Portuguese mariner João Afonso de Aviero becomes, in 1485, the first European to reach the Kingdom of Benin, an exceptionally vigorous West African state in existence from probably the thirteenth century and located in the rain-forest area of present southern Nigeria, west of the Niger River.

Aviero, who is greatly impressed by the wealth of the oba's (king's) court, notes that Benin is a trading state with commercial colonies stretching west as far as modern Benin.

At Aviero's urging, some of the local Edo, or Bini, princes are sent to Lisbon to study, and the Portuguese establish a Christian mission in the state.