Aja People
Who Are The Aja People? The Aja people inhabited the southernmost section of what is now the Republic of Benin during the entire seventeenth century. In the second half of the seventeenth century, a reigning dynasty of the Fon or Aja established a kingdom that came to be known as Dahomey. This country was ruled by the Aja.
This dynasty controlled Dahomey until the late nineteenth century, when it was eventually overthrown. The Yoruba kingdom of Oyo initially held this country in a position of vassalage or tributary status. It became independent in 1818. It was under the rule of Kings Gezo (1818–1858) and Glele (1859–1889) that Dahomey evolved into one of the most productive and successful indigenous African states in the annals of African history.
The origins of Dahomey can be traced back to Allada. The stateless and leaderless people who lived on the Abomey plateau were the target of an expedition led by a branch of the Allada dynasty that consisted of several hundred loyal followers. Dahomey, on the other hand, was a centralized state that boasted a military force that was well-organized, disciplined, and hierarchically constituted. At the end of the seventeenth century, Dahomey had taken control of the coastal hinterland and was able to invade it at whim in order to acquire slaves.
Because they wanted to conduct business with European merchants, the Dahomey people eventually severed their ties to the parent kingdoms of the Aja. Despite the fact that the authority of the Europeans was expanding, the other Aja kingdoms refused to trade with them. The Aja kingdoms fell into collapse as European power increased.
There was a risk to public order, and the quality of government was deteriorating. The presence of Europeans brought forth new challenges for the Aja people. The Dahomey people believed that by collaborating with Europeans, they would be able to find answers to these issues. The kings of Dahoma were not absolute monarchs; rather, they had frequent consultations with the Great Council, the council of ministers, as well as notable merchants and soldiers.
The king was accessible to representatives of virtually all interest groups, and those representatives could exert some kind of influence over him. The monarchs of Dahomey rose to prominence through a combination of valor in combat and military prowess. The monarch of Dahoma was responsible for the appointment, promotion, and removal of Dahoman officials. The conquered states eventually became fully functioning provinces within the kingdom.
It was decided that distinct laws and vassal rulers would not be acknowledged. Hereditary aristocrats were subject to the king and the council of counselors that he had. The king’s chief magistrate and head of police were both the mingi’s responsibilities. The king’s taxes were collected by the meu, who also served as the ministry’s minister of finance. Both the topke and the yevogan held ministerial positions in the Dahomey government; however, the topke oversaw agricultural policy and the yevogan was in charge of diplomatic relations.
His responsibilities included overseeing seaports like Whydah, as well as international trade and contacts with European nations. Female officials, who functioned as special envoys for the king and were known as naye, were stationed in each province. They conducted inspections of the work performed by male officials, and they reported any abnormalities to the monarch immediately.
The Dahomey civilization produced its own unique kind of ferocious female soldiers. They enlisted in the military so that they could shield their children from Yoruba slave traders on horseback. This was a revolutionary change for a continent where, traditionally, women have been expected to be submissive and deferential to their male counterparts. Sir Richard Burton, a British explorer who popularized the term, gave the legendary Amazon warriors their name.
The king delegated the responsibility for the planning and management of the economy to the civil service. The production of food on farms made it possible to provide for all members of the royal family, as well as the elite, the urban craft population, the army, and a surplus harvest that could be sold. When there was a shortage of certain crops, the government ordered certain regions to grow more of them. All of the live cattle were counted as part of a yearly census.
To generate operational money, the state gathered revenue via taxes on individual income, custom charges, and road tolls. The renting out of royal properties resulted in an increase in wealth. This revenue, coupled with the acquisition of firearms and ammunition, served as the cornerstone upon which their power and freedom were built.
Without them, the other kingdoms’ attempts to capture slaves from Dahomey would be successful. Oyo conducted numerous raids on Dahomey, which resulted in the Dahomans being compelled to pay the Yoruba tribute in the form of an increased number of slaves, which was a disastrous development. Between the years 1680 and 1730, historians believe that Allada and Whydah exported an average of more than 20,000 slaves per year (Oliver 1981: 99).
Many African city-states, like those founded by the Aja, considered the slave trade to be a minor or unimportant concern. Their objective was to amass power and expand their territorial holdings. In order to accomplish this goal, they required firearms from Europe as well as horses from the north. The northern Hausa city-states were responsible for the capture and training of horses. They asked that the payment for the horses be made in the form of slaves. As a kind of payment for firearms, Europeans also requested human slaves.
Dahomey maintained a growing number of slaves throughout the period of increased Aja power. These slaves were placed to work on farms, which provided food and other resources for the urban population. Slave agricultural communities began to grow in the land surrounding major towns. The value of taxes and tribute collected from an expanding tributary region quickly surpassed that of the slave trade. To man Dahomey’s ever-expanding armies, an ever-increasing number of people were required. The importance of slave warriors increased throughout time.
The Yoruba city-state of Benin, which was located nearby, put restrictions on the sale of slaves to Europeans. Their work at home was necessary for the rise of the agricultural industry. The condition of being a slave did not carry the same social shame as it did in the Americas and Europe. Few Africans were aware that their fellow Africans, who had been sold into slavery in the Americas, would be forced to work their entire lives.
They conceived of it in the same manner as Europeans do of serfdom. The adoption of obedient slaves into the families of their masters was required by tradition. It was common practice for slaves to be granted land and freedom after the death of their lord (Davidson 1961: passion). Descendants of slaves had no trouble fitting in with society and becoming members of a variety of different social classes. As a result of the widespread slaughter, Dahomans are frequently characterized as being barbaric and greedy for blood. This perspective is not correct. Slave dealers from Europe were indirectly responsible for multiple murders.
At designated bulking stations along the coast, Dahomey amassed vast numbers of slaves. They waited at this location for European slave ships, which arrived about once per month. It was more profitable for European slave dealers to purchase entire shiploads of slaves than it was to purchase smaller quantities of slaves from a variety of ports. Before reaching Dahomean ports, Europeans made efforts to provide the kings of that nation with ample lead time to amass a full shipload of slaves.
The amount of time that it would take for Dahomeans to gather a shipload of slaves was frequently overestimated by Europeans. If the European slave traders waited too long, the slaves at the bulking stations along the coast would use up all of the available local food. Instead of allowing their slaves to starve to death, Dahoman kings created elaborate rituals to kill large numbers of them. These slayings were seen as acts of humanity on the part of the monarchs.
They told their people that these rites were necessary to ensure their continuous vigor, vitality, and courage so that they could continue to rule over them. This was done so that their people would not object to these activities. This eventually evolved into one of their long-standing customs. Slave traders from Europe arrived in port too late on multiple occasions to purchase the slaves that Dahomey had collected for them, but they arrived in time to see the gory ritual killings.
These slave traders were unaware that their demand for slaves had contributed to the creation of such atrocities. The necessity to protect themselves from neighboring states that engaged in slave raiding and the need to work with Europeans in order to ensure the protection of Dahomey’s children were the driving forces behind the establishment of this great state in the seventeenth century.
Its forces expanded in all directions, attempting to build buffers that would protect the state from potential threats. In an effort to put an end to the slave trade, the state initially conquered slave ports and took control of their territory. This regulation was changed because there was a pressing requirement to purchase firearms and ammunition from Europeans. Between the years 1790 and 1858, the Dahomey state was at the height of its power.
After gaining independence from Oyo in 1818, its forces then proceeded to plunder the neighboring villages in search of slaves to work on palm oil fields. By the year 1850, the trade in palm oil had overtaken the traffic in slaves as the preeminent form of economic interaction between Dahomey and Europe. Dahomey was relieved of some of the need to defend itself as a result of the decrease and eventual abolition of the slave trade. Today, the territory that formerly belonged to Dahomey, as well as additional lands to its north, are occupied by the modern nation of Benin.
Also Read: Who are the Mandinka: The Great History Of the Mandinka/Mandingo People
