Difference between revisions of "Kingdom of Dahomey" - New World Encyclopedia

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King Kpengla (right, under parasol and carrying sword), leads a troop of Dahomey Amazons. Subjects can be seen kowtowing (left, foreground)

Dahomey was a kingdom in Africa, situated in what is now the nation of Benin. The kingdom was founded in the seventeenth century and survived until the late nineteenth century, when it was conquered by French troops from Senegal and incorporated into France's West African colonies.

History

The origins of Dahomey can be traced back to a group of Aja from the coastal kingdom of Allada who moved northwards and settled among the Fon people of the interior. By about 1650, the Aja managed to dominate the Fon and Wegbaja declared himself king of their joint territory. Based in his capital of Agbome, Wegbaja and his successors succeeded in establishing a highly centralized state with a deep-rooted kingship cult of sacrificial offerings, including a heavy emphasis on human sacrifices in large numbers, to the ancestors of the monarch. Human sacrifices were not only made in time of war, pestilence, calamity, and on the death of kings and chiefs, they were also made regularly in the annual custom, which was believed to supply deceased kings with a fresh group of servants. Four thousand Whydahs, for example, were sacrificed when Dahomey conquered Whydah in 1727. Five hundred were sacrificed for Adanzu II in 1791. The sacrifices for Gezo went on for days. Human sacrifice was usually done by beheading, except in the case of the king's wives, who were buried alive. Visitors to the historic site of Dahomey today can still see a throne built on human skulls, a mass grave dedicated to one of the king's wives, and two temples with mortar mixed with human blood. All land was owned directly by the king, who collected taxes from all crops that were produced.

Economically, however, Wegbaja and his successors profited mainly from the slave trade and relations with slavers along the coast. As Dahomey's kings embarked on wars to expand their territory, they began using rifles and other firearms traded with French and Spanish slave-traders for young men captured in battle, who fetched a very high price from the European slave-merchants. Under King Agadja (ruled 1708-1732) the kingdom conquered Allada, where the ruling family originated, thereby gaining direct contact with European slave traders on the coast. Nevertheless, Agadja was unable to defeat the neighbouring kingdom of Oyo, Dahomey's chief rival in the slave trade, and in 1730, he became a tributary of Oyo. This means that Dahomey had to pay a yearly duty of heavy taxes, but for the rest remained pretty much independent.

Even as a tributary state, Dahomey continued to expand and flourish because of the slave trade and later through the export of palm oil from large plantations that emerged. Because of the economic structure of the kingdom the land belonged to the king who had a virtual monopoly on all trade.

As one of West Africa's principal slave states, Dahomey became extremely unpopular with neighbouring peoples. The kings of Dahomey sold their war captives into transatlantic slavery, who otherwise would have been killed in a ceremony known as the Annual Customs. Historian Walter Rodney estimates that by c.1770, the King of Dahomey was earning an estimated £250,000 per year by selling captive African soldiers and even his own people to the European slave-traders. Most of this money was spent on British-made firearms (of very poor quality) and industrial-grade alcohol. Dahomey was finally conquered by France in 1892-1894. Most of the troops that fought against Dahomey were native African, and it has been surmised by several historians that neighbouring tribes, particularly the Yoruba, were only too happy to bring about the Kingdom's collapse in favour of liberal French rule.

In 1958, Dahomey became an autonomous republic, and from there, it would gain full independence in 1960. The Republic of Dahomey changed its name to Benin in 1975.

In 1971, American novelist Frank Yerby published The Man From Dahomey, a historical novel set partially in Dahomey, which does a good job of unfolding Dahomean culture to the reader.

Kings of Dahomey

Gangnihessou ???? - 1620

According to the stories Gangnihessou came from a dynasty that in the 16th century had come, from Tado on the river Moro, a place that now lies in Togo, to Allada, and there became kings of Great Ardra. He was one of four brothers. One of them was king of Great Ardra, and after his death his territories were divided over his three brothers. This is how, besides Great Ardra and Little Ardra Dahomey came into existence, even though that originally was no bigger than the Abomey-plateau.

Ganye Hessou is said to have been king around 1620. He is supposed to have been dethroned by his brother Dakodonou while traveling through the kingdom. His symbols were the male gangnihessou-bird, a drum, and a hunting stick with throwing stick. (The bird was a rebus for his name.)

It is not entirely clear whether historically he actually was a king. It would also be possible that he was a leader of importance, who managed the affairs of the society through his suggestions, with his brother Dakodonou being the first to assume the title of king. It is clear, however, that Dakodonou was considered King, in his time.

If one were to follow the stories as strictly as possible, then the number of brothers points to Gangnihessou actually being the brother who, as king of Great Ardra, was king over all three lands. There are indeed also stories that name him in that function. In these, Dogbagrigenu is the brother that gets Dahomey, and Dakodonou is the son of Dogbagrigenu.

Dakodonou, 1620-1645

Dakodonou was the second King of Dahomey. He ruled from 1620 to 1645. In traditional Abomey stories, Dakodonou overthrew his brother, the previous King Gangnihessou, when the ruler was absent from the capital on a tour of the kingdom. Dakodonou is portrayed as a brutal and violent man. His symbols were an indigo jar (a reference to his murder of a certain indigo planter named Donou, whose body he made sport of by rolling it around in his indigo jar and whose name he appended to his own original name, 'Dako'), a tinder box, and a war club. Before dying, Dakodonou named his nephew, Aho Houegbadja, as his successor.

Houegbadja, 1645-1685

Aho Houegbadja was the third King of Dahomey. He succeeded his uncle, Dakodonou, and ruled from 1645 to 1685.

Houegbadja was the first of the dynasty to set up the kingdom in Abomey proper: he founded the city by building his palace (named "Agbome"—in the midst of the ramparts) near the area of Guedevi, a few kilometers to the northwest of Bohicon. He was a wise ruler, respected by the people. He enacted laws, named ministers and developed the bureaucracy, religious cult, and political culture that would characterize Dahomey. Houegbadja's symbols were a fish (houe), fish trap (adja), and war club hoe (kpota).

Houegbadja was succeeded by his son, Houessou [[Akaba]

Amazons

Dahomey Amazons in around 1890

King Houegbadja (who ruled from 1645 to 1685), the third King of Dahomey, is said to have originally started the group which would become the Amazons as a corps of royal bodyguards after building a new palace at Abomey. Houegbadja's son King Agadja (ruling from 1708 to 1732) developed these bodyguards into a militia and successfully used them in Dahomey's defeat of the neighbouring kingdom of Savi in 1727. European merchants recorded their presence, as well as similar female warriors amongst the Ashanti. For the next hundred years or so, they gained reputation as fearless warriors. Though they fought rarely, they usually acquitted themselves well in battle.

From the time of King Ghezo (ruling from 1818 to 1858), Dahomey became increasingly militaristic. Ghezo placed great importance on the army and increased its budget and formalized its structures. The Amazons were rigorously trained, given uniforms, and equipped with Danish guns (obtained via the slave trade). By this time the Amazons consisted of between 4000 and 6000 women, about a third of the entire Dahomey army.

European encroachment into west Africa gained pace during the latter half of the 19th century, and in 1890 the Dahomey King Behanzin started fighting French forces (mainly made up of Yoruba, who the Dahomeans had been fighting for centuries). According to Holmes, many of the French soldiers fighting in Dahomey hesitated before shooting or bayoneting the Amazons. The resulting delay led to many of the French casualties. Ultimately, bolstered by the Foreign Legion, and armed with superior weaponry, including machine guns, the French inflicted casualties that were ten times worse on the Dahomey side. After several battles, the French prevailed. The Legionaires later wrote about the "incredible courage and audacity" of the Amazons.

Members could enroll voluntarily, or were involuntarily enrolled if their husbands complained to the King about their behaviour. Membership of the Amazons was supposed to hone any aggressive character traits for the purpose of war. During their membership they were not allowed to have children or be part of married life. Many of the Amazons were virgins. The regiment had a semi-sacred status, which was intertwined with the Fon belief in Vodun.

The Amazons were trained in a way reminiscent of Sparta, toughening themselves up with intense physical exercise and overcoming pain. Discipline was emphasised. In the latter period, the Amazons were armed with Winchester rifles, clubs and knives. Units were under female command. Captives were often decapitated.

The last surviving Amazon died in 1979.

Akaba, 1685-1708

Houessou Akaba was the fourth King of Dahomey. He succeeded his father, Aho Houegbadja, and ruled from 1685 to 1708.

Akaba's symbols were the warthog and a saber.

According to legend, Akaba was sent by his father to ask one of the hostile neighbors, named Dan, for a piece of land. If he had refused, he could have been punished, but he was clever enough not to refuse. Akaba later asked Dan for more land, which Dan gave grudgingly, planning to kill Akaba by ruse. He dug a deep hole and lined it with spikes on a road Akaba normally took. Akaba's dogs, leading his way, fell into the hole instead of their master; Akaba knew that Dan was behind the murder attempt. Furious, he asked Dan for yet another piece of land. Dan replied sarcastically "you can build your house on my belly" (i.e., "over my dead body"). Akaba killed Dan in anger. He then proceeded to pose the cornerstone of the palace he intended to build upon Dan's disemboweled body. It is from the palace "Dan Homeh" that the military empire of Dahomey drew its name.

Akaba had to build his own palace because of a particular custom of the Abomey royal family. At the death of each of the kings of Abomey, his palace became a funeral temple for the worship of the departed royal ancestor. The kings were buried in their bed chambers; a large number of their wives (usually set at 41) were 'allowed' to 'accompany' the deceased king on his 'voyage to Allada'; they were either dispatched with knives and buried with the king or immured in a sealed chamber next to his burial place. The burial chamber became the location of food and drink offerings by the descendants to a small bronze asen, a metal pole topped with a small circular alter for receiving the offerings. According to Fon tradition, the asen originated in Allada and were brought to Abomey before the 1600s.

Houessou Akaba's reign was characterized by war and military expansion. His enemies, the Nago (Western Yoruba) kings, attacked Abomey and burned the town. But the warriors of Abomey ultimately defeated the Nago armies and the kingdom extended to include the banks of the Oueme River. Akaba failed, however, to capture Porto-Novo.

Akaba died of smallpox in 1708. Because his only son, Agbo Sassa, was only 10, Akaba was succeeded by his brother, Dossou Agadja.

Agadja, 1708-1732

Dossou Agadja was the third King of Dahomey. He succeeded Houessou Akaba, and ruled from 1708 to 1740. [1]

Akaba's only son, Agbo Sassa, was only ten years old when Akaba died, so as Akaba's brother, Agadja took the throne to become the fifth king. He refused to let Agbo Sassa reclaim the throne when he came of age and forced him into exile.

Agadja's reign was characterized by continual warfare. The Yorùbá soldiers of the kingdom of Oyo defeated the army of Abomey; Agadja parlayed peace terms including the payment of tribute. For the next hundred years, the Kingdom of Abomey paid the King of Oyo an annual tribute in young men and women destined for slavery or death in ceremonies, as well as cloth, guns, animals and pearls.

The kingdom of Abomey grew during Agadja's reign, however; it conquered Allada in 1724, and in 1727 conquered the kingdom of Savi, including its major city, Ouidah. Agadja's victory over Ouidah came in part as a result of his use of a corps of women shock-troopers, called Dahomey Amazons by the Europeans after the women warriors of Greek myth, in his army. The Amazons became a dynastic tradition. When Abomey conquered Savi and Ouidah, it gained direct access to the sea and took over the lucrative slave trade with the Europeans. As a result, Agadja's symbol is a European caravel boat.

In 1733 Agadja was visited by a party headed by the Dutchman Jacob Elet who had come to negotiate the release of three employees of the Dutch West India Company that had been taken hostage in the attack on Jakin of 1732.

Agadja was succeeded by Tegbessou.

Tegbessou, 1732-1774

Tegbessou was the sixth King of Dahomey. He succeeded Agadja, and ruled from 1740 to 1774.

Tegbessou's reign was characterized by internal intrigues and a failed foreign policy; he killed many coup-plotters and political enemies, refused to pay tribute to the Yorubas, and lost many battles in the punitive raids that followed. His main symbol is a buffalo wearing a tunic. His other symbols are the blunderbuss, a weapon he gave his warriors—the first time in Dahomey that the royal army had ready access to firearms—and a door decorated with three noseless heads, a reference to his victory over a rebellious tributary people, the Zou, whose corpses he mutilated.

"Proverb - 'Once a buffalo is dressed it is very difficult to undress him.' The buffalo is symbolic of the strength of the king. During the enthroning ceremony, Tegbessou's enemies put an herbal potion that would cause severe itching on the royal costume, so when he put it on he would have to remove it immediately. This would have led to an on-the-spot selection of a new king. Warned in time, Tegbessou took the necessary precautions and put the costume on, hence the dressed buffalo (buffalo wearing a tunic)." [2]

"In the early 18th century, Kings of Dahomey (known today as Benin) became big players in the slave trade, waging a bitter war on their neighbours, resulting in the capture of 10,000, including another important slave trader, the King of Whydah. King Tegbessou made £250,000 a year selling people into slavery in 1750." [[3]]

Tegbessou was succeeded by Kpengla.

Kpengla, 1774-1789

Kpengla was the seventh King of Dahomey. He succeeded Tegbessou, and ruled from 1774 to 1789.

Kpengla's reign increased the size of the kingdom. He killed the chief of the Popo people, Agbamou, thus extending the empire into what is currently Togo. He destroyed the villages of Ekpe and Badagry (in what is now Nigeria), which were interfering with Dahomey's regional monopoly on the slave trade. His main symbol is the akpan bird, a trade gun (flintlocks became the standard issue to the Dahomean army during his reign), and a Dahomey Amazon striking her head against a tree (a reference to a humorous war story stemming from one of his military campaigns).

Kpengla was succeeded by Agonglo.

Agonglo, 1789-1797

Agonglo was the eighth King of Dahomey. He succeeded his father, Kpengla, and ruled from 1789 to 1797.

Agonglo made several reforms which pleased his subjects: taxes were lowered, and a greater distribution of gifts was made during the annual customs. He reformed the shape of the asen, bringing the innovation of having the offering surface supported by ribs rather than a metal cone, typical of the earlier Allada style altars. After the period of aggressive military expansion of his father, Agonglo consolidated the rule of the dynasty. Despite this, he was successful in the few battles he engaged in and his kingdom grew. His symbol is the pineapple. Agonglo is also notable in being the first of the Dahomean kings to marry a European—one of his wives was Sophie, a Dutch metisse.

Agonglo was succeeded by his eldest son, Adandozan.

Adandozan, 1797-1818

Adandozan was a King of Dahomey (now Benin), technically the ninth, though he is not counted as one of the twelve kings. His name has largely been erased from the history of Abomey (the capital of Dahomey), and to this day is generally not spoken out loud in the city. He became king when, in 1797, the previous King of Dahomey, Agonglo, died, leaving the throne to his eldest son.

Adandozan's symbols were a baboon with a swollen stomach, full mouth, and ear of corn in hand (an unflattering reference to his enemy, the King of Oyo), and a large parasol ('the king overshadows his enemies'). These symbols are not included in Abomey appliques, for the same reasons that Adandozan is not included in Abomey's history.

The traditional stories about Adandozan's rule (which are retold, with some changing of names, in Bruce Chatwin's novel The Viceroy of Ouidah) portray him as extremely cruel: he is said to have raised hyenas to which he would throw live subjects for amusement; he is pictured slitting a pregnant woman's abdomen open on a bet to see whether he could predict the sex of the fetus.

Adandozan is portrayed as an incompetent warrior and general, and as a betrayer of the royal family: he is said to have sold his brother's, Gakpe, mother into slavery. Gakpe, who had previously feigned idiocy to avoid attracting his brother's attention, fled into exile near Kana. Adandozan is portrayed as hopelessly mad, struggling foolishly with the European powers. He refused to pay Francisco Felix da Souza, a Brazilian merchant and trader who had become a major middle-man in the Ouidah slave market, for services rendered, imprisoned and tortured de Souza, and then attempted to have his own ministers sell the slaves directly.

In the traditional story, Gakpe, secretly coming back from exile, helped de Souza escape. In return, de Souza helped Gakpe marshall a military force and take the throne with the assistance of the terrified council of ministers. Gakpe then put Adandozan in prison.

This traditional portrayal may be wrong: like Richard II of England in the Wars of the Roses, Adandozan may have been the object of a propagandistic rewriting of history after he lost the throne, turned into a monster by his successor as a means of excusing the coup d'état and legitimizing the new regime. All stories agree that Adandozan tried to force more favorable terms of trade with the Europeans involved in the export of slaves, and seriously undermined the power of the extended royal family and Vodun cult practitioners at court through administrative reforms.

It may be that these policies themselves provoked Adandozan's powerful opponents to support a coup against him. In order to justify the coup, Gakpe may then have been obliged to have his griots (oral historians) tell of the monstrous and mad Adandozan.

Ghezo, 1818-1856

File:GleleLeftandGhezoRight1863 .jpg

King Ghezo (right), with his son the future King Glele in 1863

Ghezo was the ninth King of Dahomey (now Benin), considered one of the greatest of the twelve historical kings. He ruled from 1818 to 1858. His name before ascending to the throne was Gakpe.

Ghezo's symbols are two birds on a tree, a buffalo, and a clay jar sieve with holes in it held by two hands, a symbol of unity. Ghezo is said to have used the sieve as a metaphor for the kind of unity needed for the country to defeat its enemies and overcome its problems; i.e., it takes everyone's hand to block the sieve's holes and hold water. The pierced clay jar upheld by multiple hands has become a national symbol in Benin —a large portrayal of it is the backdrop of the speaker's podium in Benin's National Assembly.

Ghezo ascended to the throne after he overthrew his brother, Adandozan, in a coup d'état. The traditional stories state that Adandozan was a cruel ruler, but these may have been invented by Ghezo's historians to justify the coup.

Throughout his reign, Ghezo waged a military campaign every year during the dry season. His prisoners-of-war were sold into slavery, thus fattening the royal treasury, increasing the annual budget, and making war a very efficient means of raising revenues.

Because of his strengthened armies and budget, Ghezo stopped the Oyo tribute once and for all. He formalized his army, gave his 4,000 Dahomey Amazon female warriors uniforms, required soldiers to drill with guns and sabres regularly, and was able to repulse Oyo's attack when it came.

Ghezo was also seen as an extremely shrewd administrator. Because of his slave revenues, he could afford to lower taxes, thus stimulating the agricultural and mercantile economy: agriculture expanded, as did trade in a variety of goods with France. He instituted new judicial procedures, and was considered to be a just judge of his subjects. He was much loved, and his sudden death in a battle against the Yorubas was considered a tragedy.

Ghezo was succeeded by Glele.

Glele, 1856-1889

Badohou, who took the throne name Glele, is considered (if Adandozan is not counted) to be the tenth King of Dahomey (now Benin). He succeeded his father, Ghezo, and ruled from 1858 to 1889.

Glele continued his father's successful war campaigns, in part to avenge his father's death, in part to capture slaves. Glele also signed treaties with the French, who had previously acquired a concession in Porto-Novo from its king. The French were successful in negotiating with Glele and receiving a grant for a customs and commerce concession in Cotonou during his reign. Glele resisted English diplomatic overtures, however, distrusting their manners and noting that they were much more activist in their opposition to the slave trade: though revolutionary France itself had outlawed slavery at the end of the 1700s it allowed the trade to continue elsewhere; Britain outlawed slavery in the U.K. and in its overseas possessions in 1833, and had its navy make raids against slavers along the West African coast starting in 1840.

Glele's symbols are the lion and the ritual knife of the adepts of Gu (Vodun of fire, iron, war, and cutting edges).

Glele, despite the formal end of the slave trade and its interdiction by the Europeans and New World powers, continued slavery as a domestic institution: his fields were primarily cared for by slaves, and slaves became a major source of 'messengers to the ancestors' (sacrificial victims) in ceremonies.

Near the end of Glele's reign, relations with France deteriorated due to Cotonou's growing commercial influence and differences of interpretation between Dahomey and France regarding the extent and terms of the Cotonou concession grant. Glele, already on his death bed, had his son Prince Kondo take charge of negotiations with the French.

Glele died on December 29, 1889, to be succeeded by Kondo, who took the name Behanzin.

Behanzin, 1889-1894

File:Behanzin1894.jpg

Behanzin in 1894

Behanzin (1844 - December 10 1906, in Blida, Algeria) is considered the eleventh (if Adandozan is not counted) King of Dahomey (now Benin). Upon taking the throne, he changed his name from Kondo. He succeeded his father, Glele, and ruled from 1889 to 1894. Behanzin was Abomey's last independent ruler established through traditional power structures, and considered to be a great ruler.

His symbols are the shark, the egg (a rebus of his name), and a captive hanging from a flagpole (a reference to a boastful and rebellious Nago practitioner of harmful magic from Ketou whom the king hanged from a flagpole as punishment for his pride). But, his most famous symbol is the smoking pipe, seen on the picture to the right. 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.

Behanzin was seen by his people as intelligent and courageous. He saw that the Europeans were gradually encroaching on his kingdom, and as a result attempted a foreign policy of isolating the Europeans and rebuffing them. As price just before Glele's death, Behanzin declined to meet French envoy Jean Bayol, claiming conflicts in his schedule due to ritual and ceremonial obligations. As a result, Bayol returned to Cotonou to prepare to go to war against Behanzin, named king upon Glele's death. Seeing the preparations, the Dahomeans attacked Bayol's forces outside Cotonou in 1890; the French army stood fast due to superior weaponry and a strategically advantageous position. Eventually Behanzin's forces were forced to withdraw. Behanzin returned to Abomey, Bayol to France for a time.

The peace lasted two years, during which time the French continued to occupy Cotonou. Both sides continued to buy arms in preparation for another battle. In 1892, the soldiers of Abomey attacked villages near Grand Popo and Porto-Novo in an effort to reassert the older boundaries of Dahomey. This was seen as an act of war by the French, who claimed interests in both areas. Bayol, by now named Colonial Governor by the French, declared war on Behanzin. The French war machine justified the aggression by characterizing the Dahomeans as savages in need of civilizing, and pointing to what it called the "human sacrifice" of the annual customs and at a king's death, and to the continued practice of slavery, as evidence of this savagery.

Some of this propaganda still exists today: in the Musee de l'Homme in the Palais de Chaillot in Paris, there is a large print, again illustrating the alleged savagery of the Dahomeans, of a battle in the war against Dahomey where a Dahomey Amazon killed a French officer by ripping out his throat with her sharpened teeth. The story is somewhat more complex, however, since the traditional accounts of the event handed down in Benin have the Amazon as a trusted wife of Behanzin who had sworn to avenge members of the royal family who had been executed by Behanzin for treachery after divulging battle plans in return for bribes from French agents. Further, the French officer at issue was allegedly the head of French military intelligence who committed the 'savage' act of corrupting family members to betray their own; the Amazon was reduced to using her teeth after her ammunition ran out at the battle's peak.

Similarly, the usual European allegations of Dahomean savagery do not take into account the role of the annual customs in Dahomean society, the deepness of traditional belief in the spirit world, the complex social organization seen in the court bureaucracy and policy making process, and the fact that at many of the very points where blood flowed most freely in Dahomean history, it was also flowing freely in Europe, through wars, civil wars, and revolutions. This is not to excuse any of the evils of the Dahomean traditional society, but only to put them in perspective and to point out that the term "savage" when applied to Dahomey by defenders of its European colonization is used more for its propaganda value than for its ability to describe honestly the level of organization or the cultural values of traditional Dahomean society.

Through superior intelligence gathering, superior weaponry, subversion by some members of the royal family who had been corrupted by bribes, and a campaign of psychological warfare that included cutting down most of the sacred trees in the Oueme and Zou, and an unexpected attack strategy, the French succeeded in defeating Dahomey, the last of the traditional African kingdoms to succumb to European colonization. Instead of attacking Abomey directly by marching straight north from Calavi just north of Cotonou, French General Alfred Dodds attacked from Porto-Novo, moving up the Oueme valley until he was within striking distance of Abomey, via Cove and Bohicon.

The French were victorious, and in 1894, Behanzin surrendered his person to Dodds, without signing any instrument of national surrender or treaty. He lived out the remainder of his life in exile in Martinique and Algeria. After his death, his remains were returned to Abomey.

Behzanzin was succeeded by Agoli-agbo, his distant relative and one-time Army Chief of Staff, the only potential ruler which the French were willing to instate.

Sources and further reading

Wonders of the African World - The Slave Kingdoms, PBS.org. Retrieved May 29, 2007.
MacGregor, Ashley and Stacie Mallas. The Dahomey Amazons, University of North Carolina. Retrieved May 29, 2007.
Ronen, Dov. 1975. Dahomey: Between Tradition and Modernity. Ithaca: Cornell University Press. ISBN 0801409276
Ellis, Alfred Burdon. 1966. The Ewe-speaking peoples of the Slave Coast of West Africa: their religion, manners, customs, laws, languages etc. Oosterhout: Anthropological publication. (pp. 177-138.)

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