Do-Aklin

Do-Aklin led a large group of Aja people from Allada onto the Abomey plateau around 1620, planting them among the local inhabitants in what would become present-day Benin. He died before any kingdom took shape. His son Dakodonu later built a palace on that same plateau and began forming the Kingdom of Dahomey, but the royal lineage—the Aladaxonou dynasty—traces back through him. In many tellings he's called the first king, though the crown came posthumously. The details live mostly in folklore; the facts are sparse, but the line is unbroken.