Historical accounts are vague as to when and if the Bini (Edo), migrated from the Nile valley. What is not in doubt is that the earliest rulers of Benin were called Ogisos.
Thirty-one Ogisos in all ruled the kingdom of Benin between 900 - 1200 AD, which is the earliest period so far accounted for in Benin history.
The Benin monarchy demonstrates strong affinity with ancient Egyptian gods and Pharaohs, with which it shares identical authority, grandeur and a great deal of reverence from their subjects.
In fact, the hair style of Bini chiefs is similar to Pharaoh Ramses II's famous helmet, while the small circles on the helmet appear also on many Benin bronzes. Benin Queens wear identical hairstyles to that of Pharaoh Mycerinus (Fourth-Dynasty), and Pharaoh Sesostris I (Twelfth Dynasty). The kings (Ogies) of Benin also adopt grand Osirian titles of the 'Open Eye,' signifying omniscience and omnipotence.
The Benin cosmological account of the universe draws significantly from the Egyptian one. The Egyptian version, which later formed the basis of genesis in the Bible, is that the universe was created from chaos and primeval (or ancient) ocean. After a hill (called tatjenen) arose from the bottom of the ocean, a son-god (God's child or baby god) called Atom (which is the Sun without which life on earth is impossible), appeared on the land created by the hill.
The son-god or Atom then created eight other gods which together with himself made nine gods. These nine gods are presumed by modern science to be symbolized by the nine major planets of the universe.
The Benin version is that, in the beginning there was no land only water everywhere. In the middle of the water stood a tree on top of which lived (Owonwon) the toucan. Osanobua (The Creator) decided to populate the world so The Creator sent three sons, each with a choice of peculiar gift.
One of the three sons chose to have wealth and the next chose magical skills. As the youngest was about to make his choice known, Owonwon cried out to him to settle for a snail shell. This he did. When the canoe the three children were travelling in reached the middle of the waters, the youngest son turned his snail shell upside down to release endless stream of sand resulting in the emergence of land from the waters.
The three sons at first were afraid to step on the land from the canoe. To test the firmness of the land, they sent the Chameleon, which is why Chameleons walk with hesitation.
Osanobua then came down on a chain, from the sky, to demarcate the earth and allocate responsibilities. Osanobua appointed the youngest son as ruler of the earth. The son called the earth (Agbon) and promptly set up his headquarters at Igodomigodo.
The Ogisos (meaning rulers of the sky) because of their direct lineage to the youngest son of Osanobua (God), from the sky, were of course, accorded divine qualities by the Benin. These, the Ogisos naturally tried to strengthen in a variety of ways, including not allowing themselves to be seen eating in public and so suggesting that they can live without food. They are not mortal but god-kings with celestial mystique attached to them.
Because the kings (Ogisos) of Benin are considered divine, they are worshipped by their subjects who speak to them always with great reverence, at a distance and on bended knees. Great ceremonies surround every action of the Benin king.
The first Ogiso king was called Ogiso Igodo and his kingdom Igodomigodo was at Ugbekun. Ogiso Igodo's successor, Ogiso Ere, transferred the capital from Ugbekun to Uhudumwunrun.
The last of the Ogiso kings was called Owodo. He reigned in the 12th century AD and had only one child (a male) despite having many wives.
The death of Ogiso Owodo created leadership vacuum forq the first time in Igodomigodo's history. It was during this period of confusion that the elders, known as Edionisen, including Chiefs Edohen, Ero and led by Oliha mounted a search for their banished Prince Ekaladerhan.
In the meantime, Ekaladerhan had set up a settlement he called 'Ilefe,' (meaning, successful escape) and had changed his name to 'Izoduwa,' (meaning I have chosen the path of prosperity).
Izoduwa's new home, 'Ilefe' was in the heart of Yoruba land and because of his immense magic powers soon endeared himself to his Yoruba community which included some Uzebu (corrupted in Yoruba to Ijebu) who had followed him into exile from Igodomigodo, and were treating him as a god. The Yoruba corrupted his name Izoduwa to 'Oduduwa' and his camp, 'Ilefe' to Ile Ife.
Leadership vacuum was again created in Igodomigodo and after a period of uncertainly, the Edionisen decided to once again reach out to their son, Izoduwa, who had by then acquired the Yoruba title of 'Ooni.' After much pleading by the Edionisen, for the Ooni to allow his first son to ascend to the throne of Igodomigodo, the Ooni decided to put the people of Igodomigodo to a test. He gave the Edionisen some lice and instructed them to bring them back in three years to get their answer.
Chief Oliha kept the lice in the hair of one of their slaves and after three years returned the lice to Izoduwa who was surprised at the level of preservation and development of the lice. Izoduwa (Oduduwa) concluded that if the Edionisen could so adequately take care of the lice, his son was likely to be in good hands.
In the meantime, Irebor was warning the people of Igodomigodo against what he called (Ogie a mien, Aimmien Oba), meaning it is an Ogie that rules Igodomigodo and not an Oba, in protest against the intrusion of the Ife Prince. The word Ogiamen then became the nickname of Irebor and subsequently the hereditary title of the ruler of Irebor's Igodomigodo.
Ogiamien Irebor prevented Prince Oranmiyan from entering the heart of Igodomigodo kingdom. The people of Igodomigodo built a palace for Prince Oranmiyan at Usama. Prince Oranmiyan, unable to bear the animosity for very long, renounced his office and called Igodomigodo land, Ile Ibinu (meaning a land of annoyance and vexation). He declared that only a child of the soil, educated in the culture and traditions of Igodomigodo could rule the kingdom.
Prince Oranmiyan, on his way home to Ife, stopped briefly at Ego, where he impregnated Princess Erimwinde, the daughter of the Enogie of Ego. Princess Erimwinde's casual encounter with Prince Oranmiyan resulted in the birth of a baby boy who couldn't talk in his early years but loved playing the game of marble.
When Oranmiyan, who had in the meantime established his Alafin dynasty in Oyo was informed about his son's predicament, he sent the child's mother seven marbles. While playing with the marbles and other children, one of his throws hit the target and in the excitement screamed: ' Owomika,' (meaning I hit the target). This is how his title of Oba Eweka was derived and he ruled over Usama renamed Ile-Ibinu outside Igodomigodo. In the meantime, Ogiamien Irebor who ruled Igodomigodo had been succeeded by Ogiamien Ubi by the time of Oba Eweka's reign in Ile-Ibinu.
THE PORTUGUESE CONNECTION
When the Portuguese first “discovered” the city in 1485, they were stunned to find this vast kingdom made of hundreds of interlocked cities and villages in the middle of the African jungle. They called it the “Great City of Benin”, at a time when there were hardly any other places in Africa the Europeans acknowledged as a city. Indeed, they classified Benin City as one of the most beautiful and best planned cities in the world.
In 1691, the Portuguese ship captain Lourenco Pinto observed:
“Great Benin, where the king resides, is larger than Lisbon; all the streets run straight and as far as the eye can see. The houses are large, especially that of the king, which is richly decorated and has fine columns. The city is wealthy and industrious. It is so well governed that theft is unknown and the people live in such security that they have no doors to their houses.”
In contrast, London at the same time is described by Bruce Holsinger, professor of English at the University of Virginia, as being a city of “thievery, prostitution, murder, bribery and a thriving black market made the medieval city ripe for exploitation by those with a skill for the quick blade or picking a pocket”.
AFRICAN FRACTALS
Benin City’s planning and design was done according to careful rules of symmetry, proportionality and repetition now known as fractal design. The mathematician Ron Eglash, author of African Fractals – which examines the patterns underpinning architecture, art and design in many parts of Africa – notes that the city and its surrounding villages were purposely laid out to form perfect fractals, with similar shapes repeated in the rooms of each house, and the house itself, and the clusters of houses in the village in mathematically predictable patterns.
As he puts it: “When Europeans first came to Africa, they considered the architecture very disorganized and thus primitive. It never occurred to them that the Africans might have been using a form of mathematics that they hadn’t even discovered yet.”
At the centre of the city stood the king’s court, from which extended 30 very straight, broad streets, each about 120-ft wide. These main streets, which ran at right angles to each other, had underground drainage made of a sunken impluvium with an outlet to carry away storm water. Many narrower side and intersecting streets extended off them. In the middle of the streets were turf on which animals fed.
“Houses are built alongside the streets in good order, the one close to the other,” writes the 17th-century Dutch visitor Olfert Dapper. “Adorned with gables and steps … they are usually broad with long galleries inside, especially so in the case of the houses of the nobility, and divided into many rooms which are separated by walls made of red clay, very well erected.”
Dapper adds that wealthy residents kept these walls “as shiny and smooth by washing and rubbing as any wall in Holland can be made with chalk, and they are like mirrors. The upper storeys are made of the same sort of clay. Moreover, every house is provided with a well for the supply of fresh water”.
Family houses were divided into three sections: the central part was the husband’s quarters, looking towards the road; to the left the wives’ quarters (oderie), and to the right the young men’s quarters (yekogbe).
Daily street life in Benin City might have consisted of large crowds going though even larger streets, with people colourfully dressed – some in white, others in yellow, blue or green – and the city captains acting as judges to resolve lawsuits, moderating debates in the numerous galleries, and arbitrating petty conflicts in the markets.
The early foreign explorers’ descriptions of Benin City portrayed it as a place free of crime and hunger, with large streets and houses kept clean; a city filled with courteous, honest people, and run by a centralized and highly sophisticated bureaucracy.
What impressed the first visiting Europeans most was the wealth, artistic beauty and magnificence of the city
The city was split into 11 divisions, each a smaller replication of the king’s court, comprising a sprawling series of compounds containing accommodation, workshops and public buildings – interconnected by innumerable doors and passageways, all richly decorated with the art that made Benin famous. The city was literally covered in it.
The exterior walls of the courts and compounds were decorated with horizontal ridge designs (agben) and clay carvings portraying animals, warriors and other symbols of power – the carvings would create contrasting patterns in the strong sunlight. Natural objects (pebbles or pieces of mica) were also pressed into the wet clay, while in the palaces, pillars were covered with bronze plaques illustrating the victories and deeds of former kings and nobles.
At the height of its greatness in the 12th century – well before the start of the European Renaissance – the kings and nobles of Benin City patronised craftsmen and lavished them with gifts and wealth, in return for their depiction of the kings’ and dignitaries’ great exploits in intricate bronze sculptures.
“These works from Benin are equal to the very finest examples of European casting technique,” wrote Professor Felix von Luschan, formerly of the Berlin Ethnological Museum. “Benvenuto Celini could not have cast them better, nor could anyone else before or after him. Technically, these bronzes represent the very highest possible achievement.”
LIST OF OBAS OF THE BENIN EMPIRE
There is some uncertainty in the dates of the reigns of some of the earlier warrior kings.
Pre-Imperial Obas of Benin (pre-1180 – 1440).
Eweka I (1180–1246)
Uwuakhuahen (1246–1250)
Henmihen (1250–1260)
Ewedo (1260–1274)
Oguola (1274–1287)
Edoni (1287–1292)
Udagbedo (1292–1329)
Ohen (1329–1366)
Egbeka (1366–1397)
Orobiru (1397–1434)
Uwaifiokun (1434–1440)
Obas of the Benin Empire (1440–1897) Ewuare I (1440–1473)
Ezoti (1473–1474)
Olua (1475–1480)
Ozolua (1480–1504)
Esigie (1504–1547)
Orhogbua (1547–1580)
Ehengbuda (1580–1602)
Ohuan (1602–1656)
Ohenzae (1656–1661)
Akenzae (1661–1669)
Akengboi (1669–1675)
Akenkpaye (1675–1684)
Akengbedo (1684–1689)
Ore-Oghene (1689–1701)
Ewuakpe (1701–1712)
Ozuere (1712–1713)
Akenzua I (1713–1740)
Eresoyen (1740–1750)
Akengbuda (1750–1804)
Obanosa (1804–1816)
Ogbebo (1816)
Osemwende (1816–1848)
Adolo (1848–1888)
Ovonramwen Nogbaisi (1888–1914) (exiled to Calabar by the British in 1897)
Post-Imperial Obas of Benin (1914–Present)
Eweka II (1914–1933)
Akenzua II (1933–1978)
Erediauwa (1979–2016)
The current king of this great African kingdom and one of the most vibrant, colourful and enlightened civilizations in the history of the world, is Oba Ewuare II, The Omo N'Oba N'Edo Uku Akpolo Kpolo, Oba of Benin.
SOURCES/ COPYRIGHT
-The Secrets of the Ages by Naiwu Osahon, Published by Heritage Books, Apapa, Lagos, Nigeria.
-The International Edition of The Guardian
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