[Jim McDougall]

In West African Dahomey (now Benin) there were forces of female warriors called 'Amazons' by Europeans but in the Fon language there, they were 'ahosi' (kings warriors) or 'mino' (=our mothers). They had long existed as groups of elephant hunters, but under King Ghezo (1818-1858) he formed them into military units.

With French incursions and presence, I have seen swords virtually identical to this example from a museum in Belgium, collected by a French officer c.1856 with identical linear design on blade. This form is one of several of these swords which are termed 'HWI' ("African Arms and Armor" , Christopher Spring, 1993; "Sabres Decores du Dahomey", by Palau Marti , "Objets ert Mondes" Vol. VII;4, 1967 .

Sir Richard Burton as consul in Guinea 1861-64 wrote on Dahomey in "A Mission to Gelele, King of Dahomey" (1864).
These female forces were active through the Franco-Dahomean war (1890) where they proved formidable in battle, though defeated and disbanded in 1894 with the French Protectorate. They continued secretly as subversives well into 20th c.

What prompted my writing on this example which I have owned about 30 years, is a current article in Heritage magazine;
"Scientists Just Discovered the Secrets of the Ornate Swords Once Made in West Africas Storied Kingdom of Dahomey".by Austin Harvey.

In this it is noted that these blades had been thought to have been European made, however the metal in some were tested scientifically revealing the sources from Bassar (Togo); Sweden; Ruhr Valley and Brazil. While the forgong processes appear to have varied, they were all unique.