When The Woman King was released in September 2022, it sent a wave of searches across the internet: "Dahomey Amazons real", "Were the Agojie real?", "Mino warriors history". Millions of people were encountering, for the first time, a story that people in Benin have always known.
The film is a good film. But it is a film. The real history of the Mino is more complicated — and in many ways more extraordinary.
They Were Real
The earliest European accounts date to the late 17th century. Dutch merchant David van Nyendael, visiting Dahomey around 1700, noted armed women among the palace guard. French naval officer Jean-Pierre Thibault de Chanvalon wrote in the 18th century of women soldiers fighting alongside men.
By the 19th century, the evidence is abundant: military reports, diplomatic correspondence, traveler accounts. British explorer Richard Burton visited Dahomey in 1864 and wrote, grudgingly: "The Amazons are, beyond doubt, the bravest troops in Dahomey."
These were not sympathetic observers. Their consensus is significant.
What the Film Gets Right
The physical reality of training: Brutal conditioning, weapons mastery, initiation ceremonies — consistent with historical accounts. The Mino were genuine military professionals.
The social transformation of joining: Women who entered the Mino became, formally, "wives of the king." Their previous identities dissolved. They occupied a social category Dahomean society recognized as distinct. The film captures this.
The fear they inspired: European accounts consistently note that the Mino's military reputation was real and widely feared.
The last war: The Franco-Dahomean Wars of 1890 and 1892–1894 are real. The Mino fought with documented ferocity. The defeat is accurately depicted.
What the Film Invents
The slave trade narrative: The central dramatic tension of The Woman King — the Mino pushing back against Dahomey's participation in the slave trade — is historical fiction. The Kingdom of Dahomey was an active and significant participant in the Atlantic slave trade throughout the 18th and 19th centuries. The Mino participated in raids that produced captives. King Ghezo continued the trade until international pressure made it economically untenable.
This is the most significant factual invention in the film. It matters because it softens a historical reality that Beninese society has been grappling with seriously and honestly. The history is not comfortable. It should not be made comfortable.
Individual characters: Nanisca and the other main characters are fictional. Real Mino commanders existed — their names are preserved in oral history — but they are not the people depicted.
The Numbers
- Under King Agadja (early 18th century): a few hundred, primarily palace guards
- Under King Ghezo (mid-19th century): 3,000–6,000 warriors — roughly a third of Dahomey's total military
- Under King Glele: 4,000–5,000
- By the Franco-Dahomean Wars: numbers had declined but the Mino remained a significant force
The Last Mino
Nawi — a real person, not just a film character — died in 1979 at a claimed age of over 100. She was interviewed by historians in her final years. Her testimony about fighting at the Battle of Adibo in 1892 is the closest thing we have to a first-person Mino account.
Within living memory, there were women walking the streets of Benin who had been Mino warriors. This is not ancient history.
Why This History Matters
The Mino matter beyond their military accomplishments. They are evidence that gender categories — who can be a soldier, who can hold power — are cultural choices, not natural laws.
The Kingdom of Dahomey made a different choice. It created an institution where women were professional soldiers and political counselors. It worked for over two centuries.
This does not require romanticizing Dahomey or ignoring its moral complexities. It requires taking the evidence seriously.
The Mino were real. Their training was brutal. Their courage was documented. Their memory is alive in Abomey.
To see where the Mino trained and fought, visit the Royal Palaces of Abomey. To read their full history, see The Mino — Dahomey's Warrior Women.
Also explore: The Mino — full pillar page · Historical Museum of Abomey · The Huetanu — Royal Customs · Abomey — Capital of the Kingdom · Ouidah Origins