The Kingdom of Ardra, also known as the Kingdom of Allada, was a coastal

West Africa West Africa, also known as Western Africa, is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations geoscheme for Africa#Western Africa, United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Gha ...

n kingdom in southern

Benin Benin, officially the Republic of Benin, is a country in West Africa. It was formerly known as Dahomey. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the north-west, and Niger to the north-east. The majority of its po ...

. While historically a sovereign kingdom, in present times the monarchy continues to exist as a

non-sovereign monarchy A non-sovereign monarchy, subnational monarchy or constituent monarchy is one in which the head of the Monarchy, monarchical polity (whether a geographic territory or an ethnic group), and the polity itself, are subject to a temporal authority h ...

within the republic of Benin. It was named for its capital, the modern

Allada Allada is a town, arrondissement, and commune, located in the Atlantique Department of Benin. The current town of Allada corresponds to Great Ardra (also called Grand Ardra, or Arda), which was the capital of a Fon kingdom also called Allada ...

, which was also the main city and major port of the realm. The city and kingdom were supposedly founded by a group of Aja migrants from Tado, a settlement along the

Mono River The Mono River is the major river of eastern Togo. Approximately long, and draining a basin of about , it rises between the town of Sokodé and the border with Benin, and flows south. Along the southern portion of the river towards its mouth, i ...

, in the 12th or 13th century. Its kings "ruled with the consent of the elders of the people". The state reached the peak of its power in the 16th and early 17th centuries, when it was an important source of slaves for the Atlantic trade. By the mid-15th century, the city of Allada had a population of approximately 30,000 people, while the state as a whole had a population of nearly 200,000 people by the 16th century.

Name

The name is variously spelled Ardra, Ardrah, Ardres, Hardre, Arda, Arada, and Arrada. It is also sometimes known by its capital's present-day name

Foundational legend

According to the Fon oral tradition, the Aja settlers that established themselves in the area of present-day

arrived in southern Benin around the 12th or 13th century coming from Tado, on the

. They established themselves in the area that currently corresponds to southern Benin, until 1600, when three brothers — Kokpon, Do-Aklin, and Te-Agdanlin — split the rule of the region amongst themselves: Kokpon took the capital city of Great Ardra, reigning over the

Kingdom, while his brother Do-Aklin founded

Abomey Agbome or Abomey is the capital of the Zou Department of Benin. The commune of Abomey covers an area of 142 square kilometres and, as of 2012, had a population of 90,195 people. Abomey houses the Royal Palaces of Abomey, a collection of small tr ...

(which would become capital of the

Kingdom of Dahomey The Kingdom of Dahomey () was a West African kingdom located within present-day Benin that existed from approximately 1600 until 1904. It developed on the Abomey Plateau amongst the Fon people in the early 17th century and became a regional ...

) and their brother Te-Agdanlin founded Little Ardra, also known as Ajatche, later called

Porto Novo , , ; ; ; also known as Hogbonu and Ajashe) is the capital and second-largest city of Benin. The commune covers an area of and as of 2002 had a population of 223,552 people. In 1863, following British bombardment, Porto-Novo accepted French ...

(literally, "New Port") by Portuguese traders (which is the current capital city of Benin).

History

Founded by Aja settlers, the settlement of Allada was in 1600 the most prominent of Aja states, bordering the nearby

Oyo Empire The Oyo Empire was a Yoruba people, Yoruba empire in West Africa. It was located in present-day western Nigeria (including the South West (Nigeria), South West zone, Benin Republic, and the western half of the North Central (Nigeria), North Cent ...

, to which the King of Allada was vassal and tributary. Although it was an inland kingdom, Allada maintained control of some sea ports such as Offra, Jaquin and Whydah, thus making Allada important in the growing slave trade business, which also granted Allada the economic means to pay its duties to Oyo. Between 1640 and 1690, about 125,000 slaves were sold from Allada, peaking at about 55,000 during the 1680s alone. Originally a part of the Allada Kingdom, the city of

went on to become capital of a new kingdom, the

, which grew strong enough to challenge the nearby Oyo Kingdom, with Dahomey finally vanquishing it and establishing itself as the main kingdom in the region. In the early 17th century, a succession dispute led to emigration out of Allada. By the late 1690s, the growth of Dahomey had severely restricted Allada's supply of slaves from the north, while simultaneously Whydah surpassed Allada as a primary source of slaves from West Africa. This greatly weakened Allada's comparative power in the region. In 1724, Dahomey invaded Allada; in three days, the King of Dahomey's troops slaughtered thousands of Allada's warriors and citizens. More than 8,000 of Allada's population were captured and sold into slavery in the New World.Cornevin R. — Histoire du Dahomey, 1962, p.105

Modern history

Following Dahomey's subjugation of the kingdom, in 1724, Dahomey permitted the existence of a subordinate royalty. In 1894, France re-established the kingdom under its control. In 1904, the kingdom was annexed by France, however it was allowed to continue to exist as a

with its leaders being referred to as "'' chef supérieur''". The title of "king" was re-established in 1992 upon the coronation of Kpodégbé Togi Djigla, and the non-sovereign monarchy continues to this day. Kpodégbé Toyi Djigla is leader of the High Council of Kings of Benin. The modern non-sovereign kingdom of Ardra also consists of numerous minor kings who, in theory, accept the king of Ardra as their superior.

Military

In 1785, Ardra built a

ditch A ditch is a small to moderate trench created to channel water. A ditch can be used for drainage, to drain water from low-lying areas, alongside roadways or fields, or to channel water from a more distant source for plant irrigation. Ditches ...

along with a clay wall around the state for protection against opponents beyond its borders. Thornton adds that the capital of Ardra was also fortified in the 1790s with a ditch and a wall which contained loopholes. Special buildings containing loopholes were prominent across the capital. Since the 18th century, the Ardra navy deployed light artillery on its vessels. This innovation was introduced by Antonio Vaz de Coelho, a former African slave from Brazil. According to Thornton, the navy possessed 2 armed boats in an operation against Epe in 1778. The 2 boats were each mounted with 4 brass

swivel gun A swivel gun (or simply swivel) is a small cannon mounted on a swiveling stand or fork which allows a very wide arc of movement. Another type of firearm referred to as a swivel gun was an early flintlock combination gun with two barrels that rot ...

s as well as 24 large calibre

blunderbuss The blunderbuss is a 17th- to mid-19th-century firearm with a short, large caliber Gun barrel, barrel. It is commonly flared at the muzzle (firearms), muzzle to help aid in the loading of Lead shot, shot and other projectiles of relevant quantity ...

es. The main purpose of the armed boats was to provide cover for Ardra's army as it retreated. In the 18th century, the subordinate dynasty put in place by Dahomey following its conquest of the state, provided infantry and naval support to Dahomey. Primary sources from the 1690s state that Ardra's army moved in

companies A company, abbreviated as co., is a legal entity representing an association of legal people, whether natural, juridical or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members share a common purpose and unite to achieve specifi ...

only during parades as they fought in loose formations on the battlefield. Sieur d'Elbee documented the use of spears, shields, swords and

musket A musket is a muzzle-loaded long gun that appeared as a smoothbore weapon in the early 16th century, at first as a heavier variant of the arquebus, capable of penetrating plate armour. By the mid-16th century, this type of musket gradually dis ...

s by the army during a military parade in 1670.

Seaside fort

Slaves Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and residence dictated by the party that holds them in bondage. Enslavemen ...

used to be captured from enemy states and passed on to European slavers bound for the

Americas The Americas, sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North America and South America.''Webster's New World College Dictionary'', 2010 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio. When viewed as a sing ...

, the route which by repute the father of

Toussaint L'Ouverture François-Dominique Toussaint Louverture (, ) also known as Toussaint L'Ouverture or Toussaint Bréda (20 May 1743 – 7 April 1803), was a Haitian general and the most prominent leader of the Haitian Revolution. During his life, Louvertu ...

, the famous general that lead the slave rebellion of the Haitian revolution that lead Jean-Jacques Dessalines to establish the Empire of Haiti, had taken.

Connection to Toussaint L'Ouverture

According to the Toussaint Louverture Historical Society, Toussaint L'Ouverture, the Haitian revolutionary and first Black governor of

Saint-Domingue Saint-Domingue () was a French colonization of the Americas, French colony in the western portion of the Caribbean island of Hispaniola, in the area of modern-day Haiti, from 1659 to 1803. The name derives from the Spanish main city on the isl ...

, was a direct descendant of

Gaou Guinou Gaou Guinou was an African prince who has been claimed to be the grandfather of famed Haitian revolutionary Toussaint L’Ouverture. He may have been in the royal family of Allada as well as a member of the Fon people. He was reportedly captured an ...

, the heir – either son or brother – of the King of Allada killed during the invasion by the

in 1724. To quote from their sources, "Gaou Guinou, Minister of War and younger brother of the King of Allada, rather than succeeding to his father and ascending naturally to the throne, chose then to accompany his vanquished soldiers in exile. He was given a hammock on board of a slave ship" that sailed to the island of

Hispaniola Hispaniola (, also ) is an island between Geography of Cuba, Cuba and Geography of Puerto Rico, Puerto Rico in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean. Hispaniola is the most populous island in the West Indies, and the second-largest by List of C ...

, where the slaves were sold in Haiti.

List of kings of Ardra

Names and dates taken from John Stewart's ''African States and Rulers'' (1989).

References

* {{coord, 6, 39, N, 2, 09, E, display=title Kingdoms of Benin Countries in precolonial Africa Ardra Former monarchies of Africa Atlantique Department States and territories established in the 12th century States and territories disestablished in 1724 12th-century establishments in Africa 1724 disestablishments in Africa 18th century in the Kingdom of Dahomey Former countries in Africa Non-sovereign monarchy