蜜芽传媒

In the 1800s, European visitors to Dahomey - part of what is now Benin - wrote incredulous descriptions of the Amazon warriors they saw: women who were trained from girlhood to fight as a unit as part of the Kingdom's strong military. Dahomey was a powerful regional force which conquered surrounding kingdoms before finally being overwhelmed by French forces at the start of the 20th Century.

But many people living in Benin know little about this part of their heritage - something historians in the country are determined to change. A group is working on a book which will include memories from people who grew up with the Amazons - remembering them as real people and not just the stuff of legend in the journals of European missionaries and soldiers.

Danielle Paquette, the West Africa bureau chief for the Washington Post, has been researching the history:

"They were training together since girlhood led by women commanders. They learned how to load muskets and swing blades and they did these training exercises where they would climb walls of thorns in front of visitors. One Italian missionary recorded watching it and it blew his mind."

(Photo: Dahomey Amazons in 1897. Credit: Chris Hellier/Corbis via Getty Images)

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