The warriors we often think of while talking of ancient times, are male fearless muscular and deadly war lord’s who fought and conquered territories, whose names reign terror whenever mentioned far and wide especially in the mind of their enemies.
But then in a business which most believe are for the male gender we have the “Dohomey Mino”, female war lord’s of the now Benin Republic in West Africa.
The Dahomey military existed till the 1904 when the French colonies forcefully took over power.
They were given the name and tag Amazon’s by the Europeans who compare them to the mythical Amazon’s of ancient Anatolia and the Black sea.
These special warriors came into existence as a result of the frequent killing of the males by neighbouring territories in war with them and also forcefully capturing their males into slavery. King Houegbadja started the military group as a corps of elephant hunters.
His daughter who reigned after him Queen Hangbe (reigned from 1708 to 1711) established a female bodyguard.
Her brother who succeeded her King Agaja made use of these female body guards in a war against Savi in 1727 which they won.
The military group of female warriors were refered to as Mino which is the people’s language Fon and is translated as “our mother” but they referred to themselves as “ahosi” which is translated from Fon as “kings wives”.
From 1818 to 1858 the Dahomey state was increasingly militaristic.
The king Ghuzo placed a high value on the army and at such he increased their budgets. The group was formally a war body in his reign.
The Mino played a great role in the decision making body of the Dohemy as they became a part of the Ground Council which was the legislative body of the Dohemy people. This was done from the 1840’s to the 1870’s.
They were of the opinion that peace should reign between them and Abeokuta and also a strong economic relation should exist between the Dohemy territory and the Europeans where they sold slaves and palm oil.
The military group was a combination of huntresses, riffle women, reapers, archers and gunners.
The various reignment were distinguished by grouping and sewing of various uniforms to show which group and what they represent.
The warriors evolved with technology and at such new amors were adopted by them, these armors include winchester rifles, clubs and knives.
These units were all lead by female commanders because male were recruited to fight alongside the Mino.
A publication was released in 1851, where it was noted that the warriors had a chant which is translated as “the blacksmith takes an iron bar and by fire changes it’s fashion so have we changed our nature. We are no longer women, we are now men”.
This military group wared against the neighboring territories, taking captives for slave trade, this is referenced in the Zora Neale Hurtson non-fiction.
The Dahomey warriors fought against the French when they attempted to collonise their territory, the first war was fought in 1890, where the French won and hundreds of Dahomey’s including the Mino were killed.
It is noted that they fired their flintlocks in a peculiar way from their hips instead of their shoulder. Loosing the first war did not stop them from making a second attempt at war against the French Colonies which they also lost.
The French soldiers accepted that the warriors did well in hand on hand combats, where they defeated the French soldiers. The French Legion had this to say about the warriors which they wrote: incredible courage and audacity”.
This was because they bravery fought against a troop that had superior weapons and a longer bayonet.
The Mino warriors were disbanded by the
French Colonies when they came into power.
The surviving warriors went about their lives, some disguised as wives of the kings to continue protecting him, some got married.
Some British travelers accounted that they encountered some Mino’s who spun cottons and idled around courtyards between 1934 and 1942.
Lupita Nyongo interviewed one of those who had the encounter in 2019.
The last of the Mino is Nawi who died in November 1979, it is also said she was amongst the soldiers who fought the French colonies to protect their territory. She died above hundred.
It is said the female warrior character of the blockbuster movie black panther represents the Amazon warriors.
