Benin City
Major City
Statue on King's Square (Ring Road) in Benin City
Country	Nigeria
State	Edo State
Population  (2006)
• Total	1,147,188

Benin City, a city (2006 est. pop. 1,147,188) and capital of Edo State, southern Nigeria, is a city approximately twenty-five miles North of the Benin River. It is situated 200 miles by road east of Lagos. Benin is the center of Nigeria's rubber industry, but processing palm nuts for oil is still an important traditional industry.^[1]

History

Founded around the 400BC, Benin City, originally known as Igodomigodo grew into an empire around the 10th century, Benin served as the capital of the Kingdom of Benin, the empire of the Oba of Benin, which flourished from the 14th through the 17th century. No trace remains of the structures admired by European travelers to "the Great Benin." After Benin was visited by the Portuguese in about 1485, historical Benin grew rich during the 16th and 17th centuries on the slave trade with Europe, carried in Dutch and Portuguese ships, as well as through the export of some tropical products.^[1]

Benin was first known as Igodomigodo when it was ruled by the monarchs known as Ogiso. After the end of the Ogiso Dynasty, with the last Ogiso known as Ogiso Owodo, the city was in confusion as a result of the fact that the only son of the Ogiso, Ekaladerhan (known among the Yorubas as Oduduwa) had been banished from the town because of a false prophecy concocted by one of the wives of the Ogiso in collaboration with the seer. Ekaladerhan had escaped from Benin through the Ughoton creeks to a place he called Ile-Ife where he founded the Yoruba race. He firmly established his new kingdom whilst at home in Benin City, his father had died. The problem of succession arose and there was an interegnum for many years until the people went out in search of their lost son. In Benin city until this day, succession to the throne of the king is by primogeniture and only the eldest surviving son can seat on the throne. When they finally traced Ekaladerhan, who had changed his name to Izoduwa (I chose the path of weealth - which the Yoruba corrupted to mean Oduduwa) he was already too old to return to his ancestral home but blessed his last son, Omonoyan (whom the Yoruba corrupted to mean Oranmiyan) to rule Benin. Oranmiyan could not stay in Benin as he could not cope with the culture of the city where he had not grown up. He had a son by an Egor princess and named him Eweka who eventually founded the Obaship dynasty of Benin City. The Dynasty of Eweka has continued unbroken until this day. Oba Oranmiyan changed the name of the city to Ile-Ibinu (1180-1897) A name which in Yoruba language means the "House of Vexation" because his reign was not totally accepted by the contending families of the interregnum regents like the Ogiameans who didnt want a return to the original lineage of the Benin Ogisos because they had stayed on the throne for sometime and wished to establish their reign, coupled with the fact tha Oranmiyan did not understand the unique culture and ways of the Benin people. Oba Ewedo would later change this name to "Ubinu" while the Portuguese corrupted the name to mean Benin in their own language. In about 1470, Ewuare changed the name to the new state of Edo^[2]

The Bight of Benin's shore was part of the so-called "Slave Coast", from where many West Africans were sold to foreign slave traders who enticed them to sell able bodied men into bonded servitude to Europe. 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. Some Benin words still retain Portuguese words. For example the Benin word for spoon Ekuye is very similar in pronunciation to the Portugues word for spoon (colher). Every noun in Benin borrowed from another language begins with an (e) and Benin language do no have the letter (c) but replaces it with (k) or (s) depending on how it sounds.

On 1 February 1852 the whole Bight of Benin became a British protectorate, where a consul represented the protector, until on 6 August 1861 the Bights of Biafra and Benin became a united British protectorate, again under a British Consul.

On 17 February 1897, Benin City fell to the British.^[1] In the "Punitive Expedition", a 1200-strong 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. The "Benin Bronzes", portrait figures, busts, and groups created in iron, carved ivory, and especially in brass (conventionally called "bronze"), were taken from the city by the British and are displayed in museums around the world.^[1] This act was perpetuated by the British who also auctioned some of the bronzes allegedly to cater for their expenses incurred during the invasion of the city. Most of these artifacts can be found today in British museums and other parts of the world. Ever since, series of appeals have gone to the British government to return such artifacts. The most prominent of these artifacts was the famous Queen Idia mask used as a mascot during the Second Festival of Arts Culture (FESTAC '77) held in Nigeria in 1977 now known as "Festac Mask".

The defeat, capture and subjugation of Benin paved the way for British military occupation and the merging of later regional British conquests into the Niger Coast Protectorate, the Protectorate of Southern Nigeria and finally, into the Colony and Protectorate of Nigeria. The Benin monarchy was restored in 1914, but true power lay with the colonial administration of Nigeria.

Education

Benin City is home to some of Nigeria's institutions of higher learning, namely, The University of Benin, the Benson Idahosa University -renowned for its advancement in Information Technology, Entrepreneurship and Leadership development. Benin City also has one of the best secondary schools in the Nigeria and these include, Edo College, Presentation National High School, Immaculate conception Collge, Idia College, University of Benin Demonstration Secondary School, University Preparatory Secondary School, Headquarters of Word of Faith Group of Schools, Nosakhare Model Education Centre and Igbinedion Educational Centre.

Culture

Attractions in the city include the National Museum Benin city, the Oba Palace, Igun Street (-famous for bronze casting and other metalworks for centuries). Other attractions include various festivals and the Benin Moats (measuring about 20 to 40 Ft), the famous King's Square on Ring road and its traditional markets.

Beninese are known for bronze sculpture, its casting skills and their arts and craft. Benin city is also reputed taking in one of the oldest sustained monarchies in the world. Various festivals are held in Benin city yearly to celebrate various historic occasions and seasons. Igue Festival is the most popular of the festivals where the Oba celebrates the history and culture of his people and blesses the land and the people. It is celebrated at a time between Christmas and New Year.

References

Bibliography

• Bondarenko D. M. A Homoarchic Alternative to the Homoarchic State: Benin Kingdom of the 13th - 19th Centuries. Social Evolution & History. 2005. Vol. 4, No 2. P. 18-88.

External links

• WorldStatesmen- Nigeria
• The Fall of Benin
• Benin kingdom/Edo state tourism

6°19′03″N 5°36′52″E / 6.3176°N 5.6145°E / 6.3176; 5.6145