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by
Torgbui Sri ( a prince) to Notsie when succession dispute arose among the claimants of the stool after the death of the occupant. An outbreak of smallpox decimated the Adja population in ancient times, thus reducing their population in comparison to the descendant Ewe or Fon. There are three dialects: Tàgóbé (in Togo only), Dògóbè (in Benin only), and Hwègbè (in both countries). Many are trilingual, also speaking French and
54:
250:
Due to severe land shortages in the densely populated
Togolese-Beninois border region mentioned above, many Aja have migrated in recent years, seeking arable land for subsistence farming or work in urban centers. There are a significant number of Aja living throughout the coastal region of Benin and
242:
Scarcity of natural resources , overpopulation and chieftaincy disputes contributed to the separation and dispersal of both the Ewe and later the Fon from Adja. The
Awormezi ( the paramount stool) of Anlo in the Volta Region of Ghana is reputed to be the original stool of Adja Tado and was taken away
230:
originated from the Aja. Most Gbe speaking people especially the Ewe and Fon trace their origins to Adja Tado (formerly known as Azame) and consider Adja as their 'mother tribe'. The Gbe speaking peoples claim to have met the Alu, Za along with some light skinned dwarfish people with straight hair
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The Aja, Fon, Ewe, Ga-Adangbe accounted for most of the people carried to the
Americas from the Bight of Benin, Togo and Ghana in the transatlantic slave trade prior to the late eighteenth century (when Yoruba people became the more common captives from the region).
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Adja Tado was originally known as Azame. In ancient times there was a debilitating smallpox outbreak in Adja Tado resulting in a massive loss of life. A Yoruba traditional priest purified the town and stemmed the spread of the epidemic.
175:, three brothers, Kokpon, Do-Aklin, and Te-Agbanlin, split the ruling of the region then occupied by the Aja amongst themselves: Kokpon took the capital city of
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215:) until 1893, when the French conquered them. Currently, there are approximately 500,000 Ajas in an area straddling the border between Benin and
251:
Togo, southern
Nigeria and Gabon. The urban centers of Cotonou, Lome, Lagos and Libreville all have significant Aja migrant populations.
425:
312:
Asiwaju, A. I. (1979). "The Aja-Speaking
Peoples of Nigeria: A Note on Their Origins, Settlement and Cultural Adaptation up to 1945".
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He assured the survivors in his native Yoruba with those words and with the passage of time, Azame came to be known as Atado.
445:
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247:, the lingua-franca of southern Benin, while Ewe is spoken as a second language by those Aja living in Togo and Ghana.
207:, or "Dahomey" ethnic group. This group is now the largest in Benin. Another source claims the Aja were the rulers of
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231:(possibly pygmies or remnant bushmen) in the vicinity when they arrived from southwest Nigeria via
160:. According to oral tradition, the Aja migrated to southern Benin in the 12th or 13th century from
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Those Aja living in Abomey mingled with the local people, thus creating a new people known as the
611:
386:
Paul E. Lovejoy, Transformations in
Slavery, 3rd ed. (New York: Cambridge UP, 2012), 79-80.
226:, or simply 'Aja'; Only 1-5% are literate in their native tongue. According to one source,
8:
345:
337:
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111:
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405:
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195:(literally, "New Port") by Portuguese traders and the current capital city of Benin.
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99:
627:
554:
722:
707:
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529:
487:
333:
128:
95:
235:. New evidence has shown that ther ewere ideed ancient archaic West African
191:; and Te-Agbanlin founded Little Ardra, also known as Ajatche, later called
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115:
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176:
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652:
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Yoruba language- Ata: ado: mi - Now the village will grow and prosper
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402:Fighting the slave trade: West African strategies
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152:are an ethnic group native to south-western
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239:populations matching these descriptions.
19:For the ethnic group in South Sudan, see
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426:Aja and Fon people in images and stories
16:Ethnic group of Benin and southeast Togo
404:. Athens, Ohio: Ohio University Press.
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364:"History of Benin (formerly Dahomey)"
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222:The Aja speak a language known as
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7:
400:Diouf, Sylviane A. (2003).
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183:kingdom; Do-Aklin founded
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21:Aja people (South Sudan)
729:Ethnic groups in Benin
462:Ethnic groups in Benin
734:Ethnic groups in Togo
368:www.nationsonline.org
122:Related ethnic groups
612:Demographics of Togo
179:, reigning over the
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189:Kingdom of Dahomey
156:and south-eastern
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371:. Retrieved
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320:(1): 15–28.
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297:November 30,
295:. Retrieved
293:. Ethnologue
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149:
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131:, primarily
116:Christianity
26:Ethnic group
177:Great Ardra
173: 1600
129:Gbe peoples
723:Categories
663:Ga-Adangbe
373:2020-05-25
273:References
258:Etymology
193:Porto Novo
166:Mono River
350:145468899
334:0001-9720
90:Languages
65:1,090,000
40:1,280,000
698:Mamprusi
503:Anlo Ewe
106:Religion
555:Tammari
342:1159502
224:Aja-Gbe
209:Dahomey
199:History
164:on the
85:190,000
708:Yoruba
565:Yoruba
530:Kurtey
488:Bariba
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348:
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332:
245:Fongbe
228:voodoo
185:Abomey
181:Allada
168:, and
127:Other
100:French
77:
57:
693:Losso
688:Lamba
683:Kposo
678:Kabye
673:Hausa
668:Gurma
648:Dendi
643:Bissa
628:Agome
623:Adele
570:Zarma
550:Somba
535:Lamba
525:Hausa
520:Gurma
493:Dendi
346:S2CID
338:JSTOR
291:"Aja"
233:Ketou
213:Benin
154:Benin
60:Benin
658:Fula
545:Mahi
515:Fula
478:Akan
406:ISBN
330:ISSN
299:2023
217:Togo
162:Tado
158:Togo
150:Adja
144:The
135:and
96:Adja
80:Togo
703:Tem
653:Ewe
638:Ana
633:Aja
560:Tém
510:Fon
498:Ewe
483:Ana
473:Aja
322:doi
205:Fon
148:or
146:Aja
137:Fon
133:Ewe
30:Aja
725::
366:.
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328:.
318:49
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280:^
170:c.
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211:(
23:.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.