Benin was already a well-established agricultural community …

Years: 1396 - 1539

Benin was already a well-established agricultural community in the Edo-speaking area, east of Ife, when it became a dependency of Ife at the beginning of the fourteenth century.

By the fifteenth century, it takes an independent course and became a major trading power in its own right, blocking Ife's access to the coastal ports as Oyo had cut off the mother city from the savanna.

Political power and religious authority reside in the oba (king), who according to tradition is descended from the Ife dynasty.

The oba is advised by a council of six hereditary chiefs, who also nominate his successor.

Benin, which may have housed one hundred thousand inhabitants at its height, spreads over twenty-five square kilometers that are enclosed by three concentric rings of earthworks.

Responsibility for administering the urban complex lies with sixty trade guilds, each with its own quarter, whose membership cuts across clan affiliations and owes its loyalty directly to the oba.

At his wooden, steepled palace, the oba presides over a large court richly adorned with brass, bronze, and ivory objects.

Like Ife and the other Yoruba states, Benin, too, is famous for its sculpture.

Unlike the Yoruba kingdoms, however, Benin develops a centralized regime to oversee the administration of its expanding territories.

By the late fifteenth century, Benin is in contact with Portugal.

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West Africa (1396 - 1539)
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West Africa (1396 - 1539)

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