Africa is a continent with a rich cultural heritage. There have been conservation efforts that have been carried out throughout the years to conserve the archeological and cultural heritage in Africa. One of the specific heritages in Africa are the Royal Palaces of Abomey. The site is made of several palaces that have outstanding artistic and architectural works. The Royal Palaces of Abomey was the capital of the Kingdom of Dahomey. The Kingdom of Dahomey has a unique culture and history. The kingdom had grown to become powerful due to its active participation in slave trade. The Royal Places of Abomey has a rich African heritage that can be used to showcase the history and cultural practices of the Kingdom of Dahomey.
Establishment of the Kingdom of Dahomey
The Fon dynasty arrived at the Abomey plateau in the early seventeenth century and immediately expanded to other regions. Monroe (2012) observes that the main reason for their expansion was in a bid to gain control of the coastal-inland and the inter-plateau of the various luxury commodities that were traded in those regions. The Fon established their kingdom at the Abomey Plateau in 1625. The palaces were built by 12 rulers of the kingdom and they started operating in 1695. The first king that built the place was King Houegbadja who was the founder of the city. He established the legal framework for the function of the kingdom, the political role of the king, and the succession rules that would follow to have another king.
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King Agaja of the Dahomey kingdom defeated the kingdom of Allada and killed and captured several prisoners in 1724. Most of the prisoners were then sold as slaves. This marked the beginning of the participation of slave trade for the kingdom. The Kingdom of Dahomey later took part in several wars and this made them dominant in the Dahomey slave trade. However, throughout the 19th century, there was an antislavery movement in Great Britain. The European conflict emerged in the late nineteenth century had a significant impact on Dahomey’s economy. The occupation of the Europeans saw a decline in the Atlantic slave trade and this saw the chief economic activity of Dahomey decline (Araujo, 2012). The Dahomey shifted to practicing agriculture. The Dahomey were able to export agricultural products like palm oil and corn. This led to a further economic development for the country
The kingdom of Dahomey lasted until 1894 when they were invaded by the French. The Dahomey was a strong kingdom and won most of the battles. However, the French forces finally defeated them and the Dahomey became a colony of France. The last King of Dahomey was King Behanzin set fire to Abomey after he was defeated by the colonialists. The region attained its independence in 1960 where it became referred to as Benin.
The Palaces of Dahomey
The Royal Palaces of Abomey are currently located in Abomey town in Benin where they spread over 40 hectares of land. The town was made of a mud wall with an estimated circumference of approximately 6 miles and a ditch of 5 ft filled with a dense growth of acacia. These section was a strong defense area for the kingdom. Inside of the walls were also villages separated by fields, market places, and a large area of land that contained the barracks. The palaces were made of thick walls that are about 1.5ft created to cool temperatures within the palace rooms (Monroe, 2012).
Functions of the Palaces of Abomey
Abomey was the political center for Dahomey. The royal palaces were the center of the political discourses that took place on the kingdom. The structures served as a residential place for the king and his dependents that number from about 2,000 to 8,000 in Abomey (Monroe and Ogundiran, 2012). These structures were an actual city in themselves due to the massiveness and the number of people that inhabited. The importance of the palaces can be seen through the functions that they played for the kingdom. The palaces of Abomey had several administrative functions in Dahomey Most of the wives that lived in the palaces were important officials that were referred to as Begani (Monroe, 2012). These women played an important role in the management of the state affairs of the kingdom. The palaces at Abomey were also places where discussions regarding the judicial, military, and legislative actions of the state would take place. The Kingdom of Dahomey thus had its political.
Culture of the Dahomey
The Dahomey had a rich cultural heritage with participation with regard to the participation of women soldiers and human sacrifices. Bay (2012) observes that there were women solders that formed part of the kingdom’s armed forces during the nineteenth century. Having women soldiers in the kingdom was important as the soldiers would add to the strengthen its army with more numbers. Some of the soldiers that were captured in the wars were killed as human sacrifices (Bay, 2012).
The Palaces of Abomey was also a central place for various cultural practices in the empire. There were several ceremonies that were performed throughout the buildings. The function of these ceremonies was to stress on the sacred nature of the monarch and to legitimize its power. Among the practices that were reported to take place in the palace was human sacrifices. It was reported that European visitors would visit the palaces and find the heads of slain enemy warriors being displayed at the complex (Bay, 2012). This showed that the Dahomey had cultural practices that wanted to show its dominance over other tribes.
The Kings of Dahomey were believed to have been descendants of from panthers. They were monarchs who had a religious significance through their participation of the ceremonies involving human sacrifices. The Kings of Dahomey were also key players in facilitating slave trade in West Africa. Bay (2012) observes that there has been a perception of the savagery of the Kings of Dahomey which is based on their active participation in slave trade (Bay, 2012). Captives of war from the neighboring kingdoms of Dahomey were captured and sold overseas while others remained as domestic slaves within the kingdom.
The significance of the Royal Places of Abomey to our modern world is that it shows that the African content had been modernized in part. The sub-Saharan African continent has been observed to be lacking in any forms of urban history. The models and the structure of the palaces show that the African continent was partially urbanized (Monroe, 2011). Additionally, the excavation of some archeological sites on the Kingdom of Abomey have been used to show that there was increasing urbanization. This was especially caused by the Atlantic Slave trade.
Preservation Efforts
The Abomey Historical Museum was established in 1943 by the French colonialists in order to preserve some of the commodities of the Dahomey. The museum has several artefacts and exhibits that were used by the kings of Dahomey. The museum also has several exhibits that showcase the different culture in the kingdom. Additional efforts to preserve the cultural heritage of the Palaces of Abomey took place when UNESCO placed the palaces as a world heritage site. The inscription from UNESCO observes that the powerful Kingdom of Abomey involved twelve kings that succeeded one another between 1625 and 1900. There were able to do this through the use of a separated enclosure with the palaces that they had built in their walled areas. The palaces of Abomey thus present a reminder of the vanished kingdom of the Dahomey. The Abomey
The preservation of the palaces has also encountered several challenges in the recent past. On January, 2009, most of the buildings of the Royal Palaces were destroyed by a bushfire. The fire resulted in the demolition of the straw roof and the actual framework of most of the buildings. Additionally, the tombs that belonged to some of the kings and their wives were also destroyed. While the fire was accidental, it shows that there should be more efforts made to preserve the African heritage.
In conclusion, the Royal Places of Abomey has a rich African heritage that can be used to showcase the history and cultural practices of the Kingdom of Dahomey. The Kingdom of Dahomey was established in the early seventeenth century. The Royal Palaces of Abomey were later constructed at the plateau of Abomey. The palaces served several roles for the kingdom and was the central location for the running of the kingdom’s political endeavors. Additionally, there were various cultural ceremonies that took place such as human sacrifices. The active participation of slavery saw the kingdom grow. The kingdom of Dahomey lasted until when they French invaded and colonized the region. The structures of the Royal Palaces of Abomey remain to this day and they carry a significant meaning in showing the development of the African continent.
References
Araujo, A. L. (2012). Dahomey, Portugal and Bahia: King Adandozan and the Atlantic Slave Trade. Slavery & Abolition, 33(1), 1-19.
Bay, E. G. (2012). Wives of the leopard: Gender, politics, and culture in the Kingdom of Dahomey. University of Virginia Press.
Chirikure, S. (2013). Heritage conservation in Africa: The good, the bad, and the challenges. South African Journal of Science, 109(1-2), 1-3.
Monroe, J. C., & Ogundiran, A. (Eds.). (2012). Power and landscape in Atlantic West Africa: archaeological perspectives. Cambridge University Press.
Monroe, J. C. (2011). Urbanism on West Africa's Slave Coast: Archaeology sheds new light on cities in the era of the Atlantic slave trade. American Scientist, 99(5), 400-409.
