WOMEN AND THE ECONOMY OF PRE-COLONIAL

WOMEN AND THE ECONOMY OF PRE-COLONIAL

CHAPTER ONE 

INTRODUCTION: THE GEOGRAPHY AND PEOPLE OF BENIN 

This study focuses on pre-colonial Benin’s women and economics. Introduction to the geography and people of Benin is provided in this chapter. One of the nations recognized for its amazing civilisation and growth in the Guinea Forest was Benin. In the woodland region of West Africa, Benin was one of the most well-known kingdoms, and her governmental system was no exception. Both academics and writers have expressed interest in Benin’s history, particularly its contributions to global culture. Knowing that the history of Benin, out of all the pre-colonial African States, is the one that is most frequently addressed in modern European literature and art is extremely fascinating. The geography and people of Benin are the main topics of this chapter.

Geographically, the pre-colonial Benin kingdom was situated in the West African sub-forested region’s portion of what is now modern-day Nigeria. This kingdom had multiple administrative divisions, making it impossible to define its exact borders. 1 The current Orodo, Ovia North-East, Ovia South-West, Uhunmwonde, Orhionmwon, and Ikpoba Okha Local Government Areas of Edo State are included in the term territory of the Benin Kingdom. According to historical accounts, Benin’s influence at its zenith extended westward along the coast of Eko, which is modern-day Lagos, and beyond; westward to Ekiti and beyond, which served as the border between Benin and the Oyo Empire; eastward to the River Niger as well as the Igbo speaking regions and beyond; and southward to the Atlantic Ocean. The region because Benin was heavily involved in fighting, pre-colonial Benin saw continual expansion. Conflict and conquering of kingdoms are part of the main answers to empire creation. Since the Europeans conquered the kingdom in 1897, the region does not match what was left of the empire. 2

Evidence has shown that people who spoke several types of Edo languages (Benin) have lived in a region for more than three millennia. This region is approximately thirty thousand square kilometers (31,000sqkm), or twelve thousand square miles (12,000skm). It spans in what is now Southern Nigeria to the west of the River Niger. The Kingdom of Benin was founded by the populace. The fact that Benin was still on the linguistic and cultural evidence was she was addressed differently by her close neighbors. They were known as “Ado” by their Yoruba neighbors, “Idu” by the Igbo to the east, and “Aka” by the Urhobo in their southern neighboring communities. “Ado” was also the name given to them by the Ijaw and “Ubini” by the Itsekiri.

It is quite unreasonable to suppose that the Edo’s living in the Benin area in pre-dynastic times were organized socially and politically in a manner that has remained typical of that people.

Cosmologically, the Binis believe in the most high God who they call ‘Osanobua’ or Osanoghodua. They were engaged in atonement of sins and lifting of curses as well as the worship of other smaller gods or deities.

The Binis refer to themselves as Owie-Edo which in English means “Born of Edo”. They also refer to Edo-Newbo-Ahiris meaning Edo, the city of love, drawing reference from an event that a man named Edo rescued a Bini prince the certainty and truth of which can be ascertained in the history of Benin during the rivalry period.

However, some writers, academia and non academia have tried to explain how the Portuguese came to identify the area as Benin. Dr. Ekhayuosa Aisien, a medical doctor and a surgeon who serves as one of the resource persons in the history of Benin and culture, has argued that the Itsekiri’s passed the name Ubini to the Portuguese and that Benin is the Portuguualization of Ubini. Professor A.F.C Ryder disagrees with Dr. Aisien’s view. His disagreement came without any explanation.4 That is to say, although he disagreed, he has not been able to give a tangible explanation. However, what is important here is that the name Benin/Ubini was given by the Europeans. Ubini was a name of territory which had several villages, speaking the same Benin/Edo language. As early as the 15th century, Benin has had contact with the Europeans. This was basically because of Benin’s wealth and fame which included his art and bronze work. The Portuguese were the first to have contact with Benin. They referred to them as ‘Beny’. The Europeans were so amazed at the level of achievement and influence, that they described Benin as the city of bronze. Reconstructing Benin’s origins has proven challenging for years. The reason for this is a lack of documentation. Because oral tradition has been mostly used to reconstruct pre-colonial Benin.

Many theories about the origin of Benin have been developed as a result of this incident. There are four interpretations, commonly known as the opposing interpretations, when it comes to the history of Benin. the following

The Hermitic Hypothesis
The tradition of migration
The tradition of original settlers
The snail shell hypothesis

The Hermitic Hypothesis is the earliest theory regarding Benin’s ancestry. In his book “The Races of Africa,” Charles C. Seligman advanced this thesis. This article was released in 1930. In his book, he makes an effort to defend the idea that African inventions and contributions to human or global civilisation were the product of Hermites, who are said to be of the Caucasian race. 6 The invasion of Benin by foreign invaders who imposed their conception of state creation is described or explained by this hypothesis. According to historiography, these invaders overran the ancient settlers by migrating from the North in successive waves in order to found a new state and civilisation. Studying the dynasty will be beneficial to disprove the hamitic theory with regard to pre-colonial Benin history. The key issue is that, contrary to what the Hamitic Theory claims, the Ogiso dynasty was created by independent Benin people. Until the Europeans came into contact with them, the dynasty is said to have flourished. It should be remembered that the Ogiso dynasty was not simply a dynasty; it was all about state construction and Benin civilisation. This is still in the vein of rejecting the Hamitic Theory. These findings suggest that there are legitimate reasons to doubt the validity of this idea.

The Tradition of Origin is the second explanation for Benin’s ancestry. It has a strong connection to the Hamitic Theory. This idea  has three explanations which can also be regarded as the three waves of migration.

It was claimed that Nupe in present-day Nigeria’s Middle Belt was the source of the initial wave of migration. The establishment of the community currently known as Benin was the result of a migration south. There is no known date for this theory.

Around the 7th century A.D., a second wave of migration came through Nupe from Sudan, forming what is now known as Benin.

The third was a migration that was said to have originated in Egypt and traveled through the Sudan, the Sahara, and Ile-Ife before continuing on to their current home in Benin. Chief J.U. Egharevba, a prominent local historian, provided significant assistance for this third wave of migration. He claims that

The Binis traveled all the way from Egypt many years ago to found a more secure shelter in this part of the world after a short stay in the Sudan and at Ile-Ife, which the Benin called Uhe.7

Egharevba’s assertion that Benin’s origins may be traced to Egypt has generated a lot of controversy since it cannot withstand the “acid test” of historical scrutiny and investigation. For one thing, Egharevba’s argument supports the Hamitic Hypothesis, which holds that the Hamites were responsible for all significant events that occurred in Africa south of the Sahara (Whites). This attributes the pre-colonial achievements of Africa to white-skinned invaders who were allegedly of Caucasian ancestry. Yet, this implies that the Benin civilization had to have originated in Egypt. Another factor is that the Benin people have no theory about the migration tradition from Egypt.

In addition to these facts is that Benin had been in existence for a long time before the establishments of Ile-Ife by Ododuwa and what this point implied is that the founder of Benin whom Egharevba claims migrated from Egypt could not have sojourned in Ile-Ife an his way to Benin. Moreover, the Egyptian culture is significantly absent from the Benin culture, in terms of social and political culture. An example is the Egyptian writing culture known as the hieroglyphics writing. It is purely absent that of Benin. Although there is evidence that the people who moved into the forest region from the northern fringes of west Africa as a result of the desertification of the Sahara. With this, there is a possibility that some of these people may have found their way to Benin.8 Egharevba’s view still habours some uncertainties.

The third account is the theory of evolution. The Benin people in this theory claim that they are the original settlers. According to their belief, they hard occupied the territory from the beginning of the world. They regard themselves as the children of the soil. In most cases, they trace the location to an area in Benin called “Ivbiotor”. Some other areas located at Upper Sakponba and one of such is known as “Igodomigodo” very close to Ugbekun.

The fourth account is anchored on the Benin myth. It is known as the snail shell hypothesis. According to this theory, the Benin mythology has it that Benin was founded by the youngest son of “Osanobua” (the High God) with his elder brothers. It holds that the High God sent his sons to the world, for the journey’s sake, each was allowed to take something with him. While some chose wealth, material things and magical skills and implements, the youngest son was left with nothing to choose from. At the corner was a snail shell which a mystic voice asked him to take. On reaching the earth, they found out it was covered with water, so they could not settle. As they hovered around, a mystical bird instructed the youngest son to upturn the snail shell and when he did so, sand came out from it to form a land. For this reason, the youngest son of ‘Osanobua’ became the owner of the land in the world and became the first king of Benin.9 His elder brothers had to barter their possessions in return for a place to settle. Hence, though he was the youngest, he became the wealthiest and most powerful. It is believed that the first semi-mythical ruler of pre-colonial Benin during the first dynasty which was known as the Ogiso dynasty (meaning king from the sky) was the youngest son of Osanobua. Prince Eweka claimed in one of his lectures that Benin is the cradle of the world.

“Edo orisiagbon” means. Since the land belongs to the oba, it is thought that everyone else began their lives on Edo territory. The current Omon n’oba Erediauwa supports this explanation of Benin’s history in his lecture on the evolution of traditional rulers in Nigeria, which he gave at the University of Ibadan Institute of African Studies. 10

Although it is impossible to draw a definitive conclusion on Benin’s origins, it is thought that each of the four origins legends has been called into doubt at some point. Nonetheless, I will state that based on the traditions, rituals, and beliefs that the Oba passed down to his followers, it is pretty evident that the snail shell hypothesis contains all of the solutions to Oba is regarded and why he is believed to have come from the sky, and also based on their belief that the Oba owns the land, (Obayanto).