the region, Ghezo was more able to expand militarily against the Mahi and the Gbe people to the southwest of Dahomey after the mid-1820s. Following victories in these areas, Ghezo focused the military power on a region which had been between the Oyo empire and Dahomey and had been the target of significant slave raiding. After some significant victories in this area by Dahomey, the city of Abeokuta was founded as a safe-haven for people to be free of slave raiding in an easily defended location. By the 1840s, Abeokuta had become a major power in the area and wars between Abeokuta and Dahomey became regular. In 1849–50, under the direction of British Governor William Winniett, British naval officer Frederick E. Forbes went on two missions to the court of King Ghezo "in an unsuccessful attempt to convince him to end involvement in the slave trade." In 1851, Ghezo organized a direct attack on the city of Abeokuta, but it did not succeed. Ghezo suspended large-scale military operations when he ended the slave trade (1852). However, by 1858, a conservative faction pressured Ghezo to begin large-scale military operations again with an assault on Abeokuta to follow. It is possible that this renewed warfare between the two states led to Ghezo's death, with some accounts stating that Abeokuta paid for an assassination of Ghezo (other accounts disagree). Ghezo is credited with the formation of the Mino as an actual war fighting force. Although the female bodyguard for the king had existed for many kings, Ghezo is said often as the king who transformed them into a force for battle. Historian Edna Bay contends that this may have been a result of a need to gain the support of the female palace guard after they had opposed Ghezo's coup against Adandozan. Ghezo did this by raising the status of the female guards, providing them uniforms, giving them additional weapons, and making them a crucial part of war policy. Domestic dissent Domestic dissent was a significant problem throughout Ghezo's reign with different forces contesting his rule. Initially, after the coup against Adandozan, Ghezo had to secure support from a number of different individuals who helped bring him to power. Although he had initially presented himself as able to restore militaristic practices to Dahomey, which he argued Adandozan was unable to do, the early losses in his reign to the Mahi made him very