<P> The ashantehene inherited his position from his mother . He was assisted at the capital, Kumasi, by a civil service of men talented in trade, diplomacy, and the military, with a head called the Gyaasehene . Men from Arabia, Sudan, and Europe were employed in the civil service, all of them appointed by the ashantehene . At the capital and in other towns, the ankobia or special police were used as bodyguards to the ashantehene, as sources of intelligence, and to suppress rebellion . Communication throughout the empire was maintained via a network of well - kept roads from the coast to the middle Niger and linking together other trade cities . </P> <P> For most of the 19th century, the Ashante Empire remained powerful . It was later destroyed in 1900 by British superior weaponry and organisation following the four Anglo - Ashanti wars . </P> <P> The Dahomey Kingdom was founded in the early 17th century CE when the Aja people of the Allada kingdom moved northward and settled among the Fon . They began to assert their power a few years later . In so doing they established the Kingdom of Dahomey, with its capital at Agbome . King Houegbadja (c. 1645--1685) organised Dahomey into a powerful centralised state . He declared all lands to be owned of the king and subject to taxation . Primogeniture in the kingship was established, neutralising all input from village chiefs . A "cult of kingship" was established . A captive slave would be sacrificed annually to honour the royal ancestors . During the 1720s, the slave - trading states of Whydah and Allada were taken, giving Dahomey direct access to the slave coast and trade with Europeans . King Agadja (1708--1740) attempted to end the slave trade by keeping the slaves on plantations producing palm oil, but the European profits on slaves and Dahomey's dependency on firearms were too great . In 1730, under king Agaja, Dahomey was conquered by the Oyo Empire, and Dahomey had to pay tribute . Taxes on slaves were mostly paid in cowrie shells . During the 19th century, palm oil was the main trading commodity . France conquered Dahomey during the Second Franco - Dahomean War (1892--1894) and established a colonial government there . Most of the troops who fought against Dahomey were native Africans . </P> <P> Traditionally, the Yoruba people viewed themselves as the inhabitants of a united empire, in contrast to the situation today, in which "Yoruba" is the cultural - linguistic designation for speakers of a language in the Niger--Congo family . The name comes from a Hausa word to refer to the Oyo Empire . The first Yoruba state was Ile - Ife, said to have been founded around 1000 CE by a supernatural figure, the first oni Oduduwa . Oduduwa's sons would be the founders of the different city - states of the Yoruba, and his daughters would become the mothers of the various Yoruba obas, or kings . Yoruba city - states were usually governed by an oba and an iwarefa, a council of chiefs who advised the oba . By the 18th century, the Yoruba city - states formed a loose confederation, with the Oni of Ife as the head and Ife as the capital . As time went on, the individual city - states became more powerful with their obas assuming more powerful spiritual positions and diluting the authority of the Oni of Ife . Rivalry became intense among the city - states . </P>

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