Habari za... les aventures/the adventures de/of Jan, Grâce & Mie en/in Afrique/Africa

Once upon a time there was the Kingdom of Abomey, trading slaves with the Portuguese, the Danish or the Dutch… Slaves who were captured miles away from the Kingdom of Abomey, who saw Abomey for the first, and often the last time. Traded against Portuguese canons, one canon against 15 healthy man or 21 healthy women. Sometimes killed because they opposed to slavery. But even soldiers and other inhabitants of the Kingdom of Abomey were killed because they made a promise to the King, they couldn’t keep. “I will kill enemies, and bring you their head”, but coming back with no head or not enough head, their own head was taken. The ‘bas-reliefs’ on the palace walls show the cruelty of these Kingdoms. One after another they excelled in cruel practice, and each successor had to make even bigger the Kingdom than it was before, conquer other people, new land. The King was buried with his wives, who were buried alive with their husband. Also slaves were buried with the King, to serve him in the hereafter. Until… one of these Kings, proposed to be buried with princes and princesses, ‘cause they know the King better than anyone else… but the nobles were not to upset with this foresight, so the King was abdicated, and nobody heard ever of him.


We visited Abomey, and the Royal Palace, nowadays a national museum. It tells a bit of the rich history of the former so wealthy Kingdoms of Abomey. On one side they have this kind of proud, being descendant of this Kingdom, being heirs of the rich cultural inheritance of ‘Danxomé’, but on the other hand they’re also ashamed of the role the forefathers played in the slave trade. No trade of slaves, without the complicity of the rulers of Abomey, who build their power on the back and the lives of their ‘fellow’ Africans. Sure, there is nothing to be proud of, but it was not the people of Benin who organized this trade, it belongs to their history, but they’re not responsible for it.


The Royal Palace of Abomey is worth a visit, even if the place could use a little clean up, and a lick of paint on the ‘rich’ ‘bas-reliefs’. ‘World Inheritance’, declared by the UNESCO, but there are lots of growth possibilities.


If you are interested in the history of the Kingdom of Abomey, we can also recommend the ‘comics’-series “Les Passagersdu Vent”, by the French cartoonist “Bourgeon”, it tells the story of some young adventures, who become involved in mission to abolish slave trade… and find themselves on the African continent in the Kingdom of Abomey. They are in contact with the ‘Yovogan’, a kind of ambassador of the King of Abomey. This ‘Yovogan’ was from European origin, so he was white… which explains that nowadays foreigners are called ‘Yovo’ (‘White’).