14/10/2015
SLAVERY
- “The Centuries of Horror and Shame”
From the sixteenth to the nineteenth century European slave trade became a black chapter in Africa’s history, and Benin – then called Dahomey - became a center for the trade in the region. The main slave port was Ouidah, but also Porto Novo – in the Du Bois slave ship data referred to alongside Lagos and Badagry as the “Eastern Bay of Benin” - was part of the trade. While the Ivory Coast was known for Ivory trade, and Ghana was known as the “Gold Coast”, Benin and the surrounding area towards Accra will forever be recorded in history as the “Slave Coast”.
In Ouidah, then called Whydah, there were at the peek 5 slave fortresses; one French, one Portuguese, one British, one Dutch and one Danish. The fortresses served as business centers, and the trade of slaves was mainly made between the representatives on the fortresses and the kings of Abomey. King Agadja who ruled from 1708 to 1732 even used a slave ship as his emblem, symbolizing the prosperity it brought also to his kingdom.
At the beginning of the slave trade, selling of prisoners of wars was sufficient, but as the trade developed nobody could feel safe. It went so far that even the mother of the prince who should later become king Ghezo was deported and sold by his own uncle, king Adandozan (1797-1818)!
The kings had special units of solders that were used to capture slaves, the most famous being the “Amazones”: A much dreaded brigade of female soldiers. It is told that the kings preferred women, since they did not trust other men: Their slogan was “The women in the battle fields, the men on the farms!”.
“I was living in a small and peaceful village called Togon, when one morning the king of Abomey sent his army to catch us. They were all women soldiers and they killed anyone who resisted”. This testimony came from a man named Kudjo Kazula, who was sold as a slave and departed from Ouidah in 1854 – long after the official abolition of slave trade.
Not all slaves were sent abroad. Also the Europeans residing in the country bought and used slaves. This was in fact the case of Martine’s own great grandmother who was captured in Nigeria while fetching water, and later sold to a Portuguese trader.
The Rout of the Slaves is today one of the most moving sights in Ouidah. From the slave market in the city, the slaves were the men were forced to walk 9 times, the women 7, around the “Tree of Forgetfulness”. The intention of this ritual was for their souls to forget and never return to Africa to haunt the kings who sold them. While some slaves where taken directly to the ships, others were kept in the “Room of Darkness”, called Zomaï. The Room of Darkness resembled the ship, and the slaves where to get used to the conditions on the ships before leavening, while they also became gradually disoriented. Many died there and were thrown in mass graves. From there the slaves were taken to the shore, but on the way they would pass the “Tree of Hope”. Three turns were made around the tree, giving the spirit a chance to come back, after forgetting all the hardships.
The rout of the slaves ends at the beautiful beach of Ouidah, by the “Gate of No Return”, a stunning monument in remembrance of the last glimpse of Africa caught by the slaves.
