Allada

Allada
Commune and city
Allada Location in Benin
Coordinates:
Country	Benin
Department	Atlantique Department
Area
• Total	381 km2 (147 sq mi)
Population (2002)
• Total	91,778
Website	http://www.web-africa.org/allada/

Allada is a town, arrondissement, and commune, located in the Atlantique Department of Benin.

The current town of Allada corresponds to Great Ardra (also called Grand Ardra, or Arda), which was the capital of a Fon kingdom also called Allada (the Allada kingdom), which existed from around the 13th or 14h century (date of the initial settlements by Aja people, reorganized as a kingdom c. 1600) until 1724, when it fell to the armies of neighbour Kingdom of Dahomey.

The present-day commune of Allada covers an area of 381 square kilometres and as of 2002 had a population of 91,778 people.

History

In the mid-sixteenth century, Allada (then called Grand Ardra, or Arda) had a population of about 30,000 people.

The original inhabitants of Ardra were ethnic Aja.

According to oral tradition, the Aja migrated to southern Benin around the 12th or 13th centuries, coming from Tado, on the Mono River. They established themselves in the area that currently corresponds to southern Benin, until c. 1600, when three brothers – Kokpon, Do-Aklin, and Te-Agdanlin – split the rule of the region amongst themselves: Kokpon took the capital city of Great Ardra, reigning over the Allada kingdom, while his brother Do-Aklin founded Abomey (which would become capital of the Kingdom of Dahomey) and their brother Te-Agdanlin founded Little Ardra, also known as Ajatche, later called Porto Novo (literally, "New Port") by Portuguese traders (which is the current capital city of Benin).

Notable citizens and residents

The Haitian revolutionary, Toussaint L'Ouverture, was the son of Gaou Guinou, himself the son of the ruler of the Allada who was captured and enslaved.

Demographics

The main town demographics:

Year	Population
1979	12 022
2008 (estimate)	21 833