Preamble

‘In the name of their forebears, the Edo people have always dwelt. They cannot say much without a reference to their past which, again and again compels them to seek to know who they are’. – Prince Enawekponmwen Basimi Eweka (Eweka, 1992, p.1 )

The Kingdom of Benin is considered to be one of the most ancient kingdoms of Africa still existing today. Its origin and early history were transmitted through an oral tradition which was documented by local historians during the twentieth century. Traditionally, the Benin people used indigenous artistic expression to document their early history. Before the nineteenth century, when the kingdom reached its apogee, Benin had already developed socio-politically, with well-established economic, cultural and administrative mechanisms. These were rooted in the family structure as the nucleus of Benin society. From this period, Benin Kingdom expanded from being a conglomeration of villages to an empire. Its boundary reached the River Niger to the east and the sea to the south, and the Benin empire established suzerainty over eastern Yoruba areas to its west and southwest, to the border of what was to become Dahomey. It became the most dreaded and richest empire in the Guinea forest of West Africa. It controlled the Atlantic coast for centuries and had a part of the region named after it – the Bight of Benin (Osadolor, 2001, p.132 ).

The Benin Kingdom was first known as Igodomigodo during the Ogiso era. The name was changed by Ọba Oronmiyan (c. 1170) to Ile-Ibinu (Land of vexation). Ọba Ẹwẹdo (c. 1250) renamed the kingdom Ubini (A land of inexhaustible wealth), while Ọba Ẹwuare I (c. 1440) named the kingdom after his favoured friend Edo, the servant of Ogiefa n’muekpokin. Thereafter, the Benin people refer to their land as Edo n’Evbo Aihire (City of brotherly love), because as opined by Egharevba (1971 [174]), the slave boy Edo saved Ọba Ẹwuare I.