Glele

Glele or Badohou (died 1889) was the tenth King of Dahomey, ruling from 1858 until his death.

Life

Badohou, who took the throne name Glele, is considered (if Adandozan is not counted) to be the tenth King of the Aja kingdom of Dahomey (part of modern-day Benin). He succeeded his father, Ghezo, and ruled from 1858 to 1889.

Glele continued his father's successful war campaigns, in part to avenge his father's death, in part to capture slaves. During his rule he sustained Dahomey's renaissance as a center of palm oil sales and slave trade. Glele also signed treaties with the French, who had previously acquired a concession in Porto-Novo from its king. The French were successful in negotiating with Glele and receiving a grant for a customs and commerce concession in Cotonou during his reign. Glele resisted British diplomatic overtures, however, distrusting their manners and noting that they were much more activist in their opposition to the slave trade: though revolutionary France itself had outlawed slavery at the end of the 18th century it allowed the trade to continue elsewhere; Britain outlawed slavery in the U.K. and in its overseas possessions in 1833, and had its navy make raids against slavers along the West African coast starting in 1840.