9-th, 2004 - 09: 2   (Posted By: Webmaster)
Behanzin Hossu Bowelle    

Behanzin Hossu Bowelle"The King Shark"
AFRICAN POET-KING WHO DEFEATED FRANCE FROM HIS THRONE OF GOLD (1841-1906)

BEHANZIN, surnamed "Hossu Bowelle," or "The King Shark," was the most powerful of the West African kings in the closing years of the nineteenth century. He was not what so often passes for a "king" in Africa, but a real monarch. He was descended in direct line from Tacodounon, who conquered Dahomey in 1610 and took the t throne from the Houenous, whose ancestry, incidentally, went even further back.

In December, 1670, one of Behanzin's ancestors, Adanzan the First, visited Paris and was received with great ceremony at Versailles by the Grand Monarch himself. The reason for this was the visit in October 1626, of Admiral D'Elbee, to Dahomey, in the service of Louis XIII- The reigning monarch received the Frenchman with great deference and held fetes in his honor. He tendered him the highest possible honor by passing him his own cup to drink from, and presented France with a trading post on the coast. From then on trade flourished between the two nations. The gift of this trading post was virtually responsible for the clash between King Behanzin and France over two centuries later. Like his ancestors, Behanzin was absolute master of his kingdom. A nod of his head meant life or death for his subjects. His person was sacred. His common subjects Raw him only at ceremonials; only a few were permitted to see him do even the most ordinary things. If he wanted water while on the march, a screen was placed before him till he finished drinking it. When the water was passed to him, the soldiers would throw themselves prostrate on the ground, uttering "Ah-h-h," as if they were enjoying the drink with him. Not even his saliva was allowed to touch the ground.

Describing the veneration accorded to Dahomey kings, one writer says, "Dada! King we hear even yet the accents of veneration mixed with terror with which the old Dahomeyans pronounced the word. For them it symbolized the richness, grandeur and power of the fatherland. It epitomized the souvenirs of the glorious conquests of Dahomey." Dahomey was wealthy. The elements of its success were its trade, its powerful army, and the courage of its soldiers, who were deemed invincible. The king, as the central authority, was supported by an efficient body of secret police. The army contained 25,000 warriors, the pick of Behanzin's subjects. They were thoroughly trained and kept in trim by a system of gymnastics developed by the Dahomeyans themselves. They were divided into brigades and companies. Discipline was perfect. At the head of the Army was Agli-Agbo, the king's brother. Each warrior, on the march, had a servant to carry his weapons and his food. But the most redoubtable part of Behanzin's army were 5000 female warriors, who were recruited from among the lustiest virgins in the kingdom and were sworn to chastity. They ranked above the men. The king sometimes picked his wives from among them, or gave them to his bravest warriors. When a man had an unruly wife he gave her to the king for his army. The training of these amazons was rigorous indeed. One of their drills was charging barefoot into a construction of thorns.

Boghero describes this extraordinary scene as follows: Upon the ground reserved for the exercises, had been reared a mound, not of earth, but of very sharp thorns, about 50 yards long, 8 yards wide, and 7 feet high. At about 50 yards further, was another construction like a house, also thickly covered with thorns, the whole resembling a citadel. All the women are at their posts in an attitude of combat, arms raised, swords in hand, massed in line of battle before the front of attack. The King rises and goes to the head of the columns. He addresses them, inflaming them, and at a given signal, they throw themselves with incredible fury upon the mass of thorns. Descending as if beaten back, they return three times to the charge, each time so swiftly that the eye has difficulty in following them. They mount onto the construction of thorns with the same ease that a dancer moves on the stage, and yet it is with their bare feet that they have been trampling the sharp

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