Ouidah 1427618 198479387 2008-03-15T20:41:59Z Blofeld of SPECTRE 1616157 '''Ouidah''' (also '''Whydah''' in English) is a city on the [[Atlantic Ocean|Atlantic]] coast of [[Benin]]. [[Image:BJ-Ouidah.png|right|125px|Location of Ouidah in Benin]] ==History== In local tradition Kpase is supposed to have founded the town.<ref> Robin Law, Ouidah: The Social History of a West African Slaving 'Port', 2004, p.21</ref> This probably happened towards the end of the sixteenth century. <ref> Robin Law, Ouidah: The Social History of a West African Slaving 'Port', 2004, p.24-25</ref> The town was originally known as ''Glehue'', literally 'Farmhouse', and was part of the kingdom of ''Xweđa'' or ''Hueda''. In 1727 the [[Kingdom of Whydah]] was captured by the forces of King [[Agaja]] of Dahomey. The Portuguese, [[England|English]] and [[France|French]] all constructed [[fort]]s in the city to protect their interests in slaving. [[Portugal|Portuguese]] reached the town they called ''Ajudá'' in [[1580]] and the Portuguese Fort of São João Baptista de Ajudá, now housing a [[museum]], dates from [[1721]] and remained with Portugal until [[1961]]. Other attractions in Ouidah include the [[Maison du Brésil]] [[art gallery]], a [[voodoo]] [[python (snake)|python]] [[temple]], an early [[twentieth century]] [[basilica]] and the [[Sacred Forest of Kpasse]], dotted with [[bronze]] [[statue]]s. The [[Route des Esclaves]], by which [[slavery|slave]]s were taken to the [[beach]], has numerous statues and [[monument]]s, including the [[Door of No Return]], a [[monumental arch]]. The Market Center of Ouidah, which was established by [[Scoutisme Béninois|Scouts]] more than 20 years ago, trains young people in agricultural skills, thus helping to reverse the exodus towards the cities. ==São João Baptista de Ajudá == The '''Fort of São João Baptista de Ajudá''' (in [[English language|English]] ''St. John the Baptist of Ouidah Fort'') is a small [[fortress]] built by the [[Portugal|Portuguese]] in the city of [[Ouidah]] on the coast of [[Dahomey]] (originally ''Ajudá'', from ''Hweda'', on the [[Atlantic]] coast of modern [[Benin]]), reached by the Portuguese in [[1580]], after which it grew around the [[slave trade]]. The Fort, built in land given to [[Portugal]] by the King of Dahomey, remained under Portuguese control from [[1721]] until [[1961]]. In [[1680]] the Portuguese governor of [[São Tomé and Príncipe]] was authorised to erect a fort. In 1721, after having been abandoned for some years, it was reconstructed and named ''São João Baptista de Ajudá''. [[Image:Bartholomew Roberts.jpg|thumb|250px|left|Pirate [[Bartholomew Roberts]] at Ouidah, with his ship and captured merchantmen in the background]] The fort had an important impact in [[Benin]], greatly contributing to the Portuguese slave trade. Its importance is attested by the fact that the [[Portuguese language]] was the only foreign language that the Kings of [[Dahomey]] authorised. Portuguese descendants were also important in the political structure of the kingdom and some established [[Portugal|Portuguese]]-[[Brazil|Brazilian]] families, such as the ''Sousa'', whose descendants still exist in Benin, were powerful and abided by private law. In January 1722 the pirate [[Bartholomew Roberts]] ("Black Bart") sailed into the harbour and captured all the eleven ships at anchor there. Following the abolition of the legal slave trade in [[1807]], the fort, which had before been one of the major slave ports, gradually lost its importance and although Portugal continued to claim it as one of its possessions, formal occupation and administration were abandoned on several occasions. It was only when [[France|French]] presence in the region started threatening Portugal’s interests that the settlement was again permanently manned. This didn't of course prevent the French conquest of [[Dahomey]] ([[1891]]-[[1894]]) and São João Baptista de Ajudá - now reduced to the territory actually within the walls of the fort - lost what remained of its importance. The fort was reoccupied by Portugal in [[1865]]. In this period it served as a base for a brief Portuguese attempt to impose a [[protectorate]] on the Kingdom of Dahomey of which the city of Hweda (Ajudá - Ouidah) was part ([[1885]]-[[1887]]). Until its [[annexation]] by Dahomey in [[1961]], São João Baptista de Ajudá was probably the smallest recognized separate modern political unit: according to the census of [[1921]] it had 5 inhabitants and, at the moment of the ultimatum by the Dahomey Government, it had only 2 inhabitants representing Portuguese Sovereignty who tried to burn it rather than surrendering it. Only in [[1975]] did the annexation of the fort by [[Dahomey]] (now renamed [[Benin]]) gain Portuguese recognition, followed by its restoration paid for by Portugal. The fort is a small square with towers at the four corners. It comprises a church and officers' quarters. The Fort of São João Baptista de Ajudá now houses a [[museum]]. [[Bruce Chatwin]]’s book ''[[The Viceroy of Ouidah]]'' ([[1980]]) is a fictional retelling of the life of ''Francisco Félix de Sousa'', the Sousa family founder in Benin and that of his powerful local descendants, dealing also with the subject of slave trade with [[Brazil]]. ==Footnotes== {{reflist}} ==Sources and references== (incomplete) *[http://www.worldstatesmen.org/Benin.html#São%20João%20Baptista%20de%20Ajudá WorldStatesmen- Benin] not quite worked in yet == See also== *[[Colonial Heads of São João Baptista de Ajudá]] *[[Heads of State of Benin]] *[[Heads of Government of Benin]] *[[Colonial Heads of Benin (Dahomey)]] {{Portuguese overseas empire}} {{coor title dm|6|22|N|2|05|E|region:BJ_type:city}} [[Category:Cities, towns and villages in Benin]] [[Category:Former Portuguese colonies]] [[Category:Enclaves]] [[Category:Slavery]] [[de:Ouidah]] [[de:São João Baptista d'Adjuda]] [[es:Ouidah]] [[fr:Ouidah]] [[nl:São João Baptista de Ajudá]] [[nn:Ouidah]] [[pl:Ouidah]] [[pt:Fortaleza de São João Baptista de Ajudá]] [[sv:Ouidah]] [[ja:サン・ジョアン・バプティスタ・デ・アジュダ]] [[zh:圣约翰堡]]