Tegbessou

Tegbessou was the sixth King of Dahomey. He succeeded Agadja, and ruled from 1732 to 1774.

Tegbessou's reign was characterized by internal intrigues and a failed foreign policy; he killed many coup-plotters and political enemies, refused to pay tribute to the Yorubas, and lost many battles in the punitive raids that followed. His main symbol is a buffalo wearing a tunic. His other symbols are the blunderbuss, a weapon he gave his warriors--the first time in Dahomey that the royal army had ready access to firearms-- and a door decorated with three noseless heads, a reference to his victory over a rebellious tributary people, the Zou, whose corpses he mutilated.

Tegbessou was succeeded by Kpengla.

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