Dahomey Amazons warriors are also the main focus and written about in Layon Gray's stage play "Black Sparta". The Dora Milaje, army/bodyguards to the "Black Panther", are based partially off the Dahomey Amazons. In Zora Neale Hurston’s "", 86 year old Cudjo Lewis, the last known survivor of the slaver Clotilda, describes his own capture by Dahomey Amazons when he was 19 years old. Dahomey Amazons The Dahomey Amazons or Mino, which means "our mothers," were a Fon all-female military regiment of the Kingdom of Dahomey in the present-day Republic of Benin which lasted until the end of the 19th century. They
Dahomey to the field commander with the reason given that if any spirit were to punish the commander for decisions it should not be the king. Unlike other regional powers, the military of Dahomey did not have a significant cavalry (like the Oyo empire) or naval power (which prevented expansion along the coast). The Dahomey Amazons, a unit of all-female soldiers, is one of the most unusual aspects of the military of the kingdom. The Dahomean state became widely known for its corps of female soldiers. Their origins are debated; they may have formed from a palace guard or from gbetos