Dahomey was in the present day Benin country in West Africa. It was one of the most powerful pre-colonial West African kingdoms. Her power was based on proper political, social and economic organisation. This assisted it to resist the French colonial invasion until 1897. The kingdom is said to have been organised by Aja or Fon clan that mobilised various tribes in the region into centralised leadership. The Aja clan was so strong that it formed the Benin dynasty which remained for many years and was admired by the very many African societies as well as European newcomers (colonialists). Her strong position seems to have been maintained because other small size which was easy to manage.

Dahomey lies between the Western frontiers of Nigeria and the Eastern frontiers of Togo stretching from the Atlantic coastal inland some 400 miles Northward. By the 17th Century Dahomey was a composition of small states inhabited by the Fon, Aja and Kindred peoples - immediately near the territory of West Yoruba land. It was a composition of the important states of Alladah, Popo, Whydah and Dahomey itself.

The history of Dahomey is mythical i.e its foundation is unclear however according to a popular legend, it was founded by Taccodonou one of the great chiefs of the Fon who established the capital of Abomey after defeating its chief Da in 1625. Following the death of the latter, a palace was built over his grave and it came to be known as Dahomey meaning a house an Da’s belly from where the kingdom traces its name.

The state of Dahomey was once a vassal state of the empire of Oyo. Following the decline of the Oyo empire in 18th Century the rulers of Dahomey divorced themselves from the Oyo people and thought creating an empire through building a strong and well centralized large kingdom of Dahomey with its capital at Abomey.

POLITICAL ORGANISATION

One of the most important factors to explain the success of Dahomey was her proper political set up. In the examination other political system perhaps the ideal starting point could be the nature of succession to power. Ascendance system in Dahomey was hereditary in nature. This was meant to minimise succession disputes and civil wars that could result into anarchy and political instability.

The successor to the king was always selected from the legitimate sons born to the king by his first wife while in office. This helped to eliminate unnecessary competitions amongst many sons and other distant relatives of the throne. Once one became the king, he assumed all political powers and in most cases he ruled as an absolute monarchy. He was the law and represented the state in all social, political and economic spheres. For example the king controlled all political and military appointments in the kingdom and all the population had to be loyal to the king. Examples of the famous kings of Dahomey include; Ghezo, Gelele and Behanzin.

Politically, the kings of Dahomey established a strong and well centralized system of administration with the king as a supreme ruler, commander-in-chief of the armed forces, controller of land and finance which is a classical epitome of a centralized system.

By the later 18th Century, Dahomey had conquered various states which were assimilated to it. The king appointed chiefs and put them as administrators in the conquered areas and these were only answerable to him.

The king was also assisted by a council of Ministers composed of the commander of the police force, ministers of agriculture, finance, trade and the controller of the port of Whydah.

This council of ministers only had a role of advising the king but the final decisions only came from himself. In otherwords the king was absolute and his word was law and order. The state had a spy-network “Adjibadjubeto” to spy on neighbouring states.

Each of the above ministers had a woman counterpart known as "Naye" who spied on the provincial chiefs to guarantee peace and security in the Dahomey kingdom. The most important 'Naye' stayed at Quida and she ensured that she reported all commercial activities carried out in the region to the king. This power was also shown in the standing army which protected Dahomey as a kingdom. At this point in time the army was the most unique in the whole of West African societies and had women soldiers known as "Amazon" These had a big role to play in the protection of the king as well as the kingdom at large.

The commanders in the army often held high government posts in order to ensure their loyalty to the king. The Migan was the national commander of Dahomey armed forces while the Meu was also the commander of a big section of the army. The king himself was a respected soldier and was the overall commander of the forces and his title was 'Gao'

Militarily, Dahomey had a strong, well-trained and equipped army. Initially equipped with arrows and spears, later it got guns from Europeans at the coast. This army was partly a composition of women and these were put in fighting wings as warriors popularly referred to as “Amazon” by Europe-centric historians whose role was very significant in the Dahomey army for they acted as spies, fighters and cooks. This army was under the control and command of the king who worked as the commander-in-chief. This is evidence to suggest that Dahomey had a standing army that could be called upon in any circumstances of a crisis both internal and external.

Dahomey also enjoyed prerogative power of the king who held the law in his hands. He forbade the formation of secret societies and whoever found was mercilessly punished. In some sectors of political issues the king had to also act within the law in order to ensure democracy in the kingdom'. At one time the king Gelele was fined for breaking the law. The highest court of justice "Mingi" had to settle the cases against him although the king was often consulted before major decision concerning crime sentences were made.

Dahomey didn't have established set of rules except traditional customs and norms of the people that assisted in solving most of the problems that would emerge out of indiscipline by the Dahomey natives. In each provincial administration the king established the appointive system and believed in the traditional ruling families of the conquered states in fact the king for this matter enjoyed loyalty from his appointed provincial chiefs because he could dismiss and appoint another one at his will.

Through the policy of Dahomenisation all conquered subjects were totally changed and absorbed into Dahomenian selected social, political and economic systems through learning the language and abandoning previous culture in favour of the Dahomey culture. The provincial governors could be summoned at Abomey. To report what had transpired in their provinces. This made them to work hard as was expected of them and help to ensure loyalty to the king among different provinces.

Economically, the economy of Dahomey was centralized; it was directly controlled by the king who had to check and know whatever took place in the kingdom. It was dependent on above other things agriculture, the whole kingdom was divided into regions and each region was given a particular crop to grow and in this way the king had enough food and in this was the king had enough food. All the palm trees in the kingdom which was the major economic crop had to be counted every year and in this way the king was able to know how much palm oil was to be produced and how much money to be got. This was so because agricultural crops were under the supervision of the chiefs of these areas hence the king would be able to determine his faithfuls in his kingdom. There was an annual census of all the people for purposes of taxation.

In addition to agriculture and palm oil, the economy also depended on poultry and animals. Equally these animals were in the kingdom to feed his army and administrators. This assisted him to control his populace hence overcoming the problem of being destabilized in his administration. Agriculture was put under the Ministry of Agriculture which was answerable to the king himself.

Apart from agriculture, the economy also depended on taxes paid to the state by every able bodied citizen and this was done by counting all the people periodically to help the king know how many people were eligible for paying taxes and how much money was expected to come from these taxes. The traders passing through the kingdom also had to pay taxes and similarly those using the port of Whydah had to pay customs duties and port dues for the services rendered to the traders. The king also got income from the royal estates worked by slaves.

In 18th Century, the state of Dahomey also engaged in slave trade, the slaves were raided from the neighboring states. Its these slaves that were exchanged to acquire guns and other European good which were very significant in the 18th Century expansion of Dahomey. They also provided labour on royal estates and households.

Socially the Dahomey society was divided into classes whereby the king and royal family formed the class of the leisured below which was a class of dignitaries which was a composition of chiefs and other notables in society. The next was that of commoners comprised of all people of Dahomey who didn’t belong to the above classes. the last of these was that of slaves who were captured through raids, used as servants at the king’s palace meanwhile some were sold off to Europeans at the coast and others sacrificed to the gods and ancestral spirits of the kings.

Like any other centralized society, the king was both a political and religious leader and all priests and dividers were under the control and supervision of the king who presided over important religious ceremonies which therefore gave the king a supernatural position which created stability in Dahomey.

The keeping of animals was closely supervised by the state. People were encouraged to keep animals and grow enough food crops to ensure food self sustenance in the kingdom,

The government also set up state granaries where the surplus food could be stored to avoid famine in future. The indiscriminate killing of domestic animals was also prohibited by the government to ensure the maintenance of large stocks of animals. The animal census was regularly done which also helped in proper assessment of taxes to raise the government revenues from the boundaries.

There was also specialisation in agricultural production and keeping animals. Each province was encouraged to produce specific crops for example Abomey province specialised in millet, Alladah province specialised in maize and groundnuts. Aja in maize alone, Coastal province produced palm oil however sometimes there were adjustments made especially when a particular province had suffered from natural calamities of drought and floods, There was also some royal monopoly for example the production of spices, red and black pepper, ginger, bee keeping. All these were main activities and selected for the royal class because they needed little efforts to produce and attained high profits and had ready market from Europeans.

THE SOCIAL, CULTURAL AND JUDICIAL SET UP OF DAHOMEY.

Dahomey existed in stratified social organisation. It was divided into three groups i.e. luxury group, commoners' group and servants. The leisured class constituted of the royal or noble group or citizens of Dahomey. They were all relatives of the ruling king. They were known as the leisured citizens because they enjoyed several privileges in comparison to other classes and depended on the work of the other people. Never the less the relatives group of the current king enjoyed more privileges than those related to the previous kings.

A class of commoners was second in importance in Dahomey's social structures. It was the class that provided chiefs and other state workers. In most cases commoners were allowed to marry from the royal class as long as they were economically capable. This made it possible for the children of commoners to get promoted in high ranks in government. In other words there was freedom of mobility (i.e. social mobility).

At the bottom of social pyramid, there was a servile class that composed of slaves and serfs. It was the social class that worked on plantations and could sometimes be sold into slavery. Nevertheless it should be noted that the social stratification in Dahomey was not very rigid as one citizen was allowed to move from one lower class to the higher as long as he satisfied the conditions required for such a high class.

Dahomey had several religions, different communities worshipped different gods. however the king closely monitored religious affairs of the whole kingdom and he didn't interfere with any religion by his state policies. The newly conquered provinces had freedom to continue with their private religious affairs or at their will they would change Dahomenians' beliefs. The Dahomenians suspected ancestors who never believed to be society controllers. As a result there were annual ceremonies which were honoured by the people of the great personality. These yearly celebrations had a great unifying role among the people of Dahomey.

Dahomey had a strict legal system involving hierarchy (order) of the courts from the village level to the highest court of appeal, which was presided over by Mingi. (Chief justice) who took major decisions on serious cases. However the king had the power to adjust punishments where possible.

It should be noted that Dahomey had well laid out rules on political, social and economic institutions that made it strong during the 19th century period, a factor that made it able to resist French colonialism until 1897.

Question

Describe the social, political and economic organization of the Fon State during the pre-colonial advent.

The kingdom of Benin was founded by a group of rulers known as the Ogiso. The Ogiso dynasty was replaced by the Eweka Dynasty in the 15th Century from that time up to the 19th Century, the king of Benin became known as the Oba. Benin was considered to be one of the forest states of West Africa because it was located in the Guinea forest. It is one of the West African states which started declining in the 19th Century due to the coming of European colonization.

SOCIAL ORGANISATION

The people of Benin were known as the Bini and they spoke a language which was described as Edo. The society of the Bini people was divided into two main groups that is the nobility and common people.

The rulers of Benin were usually chosen from the nobility. The members of the nobility who lived at the palace were divided into three groups of chiefs; the Iwebo Society which was responsible for keeping the Obas regalia that is his clothes, weapons and the throne. The Iweguae Society which was responsible for keeping the Oba’s house where he slept as well as providing him with personal servants and other assistants. The Ibiwe Society which was responsible for keeping the houses where the king’s wives and other women lived.

These three societies formed what was known as the palace nobility of Benin and they were sometimes called Palace Chiefs.

ECONOMIC ORGANISATION

At the beginning of the 19th Century, the kingdom of Benin mostly participated in slave trade. Slaves were usually exported but some were needed or domestic purposes. The Oba usually made use of slaves to perform public works such as building roads. Benin also used to get income from its Satellite states (tributary states) for example Urhobo, Itsekiri, Afenmai and Ishan. These states used to provide tributes to the Oba of Benin in form of food and slaves.

Before the 19th Century, Chiefs used to trade in their local areas of Benin but during the 19th Century the Oba tried to bring all transactions in his kingdom under his control. For this reason, the Oba became responsible for the collection of taxes. In addition, all the chiefdoms in Benin sent tributes to the Oba. It should be noted however, that external trade was more profitable to Benin than internal trade. External trade involved items such as slaves, leopard skins, pepper, ivory crafts and minerals such as gold, browse and brass. These trade items were usually exchanged for European manufactured products such as fire arms and cloth, the Oba used to participate in trade through his high ranking palace chiefs called Unagwe and Eribo.

POLITICAL ORGANISATION

The king of Benin was known as Oba. The amount of authority possessed by the Oba depended on his personal ability to control his kingdom. The Oba had powers to appoint officials in his government. All palace chiefs therefore were appointed by the Oba. There were town chiefs who were also appointed by the Oba. By 1890 there were 13 town chiefs in Benin. It should be noted however that the town chiefs acted like a kind of opposition party. This is because they were the only ones who were allowed to argue with the Oba in public, the palace chiefs and the town chiefs were very wealthy and powerful. They controlled large forces of land and they had many followers. In order to control their power, the Oba kept them divided against each other.

The central government of Benin was headed by the Oba himself. Below him there was a council of state chiefs which he consulted about important matters concerning the kingdom. Therefore the council of state acted as the advisors of the Oba.

The council was responsible for making laws for the kingdom. The council also conducted the executive and judicial suctions of the central government. The different territories of the Benin kingdom were controlled by prominent governors. Some areas were controlled by the chiefs. The provincial governors and the chiefs were both appointed by the king.

There were also village heads who controlled each village and they were assisted by a council of elders who acted as the advisors of the village heads.

The Oba of Benin at the beginning of the 19th Century was called Obonosa and he was succeeded by Osemwede who expanded the territory of Benin by capturing territories from neighbouring tribes. These included the territories of Akure and Ekiti people.

In 1848 the Oba of Benin was known as Adolo. He ruled Benin for 40 years and he was able to build many towns in 1888, he was succeeded by Overamui. It was then during Overamui’s rule that the British declared protectorate over Benin and the rest of Niger Delta states. The coming of British rule in the Niger Delta region at the end of the 19th Century marked the end of the kingdom of Benin.