Dahomey his exile to the Caribbean. The novel "Thread of Gold Beads" (2012) by Nike Campbell-Fatoki centers on a daughter of Behanzin; through her eyes, the end of his reign is observed. Dahomey The Kingdom of Dahomey () was an African kingdom (located within the area of the present-day country of Benin) that existed from about 1600 until 1894, when the last king, Béhanzin, was defeated by the French, and the country was annexed into the French colonial empire. Dahomey developed on the Abomey Plateau amongst the Fon people in the early 17th century and became a regional power in the
Dahomey guild system. Herskovits recounts a complex tax system in the kingdom, in which officials who represented the king, the "tokpe", gathered data from each village regarding their harvest. Then the king set a tax based upon the level of production and village population. In addition, the king's own land and production were taxed. After significant road construction undertaken by the kingdom, toll booths were also established that collected yearly taxes based on the goods people carried and their occupation. Officials also sometimes imposed fines for public nuisance before allowing people to pass. The Kingdom of Dahomey shared many religious rituals