What is "savi"

Savi (Also Xavier) was the capital of the Kingdom of Whydah prior to its capture by the forces of Dahomey in 1727.

An account of the city was given by Robert Norris in 1789

"Sabee, at that period the metropolis of the kingdom, the residence of their monarch, and seat of their commerce, was about four miles in circumference. The houses, constructed with mud walls, were roofed with thatch. The factory houses of the European traders were spacious and airy, distributed into convenient apartments, and surrounded on the outside with a large gallery opening into balconies. The town swarmed with people, insomuch, that it was impossible to pass through the streets without great difficulty. Markets were held every day, at which were exposed to sale all sorts of merchandizes, European and African, besides abundance of provisions of every kind ... the plains embellished with an astonishing multitude of large and small villages, every one of which was enclosed with a low mud wall, and placed in full view of the surrounding district; all this assemblage united to form the most picturesque view imaginable, unobstructed either by mountain or hill."

There were British East India Company, Dutch West India Company, French East India Company and a Portuguese trading compound in the city, adjacent to the Royal Palace.

Overall the city was very populous and filled with throngs of people.

Savi was the capital of the 17th- and 18th-century African Kingdom of Whydah, in modern Benin.

Savi may also refer to:

• Savi, Benin, a town and arrondissement
• Savi Technology, a U.S. company
• Gaetano Savi (1769–1844), Italian botanist
• Paolo Savi (1798–1871), Italian geologist and ornithologist, after whom is named:
  • Savi's warbler, Locustella luscinioides, a species of bird
  • Savi's pipistrelle, Hypsugo savii, a species of bat
  • Savi's pine vole, Microtus savii, a species of rodent
• Toomas Savi (born 1942), Estonian politician
• Filippo Savi (born 1987), Italian football player
• Stimulator of interferon genes, a protein that in humans is encoded by the TMEM173 gene