article
Belief, Legitimacy and the Kpojito: an institutional history of the 'Queen Mother' in precolonial Dahomey
journal of African history • 36 (1) • Published In 1995 • Pages: 1-27
By: Bay, Edna G..
AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
This article discerns the history of the office of the kpojito, the female reign-mate to the kings of Dahomey, through an analysis of religious change in Dahomey. It argues that the women who became kpojito in the eighteenth century were central to the efforts of the kings to establish legitimacy and assert control over the kingdom's expanding territory. This office reached its zenith in mid-century when Kpojito Hwanjile and King Tegbesu gained office and effectively ruled in tandem, thereby solidifying an ideological model that persisted to the French occupation of Dahomey in the late 1890s. The model posited a balance of power between male and female, royal and commoner. Subsequently, powerful women of the king's household worked with ambitious princes to build coalitions to seize power at times of royal succession. When their efforts succeeded, the prince was installed as king and the woman as kpojito. By the nineteenth century, princes began to find alternative sources of support in their struggles for the kingship and alternative sources of guidance once enthroned. The royal family became more central in the state as princes and princesses replaced commoners in high offices. Even though alliances between princes and their fathers' wives continued, non-royal women within the palace were more constrained in their ability to wield power and the influence of the kpojito fell into steep decline.
- SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
- Form and rules of government
- Chief executive
- Status, role, and prestige
- Gender status
- Gender roles and issues
- Social relationships and groups
- Priesthood
- Congregations
- Revelation and divination
- Luck and chance
- Cult of the dead
- Ingroup antagonisms
- External relations
- General character of religion
- Prayers and sacrifices
- 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
- article
- 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
- 5: Excellent Primary 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 specified
- Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
- 1720-1890
- Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
- Dahomey Kingdom (Benin since 1975)
- NotesAdditional notes
- By Edna G. Bay
- Includes bibliographical references
- LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
- 63005723
- LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
- Fon (African people)