A collection of 26 royal objects of Benin origin are currently on exhibit at the Paris’ Musée du Quai Branly, before their return to the West African nation. The exhibit includes events and programs that tell the history of the artifacts; from when and where they were pillaged from the historic African the historic kingdom of Dahomey, before it became the Republic of Benin.

The 26 royal objects include thrones, ceremonial hatchets, and statues looted by French soldiers during the Franco-Dahomean War that took place in the 1890s.

The restitution and return of the objects to the Republic of Benin, is in line with the Heritage Law that French lawmakers voted upon last year. The Act seeks to make France and other European atone for the outcomes of their colonial misdeeds.

Brief Background about the Franco-Dahomean War

https://youtu.be/ZL0bALlfG6Formerly known as the Kingdom of Dahomey, the Republic of Benin is located in West Africa and is perpendicular to the Cost of the Gulf of Guinea. The country covers around 112,622 square kilometers of land area.

When King Béhanzin inherited the throne in 1889 after the death of his father, King Glele. The new king instantly acted with hostility toward the French, after rescinding an earlier treaty that granted France to occupy the city of Cotonou. and raided their belongings. Béhanzin’s hostility toward the French,included slave raids in Grand-Popo in 1891, where French protectorates are located along the coast.

In the same year, the French military carried out a military takeover by putting General Alfred-Amédée Dodds in command for the operation. The battle between the two countries was called Franco-Dahomean War, which lasted from 1892 up to 1894.