ABSTRACT
In the years immediately preceding the French Conquest the West African kingdom of Dahomey occupied the southern third of what is today the republic of Dahomey. The eastern boundary of the state followed the course of the River Oueme while the western boundary lay along the River Cuffo. Dahomey had emerged in the seventeenth century and had developed as the rulers of Abomey extended their sway over the principalities of the plateau. In the second decade of the eighteenth century Dahomey conquered Allada and Whydah, the two kingdoms which lay to the south of the plateau, between the Lama and the coast. As a result of the French Government’s refusal to undertake a full-scale colonial war, the first Franco-Dahoman clash ended without Dahomey having been decisively defeated. The kingdom of Dahomey was shorn of all territory south of the Lama, and the King, it was agreed, was to reign over the remainder with the guidance of a French Resident.
