Human sacrifice
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_sacrifice
West Africa
Human sacrifice was common in West African states up to and during the 19th century. The
Annual customs of Dahomey was the most notorious example, but sacrifices were carried out all along the West African coast and further inland. Sacrifices were particularly common after the death of a King or Queen, and there are many recorded cases of hundreds or even thousands of slaves being sacrificed at such events. Sacrifices were particularly common in
Dahomey, in the
Benin Empire, in what is now
Ghana, and in the small independent states in what is now southern
Nigeria. According to
R. J. Rummel, "Just consider the Grand Custom in Dahomey: When a ruler died, hundreds, sometimes even thousands, of prisoners would be slain. In one of these ceremonies in 1727, as many as 4,000 were reported killed. In addition, Dahomey had an
Annual Custom during which 500 prisoners were sacrificed."
[74]
In the northern parts of West Africa, human sacrifice had become rare early as Islam became more established in these areas such as the
Hausa States. Human sacrifice was officially banned in the remainder of West African states only by coercion, or in some cases
annexation, by either the British or French. An important step was the British coercing the powerful
Egbo secret society to oppose human sacrifice in 1850. This society was powerful in a large number of states in what is now south-eastern
Nigeria. Nonetheless, human sacrifice continued, normally in secret, until West Africa came under firm colonial control.
The
Leopard men were a West African secret society active into mid-1900s that practised
cannibalism. In theory, the ritual cannibalism would strengthen both members of the society as well as their entire tribe.
[75] In
Tanganyika, the
Lion men committed an estimated 200 murders in a single three-month period.
[76]
The last major centre of human sacrifice was the
Benin Empire in modern Nigeria. The Benin Empire agreed with the British to prohibit human sacrifice in the 1890s. However, for five years the rulers continued human sacrifice on a large scale. After an incident in which British observers were killed in order to prevent them witnessing human sacrifice, the British authorities assembled forces to conquer the Benin Empire. This caused an escalation of human sacrifice as Benin's rulers sought to protect themselves from Britain by appeasing the gods with sacrifice. After a brief campaign the Benin Empire was conquered and human sacrifice suppressed.
