Mahi people

The Mahi are a people of Benin. They live north of Abomey, from the Togo border on the west to the Zou River on the east, and south to Cové between the Zou and Ouemé rivers, north of the Dassa hills.

The Mahi identity was formed in the 16th century as a result of the expansionism of the Kingdom of Dahomy. Small clans of different cultures who lived in the corridor between Ouemé river and Dassa hills, unified to resist attacks from Dahomy, and the Mahi people were formed.

The Mahi established their own kingdom, Fitta, toward the end of the 18th century, and were a target of the slave trade before French colonization at the end of the 19th century. Because of the slave-trade to the Americas, Mahi influence can be found in Afro-Brazilian religions.