Editing Houegbadja (section)

==Rise to power==
The rise of Houegbadja to the throne is a story based largely on oral traditions.  The primary oral tradition claims that Houegbadja was the son (or in some adopted son) of [[Dakodonu]] and that a Gedevi woman (the Gedevi were the native people of the Abomey Plateau) named Adanon was [[betrothal|betrothed]] to Dakodonu. Although the woman was betrothed to his father, Houegbdaja got the woman pregnant and the result was that Dakodonu disinherited him.  Houegbadja and Dakodonu only reconciled when Houegbadja killed a strong rival of Dakodonu, and Houegbadja was then named the heir apparent.<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> With the death of Dakodonu, Houegbadja became the King of Dahomey.