The Africa Mirror

On 18 August 1977, Steve Biko, a leading figure of South Africa's Black Consciousness Movement, was arrested at a police roadblock near Grahamstown.
He was detained under the Terrorism Act, tortured and later suffered fatal injuries while in police custody. Biko died on 12 September 1977 in Pretoria Central Prison.

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Missionaries came to spread Christianity.
Merchants came looking for trade.
Explorers came seeking knowledge.
Diplomats negotiated agreements.
And eventually, soldiers came to enforce European claims.

European governments increasingly used treaties, commercial agreements and political alliances to establish influence and territorial claims in Africa.

Not every visitor came with the same intentions, but together, these growing networks helped create pathways for deeper European intervention and eventually colonial rule.

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The Agojie were real, but Hollywood has added plenty to their story.

Films such as The Woman King capture their courage, military skill and existence, but many characters and storylines are fictional, and the film significantly reshapes Dahomey's relationship with the slave trade.

The real Agojie were soldiers of the Dahomey monarchy, a powerful kingdom that also participated in warfare, conquest and the Atlantic slave trade.

Their history is neither a perfect legend nor something to erase, they were women who fought, commanded and died in battle and their story remains one of the most remarkable chapters in African military history.

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The Fall of Dahomey.

By 1894, the Kingdom of Dahomey had fallen to France, Dahomey's army including the Agojie had fought fiercely, but French forces possessed greater military firepower and resources.

After years of resistance, Abomey, the royal capital, came under French control, and by that the kingdom's independence was gone.
And with the French conquest came the decline and eventual end of the Agojie as a military institution.

The fall of Dahomey was not just the defeat of one kingdom, It was part of the wider European conquest and colonization of Africa.

Tomorrow: What happened to the Amazons after Dahomey fell?

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On 10 August 1973, the Benin City National Museum was opened to the public in Nigeria. The museum became an important institution for preserving and exhibiting the history and artistic heritage of the Benin Kingdom, including its famous bronze and terracotta works.

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The Explorers Who Opened the Door for Africa's Exploitation.

During the 19th century, European explorers such as David Livingstone and Henry Morton Stanley travelled through parts of Africa, documenting rivers, landscapes, peoples and trade routes.

Their journeys expanded European geographical knowledge of the continent, but exploration was not the same as colonization.

What changed was how this new knowledge was used, maps, reports and growing European interest in African trade and resources helped make deeper commercial and political intervention possible.

Soon, explorers were increasingly followed by merchants, missionaries, diplomats and soldiers.

The map was only the beginning.

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On 9 August 1956, about 20,000 women marched to Pretoria's Union Buildings to protest the apartheid government's plan to extend pass laws to Black women.

Led by Lilian Ngoyi, Helen Joseph, Rahima Moosa and Sophia Williams-De Bruyn, the women stood against a system designed to control their movement and freedom.

Their march became a defining moment in South Africa's liberation struggle.

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