Book
The Fon of Dahomey: a history and ethnography of the Old Kingdom
Clarendon Press • Oxford • Published In 1966 • Pages: [7], 210
By: Argyle, William John.
AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
This book discusses the history of the ancient West African Kingdom of Dahomey from its origin on the plateau of Abomey to its territorial expansion down to the coast. The focus is on links between powers of the Dahomean monarchy and the local dynamics of kinship groups, religious institutions and village life. Combining data both from historical sources and contemporary ethnographic accounts, the author argues that Dahomey culture and society can be understood only by reference to the history of the kingdom including changes in the territorial scope and political powers of successive monarchs. The despotism of each monarch was, for example, historically related to the strength of local institutions in counter checking royal prerogatives. This suggested that earlier sources which described Dahomean kings as absolute despots were not entirely correct. They tended to undermine the agency of individuals and cultural institutions in mediating the effects of royal powers on village life. The author discusses activities of several institutions, including Village Chiefs, mutual aid societies, descent groups, best friends, and cooperative work groups, which enabled village communities to remain greatly autonomous while also maintaining a degree of allegiance to the ruling monarch.
- SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
- Historical reconstruction
- History
- Cultural identity and pride
- Chief executive
- Form and rules of government
- Territorial hierarchy
- Administrative agencies
- External relations
- Inter-ethnic relations
- Acculturation and culture contact
- cultureCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
- Fon
- HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
- 2016
- RegionThe area the document pertains to
- Africa
- Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region
- Western Africa
- Document TypeMay include journal articles, essays, collections of essays, monographs, or chapters/parts of monographs
- Book
- Evaluation
- Creator TypeThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.
- Historian
- Document Rating A ranking done by HRAF anthropologists based on the strength of the source material on a scale of 1 to 5, as follows: 1 - poor; 2 - fair; 3 - good, useful data, but not uniformly excellent; 4 - excellent secondary data; 5 - excellent primary data.
- 4: Excellent Secondary Data
- AnalystThe HRAF anthropologist who subject indexed the document and prepared other materials for the eHRAF culture/tradition collection
- Teferi Abate Adem ; 2014
- Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
- not applicable
- Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
- 1625 – 1960
- Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
- Benin (Dahomey)
- NotesAdditional notes
- by W.J. Argyle
- Based on thesis, Oxford University
- Includes bibliographical references (p. 201-207)
- LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
- 66069351
- LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
- Fon (African people)
- Ethnology--Benin
- Benin--History