KING BEHANZIN: A HERO OF AFRICAN RESISTANCE TO COLONIZATION (Final Part)
In March 1892, the Dahomeans, struck by famine, attacked neighboring villages and in the process wounded members of a French mission. The French thus had their justification for a decisive war against Behanzin.
The king reasserted his authority over the villages concerned and declared himself ready for war. He called himself “king of the Blacks” and asserted his sovereignty over his territory, which was not that of the Whites!
After a blockade of the coast to prevent the Dahomeans from resupplying with weapons, the French began hostilities. From fierce battles to others at Kana, Kpokissa and Dogba, French technological superiority prevailed. The French marched on the capital, Abomey, in November 1892, but Behanzin held out before surrendering in January 1894.
Hoping to be taken to negotiate his fate with the “king of France”, he was instead taken to Martinique, a French territory with a climate similar to Dahomey’s, and with the advantage of keeping him far from Africa. Transferred to Algeria in 1906, he died there of pneumonia, on December 10, 1906 in the city of Blida.
The image of Behanzin as a bloodthirsty, negative figure, spread by colonization, would persist for several more decades. In 1976, however, he was rehabilitated in Benin, the former Dahomey, as a national hero. African resistance and patriotism then welcomed a new member into their pantheon.
Source: Nofi
Konatesalifou
Thank you for trying to preserve African values in the face of the imperialists.
Othiniel Abiola
Behanzin was never bloodthirsty. The bloodthirsty ones are those who wanted to make Black people their slaves. The bloodthirsty ones were those who mistreated many Black people just to satisfy their desires and reach their goals. He did not surrender willingly. He did it to keep his men from being killed. In truth, he wasn’t hoping for any favor from France. It was the French who told him they were taking him to France and that the king of France would grant him favors