Benin: The Kingdom of Dahomey and the Birthplace of Vodun
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Benin — not to be confused with the ancient Benin Kingdom in what is now Nigeria — is home to one of West Africa's most powerful pre-colonial states. The Kingdom of Dahomey, centred at Abomey, built a centralised, militarised society from the 17th to the 19th century that was known across the region for its organised army — which famously included a corps of elite female warriors, the Agojie, known to Europeans as the Dahomey Amazons. The Royal Palaces of Abomey are now a UNESCO World Heritage site.
Vodun — the spiritual practice that became Voodoo in the Caribbean and Americas through the transatlantic slave trade — originated in the cultures of what is now Benin and Togo. The word simply means spirit or deity in the Fon language. In Benin, Vodun is not a curiosity or a Hollywood trope. It is a living religion practised by a significant portion of the population, with a dedicated national holiday, structured clergy, and a sophisticated theology built around the idea that spirits inhabit and animate the natural world.
Ouidah, on the Beninese coast, was one of the most significant ports of the transatlantic slave trade. Today a Museum of History stands on the site of a former Portuguese fort, and the Route des Esclaves — the Road of No Return — leads from the city to the coast where the enslaved were loaded onto ships. Walking that route is a solemn act of historical reckoning that Benin makes a point of preserving.
