Editing Annual Customs of Dahomey (section)

==Origins==
Tradition amongst the [[Fon people|Fon]] in Western Africa, and among other ethnic groups, often had ceremonies in family lineages where all members of the family would gather for a feast, provide gifts to the eldest member of the family, and discuss issues pertaining to the family.<ref name=Bay-1998>{{cite book|last=Bay|first=Edna|title=Wives of the Leopard: Gender, Politics, and Culture in the Kingdom of Dahomey|year=1998|publisher=University of Virginia Press}}</ref> As part of the religious [[West African Vodun|Vodun]] practiced in the area, gifts and sacrifices to the spirits and ancestors would also be given.  King [[Houegbadja]] (''c.'' 1645–1685) changed this widespread practice during his reign by making it so that sacrifices or gifts to spirits would have to be done by the king.<ref name=Halcrow>{{cite book|last=Halcrow|first=Elizabeth M.|title=Canes and Chains: A Study of Sugar and Slavery|year=1982|publisher=Heinemann Educational Publishing|location=Oxford|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MMVF71JsLpEC|isbn=9780435982232}}</ref>

King [[Agaja]] (1718–1740) further centralized the ceremonies under the king and the royal dynasty.  Under Agaja, the Annual customs became the central religious ceremony in the kingdom, wide participation by most of the population was required, all family lineages were expected to provide gifts and tribute (sometimes considered taxes) to the ruler, and aspects of animal and [[human sacrifice]] were added to the practice.<ref name=Monroe>{{cite journal|last=Monroe|first=J. Cameron|title=In the Belly of Dan: Space, History, and Power in Precolonial Dahomey|journal=Current Anthropology|year=2011|volume=52|issue=6|pages=769–798|doi=10.1086/662678|s2cid=142318205}}</ref>  The traditional family lineage ceremonies were not allowed in the kingdom until after the royal ceremony was completed.<ref name=Bay-1998 /> After Agaja the ceremony grew larger, longer and more lavish by future kings.