Saw your ad on reddit and had a blast reading this so far. Will be following in earnest.
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Thankyou very much man!
I am glad you loved it. Thanks for commenting. I love comments.
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I saw the reddit post a few hours ago and spent that time catching up. This is an amazing AAR! I love the frankly absurd amount of research that has gone into the story, the story and its context turns a standard Sokoto game into something extraordinary. I'm looking forward to further updates!
This is amazing! I love how you weave self-referencing detail and foreshadowing into your posts. Will be keeping tabs on this series!
Thankyou so much man!
Glad you are enjoying it.
Thanks so much for commenting man. Comments inspire me to write more.
Thankyou so much man!
I do the self-referencing because I myself kept forgetting some of the names
Glad you are loving it
Also thankyou so much for commenting man.
Comments are like fuel to me. They help me write more and better.
just read this cover to cover from credit. Totally amazing, I'm hooked! More please!
Came from reddit and finished reading the entire AAR so far.
Love what you written so far and hope you survive the Conference of Berlin.
Love what you written so far and hope you survive the Conference of Berlin.
Thankyou so much mannnnn!
I am very happy to see that you are loving it. Also very thanks for commenting man.
Thanks for commenting man. Yes, surviving the conference of Berlin is the main aim of this AAR and yet its not. If I do get invaded and conquered, then there might be other ways to continue the game. History of a region does not end when an empire falls. It continues on.
Chapter 27
The feet of Sokotan soldiers never left their horse's stirrups after the Timbuktu campaign. In March 1848, Massina surrendered to Sokoto and in June Sokoto was at war again. As stated in Chapter 12 and chapter 13, Nyonu(King) Ghezo ruled Dahomey. Ghezo had come to the throne by leading a coup against his brother with the help of a Brazilian slave trader Francisco Félix de Souza. De Souza slowly became very influential in local politics as his fleet established a monopoly over the local slave trade. He was also secretly a pagan and worshipped the Vodun gods(See chapter 12). Meanwhile the Nyonu went on a campaign of erasing all traces of his dead brother's existence and purging his supporters. Then, in 1842, Dahomey supported Ashanti against Sokoto. In the resulting war, Dahomey's military was completely destroyed by the Jihadists and prolonged warfare also led to a massive drain on resources. The Sokotans also looted a lot of wealth from the nation and the consequences of it all were dire. When Dahomey surrendered, the Nyonu found himself hated throughout his own realm. The supporters of his brother's son began to increase day by day. Under these circumstances, Nyonu Ghezo became even more brutal. He named Fransisco Felix De Souza as his Chacha(Viceroy) and only appointed his closest supporters to important positions. Muslims and Christians were violently murdered or enslaved, peasant rebellions were brutally put down and anyone opposing his rule was purged. A tenuous equilibrium of stability now reigned in Dahomey.
Unfortunately it was ultimately De Souza which led to the breaking of the equilibrium.
Francisco Félix de Souza
In early May 1848, De Souza's fleet was intercepted by a British fleet near the coast of Dahomey. As part of the British campaign to abolish slavery, the British government had began putting significant pressure on Nyonu Ghezo in the 1840s to end the slave trade in Dahomey. Ghezo responded to these requests by emphasizing that he was unable to end the slave trade because of domestic pressure. The British then demanded that the Nyonu banish De Souza from his kingdom in exchange for more time to end the slave trade. The Nyonu refused this offer too. The British responded by cutting off diplomatic ties and declaring Dahomey as a rogue state.
On that sunny May day, De Souza had been leading two of his ships 'Flora' and 'Gaivota' towards Brazil when an armed British fleet of the West Africa Squadron intercepted him and demanded that he release the slaves immediately. The Royal Navy established the West Africa Squadron at substantial expense in 1808 after Parliament passed the Slave Trade Act of 1807, an Act for the Abolition of the Slave Trade. Unfortunately, early treaties against slave trading with foreign powers were often very weak and in practice meant that until 1835 the Squadron could seize vessels only if slaves were found on board at the time of capture. This meant the squadron could not interfere with vessels clearly equipped for the trade but without a cargo. Hence many individual warship captains in the squadron began to feel suffocated by the rules and began to act roughly. Foreign ships would be seized, false evidence would be planted and in some cases, entire ships belonging to weak Latin American countries would be sunk. De Souza being Brazilian, the British ships quickly gave him an ultimatum without fear of consequences.
Upon De Souza's refusal, cannon fire was exchanged and after a 4 hour standoff the British finally defeated the ships and boarded both of them. After this, De Souza was taken to Lagos and imprisoned.
The Nyonu Ghezo demanded that the British release his viceroy. Upon the British refusal, the Nyonu threatened war. The British responded by complaining to Sokoto city. Within days, war was declared.
Dahomey was no match for Sokoto and neither could their alliance with the Oba(King) Adolo of Benin take on Sokoto. Morever, the Olu(King) Akengbuwa of Warri supported Sokoto to avenge a past insult from Benin. Things had spiralled very fast out of control for the Nyonu Ghezo and now there was no saving Dahomey.
Within a mere few weeks, the Sokotan armies attacked. Usman Amadu himself could not lead this campaign because of fatigue incurred from the Timbuktu campaign, hence command was instead given to Malam Said Tall. Malam Taid was one of the inferior generals in the Sokotan army. He was reported to fear the sounds of gunshots and had absolutely no practical knowledge of using guns or cannons. However he was extremely loyal to Usman Amadu and hence could be relied upon. In mid July, while other Sokotan armies occupied the northern and southern parts of Dahomey, Malam Taid attacked the Dahomey capital of Abomey.
A painting of the town of Abomey. The strong defenses of the town are clearly visible here.
Abomey was surrounded by a mud wall with a circumference estimated at 10 kilometres (6 mi), pierced by six gates, and protected by a ditch five feet deep, filled with a dense growth of prickly acacia, the usual defence of West African strongholds. Within the walls were villages separated by fields, several royal palaces, a market-place and a large square containing the barracks. However ditches and gates only protect so long as there is an army to defend. Abomey had almost none. The Nyonu Ghezo had no meaningful army left after years of fighting insurgents and claimants to his rule. What remained inside Abomey on the morning of 14th July 1848 was a band of some 300 warriors, 2000 female warriors(Dahomey was well known for recruiting women) and the rest were peasants. Many of the last category didn't even have swords or spears to fight. This would have been a very easy battle. Unfortunately Malam Taid did not know anything about the condition of the defenders and so he ordered the army to board the walls of Abomey. The result was grisly. With absolutely no direction, the Sokotans attemoted to use ladders to climb down the ditches and then climb up the walls, all the while trying to dodge arrows from above the walls and prickly plants below their feet. The peasants and women inside Abomey effectively routed the Sokotans. Malam Taid lost his honour along with a 1000 men!
Great celebrations ensued in Abomey that evening while Malam Taid sulked.
Female Dahomey warriors.
The Nyonu Ghezo's luck however had ran out. He had made far too many enemies in the last two decades. One such internal enemy lead to his demise. At night, when most of the Dahomey army was still celebrating, a defector who had been insulted by the Nyonu a few years back opened one of the gates on the western wall of Abomey. Eager to take back his lost pride, Malam Taid immediately led his men into the gate. By the time the defenders even realized this treachery, it was too late. Taken by surprise, many of the defenders were cut down and finally, late at midnight, the Nyonu Ghezo himself was found and taken prisoner. Despite the advantage of surprise however, Malam Taid still took more than 500 casualties in the deadly street warfare inside Abomey that night.
The Nyonu Ghezo immediately surrendered in return for his own freedom. To the east, the Benin armies were checked by the armies of the Olu of Warri. Peace was finally signed in late August.
On December 4 1848, the Sultan Ali signed a treaty with the British according to which, the slave trade would be banned in Dahomey in exchange for an increase in exports of Palm oil and tropical wood, commodities which were slowly becoming highly sought after in Europe. Existing slaves were to remain while their sons would be freed. This historic treaty is called the 'Treaty of Lagos' and is often considered as an important first step in the abolition of the dreaded slave trade.
Fransisco Felix De Souza was eventually handed back to the Brazilian government with the warning of never attempting to trade in West Africa again while the Nyonu Ghezo lived out the rest of his life in exile in Benin.
Lasting peace however was to elude Sokoto yet again as a dangerous Islamic heresy had risen to the west. The Tukulor empire of Omar Saidou Tall. More of that in the next chapter.
The feet of Sokotan soldiers never left their horse's stirrups after the Timbuktu campaign. In March 1848, Massina surrendered to Sokoto and in June Sokoto was at war again. As stated in Chapter 12 and chapter 13, Nyonu(King) Ghezo ruled Dahomey. Ghezo had come to the throne by leading a coup against his brother with the help of a Brazilian slave trader Francisco Félix de Souza. De Souza slowly became very influential in local politics as his fleet established a monopoly over the local slave trade. He was also secretly a pagan and worshipped the Vodun gods(See chapter 12). Meanwhile the Nyonu went on a campaign of erasing all traces of his dead brother's existence and purging his supporters. Then, in 1842, Dahomey supported Ashanti against Sokoto. In the resulting war, Dahomey's military was completely destroyed by the Jihadists and prolonged warfare also led to a massive drain on resources. The Sokotans also looted a lot of wealth from the nation and the consequences of it all were dire. When Dahomey surrendered, the Nyonu found himself hated throughout his own realm. The supporters of his brother's son began to increase day by day. Under these circumstances, Nyonu Ghezo became even more brutal. He named Fransisco Felix De Souza as his Chacha(Viceroy) and only appointed his closest supporters to important positions. Muslims and Christians were violently murdered or enslaved, peasant rebellions were brutally put down and anyone opposing his rule was purged. A tenuous equilibrium of stability now reigned in Dahomey.
Unfortunately it was ultimately De Souza which led to the breaking of the equilibrium.
Francisco Félix de Souza
In early May 1848, De Souza's fleet was intercepted by a British fleet near the coast of Dahomey. As part of the British campaign to abolish slavery, the British government had began putting significant pressure on Nyonu Ghezo in the 1840s to end the slave trade in Dahomey. Ghezo responded to these requests by emphasizing that he was unable to end the slave trade because of domestic pressure. The British then demanded that the Nyonu banish De Souza from his kingdom in exchange for more time to end the slave trade. The Nyonu refused this offer too. The British responded by cutting off diplomatic ties and declaring Dahomey as a rogue state.
On that sunny May day, De Souza had been leading two of his ships 'Flora' and 'Gaivota' towards Brazil when an armed British fleet of the West Africa Squadron intercepted him and demanded that he release the slaves immediately. The Royal Navy established the West Africa Squadron at substantial expense in 1808 after Parliament passed the Slave Trade Act of 1807, an Act for the Abolition of the Slave Trade. Unfortunately, early treaties against slave trading with foreign powers were often very weak and in practice meant that until 1835 the Squadron could seize vessels only if slaves were found on board at the time of capture. This meant the squadron could not interfere with vessels clearly equipped for the trade but without a cargo. Hence many individual warship captains in the squadron began to feel suffocated by the rules and began to act roughly. Foreign ships would be seized, false evidence would be planted and in some cases, entire ships belonging to weak Latin American countries would be sunk. De Souza being Brazilian, the British ships quickly gave him an ultimatum without fear of consequences.
Upon De Souza's refusal, cannon fire was exchanged and after a 4 hour standoff the British finally defeated the ships and boarded both of them. After this, De Souza was taken to Lagos and imprisoned.
The Nyonu Ghezo demanded that the British release his viceroy. Upon the British refusal, the Nyonu threatened war. The British responded by complaining to Sokoto city. Within days, war was declared.
Dahomey was no match for Sokoto and neither could their alliance with the Oba(King) Adolo of Benin take on Sokoto. Morever, the Olu(King) Akengbuwa of Warri supported Sokoto to avenge a past insult from Benin. Things had spiralled very fast out of control for the Nyonu Ghezo and now there was no saving Dahomey.
Within a mere few weeks, the Sokotan armies attacked. Usman Amadu himself could not lead this campaign because of fatigue incurred from the Timbuktu campaign, hence command was instead given to Malam Said Tall. Malam Taid was one of the inferior generals in the Sokotan army. He was reported to fear the sounds of gunshots and had absolutely no practical knowledge of using guns or cannons. However he was extremely loyal to Usman Amadu and hence could be relied upon. In mid July, while other Sokotan armies occupied the northern and southern parts of Dahomey, Malam Taid attacked the Dahomey capital of Abomey.
A painting of the town of Abomey. The strong defenses of the town are clearly visible here.
Abomey was surrounded by a mud wall with a circumference estimated at 10 kilometres (6 mi), pierced by six gates, and protected by a ditch five feet deep, filled with a dense growth of prickly acacia, the usual defence of West African strongholds. Within the walls were villages separated by fields, several royal palaces, a market-place and a large square containing the barracks. However ditches and gates only protect so long as there is an army to defend. Abomey had almost none. The Nyonu Ghezo had no meaningful army left after years of fighting insurgents and claimants to his rule. What remained inside Abomey on the morning of 14th July 1848 was a band of some 300 warriors, 2000 female warriors(Dahomey was well known for recruiting women) and the rest were peasants. Many of the last category didn't even have swords or spears to fight. This would have been a very easy battle. Unfortunately Malam Taid did not know anything about the condition of the defenders and so he ordered the army to board the walls of Abomey. The result was grisly. With absolutely no direction, the Sokotans attemoted to use ladders to climb down the ditches and then climb up the walls, all the while trying to dodge arrows from above the walls and prickly plants below their feet. The peasants and women inside Abomey effectively routed the Sokotans. Malam Taid lost his honour along with a 1000 men!
Great celebrations ensued in Abomey that evening while Malam Taid sulked.
Female Dahomey warriors.
The Nyonu Ghezo's luck however had ran out. He had made far too many enemies in the last two decades. One such internal enemy lead to his demise. At night, when most of the Dahomey army was still celebrating, a defector who had been insulted by the Nyonu a few years back opened one of the gates on the western wall of Abomey. Eager to take back his lost pride, Malam Taid immediately led his men into the gate. By the time the defenders even realized this treachery, it was too late. Taken by surprise, many of the defenders were cut down and finally, late at midnight, the Nyonu Ghezo himself was found and taken prisoner. Despite the advantage of surprise however, Malam Taid still took more than 500 casualties in the deadly street warfare inside Abomey that night.
The Nyonu Ghezo immediately surrendered in return for his own freedom. To the east, the Benin armies were checked by the armies of the Olu of Warri. Peace was finally signed in late August.
On December 4 1848, the Sultan Ali signed a treaty with the British according to which, the slave trade would be banned in Dahomey in exchange for an increase in exports of Palm oil and tropical wood, commodities which were slowly becoming highly sought after in Europe. Existing slaves were to remain while their sons would be freed. This historic treaty is called the 'Treaty of Lagos' and is often considered as an important first step in the abolition of the dreaded slave trade.
Fransisco Felix De Souza was eventually handed back to the Brazilian government with the warning of never attempting to trade in West Africa again while the Nyonu Ghezo lived out the rest of his life in exile in Benin.
Lasting peace however was to elude Sokoto yet again as a dangerous Islamic heresy had risen to the west. The Tukulor empire of Omar Saidou Tall. More of that in the next chapter.
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Job well done in Dahomey, but with a heresy rearing its head in Tukulor straight afterwards it looks like the Caliphate has not done with war just yet! I wonder how long the rest of the west African states will last before Sokoto conquers all before it?
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Getting on Britain's good side regarding the slave trade is a smart idea. In a couple of decades the Europeans might be interested in empire for empire's sake but right now I'm guessing they're quite happy to have Africans do the job for them.
And even more war! What are the Caliphate's demographics at this point? Must be a very cosmopolitan state.
And even more war! What are the Caliphate's demographics at this point? Must be a very cosmopolitan state.
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Malam Taid sounds like the guy who gained his position definitely due to skills Lets hope the next generation of generals are not like this
Lets hope the next generation of generals are not like this- 1
Malam Taid sounds like the guy who gained his position definitely due to skills Lets hope the next generation of generals are not like this
Lets hope the next generation of generals are not like this- 1
Creating and funding the West Africa Squadron is probably the best thing the British Empire ever did for the world at large. I won't say they necessarily did it for entirely selfless reasons, but anything that helps eliminate the abhorrent practice of slavery gets solid marks in my book.
Malam Taid definitely doesn't measure up to his mentor's caliber in terms of finesse, but sometimes you need a hammer instead of a scalpel.
Malam Taid definitely doesn't measure up to his mentor's caliber in terms of finesse, but sometimes you need a hammer instead of a scalpel.
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Surprised that the Sokotans didnt go for Tukulor immediately afterwards, but i guess they got distracted. I have rather enjoyed this AAR as i know too little about Sub-Saharan africa and this has been a fun learning experience.
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What is the overall view of Sokoto's government towards slavery at this point? They seemed happy to remove it in Dahomey, but I recall them not wanting to impose heavy restrictions on it in general.
Also, how is your infamy/badboy? (Vic2 does have that right?)
Also, how is your infamy/badboy? (Vic2 does have that right?)
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It's more restrictive in Vic2 than it is in EU3. You can see under the politics tab that it's 9.36. At 25 infamy great powers will start declaring containment wars. Depending on your CB and RNG you can have the whole world coming down on you because you got 2 bad rolls fabricating on African minor powers.
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I wonder whether there'll be discontent in Sokoto at the Sultan's ties with Europeans... I guess his military successes prevent these sentiments from being anything other than marginal yet.
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Sokoto at its current state seems way too fundamentalist, I wonder if there's even a chance for them to westernize
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Prace is unfortunately a luxury that even the strongest of monarchs cannot afford easily. Let's hope the situation stabilizes soon.
Thanks for commenting man!
Yes you are right. I am doing all this friendship with the British so that they aren't a nuisance at least before the Berlin conference.
Thank you very much for commenting man!
I love that guy. Hes a great success story. A role model for failures lol. Malam Taid the great!Malam Taid sounds like the guy who gained his position definitely due to skills
Thankyou very much for commenting man.
Yes. I also honour the West Africa squadron. It takes a strong hand to destroy slavery as a business and that's what they did.
Thankyou very very much for commenting man.
In story terms they will give some ultimatum to Tukulor. In gameplay terms I was justifying the CB upon them.
Thank you very much for commenting man.
Glad you are enjoying and learning new things from it.
Sokoto's views on slavery are nothing different than any non-European nation of that era. They removed it in Dahomey to make a deal with the British. Actually the thing is that slavery's decline as a trade was also due to it's decreasing customer base and also because the palm oil and other trades with Europe and were becoming much more profitable but the Europeans needed slavery banned in most cases for you being able to trade these things with them.
Hence many African warlords atleast tried to abolish slavery.
Historically Dahomey almost did it in 1850.
About infamy. It is at 10. You don't get large infamy hits in Africa and if you are uncivilized. I am able to justify my Casus belli with minimal infamy most of the time
Thankyou very very much for commenting man. Comments inspire me to write better.
Thank you very much for commenting man.
Yes that is exactly what is happening. Lets hope the military victories continue!
Thanks for commenting.
As I have stated, I am not going to westernize in the way the game portrays. Vicky2's westernize mechanics are all related to the Meiji restoration which is impossible to work in an Africa theocracy like Sokoto.
By westernized I mean to establish an army with guns, one currency for the whole nation(HFM mechanic), better constructions, trade and good generals so that I can avoid being conquered right after the conference of Berlin.
Thankyou very very much for commenting man. Comments give me new insights and help me a lot.
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