Back Regne d'Allada Catalan Ardra German Ardrako Erresuma Basque Alladan kuningaskunta Finnish Royaume d'Allada French Kerajaan Ardra ID アルドラ王国 Japanese Ardra Lithuanian Ardra Dutch Kongedømmet Allada NB
Kingdom of Ardra | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12th/13th century–1724 | |||||||
| Capital | Allada | ||||||
| Ethnic groups | Aja | ||||||
| Government | Monarchy | ||||||
| King of Ardra | |||||||
| History | |||||||
• Established | 12th/13th century | ||||||
• Conquered by Dahomey | 1724 | ||||||
| Population | |||||||
• 16th century | ~200,000 | ||||||
| |||||||
| Today part of | Benin | ||||||
| History of Benin |
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| History of the Kingdom of Dahomey |
| Early history |
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| Modern period |
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The Kingdom of Ardra, also known as the Kingdom of Allada, was a coastal West African kingdom in southern Benin. While historically a sovereign kingdom, in present times the monarchy continues to exist as a non-sovereign monarchy within the republic of Benin.[1]
It was named for its capital, the modern Allada, which was also the main city and major port of the realm.
The city and kingdom were supposedly founded by a group of Aja migrants from Tado, a settlement along the Mono River, in the 12th or 13th century.[2][3][4] Its kings "ruled with the consent of the elders of the people".[3] The state reached the peak of its power in the 16th and early 17th centuries, when it was an important source of slaves for the Atlantic trade. By the mid-15th century, the city of Allada had a population of approximately 30,000 people, while the state as a whole had a population of nearly 200,000 people by the 16th century.[4][5]
- ^ Cahoon, Ben. "Benin traditional states". World Statesmen. Retrieved 24 August 2022.
- ^ Asiwaju, A. I. (1979). "The Aja-Speaking Peoples of Nigeria: A Note on Their Origins, Settlement and Cultural Adaptation up to 1945". Africa: Journal of the International African Institute. 49 (1): 15–28. doi:10.2307/1159502. ISSN 0001-9720. JSTOR 1159502. S2CID 145468899.
- ^ a b "Benin: History". Columbia Encyclopedia. 2000. Retrieved 16 February 2019.
- ^ a b Filippello, Marcus (2017). "Allada". In Aderinto, Saheed (ed.). African Kingdoms: An Encyclopedia of Empires and Civilizations. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO. pp. 7–9. ISBN 978-1-61069-579-4.
- ^ Monroe, J. Cameron. "Urbanism on West Africa's Slave Coast". American Scientist. Archived from the original on 13 January 2014. Retrieved 24 September 2014.