In the western parts of Africa, there existed many kingdoms that had different cultural and religious beliefs as evident within one of these kingdoms. An excellent example of the kingdoms that lived in this era is the Kingdom of Dahomey that was very successful and widely known in the 18th and 19th centuries. Nowadays, that same region that Dahomey existed is now known as southern Benin. The primary factor that led to the success of Dahomey, especially in terms of power is resources it garnered during the heyday of the Atlantic slave trade, which was the main business at that time. In fact, its powerful nature made it the last African Kingdom to be overthrown and conquered by the European colonization. Additionally, its powerful nature developed from the fact that it was ruled by a form of absolute monarchy leadership style that was not very common among African kingdoms ( Ferdinand, 2019). Apart from the slave trade, the Kingdom of Dahomey was widely known for its unique religious practices and beliefs. This paper looks at the spiritual practices in the Kingdom of Dahomey and the religious rituals shared with the surrounding populations. This paper additionally looks at the unique ceremonies, beliefs as well as the sacred stories derived from the Kingdom.
Some of the features that made the Kingdom of Dahomey very popular in Africa and other parts of the world include religion and politics. These two features are what make it a topic of interests that continues to be studied even in the present days. It was believed that both religion and politics were two strongly connected features that were almost inseparable. The religious activities extended even in the military in the nature that the exploits were also mandated to take on spiritual purposes. This came to act as humans were in some occasions used for religious sacrifices together with the foreign gods who were used as booty. Another aspect that was considered very valuable in this Kingdom is the gods, shrines paraphernalia as well as all the priests who knew the customs rituals as stated by Suzanne Blier (Larsen, 2014 p196). The increase of Dahomean deities was largely influenced by the inclusive nature of the Vodun religion as well as the royal marriages. The most famous case of them all that exclusively expresses this increase is the marriage of King Agadja to Hwanjile who contributed to the introduction of the Yoruba gods Gu who was considered the god of iron and war as well as Lisa who was the god of heavenly light. The final god that came through this marriage is the Age who was the god of the forests and the natural surroundings (Larsen, 2014). The nature of people considering the king as immortal and supernatural equipped the kings with the power of manipulating the Vodun in the aim of benefiting the current king's reign.
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The king was highly respected and the only one with the power of changing and controlling the religious acquisitions in addition to being considered as a deity. The king's powers were further reinforced by all those beliefs and the geographical setting of him being positioned away from the ordinary population. It was believed that all these powers were inherited from the leopard, which was known as Agassou . The successful nature of the Dahomey kingdom was highly associated and somehow connected to the king's powers since he was able to influence and the Kingdom in a big way with his voice and military. Grand Customs is the name that was given to the various ceremonies that usually takes place after the death of every king. These ceremonies included the usual funeral ceremonies as well as the construction of djeho and tomb where he would be put to rest. All these ceremonies usually takes place in the palace which also hosted the annual ceremonies as had previously been overseen by the king. His government took this opportunity and divided the space into different portions meant for communication purposes while bolstering about the political and religious authority of the king ( Parrinder, 1989). This activity continued to cement the connection between religion and politics in the Kingdom of Dahomey.
As previously mentioned, the religion of Dahomey was unique, and it was shared among many populations. This made Dahomey very popular, and the religion of Dahomey was considered as the core activity in the interior of Western Africa before the slave trade. The connection of Dahomey religion and political system was powerful, and it was regarded as a superstitious veneration, particularly for the person of their monarch. This made the natives start referring to the monarch as almost a divinity. This fact gave the leaders extraordinary powers to a point where people could not believe that the king would eat, drink, and sleep like the ordinary people (Ferdinand, 2019). Nobody was given the mandate of questioning the kind, and all his orders were obeyed no matter how unreasonable they would sound to other people. Fetish kind of worship was the one prevailing in Dahomey, just like all the different parts of Western Africa. Surprisingly, the leopard was considered the sacred animal by the Kingdom, and it was highly observed. Many public sacrifices were offered to this animal which mainly consisted of a bullock (Ferdinand, 2019). However, the most common sacrifice that was also offered to the animal was the private kind of sacrifice that mostly contained fowls, as well as goats which were accompanied with great ceremony.
Another unique ceremony that came from this unique religion of Dahomey was the other sacrificed performed to a man when he died. Most men of this Kingdom were known to be marrying many wives and these wives, especially the principal ones, played a huge role when he died. The principal wives, together with his close associates, performed the role of offering sacrifice on his tomb. This sacrifice ceremony is accompanied by the priesthood, which is taken from the higher classes to aid with the ongoing ceremony. Additionally, some of the royal wives, as well as children from the palace, would join the ceremony to be taught the ways of the Dahomey kingdom ( Soumonni, 2012 p38). In some occasions, the priesthood would be forced to visit some historical events that had occurred in the past to familiarize himself with the ways of revealing the sacred mysteries and incantations. This was followed by human sacrifices which played a significant role in the Annual Customs of the Dahomey community. Before being killed, they were first offered a charge which was meant to relay messages to the ancestors and those dead. On the other hand, those who would not be killed would be offered to the deceased persons to act as their servants for given periods ( Bay, 2012). In addition to the ancestors, the sacrifices were also meant to please the Dahomean deities who would, on the other hand, respond through aiding them in times of war and economic prosperity.
In addition to religion and politics, Dahomey also recognized those people who were unique especially in terms of general appearance such as twins, albinos, foreigners, orphans, the disabled as well as others who had unusual features in the society. They were set apart and considered to be possessing mysterious supernatural powers. The other group of people that appeared to be very powerful and politically supportive of the king included the spirits of royal children. This batch of children included those who have been born with physical abnormalities who were also set apart from the general population as vodum referred to as tohosu. Therefore, it can be clearly seen that the disabled and abnormally recognized community played an essential role in religious activities ( Larsen, 2014). The importance of the religious lives of the Abomeans can also be attested by the presence of the heads of households in royal ceremonies (Larsen, 2014). All the other parts that were considered sacred continued to serve as an essential part of the post-colonial religious activities, which continued to keep them united.
Generally, it is clear that both the religion and political nature of the Kingdom of Dahomey were inseparable due to the typical activities that connected the two. The king was highly respected and in some instances seen as an immortal god who had supernatural powers. People respected all the orders that came from him, and this contributed significantly to the success of this Kingdom since they worked in harmony in the King wishes. The king had power to add to the vodum especially during the king's marriages. Even the military had duties when it came to the spiritual values in Dahomey kingdom and this showed how important religion was to them. The sacrifices offered to the gods and during death ceremonies were meant to appease the Dahomean deities who would in turn give them blessings especially during wars and economic prosperity. Human sacrifices were also offered to the gods and if not to the gods then they would serve some of the deceased family members as their servants. This Kingdom will continue to be important in the field of history and will be studied by many generations to come.
References
Bay, E. G. (2012). Wives of the leopard: Gender, politics, and culture in the Kingdom of Dahomey . Virginia: University of Virginia Press.
Ferdinand, A. D. (2019). Dahomey, Religion of. McClintock and Strong Cyclopedia book module . Retrieved on 6 December 2019, from https://www.biblicalcyclopedia.com/D/dahomey-religion-of.html
Larsen, L. A. E. (2014). The Royal Palace of Dahomey: Symbol of a transforming nation (Dissertation). University of Iowa, Iowa, USA.
Parrinder, G. (1989). Dahomey half a century ago. Journal of Religion in Africa, 19 (3), 264-273.
Soumonni, E. (2012). Disease, religion and medicine: smallpox in nineteenth-century Benin. História, Ciências, Saúde-Manguinhos, 19 , 35-45.
