THE WORLD ATLAS

Realm · approximate borders · 1625–1894

Kingdom of Dahomey

Fon kingdom on the Abomey plateau, inland of Allada, founded around 1600 by an offshoot of Allada's royal line; Houegbadja built the Abomey palaces. Source: Wikipedia 'Kingdom of Dahomey'.

Agaja conquered Allada in 1724; Whydah followed in 1727. Source: Wikipedia 'Kingdom of Dahomey'. Dahomey held the coast from Ouidah to Cotonou. After wars with Oyo (1728–1740) it paid Oyo tribute until Ghezo stopped it in the 1820s, but ran its own affairs. Source: Wikipedia 'Kingdom of Dahomey'. After Oyo's fall Dahomey expanded north into the Mahi country and toward the Mono. Conquered by France in 1892–94. Source: Wikipedia 'Kingdom of Dahomey'.

See Kingdom of Dahomey on the map in 1841

On the map
1625–1894
Capital
Abomey

Rulers named in the sources

African kingdoms and states, 430–1911

Besides the large empires and the colonial powers, Africa had many other states: the Berber kingdoms of late-Roman Mauretania and the Aurès; the Wolof states of Senegambia, the Fula imamates, Kaabu and the Moorish emirates; Kong, the Mossi kingdoms, Dagbon, Denkyira, Akwamu, Dahomey and Benin; the Hausa kingdoms, Nupe, Kebbi, Agadez, Damagaram and Baguirmi; the Ethiopian, Gibe and Somali sultanates and kingdoms, the Shilluk, Kilwa and Pate; Buganda, Bunyoro, Rwanda and Burundi; Loango, Ndongo, Matamba, Kasanje, Kuba, Luba, Lunda and Kazembe; Mapungubwe, Great Zimbabwe, Mutapa, Butua and the Rozvi; and Maravi, Gaza, the Nguni and Sotho kingdoms, the Lozi and the Sakalava. Dates and rulers come from cited reference articles. Few pre-colonial African frontiers were ever surveyed or described, and many of these states ruled people and trade routes more than fixed territory.

Sources