Dahomey, West Africa’s unique kingdom known for its female corps, smelted and forged its own swords

Africans could smelt and forge their own swords with technological sophistication, according to a new study.

The research showed that Dahomey, an independent kingdom in West Africa, did achieve this landmark, contradicting the assumptions of the few existing historical reports.

Scientists from an inter-disciplinary team led by the University of Sydney, which also included Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) scientists from the Australian Centre for Neutron Scattering, examined six 19th century West African swords that had mostly been part of a private collection in France, the former colonial power in Benin, where most of Dahomey was located.

They used a technique known as ‘neutron tomography’ to conclude that all six swords were manufactured by forging. “The evidence suggests that all were masterfully created by local smiths, half of them using a distinctive forging technique that appears to be Dahomean,” according to a statement from ANSTO.

Analysis also revealed other facets. It was found that five of the blades “were produced following different practices, manufacturing steps and treatments resulting in distinct stress distributions in the metals”.

The statement also noted that, “Neutron diffraction data analysis showed quantitatively a clear difference between the swords and three distinct groups can be isolated based on the phase composition, also suggesting different practices of the metalworking.” 

While it was not clearly proved by the research, the statement by ANSTO observed that the composition of the swords suggested that the iron used to produce them came from Bassar (now Togo) or Sweden or the Ruhr Valley (also in Europe) or even Brazil (via slaves).

“Archaeologists who contributed to the research reported that the swords were ritual objects, possibly linked to magico-religious rites and observances and local iron may have been preferred for these purposes,” according to ANSTO.

Dahomey and its ‘Agojies’

The Kingdom of Dahomey is now part of the Republic of Benin. According to the paper, it was “a unique centralised state on the Bight of Benin in West Africa, composed of people who identified ethnically as Fon, and occupying part of a coastal region that came to be called the Slave Coast”.

For almost 300 years, from the early 17th till the late 19th centuries, Dahomey was one of West Africa’s most effective military powers, as also the largest slave trading nation.

“It was especially renowned for its unique female fighting force, coined the Dahomean ‘Amazons’ by contemporary Europeans—an exceptional corps of women soldiers and palace guards at the direct command of the king,” the paper said. They were known as ‘Agojies’ in the Fon language.

An African Art Re-Discovered: New Revelations on Sword Manufacture in Dahomey has been published in the journal Heritage. Its authors include Ron Lawrence Anderson, Filomena Salvemini, Maxim Avdeev and Vladimir Luzin.