Nawi is played by a … While European narratives refer to the women soldiers as "Amazons", they called themselves ahosi (king's wives) or Mino (our mothers).[2]. Despite the compliments given to them by the Europeans, the Amazons were decisively crushed, with several hundred Dahomey troops being gunned down while reportedly 129 Dahomey were killed in melee combat within the French lines.[11]. She died just a year after being interviewed. She purportedly died in November 1979, aged well over 100, as mentioned in “The ‘Amazons’ of Dahomey” (1993) by Robin Law. A woman by name Nawi was the last surviving Dahomey Amazon, who died in 1979. Sometime around 1890, King Houegbadja, the third king of the Kingdom of Dahomey,  now in present-day Benin, introduced an all-female military regiment, consisting about a third of the entire army, to protect him on the bloodiest battlefields. The N’Nonmiton (our mothers), as they fondly called themselves, often fought to the death unless expressly ordered to retreat by the King. The Europeans who saw these great African warriors called them “Dhomey Amazons” and wrote their incredible courage and audacity. They were so named by Western observers and historians due to their similarity to the semi-mythical Amazons of ancient Anatolia and the Black Sea. Around 2019, Lupita Nyong'o interviewed one of these who was still alive. Units were under female command. Certain theories suggest the group started as a corps of elephant hunters who impressed the King with their skills while their men were away fighting other tribes. To this day, the Dahomey Amazons are the only documented all-female official front-line combat arms military unit in modern history. She died just a year after being interviewed. Today, we’re going to talk about a group of women often referred as the ‘Dahomey Amazons.’ As hard as I tried, I could not find the personal history of any of the Dahomey Amazons, and found only one or two names. Nawi, the last surviving Dahomey Amazon, died in 1979 at the age of 100. In what is now modern day Benin, the Dahomey soldiers included fearless female warriors, most commonly known as the Dahomey Amazons. From the 1840s to 1870s (when the opposing party collapsed), they generally supported peace with Abeokuta and stronger commercial relations with England, favouring the trade in palm oil above that in slaves; this set them at odds with their male military colleagues. [9], In the latter period, the Dahomean female warriors were armed with Winchester rifles, clubs and knives. TRIBUTE TO THE AMAZONS A Dahomean who grew up in Cotonou in the 1930s recalled that he regularly tormented an elderly woman, who used to be an Amazon he and his friends saw shuffling along the … [6] Discipline was emphasised. https://www.warhistoryonline.com/instant-articles/dahomey-amazons.html [2] In an mid-19th century account by an English observer, it was documented that the women that had three stripes of whitewash around each leg, were honored with marks of distinction. After the Franco-Dahomean Wars, in which many French soldiers died for underestimating the Amazons, the legionnaires wrote about the “incredible courage and audacity” of the Amazons. The last survivor of the Dahomey Amazons is thought to have been a woman named Nawi who died in November 1979, aged well over 100. Uniformed French soldiers who took Dahomey women to bed were often found dead in the morning, their throats slit open. The Mino, or Minon, which means "our mothers", called Dahomey Amazons by European writers, were a Fon all-female military regiment of the Kingdom of Dahomey in the present-day Republic of Benin which lasted until 1904. So I’m going to depart a little bit from the format of this blog, and talk about a group of women rather than an individual woman. After beheading a prisoner, she wiped the blood from her machete and swallowed it, while her fellow Amazons screamed in frenzied approval. [6] The Amazons participated in one major battle: Cotonou, where thousands of Dahomey (including many Amazons) charged the French lines and engaged the defenders in hand-to-hand combat. To this day, the Dahomey Amazons are the only documented all-female official front-line combat arms military unit in modern history. Some women joined out of their own volition, but others were enrolled to become soldiers by husbands who complained that they were uncontrollable. Later served in the 1912 Negro Rebellion and the Cuban Revolution. [1], Houegbadja's daughter Queen Hangbe (ruling from 1708 to 1711) established a female bodyguard. The last surviving Amazon of Dahomey is thought to have been a woman named Nawi who died in 1979. Other stories say the women pledged their services in protection of Agoli-Agbo, the brother of Béhanzin, disguising themselves as his wives in order to guard him. [4], From the time of King Ghezo (ruling from 1818 to 1858), Dahomey became increasingly militaristic. TRIBUTE TO THE AMAZONS A Dahomean who grew up in Cotonou in the 1930s recalled that he regularly tormented an elderly woman, who used to be an Amazon he and his friends saw shuffling along the … She died just a year after being interviewed. by George MacDonald Fraser. The last surviving Amazon of Dahomey is thought to be a woman named Nawi who died in 1979. We are no longer women, we are men."[10]. [2] The Mino were also wealthy and held high status. Between 1934 and 1942, several British travellers in Abomey recorded encounters with ex-amazons, now old women who spun cotton or idled around courtyards. Some accounts note that each male soldier had a female warrior counterpart. In popular culture [edit | edit source] Dahomey Amazons were represented in the 1987 film Cobra Verde by German director Werner Herzog. According to legend, they were complimented by King Agaja after a particularly successful hunt; wherein the commander of the gbeto said she appreciated the compliment, but would much rather hunt the most dangerous game. The troops were disbanded when the kingdom became a French protectorate. In Age of Empires II: The African Kingdoms there is a female unit named gbeto which is influenced by and named after Dahomey Amazons. The women soldiers were rigorously trained and given uniforms. Despite this, Dahomey’s forces were ultimately crushed by the French use of machine guns, cannons and cavalry. Serving in the Mino offered women the opportunity to "rise to positions of command and influence" in an environment structured for individual empowerment. In popular culture. Many of them were virgins. She died in the 1970s and could recall fighting the invading French in the 1890s. Within 100 years, Abomeycontrolled the commercially valuable coast along the Bight of Benin. Tim Newark ja Angus McBride, Blandford Press, 1989 One recruitment ceremony involved testing if potential soldiers were ruthless enough to throw bound human prisoners of war to their deaths from a fatal height. One of them is the oral legend, which states that the Dahomey Warriors were descendants of Queen Hangbe who was the twin sister of the King of Dahomey, Akaba. They were so named by Western observers and historians due to their similarity to the mythical Amazons of ancient Anatolia and the Black Sea. These documented reports also indicated that the women soldiers suffered several defeats. [15], Some of the women married and had children, while others remained single. [12] After several battles, the French prevailed in the Second Franco-Dahomean War and put an end to the independent Dahomean kingdom. As such, they were disallowed to marry or have children. TriStar Pictures has acquired worldwide rights to the feature film “The Woman King,” inspired by true events and based on an original story by Maria Bello, starring Viola Davis and Lupi… Oral tradition states that some surviving amazons secretly remained in Abomey afterwards, where they quietly assassinated a number of French officers. The fearsome Amazons served as inspiration for a number of books and movies, including the captivating all-female Dora Milaje group in the recently-released blockbuster movie, Black Panther. The Mino trained with intense physical exercise. [5] Some women in Fon society became soldiers voluntarily, while others were involuntarily enrolled if their husbands or fathers complained to the king about their behaviour. Dahomey Amazons were represented in the 1987 film Cobra Verde by German director Werner Herzog. Others insist that, because women were the only people permitted in the King’s palace with him after dark, they naturally became his bodyguards. by George MacDonald Fraser. Whichever way, these women, called the Ahosi of Dahomey, Mino or the Dahomey Amazons, were famous for their incredible ability to fight men. Nawi, the last surviving Dahomey Amazon, died in 1979 at the age of 100. Even the Dora Milaje warrior characters from the movie Black Panther; are an inspiration from this Dahomey Female Warriors. The troops were disbanded when the kingdom became a French protectorate. None of this, of course, explains why this female corps arose only in Dahomey. In real-life, Nawi is considered to be the last living Dahomey Amazon. Boulder: Westview Press, 2000; Wives of the Leopard: Gender, Culture, and Politics in the Kingdom of Dahomey. The last survivor of the Dahomey Amazons is thought to have been a woman named Nawi. The Dahomey Amazons or Mino, which means "our mothers," were a Fon all-female military regiment of the Kingdom of Dahomey in the present-day Republic of Benin which lasted until the end of the 19th century. King Houegbadja (who ruled from 1645 to 1685), the third King of Dahomey, is said to have originally started the group which would become the Amazons as a corps of elephant hunters called the gbeto. [2] Other accounts indicate that the Mino were recruited from among the ahosi ("king's wives") of which there were often hundreds. [6], In 2018, it was announced that the rights to a feature film called The Woman King had been acquired, inspired by the Dahomey Amazons, starring Viola Davis and Lupita Nyong’o, and describing the story of Nanisca (Davis), general of the Amazons, and her daughter Nawi (Nyong’o).[18]. Nawi, the last surviving Dahomey Amazon, died in 1979 at the age of 100. In a 1978 interview with a Beninese historian, Nawi claimed to have fought the French in 1892. The last survivor of the Dahomey Amazons was a woman named Nawi who, in a 1978 interview with a Beninese historian, claimed to have fought the French in 1892. Each regiment had different uniforms, weapons and commanders. In a 1978 interview in the village of Kinta, a Beninese historian met Nawi, who claimed to have fought the French in 1892. Last Dahomey Amazon. To this day, the Dahomey Amazons are the only documented all-female official front-line combat arms military unit in modern history. The Amazons of Dahomey were a military corps of women appointed to serve in battles under the direction of the Fon king of the Kingdom of Dahomey in the present-day Republic of Benin. [14] Oral tradition states that some surviving amazons secretly remained in Abomey afterwards, where they quietly assassinated a number of French officers. Please reorganize this content to explain the subject's impact on popular culture, sfn error: multiple targets (2×): CITEREFYoder1974 (, Learn how and when to remove these template messages, Learn how and when to remove this template message, "The legend of Benin's fearless female warriors", "The women soldiers of Dahomey pedagogical unit 4 | Women", "The Amazon Warrior Women and the De/construction of Gendered Imperial Authority in Nineteenth-Century Colonial Literature", "TriStar Acquires 'The Woman King' Starring Viola Davis and Lupita Nyong'o", "Play tells story of West African warrior women", "If You Loved Black Panther's Dora Milaje, Meet the Dahomey Amazons", Article about the Dahomey Amazons from the official page of the Abomey Historical Museum, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Dahomey_Amazons&oldid=1004937619, Articles with trivia sections from October 2018, Articles needing additional references from October 2018, All articles needing additional references, Articles with multiple maintenance issues, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 5 February 2021, at 04:27. Ghezo's Amazons play a significant role in the novel Flash for Freedom! Probably she was the last. The Dahomey Amazons or N’Nonmiton, which means “our mothers” in Fon, were a Fon all-female military regiment of the Kingdom of Dahomey in the present-day Republic of Benin which lasted until the end of the 19th century. According to Deadline, Mario Bello’s story about the Dahomey Amazons, titled Woman King, has a director. [7], Apart from the Council, the Annual Customs of Dahomey included a parade and reviewing of the troops, and the troops swearing of an oath to the king. The last survivor of the Dahomey Amazons was a woman named Nawi who, in a 1978 interview with a Beninese historian, claimed to have fought the French in 1892. The fearsome Amazons served as inspiration for a number of books and … “The Amazons of Dahomey” is a play within the Booker Prize-winning novel of 2019 called Girl, Woman, Other, by Bernadine Evaristo. Charlottesville, 1998; Women Warlords: An Illustrated Military History of Female Warriors. Other stories say the women pledged their services in protection of Agoli-Agbo, the brother of Béhanzin, disguising themselves as his wives in order to guard him. [16] An unknown number of women are said to have trained with the members of the Dahomey Amazons after they were disbanded, in effect continuing the tradition. [6], The Mino took a prominent role in the Grand Council, debating the policy of the kingdom. Not much is known about how the Dahomey Warriors came to be or even what happened to the The Europeans who saw these great African warriors called them “Dhomey Amazons” and wrote their incredible courage and audacity. The Dahomey kingdom was often at war with its neighbors, and captives were needed for the slave trade. European merchants recorded their presence. Nawi, the last surviving Dahomey Amazon, died in 1979 at the age of 100. [17] Nawi died in November 1979, aged well over 100. [8], The women's army consisted of a number of regiments: huntresses, riflewomen, reapers, archers and gunners. The last Mino is believed to have been a woman named Nawi who died in 1979. From the very start, the Kingdom of Dahomey was violen… European merchants recorded their presence. By the mid-19th century, they numbered between 1,000 and 6,000 women, about a third of the entire Dahomey army, according to reports written by visitors. In what is now modern day Benin, the Dahomey soldiers included fearless female warriors, most commonly known as the Dahomey Amazons. The last surviving Amazon of Dahomey died at the age of 100 in 1979, a woman named Nawi who was discovered living in a remote village. Joining the group required mercilessness. Ghezo's Amazons play a significant role in the novel Flash for Freedom! There are various myths about the creation of this army commonly known as the Dahomey Amazons. The Dahomey Amazons or N’Nonmiton, which means “our mothers” in Fon, were a Fon all-female military regiment of the Kingdom of Dahomey in the present-day Republic of Benin which lasted until the end of the 19th century. Even after French expansion in Africa in the 1890s subdued the Dahomey people, their reign of fear continued. In one s;arta, the Dahomean women warriors scale walls covered in … One of the brothers, Do-Aklin, left the area to create the Abomey community. Dahomey Amazons were represented in the 1987 film Cobra Verde by German director Werner Herzog. The last Mino is believed to have been a woman named Nawi who died in 1979. Her name was Nawi, and she died, aged well over 100, in November 1979. Nawi (c. 1879–1979) – Dahomey. During their membership they were not allowed to have children or be part of married life (though they were legally married to the king). The Dahomey Amazons are a unique phenomenon in world history, as far as this is the only documented women's military… by daydreaming Meet the Most Feared Women in History From daughters to soldiers, from wives to weapons, they remain the only documented frontline …