348:, increasing its forces with French Senegalese and Gabonese soldiers, and arresting local Dahomey officials who had been continuing to collect customs in the port. Skirmishes also broke out with local militias. On March 4, 1890, a Dahomey army of several thousand charged the log stockade around Cotonou at approximately 5 in the morning. The French army stood fast due to superior weaponry, strategy and the advantageous position they had prepared. Eventually Béhanzin's forces were forced to withdraw. While there were few losses on the French side, the Dahomey suffered the loss of several hundred soldiers (129 within French lines).
588:
600:
506:, the French were victorious, sustaining only 85 casualties to the estimated 2000 to 4000 killed among the Fon. On November 5, 1892, following the loss of the royal palace, Béhanzin sent a truce mission to the French forces, but it failed. King Béhanzin, refusing to let the capital fall into enemy hands, burned and evacuated the city. He and the remnants of the Dahomey army fled north as the French entered the capital on 17 November, and installed Béhanzin's brother
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so-called
Amazons. One source claims that in one of the battles an Amazon killed a French officer by ripping out his throat with her sharpened teeth. Parallel accounts of the event handed down in Benin describe the Amazon as a trusted wife of Béhanzin who had sworn to avenge members of the royal family who had been
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Béhanzin was seen by his people as intelligent and courageous. He saw that the
Europeans were gradually encroaching on this section of the West African Coast, and as a result attempted a foreign policy of isolating the Europeans and rebuffing them. As prince just before the death of his father Glele,
556:
Each of
Dahomey's kings was represented in sculpture with images that referred to the proverbs, associations, and wordplay attached to his royal name. The images that symbolize Behanzin (or Gbehanzin) include an egg held by a hand, as the words for these in the Fon language form a rebus, or pun, of
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after the fierce women warriors of Greek mythology. These women soldiers were thought to have become common in the Fon army due to the extreme losses suffered by
Dahomey during wars with neighboring kingdoms. Some official French propaganda from the period may be seen in prints depicting these
339:
whose chief was under the protection of the French. After remarking that the flag of the tricolour would protect him, the Fon commanded one of his
Dahomey Amazons to behead him and wrap his head in the flag. France responded by fortifying the city of
521:
After his death, his remains were returned to Abomey. His throne and his sculptures of wood, copper, iron and silver are now in the Musee Quai Branly, and have been the topic of important discussions about their return to the
Republic of Benin.
471:, the French defeated Dahomey, one of the last African kingdoms to succumb to European colonization, with very few French losses. Instead of attacking Abomey directly by marching straight north from Calavi just north of Cotonou, French General
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was already at odds with other colonial empires for their practice of attacking and enslaving neighboring kingdoms, both for domestic slaves (including human sacrifice), and trans-atlantic trade, which came at odds with the
572:, a powerful rival state. This prisoner had boasted that he could attack the king with magic, but Behanzin hanged him from a flagpole as punishment for his rebellion. The king's most famous symbol is the
495:, while the Fon continued to pattern their attacks in predictable melee combat style just before dawn, with shorter machete weapons and swords that had difficulty breaking disciplined French
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as the new King. After failing to rebuild his army, King Béhanzin eventually surrendered to the French on 15 January 1894. He lived out the remainder of his life in exile in
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662:"King Bihuazin [i.e. Béhanzin] of Dahomey, and his two wives [standing on porch] - French government prisoner in Martinique, Fort de France"
561:(and now in the Musee Quai Branly in Paris), the shark is a metaphor for Behanzin; as does the shark, the king guards the coast of the kingdom of Dahomey.
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The peace lasted two years, but both sides continued to buy arms in preparation for another battle. In 1892, the soldiers of Abomey attacked villages near
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300:'s last independent ruler established through traditional power structures. He led the resistance to French colonization of his kingdom, during the
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in an effort to reassert the older boundaries of
Dahomey. King Béhanzin rejected complaints by the French, who proceeded to declare war.
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who committed the 'savage' act of corrupting family members to betray their own. The Amazon was reduced to using her teeth after her
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576:. This is because he claimed that there wasn't a minute in his life, even when he was a baby, that he was not smoking tobacco.
355:. A force of 350 French soldiers assisted by 500 of King Toffa's soldiers intercepted Béhanzin's force of 9000 warriors in the
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Over a series of battles and guerilla warfare by the Fon attempting to slow the French march towards the
Dahomey capital of
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292:'s suicide, Béhanzin ascended the throne in January 1890 and ruled until 1894, when he was defeated by the French in the
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to protect themselves and successfully repelled the
Dahomey, suffering only 8 casualties to the Dahomey's 1500.
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After regrouping, Dahomey sent its forces south to attack the French-protected city of Porto-Novo ruled by King
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from French agents. The French officer she is said to have killed was allegedly the head of French
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the royal name. As may be seen in the large wooden statue once displayed in the royal palace at
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On 3 October 1890, Dahomey signed a treaty recognizing the kingdom of Porto-Novo as a French
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A captive hanging from a flagpole is a reference to a man from the Nago, or
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of slaves made to the royal ancestors at the annual ceremonies known as
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by Béhanzin for treachery after divulging battle plans in return for
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characterizing the
Dahomeans as savages in need of civilizing
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that protected the king, whom the Fon referred to simply as
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Alperin, Stanley (1998). "On the Origins of the Amazons".
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The French further justified the annexation of Dahomey by
370:. Béhanzin was also forced to definitely cede Cotonou.
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and at a king's death, as evidence of this savagery.
273:– 10 December 1906) is considered the eleventh (if
60:. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
335:In March 1889, Dahomey attacked a village on the
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775:Blier, Suzanne (1990). "King Glele of Danhome".
419:The French also pointed to the existence of the
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737:Second Franco-Dahomean War#CITEREFAlpern1998
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296:and exiled to Martinique. Béhanzin was
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459:that included cutting down most of the
27:King of Dahomey from c. 1890 to c. 1894
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1093:19th century in the Kingdom of Dahomey
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427:(or "mothers"), but the French called
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748:Hickley, Catherine (16 July 2020).
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255:A statue of Béhanzin in Abomey
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1047:(2000 to 2012; rival claim)
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679:"First Franco-Dahomean War"
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544:by Sossa Dede (c. 1890), a
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457:psychological warfare
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288:Following his father
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958:(April 1740 to 1774)
550:musée du quai Branly
54:improve this article
1051:Dah Sagbadjou Glele
617:Scramble for Africa
357:Battle of Atchoukpa
174: January 1890
1045:Houédogni Béhanzin
783:(4): 42–53, 93–4.
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704:History in Africa
451:Through superior
283:Republic of Benin
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227:(aged 60–61)
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605:Coat of arms
593:Royal banner
574:smoking pipe
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481:Oueme valley
473:Alfred Dodds
461:sacred trees
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47:verification
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1083:1906 deaths
915: 1625
902: 1600
760:3 September
271: 1845
214: 1845
187:Predecessor
181: 1894
160: 1895
1067:Categories
1015:Agoli-agbo
998:Agoli-agbo
932:Houegbadja
885:Rulers of
835:Agoli-agbo
829:1889–1894
689:2023-02-19
623:References
568:, city of
527:Agoli-agbo
512:Martinique
508:Agoli-agbo
477:Porto-Novo
446:ammunition
390:Porto-Novo
386:Grand Popo
319:Jean Bayol
201:Agoli-agbo
110:April 2021
80:newspapers
69:"Béhanzin"
974:Adandozan
908:Dakodonou
683:Knowledge
542:Man-Shark
308:Biography
275:Adandozan
260:Gbehanzin
197:Successor
135:Gbehanzin
1021:Aidododo
992:Béhanzin
917:to 1645)
895:Do-Aklin
710:: 9–25.
611:See also
434:executed
264:Béhanzin
18:Behanzin
968:Agonglo
962:Kpengla
956:Tegbesu
878:Dahomey
797:3336943
724:3172178
664:. 1902.
580:Symbols
516:Algeria
499:lines.
497:Bayonet
493:Bohicon
463:in the
429:Amazons
409:Dahomey
353:Toffa I
342:Cotonou
298:Dahomey
279:Dahomey
230:Algiers
94:scholar
944:Hangbe
887:Abomey
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566:Yoruba
559:Abomey
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485:Abomey
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346:Ouidah
317:envoy
315:French
240:Father
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986:Glele
980:Ghezo
950:Agaja
938:Akaba
874:Kings
818:Glele
793:JSTOR
720:JSTOR
570:Ketou
465:Oueme
425:Minon
337:Ouémé
290:Glele
244:Glele
191:Glele
167:Reign
101:JSTOR
87:books
762:2020
648:2024
514:and
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388:and
220:Died
207:Born
73:news
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