomey Plateau, thanks to negotiations with the local chiefs of the Gedevi tribe. The first king was known as King Houegbadja, who decided to go on conquest raids to the towns outside the plateau to increase the size of their land.
Second in line after him, was King Dakodonu. He was less contented than the previous king, so he decided to request more land from the Gedevi Chiefs themselves. He approached one of them, known as Chief Dan/Da. The chief rejected his plea, and sarcastically said, “Should I open up my belly and build you a house in it?”
Dakodonu didn’t take that insult lightly, so, he killed Dan and took over the land under him by force. There, he even began the construction of his palace. The new name of the Kingdom was thus derived from that incident:
Dan meaning ‘chief’
Xo meaning ‘belly’
Me meaning ‘inside of’.
Over time, though, the name morphed from ‘Danxome’ to ‘Danhome’ and finally to ‘Dahomey’.
The Kingdom of Dahomey came to be a regional power in the area, with its economy built on conquest and slave labour. It would, regularly, go to war with its neighbouring communities. Every time, they ensured they took in captives, who would face either of two fates: being sold as slaves or being offered as human sacrifices.
These human sacrifices were offered during the festival celebrations known as ‘The Annual Customs of Dahomey’. It was celebrated every year in order to offer thanks and gain approval from the ancestors of the royal lineage. Rather than offer animals as sacrifices, they believed that the gods would be more appeased when offered humans.
Therefore, the number of humans offered as sacrifices would depend on how fortunate they were at war that year. Ordinarily, 500 prisoners would be killed, but in good years, like in 1727, around 4,000 prisoners were killed.
On the other hand, the Kingdom of Dahomey came up at a period in time when the demand for slaves was high. Thus, they were a huge player in the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade. As the Trans-Atlantic slave trade flourished, so did the Kingdom of Dahomey’s economy.
The trading outpost for the sale and shipment of these slaves was set up at a small fishing village, which, due to this activity, came to be known as Kotonou (now Cotonou). This name meant ‘mouth of the river of death.’ It was named so because of the role it played during the slave trade. Once anyone from the other side of the country was captured and sent to Kotonou, their family and folks knew that he was no more.
The town became known to the whole of Europe as a major player during the slave trade, and so, it grew in size from the small fishing village that it was.
However, in the 19th Century, the British intervened, when they decided to abolish the slave trade. The King at the time, known as King Ghezo, said that it was impossible for them to end the slave trade, as their Kingdom was entirely dependent on it, and so it would collapse. But then, the British would have none of it.
Slave trade was abolished, and they had to shift their attention to the trading of palm oil. Soon, the French expressed interest in conquering them, just after the Scramble & Partition. They went to war twice: The First & Second Franco-Dahomean War, where the Kingdom of Dahomey lost, and was made a French Protectorate in 1894. Ten years later, in 1904, it would become a French colony, known as the French Dahomey.
It would become a self-governing colony in 1958 – the Republic of Dahomey, then gain independence in 1960. In 1975, it was renamed the People’s Republic of Benin, then in 1991, it would drop the first name and remain the Republic of Benin.
Cotonou, on the other hand, would retain its name. Despite not being the capital city (that is Porto Novo), it became the seat of government. To this date, it is the largest and most populous city in Benin. Maybe, it should change its name to ‘mouth of the river of life’ because of how much it is teeming with life, don’t you think?
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