Development of Abomey, capital of the former West African kingdom of Dahomey: Using GIS to identify spatial-temporal patterns Dr. Suzanne Blier1 and William Haveman2 1 Professor of African and African American Studies, Harvard University 2 Harvard Extension School Discussion •In the Danhomė Background language, Dan •Abomey was the royal capital of the kingdom of Dahomey (Danhomė) (Dangbe) is the word located in what is now the country of Benin in West Africa. for the powerful local •The kingdom was conquered by several kings including Huegbadja python god. •Another representation (1645-1685), Akaba (1685-1708), Agaja (1708-1740), Tegbesu (1740-1774), • Danhomė means “in of Dangbe in the design Kpengla (1774-1789), Agonglo (1789-1797), Adandozan (1797-1818), Guezo (1818-1858), and Glele (1858- 1889). the stomach of Dan”, of the city is the dry moat •As the city grew, stating that Danhomė around the center of the space was inhabitants reside in city (represented by the appropriated from the middle (within the dark black square on the indigenous Objective encircling circle) of the maps). inhabitants forcing •Analyze the urban development of Abomey for spatial-temporal powerful python god, •This represents the local residents away pattern: Dan/Dangbe. encircling python god from the palace. How did the city develop over time from one king’s reign to the Image of a bas-relief of Dangbe provided by •The appropriation of with the inhabitants in next? http://www.ecn.wfu.edu/~cottrell/benin/dia ry.html land in a counter- the center. •Determine how culture played a part in the city’s development: clockwise spiral pattern What role did cultural beliefs play in the design of the city? and the spiral form tail- •Examine how development practices changed over time: consuming python god Was there any changes in where development was concentrated Dan appear to be over time? evidently related. Analysis • By distinguishing land lots by the reign in which they were incorporated into the Data Data city, I was able to show a pattern of how the city developed from reign to reign. •Data sources include paper maps and •For analysis of how land lots were • As land lots are incorporated during each images of Abomey which were then incorporated into the city from consecutive reign, they appear to follow digitized to raster images and one reign to another, land lots the spiral development pattern recognized georeferenced. were selected by their reigning by researchers Houseman and Blier. •Vector data including points, lines, and king and shapefiles of those land •The majority of land lots, during the early polygons were drawn from the raster lots selected were created. reigns of King Akaba and Agaja, appear to image of the city. •Land lots that represented be concentrated around the newly •An attribute table was created for each palaces were also selected by constructed princely palace. polygon representing a land lot which attribute and made into their own •Towards the end of the kingdom, land Image of King Agoli Agbo c. 1894 included the name of the land-owner, shapefile. lots appear to be located further away provided by their occupation, which king was •Finally, a raster image depicting http://www.arikah.net/encyclopedia/B from the palace with which they are enin reigning when the land was acquired, the spiral development of the city associated. and the dates of the king’s reign. was georeferenced to the data layer..