The Real Warriors Behind 'The Woman King'
Associate Editor, History
A new film stars Viola Davis as the leader of the Agojie, the all-woman army of the African kingdom of Dahomey
www.smithsonianmag.com
At its height in the 1840s, the West African kingdom of
Dahomey boasted an army so fierce that its enemies spoke of its “
prodigious bravery.” This
6,000-strong force, known as the Agojie, raided villages under cover of darkness, took captives and slashed off resisters’ heads to return to their king as trophies of war. Through these actions, the Agoije established Dahomey’s preeminence over neighboring kingdoms and became known by European visitors as “
Amazons” due to their similarities to the warrior women of
Greek myth.
The Woman King, a new movie starring Viola Davis as a fictionalized leader of the Agojie, tells the story of this all-woman fighting force. Directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood, the film takes place as conflict engulfs the region, and the specter of European colonization looms ominously. It represents the first time that the American film industry has dramatized the compelling story.
As the
Hollywood Reporter’s Rebecca Keegan writes,
The Woman King is “the product of a thousand battles” fought by Davis and Prince-Bythewood, both of whom have spoken out about the obstacles the
production team faced when pitching a historical epic centered on strong Black women.
“The part of the movie that we love is also the part of the movie that is terrifying to Hollywood, which is, it’s different, it’s new,” Davis tells Keegan. “We don’t always want different or new, unless you have a big star attached, a big male star. … [Hollywood studios] like it when women are pretty and blond or close to pretty and blond. All of these women are dark. And they’re beating … men. So there you go.”
From the origins of the Agojie to Dahomey’s eventual fate, here’s what you need to know about the true history behind
The Woman King ahead of its arrival in theaters on September 16.
Is The Woman King based on a true story?
In short, yes, but with extensive dramatic license. Though the broad strokes of the film are historically accurate, the majority of its characters are fictional, including Davis’ Nanisca and
Thuso Mbedu’s Nawi, a young warrior-in-training. (Nanisca and Nawi share names with documented members of the Agojie but are not exact mirrors of these women.) King
Ghezo (played by John Boyega) is the exception; according to
Lynne Ellsworth Larsen, an architectural historian who studies
gender dynamics in Dahomey, Ghezo (reigned 1818 to 1859) and his son Glele (reigned 1858 to 1889) presided over what’s seen as “the golden age of Dahomean history,” ushering in an era of economic prosperity and political strength.
Viola Davis (left) as Nanisca and John Boyega (right) as King Ghezo Sony Pictures
www.hollywoodreporter.com
da biggest slave traders from all African kingdoms - i’ll pass 
let me do a quick read up. props.i am sick right now, this is just pity patter they couldn't go get a real life biopic of those African warrior queens.
/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer_public/7b/b1/7bb13ff8-f7c1-4aee-9705-5489f056ff5d/dahomehy.jpg)
/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer_public/d6/1c/d61c1336-8a57-4040-9504-24e1ec684d50/df-10933r.jpeg "Viola Davis (left) as Nanisca and John Boyega (right) as King Ghezo")
