Ouidah: The Social History of a West African Slaving 'port', 1727-1892Ouidah, an indigenous African town in the modern Republic of Benin, was the principal pre-colonial commercial centre of its region, and the second most important town of the Dahomey kingdom. It served as a major outlet for the export of slaves for the trans- Atlantic trade. Between the seventeenth and the nineteenth centuries Ouidah was the most important embarkation point for slaves in the region of West Africa known to outsiders as the 'Slave Coast'. Exporting over a million slaves, it was second only to Luanda in Angola for the embarkation of slaves in the whole of Africa. The author's central concerns are the organization of the African end of the slave trade, and the impact participation in the trade had on the historical development of the African societies involved. It shifts the focus from the viewpoint of the Dahomian monarchy, represented in previous studies, to the coast. Here is a well documented case study of pre-colonial urbanism, of the evolution of a merchant community, and in particular the growth of a group of private traders whose relations with the Dahomian monarchy grew increasingly problematic over time. North America: Ohio U Press |
Contents
Origins Ouidah before the Dahomian Conquest | 18 |
The Dahomian Conquest of Ouidah | 50 |
Dahomian Ouidah | 71 |
The Operation of the Atlantic Slave Trade | 123 |
De Souzas Ouidah The Ear of the Illegal Slave Trade 181539 | 155 |
The Era of Transition From slaves to palm Oil 184077 | 189 |
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
Abomey Adjovi African Agaja Agbo Agoué Allada Antonio appointed Atlantic slave trade Badagry Bahia Bénin Bight of Benin Borghero Bosman Boya Brazil Brazilian British Burton caboceer canoe Cape Coast Chacha Class coastal colonial contemporary sources Cotonou cowries Dagba Dahomian conquest Dahomian rule Dangbe Duncan earlier eighteenth century embarkation English established European forts European trade evidently export factory Famille de Souza Felix de Souza Francisco Felix French Gavoy Gezo Glele Gnahoui Godomey Gold Coast Grand-Popo Histoire Houénou Hueda kingdom Hueda kings Hufon Ibid indigenous Journal King of Dahomey king's Kpase lagoon Lagos later Little Popo Mission nineteenth century Note historique officials Offra originally Ouidah merchant palm oil port Porto-Novo Portuguese presumably purchase quarter Quénum recorded reported resident Reynier Robin Law royal Santos Savi ships Slave Coast Sogbadji Tegbesu Tové town trade at Ouidah tradition vodun Voyage West Africa Whydah William's Yoruba Yovogan