Kingdom of Benin

Kingdom of Benin, historic state in western Africa with its capital in Benin City, in present-day Nigeria. Benin emerged among the Edo-speaking forest peoples of southern Nigeria, to the west of the lower Niger river, between the 10th and 13th centuries. The Edo speakers of Benin are known as the Bini.

The rulers (known as Oba) of Benin trace their ancestry and royal title to the Yoruba kingdom of Ife, the holy site of the founding Yoruba ancestor, Oduduwa. This ancestry, it was claimed by the Obas, gave them religious and royal authority over the other Edo villages and mini-states of the area. The authority of the Oba was displayed through his religious and magical powers and through his military prowess.

The most famous of Benin’s rulers was Oba Ewuare, who was in power during the 1440s. He expanded the Benin state by military conquest so that by the end of his reign it stretched from the Niger delta in the east to Lagos lagoon in the west. Ewuare rebuilt Benin City, constructing a wall and ditch around it, parts of which are still visible, and he strengthened the internal power of the kingdom by establishing a system of appointed town chiefs in the towns and villages that he conquered. These town chiefs joined his own appointed palace chiefs to form a new Council of State to advise on matters of policy.

The Portuguese, the first Europeans to traverse the coast of western Africa, were attracted to Benin City in 1486 while Oba Ozolua was on the throne. The Oba established trading contacts with the Portuguese and initially sold them some war captives, which the Portuguese sold on as slaves to the Akan of Asante (modern Ghana) in exchange for gold. Soon afterwards, Benin’s period of territorial expansion ended and with it the supply of war captives. Thus Benin did not sell people into the transatlantic slave trade (see Slavery) when it started in the 1540s. Benin’s trade with Europeans in the 16th and 17th centuries was in palm oil, ivory, pepper, and textiles. Dutch traders to Benin City in the 17th century remarked favourably upon its cleanliness, fine wooden buildings, and wide streets. The kingdom’s involvement in the notorious slave trade did not begin until the 18th century, at a time when the kingdom was wracked by dynastic dispute and civil war. Then the importation of firearms into the kingdom, and the sale of its citizens into slavery, hastened its decline during the 18th and 19th centuries.

At its height in the 15th century, during the reign of Ewuare, Benin City was famous for its elaborate court art—ivory and bronze carvings and jewellery, and bronze statues and wall plaques. This tradition continued in later centuries and, following their contact with Europeans, Benin’s court artists included bearded and armoured European figures on their ivory carvings and bronze plaques. The latter were nailed on to the wooden palisade around the royal palace, while ivory statuettes and salt cellars were sold to visiting Europeans as souvenirs. See also African Art and Architecture.

During the so-called Scramble for Africa in the 1890s southern Nigeria was gradually brought within the British Empire. The Oba of Benin at this time, the 35th ruler of the dynasty, ruled little more than Benin City. In 1897, when the Oba refused to submit to British authority, the British sent a military force that overcame Bini resistance and sacked and looted the Benin capital. Unique bronze plaques were ripped from the palace walls and, together with other artistic and historic artefacts, were shipped to Britain for sale and dispersal as conqueror’s loot. The largest collection of bronze plaques found its way into the collection of the British Museum in London, where it remains to this day.

In the 20th century the Obas still functioned as ceremonial leaders, but with their powers and influence much reduced. In 1997, the centenary of the fall of Benin City, the Bini held memorial ceremonies for those who gave their lives in the defence of Benin; a campaign was mounted to demand the return of the looted artefacts, but it proved unsuccessful.