After founding a prosperous city-state in Notsé in the previous century, it gradually declined and soon came under the authority of Agokoli, who was known for his brutal and violent methods.In response to his tyranny, epitomized by his desire to erect a monumental sacred enclosure in Notsé, a number of the city's inhabitants decided to exile themselves and migrate westward to other regions of present-day Togo and Ghana.This perspective is partly attributed to the German and French colonization of Togo and Ghana, where colonial historians and anthropologists paid little attention to and showed little interest in oral tradition data, leading to the assumption that important material has been lost.[2] According to surviving oral traditions, they were guided to the site of Notsé by the hunter Afotsè, also known as Ndétsi, or under the leadership of an ancestor named Noin or Da.[2] Although it was prosperous and housed the regional sanctuary of the god Mawu,[4] political troubles quickly erupted among the ruling classes of the city, weakening the priest-king.