Oral history

Categories of Chiefs and Palace Societies in Benin Kingdom

About the interview
Chieftaincy TitlesKingsTitles and Ranks

In this video, 'Categories of Chiefs and Palace Societies in the Benin Kingdom,' Mr Donald Odemwingie discusses the different functions of the various categories of chiefs and chamberlain within the royal court. He mentions the basic features with which they are distinguished and how their titles are acquired. He states that the Uzama are hereditary, but the Eghaevbo n'Ore are not except those the Oba have given the rights as gift of hereditary title. In the Eghaevbo n'Ore the first five titles are not hereditary. By tradition, only a member of the particular chamberlain can be given the title from that category. He then described how Uzama n'Ibie and Ibiwe n'Khua groups performed functions that ensured no vacuum during state ceremonies or rituals.

About the contributors

Referenced in this interview

Sensitive Content

Digital Benin collates digital material from institutions, and some of this material is inherently colonial and contains words, terms and phrases that are inaccurate, derogatory and harmful towards African and African diasporic communities. Catalogue transcriptions, book titles, exhibition titles and museum titles may contain harmful terms. We recognise the potential for the material to cause physical and mental distress as well as evoke strong emotions. Owing to the scale of the collection’s data, a process to implement sensitive-content warnings in the displayed data is still incomplete. The material within the catalogue does not represent Digital Benin’s views. Digital Benin maintains a strong anti-colonial, anti-racist position and affirms its support for centring the humanity of historically marginalised and disenfranchised communities. Read more about the background of this statement here

Info
About
Other