The Dora Milaje are a fierce all female army in the Marvel film Black Panther...but many people are unaware that they are based partially off a real all women army in Africa called the Dahomey Amazons, at one time considered the most feared women in the world.

Dahomey is in modern day Benin republic of you didn't know
Abeokuta was invaded by the women warriors of Dahomey now present day Benin republic!!!!

In 1851, Dahomey attacked the town of Abeokuta after many counselors, including women of the palace, had advised the king against it. It ended in a crushing defeat for Dahomey, and nearly 2,000 women warriors, half their original number, perished.

Years of warfare had weakened the kingdom and as French troops encroached, the Dahomey fought them off to the best of its ability. Considering the outdated weapons with which they fought, Daho-mian forces inflicted considerable casualties but were unable to save the kingdom.

In fighting both Africans and Europeans, the Amazons raised the hackles of their adversaries because they were women. Legend says that when the men of Abeokuta discovered that they fought women and that some of their ranks had been killed by the women warriors, their shame drove them to fight twice as hard to defeat the invaders.

The French recounted stories that the Amazons drank themselves into drunken frenzies before battles. Some European men said that these women were hideously ugly, and others reported that they were beautiful. Commander Terrillon called them harpies, while many of his men greatly enjoyed watching defeated Amazons bathe in a nearby pond, insisting that they were some of the loveliest women in the world