Benin City

==History==

=== Edo people ===
According to tradition, the original people and founders of the [[Kingdom of Benin|Ẹdo Empire]] and the Edo people initially were ruled by the kings known as the Ogiso (meaning King of the sky) dynasty who called the land [[Igodomigodo]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Dimeji Kayode-Adedeji |title=benin-kingdom-edo-yoruba-territory-ooni-ife-adeyeye-ogunwusi. |url=https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/top-news/198255-benin-kingdom-edo-yoruba-territory-ooni-ife-adeyeye-ogunwusi.html?tztc=1 |access-date=2023-06-12 |website=www.premiumtimesng.com}}</ref> Igodo, the first [[List of the Ogiso|Ogiso]], wielded much influence and gained popularity as a good ruler. He died after a long reign and was succeeded by [[Ere (ogiso)|Ere]], his eldest son. A battle for power soon erupted between the wife of the last [[List of the Ogiso|Ogiso]] and prince Ekaladerhan, son of the last [[Ogiso]]. Prince Ekaladerhan was framed by his father's wife and sentenced to death. The men sent to kill him, however, released him at [[Ughoton]]. The exiled prince made his way to where he changed his name to Izoduwa, meaning "I have found prosperity". It was during this period of confusion in Benin that the elders, led by Chief Oliha, mounted a search for the banished Prince Ekaladerhan – whom the Ife people now called [[Oduduwa]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Edo People – Edo Nigeria Association of Western Australia|url=https://enawa.org.au/edo-people/|access-date=2021-07-09|language=en-AU}}</ref>

The exiled Ekaladerhan, now Oduduwa, refused to come to Benin because of how he was treated, having found out that he wasn't killed.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Nigeria |first=Guardian |date=2017-02-12 |title=Remapping the inter-twinned histories of Nigeria's ethnic nationalities |url=https://guardian.ng/art/c74-arts/remapping-the-inter-twinned-histories-of-nigerias-ethnic-nationalities/ |access-date=2023-06-12 |website=The Guardian Nigeria News - Nigeria and World News |language=en-US}}</ref> He devised to send one of his sons, Oramiyan. He refused to return from Ile-Ife but sent his son Ọranmiyan to become king in his place.<ref>{{Cite news|title=The kingdom of Benin|language=en-GB|work=BBC Bitesize|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/zpvckqt/articles/z3n7mp3|access-date=2020-05-31}}</ref> Prince [[Ọranyan|Ọranmiyan]] took up residence in the palace built for him at Uzama by the elders, now a coronation shrine. Soon after he married a beautiful lady, Ẹrinmwide, daughter of Osa-nego, the ninth ''Enogie'' of [[Egor]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Benin Obas|url=https://www.edoworld.net/Obas1.html|access-date=2021-08-25|website=www.edoworld.net}}</ref> He and Erinmwide had a son. After some years he called a meeting of the people and renounced his office, remarking that the country was a land of vexation, ''Ile-Ibinu'', and that only a child born, trained, and educated in the arts and mysteries of the land could reign over the people.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Pynith|date=2020-03-21|title=the history of Benin city you need to know - LPV Forum|url=https://lpvforum.com/the-history-of-benin-city-you-need-to-know|access-date=2021-07-09|website=lpvforum.com|language=en}}</ref> The country was afterward known by this name. He caused his son born to him by Ẹrinmwide to be made King in his place and returned to Benin land. After some years in Ife, he left for Benin, where he also left a son behind upon leaving, and his son Ajaka ultimately became the first [[Oba of Benin|Oba]] of Benin of the present line, while Ọranmiyan himself was reigning as Ọọni of Ifẹ. Therefore, Ọranmiyan of Ife, the father of Ẹwẹka I, the Ọba of Benin, was also the father of Ajaka, [[Alaafin of Oyo|Alaafin]] of [[Oyo Empire|Ọyọ]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Benin City {{!}} Hometown.ng™|date=24 November 2016|url=https://hometown.ng/listing-item/benin-city/|access-date=2020-06-08|language=en-US}}</ref> Ọọni of Ifẹ. Ọba Ẹwẹka later changed the name of the city of Ile-Binu, the capital of the Benin kingdom, to "Ubinu." This name would be reinterpreted by the [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]] as "Benin" in their own language. Around 1470, Ẹwuare changed the name of the state to Ẹdo.<ref>''The Sun'' (Nigeria), Wednesday, 17 September 2008.</ref> This was about the time the people of Ọkpẹkpẹ migrated from Benin City. Alternatively, the [[Yoruba people|Yoruba nation]] has a different conception of [[Oduduwa]].<ref>{{Cite web|date=2016-02-10|title=Benin Kingdom in Edo is Yoruba territory -- Ooni of Ife, Adeyeye Ogunwusi {{!}} Premium Times Nigeria|url=https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/top-news/198255-benin-kingdom-edo-yoruba-territory-ooni-ife-adeyeye-ogunwusi.html|access-date=2021-07-09|language=en-GB}}</ref> According to Yoruba tradition, because of his power and military might, he was able to defeat the enemies invading Benin and that is why the people of Benin made him the King or Ọba of Benin. In any case, it is agreed upon by both the [[Yoruba people|Yoruba]] and the [[Edo people|Edo]] that [[Oduduwa]] sent his son Prince Oranmiyan of Ife to rule Benin City and founded the Oba dynasty in Benin City.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2016-02-22|title=The Place Of Oranmiyan In The History Of Ile - Ife|url=https://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/02/the-place-of-oranmiyan-in-the-history-of-ile-ife/|access-date=2021-07-09|website=Vanguard News|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Benin City {{!}} History & Facts|url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Benin-City|access-date=2021-07-15|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|language=en}}</ref>

Benin [[imperialism]] was started in the last decade of the [[13th century|thirteen century]] by [[Oba Ewedo]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Toyin |first1=Falola |editor1-last=Akinwunmi |editor1-first=Ogundiran |title=Precolonial Nigeria |publisher=African World Press Inc |isbn=978-1592212194 |pages=264–265 |edition=2005 |year=2005 }}</ref>

=== European contact and colonization ===
The [[Portugal|Portuguese]] visited Benin City around 1485. Benin grew rich during the 16th and 17th centuries due to trade within southern Nigeria, as well as through trade with [[Ethnic groups in Europe|Europeans]], mostly in pepper and ivory. In the early 16th century, the Ọba sent an ambassador to [[Lisbon]], and the [[King of Portugal]] sent [[Christianity|Christian]] [[missionaries]] to Benin. Some residents of Benin could still speak a [[pidgin]] Portuguese in the late 19th century. Many Portuguese [[loan words]] can still be found today in the languages of the area. A Portuguese captain described the city in 1691:"Great Benin, where the king resides, is larger than [[Lisbon]]; all the streets run straight and as far as the eye can see. The houses are large, especially that of the king, which is richly decorated and has fine columns. The city is wealthy and industrious. It is so well governed that theft is unknown and the people live in such security that they have no doors to their houses".<ref name="Koutonin">{{cite news|last1=Koutonin|first1=Mawuna|title=Story of cities #5: Benin City, the mighty medieval capital now lost without trace|url=https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2016/mar/18/story-of-cities-5-benin-city-edo-nigeria-mighty-medieval-capital-lost-without-trace|access-date=2 April 2018|date=18 March 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Elias |first1=Taslim Olawale |title=Africa and the development of international law |date=1988 |publisher=Springer Netherlands |isbn=9789024737963 |page=12 |edition=Second edition, first published 1972 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0dol1fMSM-AC |access-date=27 January 2019}}</ref>

[[File:Drawing of Benin City made by an English officer 1897.jpg|thumb|Drawing of Benin City made by a British officer, 1897]]

On 17 February 1897, Benin City fell to the British.<ref name="columbia encyclopedia"/> In the "[[Benin Expedition of 1897|Punitive Expedition]]", a 1,200-strong British force, under the command of Admiral [[Harry Rawson|Sir Harry Rawson]], captured, sacked, and burnt the city after all but two men from a previous British delegation led by Acting Consul General [[James Robert Phillips]] were ambushed and killed.<ref name="ny">{{cite magazine |quote=In 1897, after the Edo slaughtered a British delegation, colonial forces, pledging to end slavery and ritual sacrifice, ransacked the city and burned it to the ground. |url=http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/04/10/the-desperate-journey-of-a-trafficked-girl |magazine=[[The New Yorker]] |date=10 April 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170403090127/http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/04/10/the-desperate-journey-of-a-trafficked-girl |archive-date=3 April 2017 |title=The Desperate Journey of a Trafficked Girl |first=Ben |last=Taub}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |jstor = 2784423|title = The Annexation of Benin|journal = Journal of Black Studies|volume = 19|issue = 1|pages = 29–40|last1 = Obinyan|first1 = Thomas Uwadiale|year = 1988|doi = 10.1177/002193478801900103|s2cid = 142726955}}</ref> [[Alan Boisragon]], one of the survivors of the Benin Massacre, included references of the practice of human sacrifice in the city in a firsthand account written in 1898 (one year after the Punitive Expedition).<ref>Boisragon, A. [https://archive.org/stream/beninmassacre02boisgoog#page/n198/mode/2up ''The Benin Massacre''(1897).]</ref> James D. Graham notes that although "there is little doubt that human sacrifices were an integral part of the Benin state religion from very early days," firsthand accounts regarding such acts often varied significantly, with some reporting them and others making no mention of them.<ref>{{Cite journal |jstor = 4390897|title = The Slave Trade, Depopulation and Human Sacrifice in Benin History: The General Approach|journal = Cahiers d'Études Africaines|volume = 5|issue = 18|pages = 317–334|last1 = Graham|first1 = James D.|year = 1965|doi = 10.3406/cea.1965.3035}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|title=The kingdom of Benin|language=en-GB|work=BBC Bitesize|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/zpvckqt/articles/z3n7mp3|access-date=2021-07-15}}</ref>

The "[[Benin Bronzes]]", portrait figures, busts and groups created in [[iron]], carved [[ivory]], and especially in [[brass]] (conventionally called "bronze"), were looted from the Benin City palace by the expeditionary force and are currently on display in various [[museum]]s around the world.<ref name="columbia encyclopedia"/> Some of the bronzes were auctioned off to compensate for the expenses incurred during the capture and occupation of the city. Most of these artifacts can be found today in Western museums and locations around the world. In recent years, various appeals have gone to various museums and governments to return such artifacts. The most prominent of these artifacts was the famous Queen Idia mask used as a mascot during the [[World Festival of Black Arts|Second Festival of Arts Culture]] (FESTAC '77) held in Nigeria in 1977 now known as "Festac Mask".<ref>{{Cite news|last=Marshall|first=Alex|date=2020-01-23|title=This Art Was Looted 123 Years Ago. Will It Ever Be Returned?|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/23/arts/design/benin-bronzes.html|access-date=2021-07-09|issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

The capture of Benin paved the way for British colonization and the merging of later regional British incorporation of African kingdoms into the [[Niger Coast Protectorate]], the [[Protectorate of Southern Nigeria]] and finally, into the [[Colonial Nigeria|Colony and Protectorate of Nigeria]]. The British permitted the restoration of the Benin monarchy in 1914, but true political power still lay with the colonial administration of Nigeria.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Nigeria - The arrival of the British|url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Nigeria|access-date=2021-07-09|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|language=en}}</ref>

=== Nigerian independence ===
Following Nigeria's independence from British rule in 1960,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Nigeria: Four Regions at the Time of Independence {{!}} AHA |url=https://www.historians.org/teaching-and-learning/teaching-resources-for-historians/teaching-and-learning-in-the-digital-age/through-the-lens-of-history-biafra-nigeria-the-west-and-the-world/the-republic-of-biafra/nigeria-four-regions-at-the-time-of-independence |access-date=2023-10-31 |website=www.historians.org}}</ref> Benin City became the capital of [[Mid-Western Region, Nigeria|Mid-Western Region]] when the region was split from [[Western Region, Nigeria|Western Region]] in June 1963. In 1976, when the region was renamed [[Mid-Western Region, Nigeria|Bendel State]], it remained the capital of the region and became the State Capital of [[Edo State]] when Bendel state was split into [[Delta State]] and [[Edo State]]  in 1991.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Bendel {{!}} state, Nigeria|url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Bendel|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|language=en|access-date=2020-05-31}}</ref>