1. Dahomey, Yorubaland,
Borgu, and Benin in 19th
century
Laurence Faber

2. Mono-Niger Area
• The region bounded in the
west by the Mono river
• In the east and the north
by the Niger
• In the south by the Bight of
Benin (Atlantic Ocean)
• Undulating plain with a
rise from the coast towards
the interior
• Dense rain forest to the
south-east

3. Four main distinct areas

4. The Aja Area
• Aja speaking people are divided into three
subgroups
• Fon – dominated ancient kingdom of Dahomey
• Gun – of the Weme river valley
• Ewe – inhabited between the Cufo and Mono rivers

5. The Yoruba Area
• Most extensive of the three groups
• Covers the present-day Ogun, Lagos Oyo,
and Ondo states of Nigera and nearly half of
Kwara State, as well as the adjacent parts of
the eastern Benin Republic and central
Togo.
• Numerous sub-groups
• Oyo (most numerous)
• Ibarapa
• Ife and Ijesa
• Ijebu
• Many more

6. The Borgu Area
• Situated mostly in present-
day Borgu of Kwara and
Sokoto state of Nigera
• Largest state of Borgu is now
split into Benin and Nigerian
areas
• Busa, Nikki, and Illo were the
main power center
• Two major languages spoken:
• Batonu and Boku
• Cultural unity through
bilingualism

7. The Edo Area
• Edo speaking people of the Benin
kingdom
• Linguistically and historically
related areas situated all around.
• These four zones were not isolated. It has
been said that all four groups can be
described as sub systems of one culture.
These linkages point to successive
migrations and population movements and
counter-movements which continued into
the 19th century until formally discouraged
by the establishment of territorially
structured European colonial states.

8. Collapse of Old Oyo
• Old Oyo was the most
important single power in
the mono-niger region in
1800.
• Attacked numerous groups
in the area.
• Used cavalry to their
advantage in the parts not
covered by rainforest
• Benin and Oyo kingdom
claim the same founder,
Oranyan.

9. Collapse of the Oyo empire
• The collapse of the Oyo empire brought
massive change because of the scale of the
influence they had over the surrounding
groups.
• This marked a continuous period of warfare
and insecurity in the region
• These conditions made it easy for European
countries to take advantage of the unruly
atmosphere

10. The collapse of Oyo cont’d.
• The Oyo empire had already begun to show signs
of deterioration militarily and territorially.
• The rebellion which the Egba staged under
Lisabi, their legendary hero, followed with the
defeat of the Oyo in 1774. Two other defeats
occurred in 1783 and 1791 by the Borgu and
Nupe.
• Final collapse of the empire in 1835.

11. Muslims take control
• The muslims took
control of the area
when Alimi, a Fulbe
muslim teacher,
obtained the
blessing of the
Sokoto Caliphate
and became the first
Amir of Ilorin.

12. Jihad spreads across the Mono-Niger
• Jihad of Fodio spread in all directions,
including Borgu and Yoruba.
• Also raids in Egbado by the Fulbe jihad.
• The Borgu and Oyo alliance failed to confront
the jihad of the Fulbe in 1836 and they lost.
• Although, more devastating were the fights
the Yoruba fought amongst themselves in the
Owu War of 1820-1825, the Ijaye War of 1860-
1865, and the Ekitiparapo War of 1877-1893.

13. Rise of Dahomey Kingdom
• Because of the fall of the Old Oyo Kingdom,
Dahomey rose as an autonomous kingdom in
the early 1820s up until the French conquest of
1892.
• It was the policy of all Dahomey monarchs to
keep independence from Oyo, but not until the
reign of Gezo that the Oyo imperial yoke was
fully repudiated.

14. Dahomey Kingdom cont’d
• Political stability was further guaranteed by the
successful operation of the highly centralized
administration for which the kingdom is well
known. The European anti-slave trade
movement hit the state's economy, based as it
was almost solely on the slave trade. However,
Gezo's economic policy was to continue to
respond to the demand for slaves from
Portuguese dealers while at the same time
responding to the stimulus of the export trade in
palm oil as the ultimate substitute for slave
exports.

15. Dahomey Kingdom cont’d
• Dahomey’s need for crops and more prisoners to
draw into the slave trade brought them to
invade Yorubaland in the 1820s
• Although, the Dahomey kingdom slowly started
to crumble in the late 1800s because of these
clashes against neighboring groups.

16. Effects of the activiy in the Mono-Niger
• Far reaching population shifts
• Massive enslavement and shipment of Yoruba
and Aja populations to the Americas and Sierra
Leone
• Large scale destruction of pre 19th century
settlements in Yorubaland
• Movement in population from the troubled
north towards the south
• New forms of government