Editing Dahomey (section)

===Amazons===
{{main |Dahomey Amazons}}
[[File:Dahomey amazon2.jpg|thumb|Dahomey female soldiers]]
The Dahomean state became widely known for its corps of female soldiers. Their origins are debated; they may have formed from a palace guard or from {{transliteration|fon|[[gbeto]]s}} (female hunting teams).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/dahomeys-women-warriors-88286072/?no-ist= |title=Dahomey's Women Warriors |last=Dash |first=Mike |work=Smithsonian Magazine |date=September 23, 2011 |access-date=February 4, 2018}}</ref>

They were organized around 1729 to fill out the army and make it look larger in battle, armed only with banners. The women reportedly behaved so courageously they became a permanent corps. In the beginning, the soldiers were criminals pressed into service rather than death. Eventually, the corps was respected enough that King [[Ghezo]] ordered every family to send him their daughters, with the fittest being chosen as soldiers.{{CN|date=January 2023}}{{dubious|date=May 2015}} European accounts clarified that seven distinct movements were required to load a [[Dane gun]] which took an Amazon 30 seconds in comparison to the 50 seconds it took a Dahomean male soldier to load.<ref name="RA_Kea. Firearms"/>