Editing Agaja (section)

===Conquest of Allada and Whydah===
[[File:Symbole de Agadja roi du Dahomey au mur de la place Goho à Abomey au Bénin66.jpg|thumb|Symbol of Agaja in place Goho.]]
Agaja led the most important expansions of the kingdom in the 1720s with the conquest of the [[Kingdom of Ardra|Kingdom of Allada]] in 1724 and the [[Kingdom of Whydah]] in 1727.  Allada and Whydah, both [[Aja people|Aja]] kingdoms, had become important coastal trading centers in the early 1700s, with trade connections to multiple European countries.  The two powers made a 1705 agreement where both agreed not to interfere in the trade of the other kingdom.  The King of Whydah, Huffon, grew increasingly connected through trade with the British [[Royal African Company]] while the king of Allada, Soso, made his ports outposts for the [[Dutch West India Company]]. In 1712, a British ship attacked a Dutch ship in the harbor at Allada, triggering economic warfare between Allada and Whydah that lasted until 1720. Upon coming to the throne, Agaja and Soso made an agreement to attack Whydah and remove Huffon from power; however, this plan was halted for unknown reasons.{{sfn|Akinjogbin|1967|pp=54-60}}

In 1724, Soso died and a contest for the throne in Allada followed.  On March 30, 1724, Agaja's army entered Allada in support of the defeated candidate, named Hussar.  After a three-day battle Agaja's army killed the king and set the palace on fire.  Rather than place Hussar on the throne, though, Agaja drove him out of the city after establishing his own power.{{sfn|Rodney|1975|p=235}} Agaja then turned his forces against the other Aja kingdoms.  In April 1724, Agaja conquered the town of [[Godomey]] and in 1726 the King of [[Gomè-Sota|Gomè]] transferred his allegiance from the King of Whydah to Agaja.{{sfn|Akinjogbin|1967|pp=68-69}}

Agaja planned his attack on Whydah in February 1727. He conspired with his daughter, Na Gueze, who was married to Huffon, to pour water on the gunpowder stores in Whydah.  He also sent a letter to all of the European traders in the port of Whydah encouraging them to remain neutral in the conflict, in return for which he would provide favorable trade relations at the conclusion of the war. On February 26, 1727, Agaja attacked Whydah and burned the palace, causing the royal family to flee from the city. During the five-day battle, reports say that five thousand people in Whydah were killed and ten to eleven thousand were captured. In April, he burned all of the European factories in the Whydah capital.{{sfn|Akinjogbin|1967|pp=76-79}}

In the three years between 1724 and 1727, Agaja had more than doubled the territory of Dahomey, had secured access to the Atlantic coast, and had made Dahomey a prominent power along the [[Slave Coast of West Africa|Slave Coast]].{{sfn|Bay|1998|pp=63-64}}{{sfn|Law|1986|p=242}}