1851, 1864: (Dahomey’s Failed Assaults on Abeokuta and the Missionary Lobby — Dahomean Forces Repulsed Twice While Missionaries at Abeokuta Secured British M…

1851, 1864: (Dahomey’s Failed Assaults on Abeokuta and the Missionary Lobby — Dahomean Forces Repulsed Twice While Missionaries at Abeokuta Secured British Moral and Material Support for the Egba, Yet Dahomey Remained Powerful on the Eve of the French Invasion in the Mid-1890s): The wars between Dahomey and the Egba over control of key trade routes demonstrated the limits of Dahomean military power — Dahomean forces were unsuccessful in their attempts to seize Abeokuta, the Egba capital, in 1851 and again in 1864. Missionaries based at Abeokuta lobbied effectively for British moral and some material support for the Egba, reinforcing the image of Dahomey as a savage aggressor against whom Christian converts required protection. Nonetheless, Dahomey remained powerful and active on the eve of the French invasion in the mid-1890s, a testament to the resilience of its centralized military apparatus and the continued profitability of its commercial networks, even as the slave trade gave way to palm-oil production.