Kpengla

Kpengla was the seventh King of Dahomey. He succeeded Tegbessou, and ruled from 1774 to 1789.

Kpengla's reign increased the size of the kingdom. He killed the chief of the Popo people, Agbamou, thus extending the empire into what is currently Togo. He destroyed the villages of Ekpe and Badagry (in what is now Nigeria), which were interfering with Dahomey's regional monopoly on the slave trade. His main symbol is the akpan bird, a trade gun (flintlocks became the standard issue to the Dahomean army during his reign), and a Dahomey Amazon striking her head against a tree (a reference to a humorous war story stemming from one of his military campaigns).

Kpengla was succeeded by Agonglo.

King Kpengla (right, under parasol and carrying sword), leads a troop of Dahomey Amazons. Subjects can be seen kowtowing (left, foreground)

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