The Dahomey Amazons are the only documented all-female official front-line combat arms military unit in modern history. Tough, uber-intense asskicking women single-mindedly devoted to hardening themselves into ruthless instruments of battlefield destruction, these machete-wielding, musket-slinging lady terminators were rightly-feared throughout Western Africa for over 250 years, not only for their fanatical devotion to battle, but for their utter refusal to back down or retreat from any fight unless expressly ordered to do so by their king. If you were some poor conscript douchebag militia soldier hanging out around your barracks and you saw these scary-as-Bleep kill-chicks suddenly start charging out of the woods in your direction, screaming their war chants with their muskets barking fire and their signature double-edged two-foot-long machetes brandished threateningly over their heads, you had one fleeting moment to overcome your crippling panic and defend yourself. Because if you failed to kill them – and I mean if you failed to kill every single last fucking one of them, some murderous woman was going to club you unconscious with a musket butt, drag you back to her capital, chop off your head with one swing of her machete, boil the skin off of your decapitated face, and then use your skull to decorate the royal palace.

Created around 1645 by the Dahomey King Ada Honzoo, the Amazons weren't initially designed to serve as frontal assault shock troops sent in to crush the enemy's spirits (and skulls) in a frenzied wave of bloodlusted fury. Instead, they started out as a small team of women who specialized in bringing down elephants, and who would go out on organized, efficient pachyderm hunts while the men were out fighting in wars. Eventually, possibly due to a lack of manpower or possibly because of their ruthless efficiency, Ada Honzoo promoted them to his personal bodyguard unit, expanding the unit to 800 women warriors with spears, bows, and war clubs, which in turn grew in size to an elite military unit of over 4,000 warriors. As a shout-out to their roots the Amazons chose to honor their heritage by naming their first battalion the Elephant Destroyers. The second battalion, it should be noted, were known as the Reapers – women who ditched those pesky flintlock muskets and instead went to battle armed with a razor-sharp three-foot machete they wielded with two hands.



The Amazons were recruited in a number of ways. Sometimes they were volunteers – women who were sick of their bullshit day-to-day lives, poor women seeking battlefield glory, or even the occasional royal concubine who decided she was much more comfortable cutting people in half for the King than she was producing male heirs for him. Even more awesomely than that, however, was that if a woman was "too misbehaved" to make a proper wife for a nice Dahoman boy, the girl's father (or husband!) could appeal to the King and His Royal Highness would conscript her into the Amazons. Sure, maybe Joe Asshole didn't need an uppity woman talking shit about how she didn't want to be a fucking housekeeper, but the King figure he could put her talents to work for the good of the country (and he did). Once a woman was in the Amazons, she became off-limits – she was forbidden to have sex (because if she got pregnant she couldn't fight), and the crime for any man laying even a single finger on an Amazon was instant death.

The Amazons went through intense physical training that far exceeded anything the male soldiers were willing to undertake. They wrestled, fought, and underwent grueling calesthenics and brutally-long runs on a daily basis. They climbed a thirty-foot wall lined with thorny brambles without showing pain. Recruits were sent into the woods with just a machete and told to survive for nine days. They trained for live-fire exercises by arming enemy prisoners of war with clubs, positioning them behind a stockade, and then assaulting it and killing everyone they could catch. Yeah, it's bleeped up, but that's just how it was – the Amazons were in constant competition for glory with the male units, and they knew that if anyone was going to take them seriously either at home or on the battlefield, they needed to be twice as hard as anyone else out there. And they were. They kept their weapons and uniforms clean, marched in lock-step precision, and when these women sprinted barefoot and pissed into combat beneath their unit battle flag – a Voodoo fetish made from the bones and skin of dead enemy soldiers – everyone who saw them pretty much pissed themselves and ran for it.



So, thanks to these crazy chicks and their unstoppable thirst for the warm blood of their recently-eviscerated enemies, King Ada Honzoo and his successors not only kept his woefully-undersized tribe from being crushed by the powerful enemy kingdoms that surrounded him, they crushed them so brutally that by the time the dust and blood spray cleared the Kingdom of Dahomey was a massive empire stretching across Western Africa. They conquered the Kingdom of Savi in 1727. Later that same year, they conquered the Whydah people, then publicly executed 4,000 prisoners of war as sacrifices to the Voodoo gods. They crushed the Allada. They captured Okeadon when Amazons snuck over the walls during the night, unlocked the gate from the inside, then watched as the rest of their sisters flooded into the city in a wave of murderous fury, collecting so many skulls that the King of Dahomey built a throne out of it and still had extras to decorate the walls of his royal palace.

The Dahomey Amazon motto was "Conquer or Die". These women swore an oath to die facing the enemy (any Amazons that fled a battle without being ordered to withdraw by the King himself were summarily executed on the spot), and, quite honestly, these chicks didn't have much tolerance for anyone else who didn't adhere to their admittedly-strict rules. And… they took it a little far sometimes. Like, after they'd conquer an enemy city, while the King and his men were pillaging and introducing themselves to their new subjects, the Dahomey Amazons would spend the next couple days running through the wilderness looking for enemy soldiers who had fled the battle. If they caught them, they'd drag the terrified warrior back by his hair. Then they'd spend the next couple days cutting the guy's ears off, gouge out his eyes, and cutting off his fingers – a process that would take 3 days – and on the fourth day they'd mercifully drag him before the king, decapitate him, and then lick his blood off the blade of their weapon. Then the guy's skull would be thrown onto the pile with the rest, the Dahomey would break out into one of their heroic battle chants, and then everyone would get really fucking hammered on rum and gin and dance until the sun came up.



In the 1850s King Gezo expanded the number of women soldiers to 6,000 – roughly half of his fighting forces. Under his command, the Dahomey conquered all of present-day Benin and most of Nigeria, including capturing several crucial ocean ports that allowed them to set up a lucrative trade route with the Europeans where they would sell captured POWs into slavery in exchange for guns and bullets. Kicking back on a throne made from the skulls and severed heads of vanquished enemy kings, surrounded by his loyal Amazon bodyguards, the King merely had to wave around his scepter (an awesome-looking thing fashioned from the leg bone of a defeated rival), and his fanatically-loyal warriors would pull their enemies apart limb from limb until all that remained was a sea of blood.

It got to the point where every year there was a popular festival where the most senior Amazon commander would come to the king and make an argument for which rival civilization the Dahomey should obliterate next. The king would listen to his advisor, pick one target, and then the commander would go back to her unit, give her soldiers the name of a city, and they'd crush that entire civilization to dust with machetes and musketballs.



Well, as is the case any time you're talking about 19th-century African history, the Dahomey eventually bit off more than they could chew when they ran into the full might of a powerful, ultra-wealthy European nation with a modernized military and no compunctions about using it. One of the main differences is that this time it was the African nation that started the shit, mostly because they had no fucking respect for the French (or anyone else for that matter).

It started in 1890, as King Behanzin was continuing his family's tradition of beating the shit out of everyone around them. One day he chose to capture some jackass bullshit port city that was horning in on his slave trade action, and he patentedly refused to give a shit that the town he was sending his Amazons to Bleep up was actually a French protectorate. The Amazons assaulted the walls, set the city on fire, and rushed into the governor's palace. They found the Governor standing there, clutching the tri-color French flag, screaming about how "this will protect me!"

The Dahomey Amazons decapitated him, made the guy's wife wrap the severed head up in the flag, then delivered the bloody head of the brutally-executed governor to their king still wrapped in a French flag.

Awesome.



Well, the French thought this was a little less than awesome, and they declared war on the Dahomey. The Dahomey responded by assaulting the French city of Kotonou on March 4, 1890, rushing straight-on into the walls despite the fact that the Amazons were using flintlock muskets and the French had fucking Gatling guns and cannons. At first the French were a little hesitant to open fire on an army of gunslinging women, but they found their resolve pretty quickly when the first line of Amazon troops hit the wooden stockade, pulled it apart with their hands, then stuck their muskets through the holes and blasted the defenders at close range. At one point during this battle the Dahomey even made it over the wall, and one French soldier write about seeing his best friend decapitated with one swing of a machete from a pissed-off Amazon. When a second soldier knocked the weapon out of the woman's hand with his rifle butt, she threw him on the ground and tore out his larynx with her teeth.

Her teeth.

The French turned the tide of the battle when they had a fucking gunboat start opening fire on the Dahomey, and quite honestly no amount of bravery is going to save you when you're carrying ancient out-of-date muskets and your enemies are launching artillery shells and shooting at you with machine guns. The attack was driven off.

I won't get too much into the gory details, but from this point on it gets kind of bad for the Dahomey Amazons. They fought bravely, nobody can deny that, battling the French in 24 pitched battles between 1890 and 1894, but ultimately their sword-swinging mayhem was no match for a modern industrial world power with top-of-the-line weaponry. Their charges were beaten off by intense gunfire, and in hand-to-hand combat the twenty-inch French rifle bayonets had roughly twice the reach of the Dahomey knives and machetes. The French conquered Dahomey in January 1894, driving King Behanzin into exile.

Of the 4,000 Dahomey Amazons under King Behanzin's command, nearly all of them were killed hurling themselves fearlessly into battle. Only 50 women survived, and most of them, awesomely enough, went to the United States and joined Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show.

I thought Dahomey was Benin republic. How is it now Nigeria's deadliest force?

Dahomey was in MODERN DAY BENIN NOT Nigeria...

Dahomey, kingdom in western Africa that flourished in the 18th and 19th centuries in the region that is now southern Benin.
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/149772/Dahomey

now that's a bad b.itch.

KidStranglehold: Dahomey was in MODERN DAY BENIN NOT Nigeria...

Dahomey, kingdom in western Africa that flourished in the 18th and 19th centuries in the region that is now southern Benin.
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/149772/Dahomey

Technically, the ancient Kingdom of Dahomey has some parts which are in present day Nigeria. Parts of Ogun and Lagos states come to mind. The Egun people were part of the Kingdom and I think the Bariba people were also part of it (not too sure, though). Also, Dahomey was under Oyo Empire for a long time and it paid tributaries to Oyo before the collapse of Oyo Empire.

However, since most of the Kingdom itself is in present day Benin, I think Benin should claim it.

These warriors are most certainly Beninese. However OP I love your creatively written story. The Amazons of Dahomey are very proudly remembered by many of their relatives today including Angelique Kidjo.

Kairoseki77:

These warriors are most certainly Beninese. However OP I love your creatively written story. The Amazons of Dahomey are very proudly remembered by many of their relatives today including Angelique Kidjo.

PAPA AFRICA: now that's a bad b.itch.

Your language is very unfortunate and not at all respectful of these women.

shymexx:

Technically, the ancient Kingdom of Dahomey has some parts which are in present day Nigeria. Parts of Ogun and Lagos states come to mind. The Egun people were part of the Kingdom and I think the Bariba people were also part of it (not too sure, though). Also, Dahomey was under Oyo Empire for a long time and it paid tributaries to Oyo before the collapse of Oyo Empire.

However, since most of the Kingdom itself is in present day Benin, I think Benin should claim it.

All of old Dahomey was in modern day Benin republic but it did not consume the entire nation of modern Benin republic. After independence Benin republic changed its name from Dahomey to recognize the northern provinces that Dahomey never included. The image below shows the borders of Dahomey under King Ghezo and I believe that is as big as Dahomey got. Dahomey never breached the borders of present-day Nigeria and we constantly warred with the Yoruba. You are right that Dahomey did pay tribute to Oyo for a long time. Maybe the OP is confused because Benin is a region of present day Nigeria. A wise poster here told me Yoruba and Fon have common ancestors and there are many Yoruba who live in Benin republic.

shymexx:

Technically, the ancient Kingdom of Dahomey has some parts which are in present day Nigeria. Parts of Ogun and Lagos states come to mind. The Egun people were part of the Kingdom and I think the Bariba people were also part of it (not too sure, though). Also, Dahomey was under Oyo Empire for a long time and it paid tributaries to Oyo before the collapse of Oyo Empire.

However, since most of the Kingdom itself is in present day Benin, I think Benin should claim it.

Like MamiWata stated, all of old Dahomey was in modern day Benin. Yes the Oyo empire did conquer parts of Dahomey, but the people who have the rights to claim Dahomey are the Fons from Benin(country).

MamiWata:

All of old Dahomey was in modern day Benin republic but it did not consume the entire nation of modern Benin republic. After independence Benin republic changed its name from Dahomey to recognize the northern provinces that Dahomey never included. The image below shows the borders of Dahomey under King Ghezo and I believe that is as big as Dahomey got. Dahomey never breached the borders of present-day Nigeria and we constantly warred with the Yoruba. You are right that Dahomey did pay tribute to Oyo for a long time. Maybe the OP is confused because Benin is a region of present day Nigeria. A wise poster here told me Yoruba and Fon have common ancestors and there are many Yoruba who live in Benin republic.

I know it didn't consume the entire modern day Benin Republic. There are Yoruba groups in Benin who were never part of Dahomey - I think they're called 'Ketu' and 'Sabe' - and they extend to modern day Togo as well. However, I cited parts of Nigeria in which "Egun" are domiciled because I believe the Egun's are a subgroup of the larger Fon group. But I might be wrong, though.

Yes, Dahomey did fight a lot of wars with a few Yoruba groups (especially the Egba's), after the collapse of Oyo. But they had their ar.ses handed to them by the Egba's. However, that doesn't negate the greatness of Dahomey, the Egba's back then were just bad ars.es.

As for Fon and Yoruba having common ancestors, I'm not really too sure about that. However, the two group have a lot in common and they have lived like brothers for a very long time. Also, a few Fon subgroups, like the Ewe, Egun etc. do claim Yoruba ancestry - just as the Ga people of Ghana claim Yoruba ancestry. Anyway, Oyo ruled over all of them and we're one big family.

KidStranglehold:

Like MamiWata stated, all of old Dahomey was in modern day Benin. Yes the Oyo empire did conquer parts of Dahomey, but the people who have the rights to claim Dahomey are the Fons from Benin(country).

Nah, Oyo conquered all of Dahomey, to present day Ghana.

I'm not claiming them, the Fons aren't the same with the Yoruba's. I was just alluding to the Fon subgroups in modern day Nigeria. Hence why I cited the Egun's.

WOW! That was a piece!
I have heard about this ancient warriors back in secondary school but reading about their acts in full details has me blown away.
Truly they were Amazons!

who knows where i can download the nollywood movie, "ogun dahomey"

Nice article with so many mistakes. The dahomey amazon never made up to 50% of the dahomean force, but between 20-30%. At its peak, Dahomey had 25,000-30,000 soldiers not 12,000 as you inplied; while the amazon numbered over 6,000 at their peak.


Also, the entire Benin Rep was never under the Dahomey/Fon. Bariba, for example, in northern Benin never had confrontation with Dahomey. The clans that fell to dahomey were Adja(Allada, Ouidah); Yoruba(Ketu, Anago, Sabe, Ohori). Nothing more. Only a few Egba towns like Ado Odo fell but were recovered.


The Oyo-Dahomey war was Oyo's attempt to resubdue Dahomey. Besides, you forgot to include the Egba-Dahomey slave raid and wars(4 in number). 4,500 of the amazon were killed at Abeokuta in 1861. Also, by 1875, the Dahomey forces had a 40% larger force than Egba at its peak was reduced to few thousands in Egba counter-offensive. Two years later, Egba, now a mightier force was involved in kirigi war with Ibadan. Dahomey slowly regained its strength and by 1893, Dahomey force had grew to 12,000(of which 2,000 were amazons) in the French-Dahomey war. Thanks to the superior weapons and machine guns; the French were victors against one of West-Africa most powerful armies.


Mind you; the Egba wouldn't have been successful especially during the Lagos gov blockade in 1867 and the ongoing confrontation with Ibadan; but thanks to the large number of canons at her disposal, some Owu soldiers(though not significant), and of course, MADAM TINUBU, who used her wealth to buy arms and provide food for the Soldiers.

Also take note, not all Yoruba outside fell to Dahomey: Dassa, Popo, Isha and the Yoruba in Togo.


The Dahomey amazons were true heroes who were feared by brave men and soldiers. I would post the sources later. Besides I did the history in school; so I myself, am an authority in this.

Shymmex, are you debating that the OP is right in saying 'Nigeria's deadliest force'?
Or did the Amazons spring up from the tribes located in Nigeria? I don't believe so.
I don't claim to be a history head, but the Dahomey kingdom itself was primarily located in Benin republic (the seat of power) and spreads to one or two localities in Nigeria. Doesn't make it Nigeria's deadliest force.

I read somewhere Dahomey later defeated the Oyo empire. So women defeated Oyo? perfect bliss! Women rock!

MamiWata:

Your language is very unfortunate and not at all respectful of these women.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

MamiWata: These warriors are most certainly Beninese. However OP I love your creatively written story. The Amazons of Dahomey are very proudly remembered by many of their relatives today including Angelique Kidjo.

^^^So Miss Kidjo is related to those fearsome battle axes!? It all adds up now.....i just knew there was something hardcore about that woman!

Nicely written story though.

IGBO-SON:


^^^So Miss Kidjo is related to those fearsome battle axes!? It all adds up now.....i just knew there was something hardcore about that woman!

Yes sir I love Ms. Kidjo moreso for her promotion of Beninese culture than her music. She is a bad mama indeed.

stillwater: Shymmex, are you debating that the OP is right in saying 'Nigeria's deadliest force'?
Or did the Amazons spring up from the tribes located in Nigeria? I don't believe so.
I don't claim to be a history head, but the Dahomey kingdom itself was primarily located in Benin republic (the seat of power) and spreads to one or two localities in Nigeria. Doesn't make it Nigeria's deadliest force.

I read somewhere Dahomey later defeated the Oyo empire. So women defeated Oyo? perfect bliss! Women rock!

^^^Omo leave matter abeg; you wan try!? It must have been a piss-inducing sight watching those women emerge from the bushes (all decked out in charms amulets and war paint) and charging at your ranks as you and fellow palace guards look on open mouthed and paralysed with fear!

Faced with that, now tell me which man born of a woman wouldn't drop his spear and shield and clamber over the palace walls for dear life! And you can bet that as they head full-pelt for the nearby surrounding hills......leaving the ancient city of Oyo behind them, the safety of the Oba would be the last thing on their minds!

shymexx:

Nah, Oyo conquered all of Dahomey, to present day Ghana.

I'm not claiming them, the Fons aren't the same with the Yoruba's. I was just alluding to the Fon subgroups in modern day Nigeria. Hence why I cited the Egun's.

I never said you did, just speaking in general.

Its wrong to say they were Nigeria's deadliest women warrior when no female in Nigeria are descendants from the Amazons while most females from the Benin republic actually are.

stillwater: Shymmex, are you debating that the OP is right in saying 'Nigeria's deadliest force'?
Or did the Amazons spring up from the tribes located in Nigeria? I don't believe so.
I don't claim to be a history head, but the Dahomey kingdom itself was primarily located in Benin republic (the seat of power) and spreads to one or two localities in Nigeria. Doesn't make it Nigeria's deadliest force.

I read somewhere Dahomey later defeated the Oyo empire. So women defeated Oyo? perfect bliss! Women rock!

@ the bolded - they never defeated Oyo Empire, they just refused to pay tributaries after the collapse of Oyo and killed those sent to their Kingdom to collect tributaries. Dahomey wasn't the only kingdom that did that, other Yoruba kingdom did the same as well.

How the heck would a Dahomey that was crushed by the Egba's several times defeat Oyo Empire? - it seems you're just trying to troll, to be honest.

Anyway, I never subscribed to Dahomey being the deadliest or not. I was just alluding to the Fon subgroup in Nigeria since Dahomey was a Fon Kingdom.

shymexx:

@ the bolded - they never defeated Oyo Empire, they just refused to pay tributaries after the collapse of Oyo and killed those sent to their Kingdom to collect tributaries. Dahomey wasn't the only kingdom that did that, other Yoruba kingdom did the same as well.

How the heck would a Dahomey that was crushed by the Egba's several times defeat Oyo Empire? - it seems you're just trying to troll, to be honest.

Anyway, I never subscribed to Dahomey being the deadliest or not. I was just alluding to the Fon subgroup in Nigeria since Dahomey was a Fon Kingdom.

Tsk tsk always sitting on ants!

I'm sure it's that woman in the pic that kicked Oyo's butt, screaming to hell with your tributaries, tehehe.
Oyo empire hadn't collapsed as at then, just experienced decline. Decline doesn't mean collapse. Still doesn't reduce the military prowess of my amazons under Ghezo of course!

stillwater:

Tsk tsk always sitting on ants!

I'm sure it's that woman in the pic that kicked Oyo's butt, screaming to hell with your tributaries, tehehe.
Oyo empire hadn't collapsed as at then, just experienced decline. Decline doesn't mean collapse. Still doesn't reduce the military prowess of my amazons under Ghezo of course!

Tsk tsk I just want you to sit on my face!

Whatever rocks your boat, woman. However, I thought you said African women have always been treated as inferior beings by African men since time immemorial till pseudo-feminism came? Yet you want to claim the feat these great women achieved, no?

[img]http://4.bp..com/-c_5xgbp3z2A/USUa2L1xnaI/AAAAAAAACXY/gkvTJtLkK-E/s640/df2.jpg[/img]

Fon people of Abomey performing their Amazon warrior dance with wooden spears

[img]http://3.bp..com/-0ifi__7Nt3k/UWRfT_s6xCI/AAAAAAAAOl8/k82CmWP25_M/s640/tumblr_lhqeefaJXY1qfoqcbo1_400.jpg[/img]

Dahomey girl. Circa 1891

Notable in the kingdom were significant artwork, all-female military units known as the Dahomey Amazons

Dahomey never defeated the Oyo. It was actually the opposite. The Oyo empire had an superior cavalry which annihilated the Dahomey Empire.

KidStranglehold: Dahomey never defeated the Oyo. It was actually the opposite. The Oyo empire had an superior cavalry which annihilated the Dahomey Empire.

They were able to declare themselves independent under Ghezo. I don't think it was by 'dialogue'.

And I don't think anyone said anything about oyo not defeating Dahomey.

shymexx:

Tsk tsk I just want you to sit on my face!

Whatever rocks your boat, woman. However, I thought you said African women have always been treated as inferior beings by African men since time immemorial till pseudo-feminism came? Yet you want to claim the feat these great women achieved, no?

WTH? Bye bye!

stillwater:
They were able to declare themselves independent under Ghezo. I don't think it was by 'dialogue'.

And I don't think anyone said anything about oyo not defeating Dahomey.

You keep shooting yourself in the foot with every post. They were able to declare themselves independent, the same way the Egba's, Ekiti's and the rest of the Yoruba subgroups were able to declare themselves independent. And all that happened because of the collapse of Oyo. Ibadan took charge after that when the Ibadan warriors and the remnant of Oyo defeated the Fulani's at Oshogbo. And the rest they say, is history.

Dahomey never defeated Oyo. Heck, Oyo used some of Dahomey's warriors in the conquest of other Kingdoms further west, including the Akan's (present day Ashanti and Fanti of Ghana).

WTH? Bye bye!

Yeah, aurevoir!

[img]http://allkindsofhistory.files./2011/09/amazon-officers.jpg[/img]



(Amazon of Abomey) Female officers, wearing symbolic horns of office on their heads.

shymexx:

You keep shooting yourself in the foot with every post. They were able to declare themselves independent, the same way the Egba's, Ekiti's and the rest of the Yoruba subgroups were able to declare themselves independent. And all that happened because of the collapse of Oyo. Ibadan took charge after that when the Ibadan warriors and the remnant of Oyo defeated the Fulani's at Oshogbo. And the rest they say, is history.

Dahomey never defeated Oyo. Heck, Oyo used some of Dahomey's warriors in the conquest of other Kingdoms further west, including the Akan's (present day Ashanti and Fanti of Ghana).

Yeah, aurevoir!

How the heck did they declare themselves independent. Do people declare themselves independent just like that. This is not the 60's where there were diplomatic sessions. How on earth did this people declare themselves independent without fighting or defeating oyo.

Culled from https://sites.google.com/site/afropedia/kingdom-of-ndongo


Trade rivalry was intense between the other power of the slave coast Oyo and led to clashes. Oyo invaded Dahomey four times, during the 1720s. Dahomey eventually became a tribute paying state under Agaja in 1730 to the alafin of Oyo. The kingdom continued to thrive despite its subordinate position. Under the rule of Gezo(1818-58), Dahomey reached its pinnacle. The kingdom began winning numerous battles; to the point, they cease being a tribute paying state. In 1818, he declared independence from Oyo, and in 1840, he tried to gain Yoruba territory.

Culled from [2] Law, Robin (1986). "Dahomey and the Slave Trade: Reflections on the Historiography of the Rise of Dahomey". The Journal of African History 27 (2): 237–267.

Under Ghezo the empire reached its highpoint with Ghezo defeating the Oyo empire in 1823, ending Dahomey's tributary status, and greatly expanding the slave trade.

*****************
Are these references lying or what?

Dahomey Amazon warriors

Dahomey was one of most powerful kingdoms of West Africa, deriving its power from trade and its superior army. Dahomey’s army was one of the strongest and best-organized armies in West Africa and was comprised of both men and women, including the Amazons, a superior and dreaded fighting force of female warriors. The Amazons, or Mino, were a Fon all-female military regiment of the Kingdom of Dahomey. Had reputation as fearless warriors, defeated the French army several time in battle. One of the Amazon leaders was Seh-Dong Hong-Beh (which means “God speaks true“) who led an army of 6000 amazons against the Egba fortress in Abeokuta in 1851.