THE BENIN CIVILIZATION

It is quite unfortunate that in their quest for control of Africa the Europeans destroyed important
land marks and even traditional artifacts that told of the African history. Nevertheless, though
conquered by Europeans the rich heritage of Africa still leaves on as we see their earliest
civilization still affecting our lives today. One of these civilization that is still felt today in
Nigeria and to the worlds afar is the Benin civilization.
The origin of the Benin civilization can be traced back to as early as the 900s when the Edo
people settled in the rainforest of West Africa presently Southern Nigeria. While there they lived
in small colonies that were ruled with chiefs who were called the Ogisos (Kings of the Sky).
About 36 Ogigos ruled the small colonies. In 1440, Oba Ewuare (Ewuare the Great) came to
power and turned the city-state into an empire thus dethroning the Ogigos and having only one
center of power ruled by the Oba. These Obas ruled in succession until when the kingdom came
to its sad end. To date the Oba of Benin is still recognized in Nigeria.
These joined colonies which came together are what came to be called the Benin City which
grew into a large kingdom. The factors that led to the successful growth of this kingdom are what
we will look at and how they impacted the history of the Edo and Africa at large.

Trading was a highly respected profession in ancient Benin, but they did not allow foreign
traders to visit their villages. Instead, Benin traders would meet with foreign traders at an
appointed spot where they traded. If foreign traders stole from them, the Benin traders refused to
trade with anyone, from any country, until the robbers apologized and made things right with a
return of goods (or goods of equal value.) Sometimes people from other kingdoms (and
countries) helped Benin track down bandits to speed up the process of returning to normal
trading, or at least normal by Benin's system.

They developed a strong mercantile with the Portuguese trading tropical products, and
increasingly slaves, for European goods and guns. In the early sixteenth 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 nineteenth 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 percent
ivory, 30 percent slaves, and 50 percent other things. Visitors in the sixteenth and seventeenth
centuries brought back to Europe tales of “the Great Benin,” a fabulous city of noble buildings,
ruled over by a powerful king.

The pride of this empire was the city of Benin and in addition to it was the grand Benin wall.
Different writers have said much of this great innovation that has put this empire alive in history.
The Guinness Book of Records (1974 edition) described the walls of Benin City and its
surrounding kingdom as the world’s largest earthworks carried out prior to the mechanical era.
According to estimates by the New Scientist’s Fred Pearce, Benin City’s walls were at one point
“four times longer than the Great Wall of China, and consumed a hundred times more material
than the Great Pyramid of Cheops”. Benin City was one of the most beautiful and best-planned
cities in the world, at the time. The Benin Kingdom consisted of hundreds of interlocked cities
and villages. It was also one of the first cities in the world to have some form of street lighting
such that the Portuguese called it the "Great City of Benin".

As far as art was concerned they wove cotton fabrics with stripes of color which were in high
demand by the surrounding communities and also the foreigners. The Benin empire also
developed an advanced artistic culture especially in its famous artefacts of bronze, iron and
ivory. These include bronze wall plaques and life-sized bronze heads of the Obas of Benin. Most
artwork was commissioned by or created for the palace, often for ceremonial use. Much art
depicted the Oba in various costumes. The guild of artisans enjoyed royal patronage and
occupied a designated district of the capital. As usual when Europeans first saw this art they
supposed a nonAfrican origin because they did not think Africans capable of such sophisticated
work. The “Portuguese, the Ancient Egyptians, even the lost tribe of Israel” were credited
instead of the Edo.

Apart from this art there were also other practices that were part of the Edo who were the
residents of the Benin empire these included people like farmers, musicians, traders, weavers,
builders, magicians, warriors, witchdoctors, blacksmiths, fishermen, government advisers, and
storytellers etc.

As an organized state Benin had an army to protect it from external attacks even though all the
men were trained to fight. To add to this, they also had an organized education system. Even
though they did not have a written language and kids did not go to school, in the evening, the
people in each village would collect around the evening campfire. That's when the storytellers
would weave their tales. There was no formal schooling, but a great deal of education occurred
during storytelling time. It was in these schools that simple innovations like a thumb piano were
made.

The empire was very religious and people believed in many gods and goddesses. They believed
their witchdoctors could talk to their gods, and had the power to cure and heal. The worship of
their gods was taken seriously such that trade or work could stop for many days for the purposes
of worship. Thus the missionaries who brought Christianity were not so successful as the locals
preferred their gods more to the Christian God.

By the 1800s, the once powerful Benin Kingdom was losing control, in that it was facing an
external threat from the British who were forcefully trying to trade with the kingdom despite the
king's resistance for as earlier stated they had their rules of trading. In 1897, a group of British
officials went to visit the kingdom. They were sent away because the Oba was busy. However,
the British officials insisted that they needed to speak to the king. As they approached the Benin
wall, a group of soldiers attacked them. It resulted in several British men dying. This action
infuriated the British, and as a result, they sent thousands of soldiers to invade the kingdom. The
British troops attacked Benin and burnt it to the ground.

That was the sad end to the once wealthy and prosperous kingdom. Then was the onset of the
British colonization. Many years after the British colonialists are gone the traces of this kingdom
still leaves on as we sturdy its history.