Question: What was a Beninese merchant and politician, most active when his country was known as an African kingdom that existed from about 1600 until 1894 ?

Context articles: Benin Expedition of 1897
Mbunda Kingdom
Royal Palaces of Abomey
Dahomey
Benoît Sinzogan
Omukama of Bunyoro
Doctor Dolittle's Post Office
Kingdom of Kongo
Mandara Kingdom
Paul Darboux

The Benin Expedition of 1897 was a punitive expedition by a United Kingdom force of 1,200 under Admiral Sir Harry Rawson in response to the ambush of a previous British-led party under Acting Consul General James Philips (which had left all but two men dead).
 Rawson's troops captured, burned, and looted Benin City, bringing to an end the west African Kingdom of Benin.
 As a result, much of the country's art, including the Benin Bronzes, were relocated to Britain.
The Mbunda Kingdom (Mbunda: "Chuundi ca Mbunda" or "Vumwene vwa Mbunda" or Portuguese: "Reino dos Bundas") was an African kingdom located in west central Africa, what is now south-east Angola.
 At its greatest extent, it reached from Mithimoyi in the central Moxico to the Cuando Cubango Province in the south-east, bordering with Namibia.
 The kingdom was ruled by Mwene wa Ngoma (King).
The Royal Palaces of Abomey are 12 palaces spread over an area of 40 ha at the heart of the Abomey town in Benin, formerly the capital of the West African Kingdom of Dahomey.
 The Kingdom was founded in 1625 by the Fon people who developed it into a powerful military and commercial empire, which dominated trade with European slave traders on the Slave Coast until the late 19th century, to whom they sold their prisoners of war.
 At its peak the palaces could accommodate for up to 8000 people.
 The King's palace included a two-story building known as the "cowrie house" or "akuehue".
 Under the twelve kings who succeeded from 1625 to 1900, the kingdom established itself as one of the most powerful of the western coast of Africa.
The Kingdom of Dahomey ( ) was an African kingdom (located in the area of the present-day country of Benin) that existed from about 1600 until 1894, when the last king, Behanzin, was defeated by the French, and the country was annexed into the French colonial empire.
 Dahomey developed on the Abomey Plateau amongst the Fon people in the early 17th century and became a regional power in the 18th century by conquering key cities on the Atlantic coast.
Benoît Sinzogan (born July 14, 1930) is a Beninese military officer and politician, best known for leading his country's gendarmerie in the late 1960s.
 He was a member of the Fon ethnic group, which dominated the Beninese (then known as Dahomeyan) army from 1965 to 1967.
 After Maurice Kouandété usurped the presidency on December 17, Sinzogan was placed under house arrest until December 19.
 That day, Sinzogan was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs, his first political post, which he held until July 1968.
 He was a member of the Military Directorate, which ruled Dahomey from 1969-1970.
 Academic Samuel Decalo described the man as "too timid to mount a coup" during the 1960s and 1970s, being "one of Dahomey's few senior officers not to attempt to."
Omukama of Bunyoro is the title given to rulers of the East African kingdom of Bunyoro-Kitara.
 The kingdom lasted as an independent state from the 16th to the 19th century.
 The Omukama of Bunyoro remains an important figure in Ugandan politics, especially among the Banyoro people of whom he is the titular head.
 He is closely related to the Omukama of Toro Kingdom.
Doctor Dolittle's Post Office is the third of Hugh Lofting's Doctor Dolittle books.
 Set on the West Coast of Africa, the book follows the episodic format of most other books in the series.
 In the beginning of the book, Doctor Dolittle helps to capture a slave trader's ship, then organizes the postal service of a small African kingdom, Fantippo, ruled over by King Koko.
 Over the course of later chapters, he discovers a hidden island populated by prehistoric creatures, gets thrown into another African jail, invents animal alphabets, and defeats at least two armies.
 Each of the animals in the Dolittle family also tells a personal story.
 The postal program grows into a worldwide postal and publishing service for the benefit of animals everywhere.
The Kingdom of Kongo (Kongo: "Kongo dya Ntotila" or "Wene wa Kongo;" Portuguese: "Reino do Congo") was an African kingdom located in west central Africa in what is now northern Angola, Cabinda, the Republic of the Congo, the western portion of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, as well as the southernmost part of Gabon.
 At its greatest extent, it reached from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the Kwango River in the east, and from the Congo River in the north to the Kwanza River in the south.
 The kingdom consisted of several core provinces ruled by the Manikongo, the Portuguese version of the Kongo title 'Mwene Kongo', meaning lord or ruler of the Kongo kingdom, but its sphere of influence extended to neighbouring kingdoms, such as Ngoyo, Kakongo, Ndongo and Matamba.
The Mandara Kingdom (sometimes called Wandala) was an African kingdom in the Mandara Mountains of what is today Cameroon.
 The Mandarawa people are descended from the kingdom's inhabitants.
Paul Darboux (May 10, 1919 - 1982) was a Beninese merchant and politician, most active when his country was known as Dahomey.