The African Side the Early/Legendary Past

The village of Tado in the north looms large in some local traditions. It was possibly the first general polity of the region (a theory supported by archaeological findings). What we think we know is that its ruler was a typical sacred king and the society a kinship-type one. But at some stage a group of people known as the Aja or Agasuvi had to flee towards the south. They founded Notsé and Allada. From Allada some groups moved to establish Dahomey in the north and, somewhat later, Porto Novo/Hogbonu in the east. The author argues that all the Ewe of the Western Slave Coast originated from Notsé – a contention modern anthropologists and historians are skeptical of – and that if there was migration, it must have involved few people and short distances. The chapter observes that there is a rival tradition to that of Tado, which underlines the importance of the kingdom of Grand Popo on the coast in the south.