Editing Do-Aklin

{{Short description|17th-century founder of the ruling dynasty of Dahomey}}
{{Infobox Monarch | name = Do-Aklin
| title=Founder of the ruling dynasty of the [[Kingdom of Dahomey]]
| image=File:Symbole de Gangnihessou roi du Dahomey au mur de la place Goho à Abomey au Bénin (2).jpg
|caption=Symbol of Gangnihessou on the wall of Place Goho in Abomey in Benin in 2020
| reign=c. 1600-1620
| coronation=
| predecessor=
| successor=[[Dakodonou]]
| spouse=
| issue=
| royal house=Aladaxonou
| father=
| mother=
| birth_date=
| birth_place =
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}}
'''Do-Aklin''' or '''Gangnihessou''' (Ganye Hessou) or '''Dogbari''' is claimed as the founder of the [[Fon people|Fon]] [[Kingdom of Dahomey]] in present-day [[Benin]] and the first person in the royal lineage of the [[King of Dahomey|Kings of Dahomey]] (the [[Aladaxonou|Aladaxonou dynasty]]).  In many versions he is considered the first king of Dahomey even though the kingdom was founded after his death.  Very little is known about Do-Aklin and most of it is connected to folklore, but it is generally claimed that he settled a large group of [[Aja people]] from [[Allada]] on the [[Abomey]] plateau amongst the local inhabitants in ''c.'' 1620.  His son [[Dakodonu]] would eventually build a palace on the plateau and began forming the Kingdom of Dahomey.

==Symbols and motto==
Gangnihessou had  a bird, a drum and a club as his symbol. His motto was that he was the biggest bird and sonorous drum, that nobody can prevent him.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=N9QK33nlxuEC&dq=gangnihessou&pg=PA279|title=Christian Churches in Dahomey-Benin: A Study of Their Socio-Political Role|last1=Collahey|first1=Patrick|year=2007|publisher=Brill|page=279|isbn=978-9004155725}}</ref>

==Settled in Abomey==
According to oral tradition, the Aja were led to [[Allada]] by King [[Agassou|Agassu]] from the city of [[Tado]].  Agassu was the son of a Tado princess and a [[leopard]] (or in some versions a brave [[Yoruba people|Yoruba]] hunter).<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|isbn=9780435982232|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MMVF71JsLpEC}}</ref>  When Agassu tried to take over Tado he was defeated and so instead moved with his followers to found the city of Allada.

Around 1600, three brothers (two in some versions) in the lineage of Agassu fought over the succession to the throne and it was decided that each would settle a new territory. The agreement was reached at [[Houégbo]] that Teagbanlin would found a state at what is now [[Porto-Novo]], another son would take control in Allada, and Do-Aklin would settle on the Abomey plateau to the north.<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>  It is said that Do-Aklin brought significant gifts for the local population and so was allowed to live amongst them, and the mixing of the local population with the Aja from Allada created the new ethnic group, the Fon.<ref name=Halcrow />

Do-Aklin's son (or grandson in some versions) [[Dakodonu]] became the founder of the palace and the kingdom of Dahomey around 1640 by defeating a local [[Tribal chief|chieftain]]. Anthropologist J. Cameron Monroe contends that the lineage connections to royalty at Allada is probably a later creation used by Dahomey legitimize its conquest of Allada (since according to the legend, the kings of Dahomey were also legitimate successors to the throne of Allada) and other aspects like its rivalry with Porto-Novo (brotherly rivalry, since according to the legend, the founders of Dahomey and Porto Novo were supposed to be brothers).<ref name=Monroe />

==See also==
*[[History of the Kingdom of Dahomey]]
*[[King of Dahomey]]
*[[Gbe languages]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

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{{s-reg}}
{{s-bef|before=--}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[King of Dahomey]]|years=c. 1600-1625}}
{{s-aft|after= [[Dakodonu]]}}
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{{Monarchs of Dahomey}}

[[Category:Kings of Dahomey]]
[[Category:17th-century monarchs in Africa]]
[[Category:17th century in the Kingdom of Dahomey]]