Houegbadja
Encyclopedia
Aho Houegbadja was the third King of Dahomey
. He succeeded his uncle, Dakodonou
, and ruled from 1645 to 1685.
Houegbadja was the first of the dynasty to set up the kingdom in Abomey
proper: he founded the city by building his palace (named "Agbome"--in the midst of the ramparts) near the area of Guedevi, a few kilometers to the northwest of Bohicon
. He was a wise ruler, respected by the people. He enacted laws, named ministers and developed the bureaucracy, religious cult, and political culture that would characterize Dahomey. Houegbadja's symbols were a fish (houe), fish trap (adja
), and war club hoe (kpota).
King Houegbadja is said to have originally started the group which would become the Dahomey Amazons
.
Houegbadja was succeeded by his son, Houessou Akaba
.
Dahomey
Dahomey was a country in west Africa in what is now the Republic of Benin. The Kingdom of Dahomey was a powerful west African state that was founded in the seventeenth century and survived until 1894. From 1894 until 1960 Dahomey was a part of French West Africa. The independent Republic of Dahomey...
. He succeeded his uncle, Dakodonou
Dakodonou
Dakodonou was the second King of Dahomey. He ruled from 1620 to 1645. In traditional Abomey stories, Dakodonou overthrew his brother, the previous King Gangnihessou, when the ruler was absent from the capital on a tour of the kingdom. Dakodonou is portrayed as a brutal and violent man...
, and ruled from 1645 to 1685.
Houegbadja was the first of the dynasty to set up the kingdom in Abomey
Abomey
When UNESCO designated the royal palaces of Abomey as a World Heritage Site in 1985 it statedFrom 1993, 50 of the 56 bas-reliefs that formerly decorated the walls of King Glèlè have been located and replaced on the rebuilt structure...
proper: he founded the city by building his palace (named "Agbome"--in the midst of the ramparts) near the area of Guedevi, a few kilometers to the northwest of Bohicon
Bohicon
Bohicon is a city in Benin, and a conurbation of Abomey lying 9 kilometres east of the city on the railway line from Cotonou to Parakou and on Benin’s main highway RNIE 2 which joins the RNIE 4. The commune covers an area of 139 square kilometres and as of 2002 had a population of 113,091...
. He was a wise ruler, respected by the people. He enacted laws, named ministers and developed the bureaucracy, religious cult, and political culture that would characterize Dahomey. Houegbadja's symbols were a fish (houe), fish trap (adja
Adja
Adja may refer to:* Aja people of west Africa, mainly residents of Benin.* Abbreviation of Adjassou-Linguetor, a loa in the religion of West African Vodun....
), and war club hoe (kpota).
King Houegbadja is said to have originally started the group which would become the Dahomey Amazons
Dahomey Amazons
The Dahomey Amazons or Mino were a Fon all-female military regiment of the Kingdom of Dahomey which lasted until the end of the 19th century...
.
Houegbadja was succeeded by his son, Houessou Akaba
Akaba
Houessou Akaba was the fourth King of Dahomey. He succeeded his father, Aho Houegbadja, and ruled from 1685 to 1708.- Biography :Akaba's symbols were the warthog and a saber....
.