Whydah, Kingdom of
State | Defunct
1677 CE to 1727 CE
The Kingdom of Whydah, sometimes written Hueda, is a kingdom on the coast of West Africa in the boundaries of the modern nation of Benin.
Between 1677 and 1681, it is conquered by the Akwamu a member of the Akan people.
It is a major slave trading post.
In 1700, it has a coastline of around 10 miles (16 km); under King Haffon, the last ruler, this is expanded to 40 miles (64 km), and stretching 25 miles (40 km) inland.
The kingdom is centered in Savi.
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Whydah, a major slave trading post, is a kingdom on the coast of West Africa in the boundaries of the modern nation of Benin.
The name Whydah is an anglicized form of Xwéda (pronounced o-wi-dah), from the Yoruba language of Benin. (Today the port city of Ouidah, in the far west of the former Popo Kingdom where most of the European slave traders lived and worked, bears the kingdom's name.)
According to one European visitor between 1692 and 1700, Whydah exports some thousand slaves a month, mainly from the interior of Africa.
For this reason, it has been considered a "principal market" for human beings.
When the king cannot supply the European traders with sufficient slaves, he supplements them with his own wives.
Robbery is common.
Everyone in Whydah pays a toll to the king, but corruption among collectors is endemic.
Despite this, the king is wealthy, and clothed in gold and silver—goods of which little is known in Whydah.
He commands great respect, and, unusually, is never seen to eat.
The color red is reserved for the royal family.
The king is considered immortal, despite successive kings dying of natural causes.
Interregna, even of only a few days, are met by plundering and anarchy.
Wives are isolated and protected by their husbands; fathers with more than two hundred children had been recorded.
Three public objects are the subject of devotion: some lofty trees, the sea, and a type of snake.
This snake is the subject of many stories and incidents; worshiped perhaps because it eats the rats who would otherwise ruin the harvest.
Priests and priestesses are held in high regard, and immune from capital punishment.
The king can field upward from twenty thousand, although contemporary interpretation is generally that these armies were of "overwhelming size".
Battles are normally won by strength of numbers alone, with the weaker side fleeing.
The name Whydah is an anglicized form of Xwéda (pronounced o-wi-dah), from the Yoruba language of Benin. (Today the port city of Ouidah, in the far west of the former Popo Kingdom where most of the European slave traders lived and worked, bears the kingdom's name.)
According to one European visitor between 1692 and 1700, Whydah exports some thousand slaves a month, mainly from the interior of Africa.
For this reason, it has been considered a "principal market" for human beings.
When the king cannot supply the European traders with sufficient slaves, he supplements them with his own wives.
Robbery is common.
Everyone in Whydah pays a toll to the king, but corruption among collectors is endemic.
Despite this, the king is wealthy, and clothed in gold and silver—goods of which little is known in Whydah.
He commands great respect, and, unusually, is never seen to eat.
The color red is reserved for the royal family.
The king is considered immortal, despite successive kings dying of natural causes.
Interregna, even of only a few days, are met by plundering and anarchy.
Wives are isolated and protected by their husbands; fathers with more than two hundred children had been recorded.
Three public objects are the subject of devotion: some lofty trees, the sea, and a type of snake.
This snake is the subject of many stories and incidents; worshiped perhaps because it eats the rats who would otherwise ruin the harvest.
Priests and priestesses are held in high regard, and immune from capital punishment.
The king can field upward from twenty thousand, although contemporary interpretation is generally that these armies were of "overwhelming size".
Battles are normally won by strength of numbers alone, with the weaker side fleeing.
European trade companies have established a significant presence in Whydah upon King Haffon's rise to power in 1708, and are in constant competition to win to King’s favor.
The French Company of the Indies presents Haffon with two ships worth of cargo and an extravagant Louis XIV-style throne while the British Royal African Company gifts a crown for the newly appointed King.
Such practices illustrate the high level of dependence European traders have on native African powers in the beginning of the eighteenth century and the close relationship that emerges between the two entities.
This association is further reiterated by the fact that Dutch, British, French, and Portuguese trading company compounds all border the walls of Haffon’s royal palace in the city of Savi.
These compounds serve as important centers of diplomatic and commercial exchange between European companies and the Kingdom of Whydah.
While company compounds facilitate the interaction between European traders and native Africans, the true center of European operations in Whydah are the various forts that exist along the coast near the town of Glewe.
Owned by the Portuguese Crown, the French Company of the Indies, and the British Royal African Company, the forts are mainly used to store slaves and trading merchandise.
Made up of mud walls, the forts provide tolerable protection for the Europeans but are not strong enough to withstand a legitimate attack from the natives.
Furthermore, because the forts are located more than three miles inland, cannons cannot effectively protect European ships in the harbor and anchored ships cannot come to the aid of the forts in times of need.
In this sense, while the forts showcase some degree of European influence, the reality is that the Europeans rely heavily on the king for protection and local natives for sustenance and firewood.
The French Company of the Indies presents Haffon with two ships worth of cargo and an extravagant Louis XIV-style throne while the British Royal African Company gifts a crown for the newly appointed King.
Such practices illustrate the high level of dependence European traders have on native African powers in the beginning of the eighteenth century and the close relationship that emerges between the two entities.
This association is further reiterated by the fact that Dutch, British, French, and Portuguese trading company compounds all border the walls of Haffon’s royal palace in the city of Savi.
These compounds serve as important centers of diplomatic and commercial exchange between European companies and the Kingdom of Whydah.
While company compounds facilitate the interaction between European traders and native Africans, the true center of European operations in Whydah are the various forts that exist along the coast near the town of Glewe.
Owned by the Portuguese Crown, the French Company of the Indies, and the British Royal African Company, the forts are mainly used to store slaves and trading merchandise.
Made up of mud walls, the forts provide tolerable protection for the Europeans but are not strong enough to withstand a legitimate attack from the natives.
Furthermore, because the forts are located more than three miles inland, cannons cannot effectively protect European ships in the harbor and anchored ships cannot come to the aid of the forts in times of need.
In this sense, while the forts showcase some degree of European influence, the reality is that the Europeans rely heavily on the king for protection and local natives for sustenance and firewood.
Whydah had been conquered in 1727 by King Agaja of the Kingdom of Dahomey.
This incorporation of Whydah into Dahomey had transformed the latter into a significant regional power, gut constant warfare with the Oyo Empire from 1728 to 1740 results in Dahomey becoming a tributary state of the Oyo.
This incorporation of Whydah into Dahomey had transformed the latter into a significant regional power, gut constant warfare with the Oyo Empire from 1728 to 1740 results in Dahomey becoming a tributary state of the Oyo.