Hwanjile (r. 1740–1774) was a high priest and kpojito ("reign mate") of the African Kingdom of Dahomey, in what is now Benin. Hwanjile was an Aja woman...

a brother. Oral traditions hold that Tegbesu was the son of Agaja and Hwanjile, a woman reported to have brought Vodun to the kingdom. King Agaja had...

skill as a priestess to the vodun (gods). The most famous kpojito was Hwanjile, who reigned with King Tegbesu in the mid-eighteenth century. Bay, Edna...

mother of the leopard with Hwanjile in that role. The kpojito became a prominently important person in Dahomey royalty. Hwanjile, in particular, is said...

before him in capital cases. A prominent holder of this title was Queen Hwanjile. Today the kpojito still holds a position of influence within the kingdom's...