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Warfare and society in the Kingdom of Dahomey: 1818-1894

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Boston University / The Kingdom of Dahomey was engaged in a war nearly every year between 1818 and 1894. This study analyzes the motivations and functions of such warfare. The wars began after Gheazo became king. He came to power as a result of a coup d'etat. In order to protect his rule he established a centralized administration by creating a dual political structure of parallel male and female officials. As part of this process, the regular army was expanded and several thousand women became soldiers who fought along side the men. These are Dahomey's unique features: female administrative officers, and female soldiers. The primary functions of the army and the motivations behind the annual wars were political and institutional. Secondary, but almost of equal significance 'were economic motivations, i.e., to acquire slaves to sell to the Europeans on the coast, or for use on Dahomian plantations.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:bu.edu/oai:open.bu.edu:2144/38072
Date January 1974
CreatorsMaroukis, Thomas C.
PublisherBoston University
Source SetsBoston University
Languageen_US
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeThesis/Dissertation
RightsThis work is being made available in OpenBU by permission of its author, and is available for research purposes only. All rights are reserved to the author.

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