Image: Wikimedia Commons

Agaja

King of Dahomey

PersonhumanQ562291

Born: 17th century
Died: 1740
1
Sources
1.Stated in Encyclopædia Britannica OnlineRetrieved 2017-10-09
View statement on Wikidata ↗
Place of death: Allada
Citizenship: Benin
Occupation: monarch
Positions held: King of Dahomey
Spouse: Hwanjile
Languages spoken, written or signed: French

Overview

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia · Read full article · Text CC BY-SA 4.0

Agaja was a king of the Kingdom of Dahomey, in present-day Benin, who ruled from 1718 until 1740. He came to the throne after his brother King Akaba. During his reign, Dahomey expanded significantly and took control of key trade routes for the Atlantic slave trade by conquering Allada (1724) and Whydah (1727). Wars with the powerful Oyo Empire to the east of Dahomey resulted in Agaja accepting tributary status to that empire and providing yearly gifts. After this, Agaja attempted to control the new territory of the kingdom of Dahomey through militarily suppressing revolts and creating administrative and ceremonial systems. Agaja died in 1740 after another war with the Oyo Empire and his son Tegbessou became the new king. Agaja is credited with creating many of the key government structures of Dahomey, including the Yovogan and the Mehu.

Overview

All data

28 statements · 21% with external sources · numbers in brackets are citations

Sex or gender: male
1
Sources
1.Stated in Dictionary of African Biography
View statement on Wikidata ↗
Father: Houegbadja
Sibling: Akaba of Dahomey
Hangbe
Child: Tegbesu

On other databases

14 identifiers linking Agaja across the web's reference databases

Data quality

statements

21%

externally sourced

Source last edited August 15, 2026. AIDB refreshes this page daily.

Suggest a fact or correction

Links

Use this data

curl https://aidb.si/api/v1/entities/Q562291

API docs, limits & keys

Cite this page

AIDB. (2026). Agaja (Q562291). Retrieved from https://aidb.si/e/agaja-Q562291