Dahomey Sacks Whydah

August 7, 1741

King Agaja of Dahomey completed his conquest of the coastal kingdom of Whydah, making his land-locked monarchy a direct player in the Atlantic slave trade. European factories along the Bight of Benin now answered to Abomey. A militarized West African state, with female royal bodyguards and annual customs, had emerged at full strength.