Osei Tutu’s accession (often dated to the 1670s) marked the decisive consolidation of the Asante polity around Kumasi, setting foundations for later expansion and the large-scale use of warfare and captive-taking within regional trade systems.
By the early 18th century, Asante supplied enslaved people to European traders on the Gold Coast and received firearms in return, linking state expansion and internal captive-taking to Atlantic-facing coastal markets.
Asante forces under Osei Tutu defeated Denkyira at Feyiase, breaking Denkyira’s dominance and accelerating formation of an Asante-centered union—an important precondition for later imperial expansion and the capture of war prisoners.
Agaja became ruler of Dahomey (1708–1740). His reign is widely associated with territorial expansion toward the coast and administrative centralization that strengthened the state’s capacity for warfare, tribute extraction, and control of commerce.
Dahomey under Agaja captured Allada (an important inland-coastal trading polity), strengthening Dahomey’s position in regional commerce and in the capture-and-sale systems feeding coastal export routes.
Agaja’s conquest of Whydah/Ouidah gave Dahomey direct leverage over a major coastal entrepôt for slave exports, tightening the connection between Dahomey’s military raids, tribute, and coastal trade administration.
Repeated Oyo campaigns culminated in Dahomey being compelled to pay tribute (commonly dated to 1730). The settlement constrained Dahomey’s autonomy while the kingdom continued to structure warfare, tribute, and commerce around coastal revenues.
The Annual Customs of Dahomey (xwetanu/huetanu) developed into a central state institution—organizing tribute, redistribution, political deliberation, and military display—associated with Agaja’s era and the consolidation of royal authority.
Rising tensions over trade, jurisdiction, and coastal politics contributed to war between the British and Asante (1823–1831). The conflict reflected intensifying European pressure on coastal trade and sovereignty in a region long shaped by Asante expansion and captive labor systems.
At Nsamankow (21 January 1824), Asante forces defeated a British-led column, demonstrating Asante military strength even as Britain’s coastal position and anti-slave-trade agenda were expanding across West Africa.
In 1851–1852, British naval pressure and blockade tactics targeted Dahomey’s slave-export ports; in January 1852 Ghezo accepted a treaty committing to end slave exports from Dahomey’s ports (implementation and enforcement remained contested).
After the 1851 British naval intervention in Lagos, a treaty signed 1 January 1852 abolished the slave trade in Lagos, illustrating how coastal anti-slave-trade enforcement reshaped neighboring commercial and political environments relevant to Dahomey’s coastal trade.
The Third Anglo–Asante War (1873–1874) ended with British victory and the occupation and burning of Kumasi, sharply weakening Asante influence over southern trade routes and coastal-linked revenues.
Following the 1873–1874 campaign, the Treaty of Fomena formalized peace terms that curtailed Asante coastal claims and required major indemnities—further reconfiguring political control over trade corridors historically linked to warfare and captive-taking.
The First Franco-Dahomean War (1890) ended with Dahomey compelled to recognize French claims (including over Porto-Novo) and concede key commercial positions, signaling the growing ability of European empires to dictate coastal trade and diplomacy.
In the Second Franco-Dahomean War (1892–1894), France defeated Dahomey and incorporated it into French colonial holdings, ending Dahomey’s independence and transforming the political-military structures that had supported slave raiding, tribute, and trade-state formation.
Asante and Dahomey: Slave Raiding, Trade, and State Formation (17th–19th centuries)
