Why Did Dahomey Change Its Name To Benin?
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- Опубліковано 26 вер 2024
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SOURCES AND FURTHER READING
Benin: en.wikipedia.o...
Fun Facts About Benin: www.worldatlas...
History Of Dahomey kingdom: www.blackhisto...
Dahomey Announces Its Name Will Be Benin: www.nytimes.co...
Benin Country Profile: www.bbc.co.uk/...
Voodoo In Benin: www.bbc.co.uk/...
In The Belly Of Dan: www.jstor.org/...
Bight Of Benin: www.britannica...
Benin On Etymonline: www.etymonline...
Dahomey On Etymonline: www.etymonline...
Is there actually anyone watching from the nation of Benin? I have no idea if I have any viewers there, hello if so!
Never *benin* there
Not from Benin, but from across the border in Nigeria. Hi, love your work.
Large part of my dna traces there.
You might be interested in ancient Benin bronze sculptures that rival Greece and Rome.
@@indigop38 that’s the other Benin though, in Nigeria, but honestly yeah those heads were epic
Hey! Beninese Guy here lol, it's really cool to see someone cover my country as we don't get much exposure on a global scale and it's quite a coincidence that this was in my youtube recommendations.
The name Dahomey is French people's interpretation of the name Ɖanxomɛ (Fongbe) which means "In the stomach of the snake"
Hope that helps
Lol it’s a state called Benin in Nigeria 🇳🇬, the one and ONLY ancient Benin Empire, NOT Benin the country.
Whatever floats your boat babe@@joye5761
Me and dahomeys in Dahomey
The Nigerian Kingdom of Benin is not far gone history, the Edo people who created the Kingdom of Benin still have an Oba (traditional King) who has no political power any more but is the custodian of their culture.
Also, when French invaded Dahomey, Benin was still independent.
And in the Nigerian Civil War there was the creation of the short lived Republic of Benin and the capital of Edo state is called Benin.
You're right but still has a lot of political influence.
They still have political power,even in Nigeria the Oba still hold strong power over his lands and people and the federal government still respects his power albeit it's now part of a republic. So yeah the ruler of that land still has loads of power
Benin was an empire not kingdom
great video as usual. Just a nitpick..The Benin kingdom is alive and well even though it's in Nigeria. The dynasty is still uninterrupted and still have massive influence in the state of EDO where the majority of its former territory was
This is about the republic of Benin. Not Benin in Nigeria.
@@calmnesshq you obviously didn't watch the video or didn't pay attention.
@@calmnesshqare you slow or something?
I remember seeing in a form at an airport years ago and looked it up. That said every time I look at a map of Africa I always feel like I find a new country I’ve never seen
I collected stamps as a child. That's how I knew about Dahomey. They had lots of cool stamps.
Same here !! In the sixties.
Its nice to see old people relating with people in the comment section.
You know the actor Djimon Hounsou? Had a role in Gladiator, Guardians of the Galaxy, the wizard in Shazam!, and the main antagonist in How to Train Your Dragon 2.
He’s from Benin.
benin was once da homie
sheesh
LOL 😂 😆 🤣
REPUBLIC OF DAHOMEY CHANGED TO REPUBLIC OF BENIN, WAS DONE IN 1976 BY THEN PRESIDENT OF DAHOMEY M.KEREKOU WITH THE PERMISSION OF THE OBA OF BENIN, BECAUSE DAHOMEY GOT ANCESTRY LINKAGE TO EDO BENIN CITY NOW IN NIGERIA.
IN HISTORY BEFORE THERE WAS ONLY 1 BENIN CITY , BIGHT OF BENIN , TITLE OBA/ KING ALL ATTRIBUTED TO THE EDO BENIN KINGDOM
I've never Benin West Africa, but I definitely want Togo there.
I see what you did there XD
YOU da homey! ;)
It's pronounced "Tha HOMIE".
I pronounced it the whole time.
Actually it's not pronounced '' Tha Homie'' but "Da-o-may" sorta
I liked this video, I learned something new. My parents are from the neighbouring country, Togo and I grew up knowing Benin as Dahomey. My mum always said that its meaning has to do with snakes but I'm not sure how true that is but I know that snakes are important in voudoun religion so maybe it has something to do with that. I always thought the Fon people were the minority of the country. The Fon of Benin falls under the Gbe languages. There is Fongbe in Benin, Gengbe in Togo and Evegbe in Ghana. There are differences in the languages now but they still have the same roots and understand one another which I think is so cool!
I saw the spelling “Danxome” - is that from Togo, and should the ‘x’ be pronounced as in the Eʋegbe language, more like ‘h’ but at the back of the palate?
@@hiberniancaveman8970 traditionally, h does not exist in Ewe and the letter x signifies the 'h' sound seen in English but most people these days have implemented the letter h as they are aware of the sound it makes and makes the romanisation look a lot 'nicer' than the letter x.
Here is how the name came about according that what I’ve heard.
There was an Adja-ewe king in Tado,togo that died and his 3 sons had to fight over who will take over the throne. Rather than fighting..They decided to go their separate ways. 1 prince went west of togo (his followers are is now called the “Ewe” people. Two other 2 princes went east into Benin and ended up establishing ouidah and I believe Allada kingdoms. The one that founded ouidah had to fight a Yoruba king to rule the area. When he won he decided to call the place “Danhome”.
Ahome is ewe/Fon word for stomach
Dan I think was the king that was defeated’s name but it is also the word for snake.
Dahomey king conquered their neighbors and sold men to the Europeans, they also had a woman army that was popular and Disney made movie about them.
Can you tell us more about this Kingdom seeing that a new movie called The Woman King starring Viola Davis was just a month ago premiered in theaters. Alot of people feel as though it is glorifying racism and slavery. She plays the leader of this Kingdom who military trained all young women to go to war in fighting against the Colonizers who wanted to force them all into slavery. The battle was lost and the girls were, as punishment, forced and sold by their own monarchy into slavery and their Kingdom into Colonization. I see this as a bunch of crap. It seems to me as fiction. There was only one book in its entire existence written about this. It can't be fact checked or gone against anything stated in the book. I don't believe this truly happened.
Benin has been one of my favorite lesser-known countries. I like it's shape. It has an alliance with Gondola.
If you want to see the treasures of the historic Kingdom of Benin
the best place to go is the British Museum
who have an entire wall of stunning Benin bronzes.
When you don’t have any treasures yourself
STEAL THEM
You mean stolen Benin (Nigerian) artefacts?
Those are Nigerian artifacts the Dahomey had nothing of value except human beings unfortunately
There is benin kingdom in nigeria that fought the british in 1897 which is now the capital of Edo state in the south south Nigeria
Wasn’t a big reason for the name change that, since Dahomey was such a big exporter of slaves, they didn’t want to be associated with is? Like I often hear the name brought up when talking about the slave trade whereas despite Benin being a notable exporter I don’t hear about it as much. If I remember correctly Dahomey & Kongo were the two biggest exporters of slaves
no. they changed it because Dahomey was a kingdom of the Fon people who are only one ethnicity in the country. choosing a neutral name that didn't represent any of the existing ethnicities in the country was ideal. so they choose "benin" from the bight of benin
@@mch7933 oh I see. Makes sense.
prominent tribes and peoples up and down the African coast, north, east, west and south participated in the slave trade. to pick one out and use it as a stigma against them or to sully their name isn't warranted. slavery in Africa was different from the chattel slavery in the Americas. But go ahead. If it makes you feel intelligent and a judge to things you really know nothing about, help yourself. a little knowledge is a dangerous thing. So is a little wisdom. You appear to be in a deficit in both categories.
@@coachjones6104 Brother, nobody is trying to sound smart or insult African cultures. I heard something and asked if it was the case, no need to throw a tantrum in the comments.
It's not called "vondu", it's called VODUN.
Hi everyone, I'm from Benin, actually from the capital name : Porto-Novo, I saw your video actually King Behanzin and Glele are brothers and the kingdom was rules by Behanzin in that time when the white colony came with a lots of this to start a trade that how they were accommodate in the little area that because economic city called nowadays Cotonou
So as I was saying Behanzin who was wise saw they plan coming so he cut ties with them and want to chase them away from cotonou because more and more man were taking from the country and he realised that the future of the kingdom was being rape off while Glele innocent and educated want the kingdom to move forward and new opportunities to make the kingdom the biggest of all times in the entire africa as well as becoming the king himself
While his brothers was fighting them he was behind accepting them , the Spanish had already lost a war with the previous king who is GHEZO very fearless king that Noone their look on his eyes so the were really cautious this time while the French very smart alliance with Glele since he always want his brother place and that how they acquired Benin and Glele became king and at that moment he realised his biggest make that he is just king but the France was ruling the country and he decide to unify the country so that what happen to him will be an example to others and we shaw all be one after at the brink of death his brother curse him to what he did to the all kingdom . So to clean the kingdom he commemorate something we called " le symbole de la jarre trouer" which a tourist place today to remember to all we shall be together who and where ever we are and that one of the reasons the politics is stable . I just want to clarify that part
Hell no !
Absolutely false!
1st reply say this false. However I appreciate reading! Trade does sound true reason for conflicts.
Dahomey famous for it's King's bodyguard - which were all women and very fierce!
Nah more the slavery thing 😂
Its funny when people get their history from Hollywood movies lol. They were slavers so brutal about their enslaving other Africans the French had to put a stop to it. The female bodyguard is Bs and only double digit IQ believe it
Historically,the Oba of Benin who reigned in Benin City,Edo State,Nigeria political influence and Lordship stretched from our City as far as Guinea along the West African Coast,Eko(camp) now modern day Lagos was a war camp for Benin Or Edo warriors. The war Commander who the Oba of Benin sent to bring that land under his lordship was called ISIDAHOMEN,whose father was an Ishan(a tribe of Edo extraction in present day Edo Central Senatorial district),but his mother an EDO woman led the BENIN expedition. Traditionally when a General conquers the land he is sent,he is sometimes permitted by the Oba to remain there as a ruler.
Thus,the name Isidahomen which was corrupted to Dahomey. The country was later named by Late President Mathieu Kerekou of blessed memory to show the historically relationship between present day BENIN Republic and the Great BENIN Empire. I can show a map drawn by the french in 1776 showing the area extent of the Kingdom of Benin.
I so much love people that are aware of their history 😩🖤🖤🖤
Interesting you mentioned the Fon. It shot my etymologist, phoneticist, linguist, language geek/teacher mind into, well a not so overdrive😉 "Dahomey". We have 2 Kings whose names are or begin with "Da"
By now we should realize that like our Asian brethren, we all have names that are comprised of meaningful elements, but in some cases the word fossil effect comes into play.
Now, on to ho/hom. Some simple rules/features (and it could be a fluke but...) F = H (also B, P, K/Q, S, SH/Ş...), all vowels are interchangeable, and N = M (B, P, etc...). All depends on how we hold our mouths and whatever is "trending" around us. Fon and Hom could well be one in the same. If Da is king/kingdom, then could Dahomey be Kingdom of the Fon/Hom people. The fact that the Portuguese and French were there meddling, peddling and trading (with an agenda), could play a role in the phonetics too. And often naming of a people often takes "international" form from the names that the neighbors give them. I also know a bit about that, myself being descended from colonized nations on both sides of the Atlantic - African and Native American, as well as European (Irish, Scottish, Welsh, etc...). My ex girlfriend who did her research in Africa, coincidentally (?) on the stomachs of the Fon (there may be a historic connection to "stomach" in some neighboring peoples "ironic" naming), told me that I looked a lot like the Fon 🤷🏾♂️
I have to do more research on that last part but she could be right
Awesome!!! Love this! Love the breakdown background on etymology and phonetics.
That was really good.
So glad you covered benin. Believe it or not the name story is something I have to explain a lot because when I say I’m from benin many think I’m from Nigeria then I gotta explain how it was Dahomey then named after the night of benin. Next time someone asks imma just send your video
Either ways you're still bini 😂😂I call the people from Benin republic my long gone siblings 🤌🏾😂
I took French in high school. They covered former colonies of France.
I only know about Benin because when I was in travel school, I was searching for random airport codes, and found my name, Kandi, which was the capital at the time (1996).
Dahomey is where the heart is.
The shape resembles a raised fist…..
As far as I'm aware, my country of Portugal is to blame for "Benin" name... And also their capital of "Porto-Novo" name.
I know a few “dahomey’s” from my old hood.
Can you increase your basic volume level ? I have to
Crank it and if ad starts it’s too loud and hurts my ears bb
Thanks
I heard about this, thanks to 'Things fall Apart' by Chinua Achebe
I'm pretty solid on all the countries post 1992 but I get lost on old names, so I'm glad to get the redirection. (Mrs K, my geography teacher, had us memorize all the countries that year, which must've been interesting. She had had to take an old map of the USSR and hand draw in the countries that'd just gotten free and white out the line between East and West Germany.)
Wow so nice from you covering my country
REPUBLIC OF DAHOMEY CHANGED TO BENIN IN 1976 BY THE THEN PRESIDENT OF DAHOMEY MR M. KEREKOU.. AFTER TAKEN PERMISSION FROM THE OBA OF BENIN CITY.
I went to college in Benin, and lived in a beach house overlooking the Atlantic. Cotonou is my favorite city on the planet. 😊
I have a new sense of curiosity concerning this vast land every since the new movie has been released starring Viola Davis named "The Warrior King". I have not as of yet seen the movie but due to the thousands of comments I've read online, I get the notion that it plays down racism and it glorifies slavery so matter-of-factly as if its this bigger and greater cause for the world. People also seemed very putoff by the fact that these military trained young African girls were the only one's in their Kingdom fighting these French and Dutch European against colonization and the slave trade. The all women army were defeated and sold by their own leaders into slavery telling them " It's not so bad at all." Seeing that only book on this story has ever been into existence, alot of people feel it was totally fabricated. Most hated the movie and attested to the feel of fiction. I, myself, don't feel like it actually happened either. Do you have any information pertinent to the story?
@@fionnagrey2425 am from the republic of Benin and I don’t think that movies glorify slavery.Let me explain :1: it’s know fact that those women were very deadly to fight with,for me I think she wanted to show that there were women warriors like they did in Wakanda and Wonder women.Those last 2 movies I named were inspired by The Amazones of Benin. 2:Regarding the racism , I believe not all white men are bad and maybe that’s what she’s was trying to show
Lastly I would suggest to type in your UA-cam research (The agoudas) u might understand some of the side of the movie.
Stay blessed
4:50 The Fon people, means; children of the panther... A legend from the 13th century kingdom of Adjatado talks about a panther transforming into a man...
Fun Fact: The Dora Milaje guard of the Black Panther movie was loosely based on the Dahomey warrior women
Peopl into art or metal casting know about Benin. Their work in bronze and gold is amazing. Just try not to think too much about how they got so rich.
Benin bronzes are from Nigeria.
Benin and Benin city aren't the same.
@@andersonojoshimite6047 how is Benin bronze is from Nigeria? Does Nigeria exist in 1897?
@@letsjustdoitdoit8614, it's from the region that is now Nigeria.
My guess Dahomey came from an ancient word that lost its meaning as time went on when the language died, but the word stuck without a meaning; a ghost word. A prediction it could come from D'homi (random guess) which could mean "the clan between the sea and sands" which is where Dahomey/Benin is; between the Bight of Benin and the Sahara.
My reply may be late. But the story about Dan is True. The thing is that Dako donou the founder of Dahomey ask Dan the Land lord more land every time but at one point Dan refuse because he was tired a said the sarcastic line you quote. But the goal of Dako Donou was to take over that land for his ethnic. So he kill Dan and build his chamber using Dan skin. Dahomey come from Dan Xo min which mean Dan ( the guy who was killed) Xo( meaning belly) min( meaning inside). It wasn't a myth or a legend.
Hard to tell why Dahomey did it, but like I say. It is what it is.
Whispering to my son - you are in danger.
Got him to think if he goes with his aunt he can get pizza tonight.
After that they say, the family has agreed that is best.
Apparently spoke to my ex in private - got permission. He never contributes to anything about my son.
So now promising my son pizza and getting "permission" from my absent ex whom my son refused to go to - qualifies as THE FAMILY saying that is best and off they go - kidnapping my son. This is CHILD PROTECTION SERVICES - offering pizza to kidnap a child and using his consent to go for pizza as permission by the family to kidnap my child.
Dangerous!
Canadian parents need to know what they have in their trust!
Why not rhyme Benin with in, instead of “een” with “beneen ” ?
It is a french speaking country. "een" is not a thing in french
Rhodesia? South West Africa? Siam? Gold Coast? Ivory Coast? Nyasaland? Zaire? East Pakistan?
Thanks 👍
The people of Dahomey has allowed the Yorubas in Nigeria to distort their history by not allowing Benin Republic people to believe that their country was named after Esan commander in great Benin kingdom/empire (in Southern Nigeria) call ISIDAHOMEY.
He was a great warriors who conquered all the west coastline of west Africa to Ghana.
The name change was not because of association with monarchy, but rather because the Kingdom of Dahomey specifically used be the biggest slave seller of the Atlantic World, they became specialized in raiding neighbouring peoples for slaves. That gave them a pretty bad fame, and that made other Pre-Colonial kingdoms more appealing than Dahomey (even though the others also engaged in slave trade).
The Benin Kingdom Actually opposed Transatlantic Slavery
0:38 Actually, for me, it's the opposite - I've known about Benin since I was a little kid, but I only learned about Dahomey as a teenager, when I memorised the song "Yakko's World" from _Animaniacs,_ which *for some reason* lists Benin and Dahomey as separate countries.
It is amusing how someone with a British accent who hasn’t even visited Africa will tell people the history of Africa 😂😂😂
Meanwhile people who have played hpm Vic 2 who know about both the of Benin and Dahomey
Hachimura Rui of the Washington Wizards has Beninese ancestry
Honnestly i don't know why but i will always happy when it comes to my country to be a little popular... So man your job good. Even i'm not that's good about our own History...
'Voodoo dolls' are European, not African or Haitian.
Really!? Please explain more!
You missed a large part of the Dahome history by not talking about how much they contributed to the slave trade. And how brutal they were to neighboring nations.
I Only Know Benin as a shape of a key country
I know Dahomy from the Animaniacs song "Countries of the World". Amusingly enough, that song also mentions Benin. 🤔
As a beninese from benin country not nigeria city but Benin country , dahomey mean in snake stomack : dan homin( auto corrector is awfull). But the explaination part of the name dahomey is not good, you should ask propre republique of benin people because now many people got wrong information
I'm Looking forward too Visiting Benin 🇧🇯 or Dahomey someday 😀😊 ,,,! It Sounds like an Amazing 👏 Place ,,, especially when I heard about there 10 thousand mile structures Rivaling the great wall of China 🇨🇳 ,,,! An does anyone know what local foods 😀😊 or Cuisines I should try ,,, for when I go to Benin 🇧🇯 ,,,???? An I'm Looking forward to knowing more about Voodoun ,,,
Yup and Benin City is a major city in Nigeria and is no where close to the border.
Hello my friend 😊
Benin city you know now is just a small part of the ancient Benin empire
The ancient Benin empire stretched far to the border and was never a part of Nigeria as it was a nation on it's own
The fall of Benin empire started little by little from Oba Ewuare whose reign led to a massive migration of the Benin people to other African countries
As time went by the old empire has been reduced to what you now see as the Benin City
I am fully aware that people are corrupting our history but try and do research on the ancient Benin empire to be clear
Thank you
Benin Dahomey😳😳😳😳
I've Benin dahomey
I mean, my friend says she’s Benin Dahomey,
I had never heard of Dahomey. I always saw Benin on the map.
There was also a forest in Suriname call Dahomey
I heard Dahomey asked our Federal government if they could use the name unlike FYROM to Greece. At one point we were also getting cheques.
We ourselves exploited the name with: University of Benin, and Benin Airport.
Akoko Edo!
To add Benin Republic see themselves as Federation of Nigeria's 38th state at one point.
A bight is a bay that you can sail it out of on a single tack.
Thanks, that's my country
This is a weird change. The original Benin hasn’t anything to do with today’s Benin/Dahomey.
It’s as weird as the countries of Ghana and Mauritania, which have names of kingdoms that weren’t even in their modern borders.
Chambesy is now known to be more like Sambesi
Places where I've dahomey, and places where I plan togo.
7:30 Well it’s not a name change. It’s just titles based on the political regime.
"Cant wait to hang out with dahomies" 🇧🇯
Io sono di Benin 🇧🇯🇧🇯🇧🇯💪💯
I did the same with eritrea
It's not "vondu" it's voudoun, which is called "voodoo" in dated English texts.
Noticed you glazed over the reasons for why the French took over Dahomey. The reason lyes in the Berlin conference where they agreed tp take over African territories. You somehow seem to imply the problems started from the local rulers when the problem has always been from the Europeans that want to usurp and plunder. That said, I blame the kings of most Africans nations, they should have seen the dangers long before the Berlin conference.
Please the kingdom of Benin is not gone, don't say what you don't know, all this voodoo and magic around west Africa is from Benin kingdom, they moved from ile ife then to benin republic that was why they named the country Benin republic , till today voodoo practice is still very active in Benin kingdom (edo state) the oba is respected more than queen Elizabeth and still one of the oldest kingdom, thank you
There is benin empire that is in nigeria since 1200AD
Benin sounds surprisingly Germanic.
Is it just me that sees the humor in an ancient African empire that was called... Da Homey ?!?
You can thank french people for that, they're the one who rebaptised the kingdom under the name "Dahomey"😅
Originally the name of the kingdom was Ɖanxomɛ (pronounced D'anhomen)
They are from the kingdom of Benin, Edo empire
The bight of benin was countrol by benin kingdom in nigeria
You can see that when we see Beny it does not mean Benin Kingdom it means all black kingdoms of Africa. Some people from Benin Edo State will be deceiving themselves
You know they sold slaves right ? Thank God you said you controlled it
Yes of course I’m bénin
Big Benin :DDD
Damn my country is so unpopular
One might say that you've *Benin Dahomey*
DAHOMEY TO REPUBLIC DU BENIN OR BENIN REPUBLIC HISTORY AND NAME:
Benin in Nigeria has an ancestral connection with Dahomey! Benin Empire ruled many countries along the west coast of Africa. Dahomey was part of the Benin Empire conscript. Remember the one president called President EYEDEMA of Dahomey. His name "Eyedema" is fully an Edo/Benin in Nigeria name and has meaning in Benin/Edo; that tells our history together.
President Eyedema came to Edo/Benin in Nigeria and asked our king Oba Eredauwa if he would agree to have his country named after Benin since the country was part of the Benin Empire, the Oba agreed and the name was named to the Republic du Benin in 1975! Do not be fooled by anyone, you are reading this from the soil of Edo/Benin in Nigeria!!! IN FACT, I WITNESSED PRESIDENT EYEDEMA VISIT BENIN IN 1975, AND SAW I HIM!!!!!
No there is NO CONNECTION apart from the name (Benin) which the president of Benin 🇧🇯 got from the Bight of Benin, which got its name from the Benin Empire (Edo people/tribe) in Nigeria 🇳🇬. Btw a simple goggle search will educate you, I am a daughter of the soul. 😊
@@joye5761 Correct, but you made some mistake over all! Benin was an Empire who ruled most of the West African "countries" and Dahomey happen to have that affilliation to Benin!
The name Benin for Dahomey is not by mistake or only from the Bight of Benin, there more that connect Dahomey to Benin, deep!!
They changed the name because they came from the ancients city of benin kingdom Nigeria
What an ignorant write up. The whole story is about slavery which racist writers from europe are always willing to portray and nothing more. This is what you get from lazy writers who are unwilling to carry out real research before coming out with prejudiced writings. The question is are africans the only people that have been enslaved in the world?
Didn't the name change have something to do with them wanting to dissociate themselves with slavery???
Bro, you failed on this one.
Not even watch the entire vid but already know you gonna talk about vodoo..🤣🤣🤣
Impossible is not benin..
Although our bigest probleme is to rely too much on vodoun and stuff like that instead of trying to find a way to devellop our country, also always report our failure on others,
..oh la la...maybe the change will come in a near future...
I love getting out with the homies
Actually, it's 'Vodun' not Vondu.
Rip Dahomey man
*When Dahomey changes his name*
It’s the southern part of Nigeria
You are wrong
which homey?
Da homey the one and only😂😂😂
Specifically to the Americans, or for the west?
I've benin da hood with ma Dahomey
Because if the Genoese ruled the Atlantic it would be called BELÍN! 😆
Probably shouldn’t do a video if you don’t know where things are…