Reconstruction of a flag of the Kingdom of Benin based on a flag captured by British forces during the Benin campaign 1897; today seen in the British National Maritime Museum ([1])

The Benin Empire or Edo Empire (1440-1897) was a large pre-colonial African state of modern Nigeria. Nigeria, officially named the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal Constitutional republic comprising thirty-six states and one Federal

Origin

Bronze plaque of Benin Warriors with ceremonial swords. 16th-18th century, Nigeria.

According to one traditional account, the original people and founders of the Benin Empire, the Bini, were initially ruled by the Ogisos (Kings of the Sky). The Bini (also known as the Edo or Benin are an ethnic group in Nigeria. The city of Ibinu (later called Benin City) was founded in 1180 AD. Benin City, a city (2006 est pop 1147188 in Edo State, southern Nigeria, is a city approximately twenty-five miles North of the Benin River.

About 36 known Ogiso are accounted for as rulers of the empire. On the death of the last Ogiso, his son and heir apparent Ekaladerhan was banished from Benin as a result of one of the Queens changing the message from the oracle to the Ogiso. Ekaladerhan was a powerful warrior and well loved Prince. On leaving Benin he travelled to the west of the present day Nigeria to the land of the Yorubas. At that time the Yoruba oracle said that their King will come out of the forest and when Ekaladerhan arrived at Ife, he was received as a King.

He changed his name to Imadoduwa meaning "I did not misplace my royalty" and became The Great Oduduwa of The Yoruba Land. On the death of his father, the last Ogiso, a group of Benin Chiefs led by Chief Oliha came to Ife, pleading with him to come back to Benin to ascend the throne. Oduduwa's reply was that a King cannot leave his Kingdom but he had seven sons and would ask one of them to go back to Benin to rule as the next King.

Oranmiyan, the son of Ekaladerhan aka Oduduwa, agreed to go to Benin. He spent some years in Benin and came back to Ife after his wife gave birth to a son named Eweka. Eweka I became the first Oba of Benin. The Oba of Benin was the Oba or King of the Edo or Benin Empire, an empire with its capital at Benin (formerly called Ile Ibinu in modern day In 1440, Oba Ewuare (Ewuare the Great) came to power and turned the city-state into an empire. Around 1470, he named the new state Edo.

Golden Age

Pendant ivory mask, court of Benin, 16th century (Metropolitan Museum of Art)

The Oba had become the paramount power within the region. The Metropolitan Museum of Art is an art museum located on the eastern edge of Central Park, along what is known as Museum Mile in New York City, Oba Ewuare, the first Golden Age Oba, is credited with turning Benin City into a military fortress protected by moats and walls. It was from this bastion that he launched his military campaigns and began the expansion of the kingdom from the Edo-speaking heartlands. The lands of Idah, Owo, Akure all came under the central authority of the Edo Empire.

At its maximum extent the empire is claimed by the Edos to have extended from Onitsha in the east, through the forested southwestern region of Nigeria and into the present-day nation of Ghana. Onitsha is a City, commercial centre and River port on the eastern bank of the Niger river in Anambra State, southeast Nigeria Nigeria, officially named the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal Constitutional republic comprising thirty-six states and one Federal The Republic of Ghana is a country in West Africa. It borders Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast to the west Burkina Faso to the north Togo to the The Ga peoples of Ghana trace their ancestry to the ancient Kingdom of Benin. The Ga are an Ethnic group in the West African nation of Ghana.

The state developed an advanced artistic culture especially in its famous artifacts of bronze, iron and ivory. These include bronze wall plaques and life-sized bronze heads of the Obas of Benin. The most common artifact is based on Queen Idia, porpularly called the FESTAC mask.

Government

The empire was ruled by a regent called the Oba. Oba, (pronounced Or-ba means King or ruler in the Yoruba language Today, the Oba of Benin is still very respected in Nigeria; he is the most revered traditional ruler in Nigeria though his powers are largely ceremonial and religious. The Oba of Benin was the Oba or King of the Edo or Benin Empire, an empire with its capital at Benin (formerly called Ile Ibinu in modern day The capital of the Benin Empire was Edo, now known as Benin City. Benin City, a city (2006 est pop 1147188 in Edo State, southern Nigeria, is a city approximately twenty-five miles North of the Benin River. It can be found in what is now southwestern Nigeria.

People

The Benin Empire gets its name from the Bini people who dominated the area. The ethnonym may possibly derive from groups in western Nigeria, where the term "ibinu" means "anger" reflecting the warring nature of the Binis or from central and north-central Nigeria, where the term birnin means "gated" or "walled area. " The city and its people are more properly called the Edo.

Today, this population is found mostly in and around modern day Benin City. Benin City, a city (2006 est pop 1147188 in Edo State, southern Nigeria, is a city approximately twenty-five miles North of the Benin River. It is from Portuguese explorers that we get the name the Benin Empire. However, the Bini name for the land and even the capital city was Edo.

European contact

Drawing of Benin City made by an English officer, 1897

The first European travellers to reach Benin were Portuguese explorers in about 1485. Benin City, a city (2006 est pop 1147188 in Edo State, southern Nigeria, is a city approximately twenty-five miles North of the Benin River. A strong mercantile relationship developed, with the Portuguese trading tropical products, and increasingly slaves, for European goods and guns. In the early 16th century the Oba sent an ambassador to Lisbon, and the king of Portugal sent Christian missionaries to Benin. Some residents of Benin could still speak a pidgin Portuguese in the late 19th century. The first English expedition to Benin was in 1553, and a significant trade soon grew up between England and Benin based on the export of ivory, palm oil and pepper. Trade consisted of: 20% ivory, 30% slaves, and 50% other things. Visitors in the 16th and 17th centuries brought back to Europe tales of "the Great Benin," a fabulous city of noble buildings, ruled over by a powerful king.

Decline

The city and empire of Benin declined after 1700, but revived in the 19th century with the development of the trade in palm oil, enslaved captives, and textiles. To preserve Benin's independence, bit by bit the Oba banned the export of goods from Benin, until the trade was exclusively in palm oil.

Benin resisted signing a protectorate treaty with Great Britain through most of the 1880s and 1890s. See also Kingdom of Great Britain Great Britain (Breatainn Mhòr Prydain Fawr Breten Veur Graet Breetain is the larger of the two main islands However, after the slaying of eight British representatives in Benin territory, a 'Punitive Expedition' was launched in 1897, in which a British force, under the command of Admiral Sir Harry Rawson, conquered and burned the city, destroying much of the country’s treasured art and dispersing nearly all that remained. Admiral Sir Harry Holdsworth Rawson, GCB, GCMG RN ( England, November 5, 1843, – November 3, 1910 The portrait figures, busts, and groups created in iron, carved ivory, and especially in brass (conventionally called the "Benin Bronzes") made in Benin are now displayed in museums around the world. The Benin Bronzes are a collection of more than 1000 Brass plaques from the royal palace of the Kingdom of Benin.

See also

• Bini people
• Edo language
• Oba of Benin
• History of Nigeria

References

• Bondarenko D. The Bini (also known as the Edo or Benin are an ethnic group in Nigeria. Edo (or with the tone marks Èdó, also called Bini or Benin) is a Benue-Congo language spoken primarily in Edo State, The Oba of Benin was the Oba or King of the Edo or Benin Empire, an empire with its capital at Benin (formerly called Ile Ibinu in modern day See also Nigeria Early history See also Early Nigerian history Recent archaeological research has shown that people were already living in southwestern Dmitri Bondarenko (born 1968 in Moscow) is a Russian anthropologist historian and africanist M. A Homoarchic Alternative to the Homoarchic State: Benin Kingdom of the 13th - 19th Centuries. Social Evolution & History. Social Evolution & History (sometimes abbreviated as SEH) is an international journal focused on the development of human societies in the past present and future 2005. Vol. 4, No 2. P. 18-88.
• Roese, P. M. , and D. M. Bondarenko. Dmitri Bondarenko (born 1968 in Moscow) is a Russian anthropologist historian and africanist A Popular History of Benin. The Rise and Fall of a Mighty Forest Kingdom. Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang, 2003.
• Mercury, Karen. The Hinterlands, historical fiction about the Benin Expedition of 1897. Medallion Press, 2005.

External links

• Edo at Genealogical Gleanings
• The Story of Africa: Ife and Benin — BBC World Service