Allada


Allada is a town, arrondissement, and commune, located in the Atlantique Department of Benin.
The current town of Allada corresponds to Great Ardra, which was the capital of a Fon kingdom also called Allada, which existed from around the 13th or 14th century 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 2013 had a population of 127,512 people.

History

In the mid-sixteenth century, Allada 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 in modern Togo. 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 and their brother Te-Agdanlin founded Little Ardra, also known as Ajatche, later called Porto Novo by Portuguese traders.

Notable citizens and residents

The Haitian revolutionary Toussaint L'Ouverture, who was the son of the Allada prince Gaou Guinou, was the founding father of the Republic of Haiti. There is a statue of L'Ouverture in the north of the town.

Demographics

The main town demographics: