Editing Tegbesu (section)

==Administration==
Tegbesu ruled over Dahomey at a point where it needed to increase its legitimacy over those who it had recently conquered.  As a result, Tegbesu is often credited with a number of administrative changes in the kingdom in order to establish the legitimacy of the kingdom.<ref name=Monroe />

Since he had spent significant time during his youth in Oyo, much of the kingdom was fashioned along administrative aspects of that empire.  Tegbesu returned the capital from [[Allada]] to [[Abomey]], while creating a puppet king to rule in Allada.<ref name=Monroe />  He increased the number of wives of the king in order to establish wide family connections throughout the kingdom.  The Palace complex was styled along those of Oyo and a number of administrative positions were created that had existed in Oyo.  Most notably, Tegbesu had multiple traitors in [[Ouidah]] put to death and replaced with individuals loyal to him.  In addition, instead of having different administrative positions to deal with each different European power, he created the ''Yevogan'' in 1745, a central bureaucrat to deal with all European trade.<ref name=Rawley>{{cite book|last=Rawley|first=James|title=The Transatlantic Slave Trade|year=2005|publisher=University of Nebraska Press|location=Lincoln, NE}}</ref>

In addition, Tegbesu's rule is the one with the first significant ''[[kpojito]]'' or ''mother of the leopard'' with Hwanjile in that role.  The ''kpojito'' became a prominently important person in Dahomey royalty.  Hwanjile, in particular, is said to have changed dramatically the religious practices of Dahomey by creating two new deities and more closely tying worship to that of the king.<ref name=Bay-1998 />

The [[History_of_slavery#African_participation_in_the_slave_trade | slave trade]] increased significantly during Tegbesu's reign and begun to provide the largest part of the income for the king, reportedly earning him £250,000 per year (over £56 million adjusted for [[inflation]] as of 2020 according to the [[Bank of England]] Inflation Calculator).<ref name=Halcrow />{{Page needed|date=September 2022}}<ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/africa/features/storyofafrica/9chapter2.shtml The Story of Africa| BBC Worldservice]<br>BBC Worldservice. Retrieved 12 May 2021.</ref><ref>[https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/monetary-policy/inflation/inflation-calculator Inflation Calculator | Bank of England]<br>Bank of England. Retrieved 12 May 2021.</ref>