Benin Military Records

Research use: Useful for linking families, since the village head was required to furnish lists of all able-bodied men together with their families.

Record type: List of colonial native troops who served in Africa or Europe.

Time period:1893 to 1960.

Contents: Age, village, family name, date of enlistment for officers and enlisted men, village locations, village headmen; marital status, names of wives and children.

Location: National Archives in Porto Novo, the Archives Nationales, Paris.

Population coverage: Approximately 25%.

Websites

 * THE MILITARY SYSTEM OF BENIN KINGDOM, c.1440 - 1897 Thesis in the Department of Philosophy and History submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the award of the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy of the University of Hamburg, Germany. By OSARHIEME BENSON OSADOLOR, M. A. from Benin City, Nigeria. Hamburg, 23 July, 2001