Ewuare

Dynastic context

Ewuare was a fifteenth-century ruler of the Kingdom of Benin whose reign is reconstructed from oral tradition and later historical writing rather than from surviving contemporary Benin records.^[4] He came after a line of rulers that included Ohen, Egbeka, Orobiru, and Uwaifiokun. Egbeka, Ohen's eldest son, succeeded him around 1370 and is remembered in tradition for civil conflict with the Uzama Nihinron ('kingmakers') and a weak administration. Orobiru, Ohen's second son, succeeded Egbeka and is described in tradition as a peaceful and prosperous ruler. When Orobiru died, the throne reportedly remained empty for several months because Ogun, the legitimate heir in the tradition, had already been expelled from the capital, now known as Benin City, together with his younger brother Uwaifiokun.^[5] Jacob Egharevba, in A Short History of Benin, dates Ewuare's accession to around 1440, while Natalie Sandomirsky in the Encyclopedia of African History gives his reign as circa 1440 to 1473.^[5][6] Author Heather Millar in The Kingdom of Benin in West Africa places his accession around 1440 and his death around 1481.^[7] Ewuare's reign falls just before the earliest Portuguese descriptions of Benin and according to anthropologist Robert Elwyn Bradbury, no contemporary written source directly records either his life or his acts.^[8][9]

Birth and parentage traditions

Ewuare was born as Ogun, a son of Ohen.^[3][5] Oral traditions do not agree on his mother's name; one version names her Elere, while others give names such as Eleye or Onhẹrẹn.^[3] The traditions about Ogun's birth centre on three recurring elements: Ohen's hidden relationship with a woman at Utẹ, the use of the Ekoko n'Utẹ masquerade to conceal that relationship, and the political problem created by linking the royal house with the Ogiamiẹn lineage.^[10] These stories are relevant to Ewuare because some later interpretations connect the disputed circumstances of Ogun's birth with his troubled youth, exile, and eventual accession.^[11] In one version, Ohen secretly visited a woman at Utẹ whose father was a powerful healer.^[12] After one prolonged visit, Ohen ordered masks made so that his absence from the palace could be concealed.^[13] Another version says that a diviner advised the childless Ohen to marry Elẹrẹ, daughter of the Ogi'Utẹ ('duke of Utẹ'), and that Elẹrẹ later gave birth to Ogun.^[3] A further account names Ogun's mother as Onhẹrẹn, a post-menopausal woman who conceived him after divine intervention.^[3]

The political element in these traditions concerns the Ogiamiẹn family, an autochthonous lineage contrasted in Benin oral tradition with the incoming Oba monarchy.^[14] Some versions say that a treaty prohibited marriage between the royal house and the Ogiamiẹn lineage.^[15] In one account, Ohen wished to marry Elẹrẹ, a woman at Utẹ and a descendant of Ubi,^[g] as part of an effort to resolve the dispute between the royal dynasty and the Ogiamiẹn family.^[17] Ohen crossed the Ikpoba River at night with pages, but suspicious courtiers eventually reported his movements to the Iyase.^[18][h] The Ehuae ('duke') of Ikpoba then placed harmful medicines beneath the bridge and at Utẹ, causing Ohen to oversleep and risk public discovery.^[1] Ohen responded by making improvised masquerade costumes for himself and Elẹrẹ, returning to the palace in disguise, arranging substitutes for the masquerade display, and bringing Elẹrẹ into the harem, where she later bore Ogun.^[1]

The Ekoko n'Utẹ masquerade continued to be linked with these birth traditions and with palace ritual.^[20] The saying Ekoko i mwẹn ihuan ọvbehe ('Ekoko has no other song') refers to the remembered improvised origin of the masquerade. Its repeated line, Ogbe uvbe rre ekpo, has been translated as "Next year, may we see you, masquerade".^[21] The masquerade was performed at Utẹ and also appeared annually at the palace, usually in connection with Otuẹ Igu'Ọba during the Igue festival period in the late twentieth century.^[21][i] The performance used two masqueraders, one male and one female.^[11] The male performer hid his face with strip cloth and was called Ekoko Ogiowẹrẹ, while the female performer wore an antelope mask with a narrow jaw and lowered eyes, features cited in Edo praise of feminine beauty.^[11] Their costumes included feathered headpieces, red African grey parrot tail feathers, mirrored lappets, locally woven cloth, and raffia-style ankle rattles.^[11] Through its continued palace performance, the masquerade preserves a ritual memory of the union that some traditions relate to Ogun's youth and exile.^[11]

Exile and return to Benin

Traditions offer different accounts of Ogun's return from exile and his accession to the throne, when he assumed the name Ewuare.^[23][24]

Coronation and early reign

After Uwaifiokun's death, Ogun was crowned Oba and assumed the regnal name Ewuare. Before taking the throne, he set a fire in the Benin capital that burned for two days and nights in response to his banishment.^[5] Later interpretations of Ewuare's reign treat the burning of the capital during the accession struggle as an important element of the tradition.^[29][30] Paula Ben-Amos, in The Art of Benin, interprets the burning of the capital as a symbolic expression of political transformation, regardless of whether the event occurred exactly as remembered.^[30] Egharevba states that Ewuare travelled through Ghana, Guinea, and the Congo.^[5] When he could not defeat opponents directly, traditions state that he relied on stratagems and ritual devices, including a bag called agba-oko. Some accounts also record violent episodes during his reign, including the killing of Ekobe, described as a wealthy woman south of Benin, and the seizure of her property and dependants.^[31]

Reconstruction of Benin

Ewuare is credited with altering the physical organisation of the Benin capital.^[7][29][30] The palace was rebuilt on a large scale on the site it continued to occupy, establishing it as the kingdom's political and ritual centre.^[30] Major streets, including Akpakpava and Utantan, were improved.^[32] The city expanded toward Idumwonwina n'Aro-Ake on the Benin–Ifon road, Oka on the Benin–Sakpoba road, Etete on the Benin–Sapele road, and Use on the Benin–Siluko road.^[31] It was divided between the Oba's sector, Ogbe, and the town, Ore n'Okhua.^[33] A wide avenue separated the palace from town quarters occupied by craft guilds and ritual specialists who served the ruler.^[29] Most residents lived in the larger part of the city, while the smaller section contained the royal palace and the elite.^[34]

Ewuare is associated with the construction or enlargement of the innermost and largest of the capital's walls and ditches.^[31][35] Archaeological evidence supports traditions that place the great wall of Ewuare and a major rebuilding of the palace in the fifteenth century.^[36] Nine city gates were protected by charms buried beneath them, intended to guard the kingdom from hostile spiritual forces.^[31][35] These works and protective measures contributed to his title Ewuare n'Ogidigan ('Ewuare the Great').^[31]

Government and administration

Under Ewuare, the kingdom shifted from a limited monarchy checked by hereditary chiefs toward a more centralised state in which royal authority was stronger.^[29] The authority of the king was supported by beliefs about sacred kingship and the Oba's connection with fertility, harvests, weather, and social order.^[6] His reforms weakened the dominance of descent-based authorities and expanded the administrative role of officials who depended directly on the Oba.^[37] The Eghaevbo n'Ore ('town chiefs' or state council) was created or reorganised during his reign. Its early members were the Iyase, Esogban, Eson and Osuma, headed by the Iyase.^[16][h] The paired orders Eghaevbo n'Ore ('town chiefs') and Eghaevbo n'Ogbe ('palace chiefs') are attributed to Ewuare, although some offices later included in those orders were remembered as older creations.^[38][39] As reshaped under Ewuare, Benin's government rested on the Oba, the hereditary Uzama Nihinron, palace chiefs, and town chiefs created by the king.^[40]

Senior chiefs formed a council that discussed with the Oba matters that the Oba chose to put before the council. The council also oversaw the tributary units into which the kingdom was divided. Junior grades within this chiefly hierarchy provided messengers, soldiers and other agents of royal authority.^[40] The creation or expansion of town and palace chiefships reduced the authority of the Uzama Nihinron, since these newer officials owed their status directly to the Oba.^[6]

The population of the capital was arranged into corporate wards based on craft or ritual obligations to the king.^[8][9][30] Similar groups outside the capital also traced their origins to Ewuare and to his immediate successors, Ozolua and Esigie.^[8][9] The palace was divided into three departments: the wardrobe, the ruler's personal attendants, and the harem. Each department had staff arranged in three ranks comparable to Edo village age grades. Town guilds followed similar grade structures and were attached to the relevant palace department.^[29] Under Ewuare, freeborn Edo subjects became more closely connected to the palace. Sons of freeborn subjects served as palace retainers, and most later returned to their villages after completing that service.^[9][29] A common form of scarification identified freeborn Edo subjects and distinguished them from royals, slaves and foreigners, who were not admitted to the palace.^[8][9] Another tradition gives a different origin for Edo body marks. In that account, Ewuare marked his subjects to identify people who left the kingdom during the depopulation caused by his mourning laws.^[41]

Succession reform and the Edaiken

Ewuare is associated with the introduction of lineal succession to the Benin throne. The title Edaiken was given to the heir apparent and incorporated into the Uzama Nihinron order.^[40] This change reduced the role of the Uzama Nihinron in choosing the Oba and reinforced the dynastic principle of primogeniture.^[6] The reform corresponds with oral king-lists in which succession before Ewuare appears more collateral, while succession after Ozolua becomes more lineal except for a later seventeenth-century interruption.^[8][9]

The Edaiken title is also linked with Iken, a chief of Uselu. Iken opposed and imitated the Oba before later reconciling with Ewuare. During a rebellion by the Owo people, Iken led an army against the rebels, while Ewuare's eldest son Kuoboyuwa served as Iken's deputy at Uselu.^[j] Iken defeated Owo after a short battle, sent captives and spoils ahead, and died when the enemy attacked again after his bodyguard had departed. Since Iken had no surviving child, Kuoboyuwa became his heir, and the title Edaiken, interpreted as Edayi n'Iken, became the title of the Oba's eldest son.^[31]

Military expansion

Tradition records Ewuare as capturing 201 towns and villages in Ekiti, Ikare, Kukuruku, Eka, and Igbo country west of the Niger River. Captured rulers were brought to Benin, and conquered communities were required to pay tribute to the Oba.^[5] His armies also fought other Edo peoples, Igbo-speaking communities west of the Niger River, and eastern Yoruba towns such as Akure and Owo.^[40] More distant conquests often retained some autonomy through tribute, while other territories were administered on the Benin model under princes from Ewuare's dynasty. Direct rule was largely within about 64 kilometres (40 mi) of the capital. Within this central region, only the Oba could impose the death penalty.^[40] The state developed a standing war system that extended Benin power beyond earlier limits.^[35]

Traditions about the Akure campaign describe both military action and the appointment of a Benin official after Akure's surrender. Oronmuza, the Onogie ('chief') of Umelu, was sent with troops against Akure around the time Iken was sent to Owo. Oronmuza entered Akure from several directions, broke through the defences along the Ikperha and Okelisa roads, and surrounded the court of the Alakure, or Deji of Akure. The Alakure at the time, Orito, surrendered, while the quarters of Isikan, Odokpetu, and Usolo continued resisting before being defeated. After Orito pleaded old age, he was allowed to remain in Akure, but a Benin political resident or Odionwere was appointed to supervise the town.^[41]

Expansion linked with Ewuare continued under later kings.^[40] Benin armies advanced beyond Owo and Akure into Ekiti and brought large areas into tributary relations.^[44] Ijebu is remembered in Benin tradition as having temporarily come under Edo suzerainty, although Ijebu tradition does not confirm this claim.^[36] The Itsekiri accepted Ewuare's grandson Iginua as ruler and developed a kingdom patterned on Benin, acknowledging the seniority of the parent dynasty for centuries.^[36]

Ritual and regalia

Ewuare's reign is associated with the sacred nature of Benin kingship and with the royal rituals that expressed it.^[35][40] The annual Igue festival was linked to the renewal of the Oba's vital forces.^[40] Ugie Erha Oba honoured royal ancestors, while Igue renewed the powers of the king.^[35] The pre-coronation ekohae ('bachelor's camp'), where each new Oba remained for seven days before coronation, is also attributed to Ewuare.^[16] In traditions about Ewuare, coral bead regalia and scarlet cloth became signs of royal authority.^[16][35][45] Coral beads and red cloth were imported items, making their association with Ewuare relevant for discussions of early indirect contact with Atlantic trade.^[45] The legend in which Ewuare steals coral beads from Olokun, god of the sea, connects royal regalia with Ughoton, the Benin port later associated with Portuguese contact.^[35][45] In that account, the palace of the Oba, ruler of dry land, becomes an earthly counterpart to the palace of Olokun, ruler of the waters.^[35]

Ewuare is also linked with traditions about Osanobua, the creator deity.^[46][47] One legend recorded by author Heather Millar in The Kingdom of Benin in West Africa states that Ewuare sent followers to visit Osanobua, and that Osanobua came to Benin three times, with the places of his appearance becoming shrines.^[46] Bradbury treats these Osanobua traditions cautiously, especially later claims that the shrines mark former Portuguese churches. One shrine may have had some connection with early Christianity because its priest still wore a brass cross into the twentieth century.^[47] Several ritual specialists and figures are linked with Ewuare's reign, including Okhuahe of Ikhuen, Ovato of Igieduma, Emuen of Uhi, Ezuku of Ogan, Ogan of Ekhua, Ake and Ezalugha of Ilobi in Isi, Oza of Benin, Ebomisi of Ugo town, Oravan of Irhirhi, and Ireghezi of Ekae. Tradition holds that these figures were deified after death.^[41] Two figures named Osa and Osuan, remembered as cannibals from Igboland, were forbidden to continue cannibalism and were placed in charge of the royal gods Osa of Ora and Osuan of Uwen.^[48]

Arts and material culture

Ivory and wood carving received support during Ewuare's reign, and his first carver, Eghoghomaghan II, produced designs that influenced later work. The eziken, a wind instrument similar to a fife, and the ema-Edo, the royal band, are also attributed to him.^[16] Benin's ancestor-centred institutions, metal arts, and plastic arts acquired greater political importance during his rule.^[49] A guild tradition connects Ewuare with a change in the relative status of brass casters and carvers. In the story, Ewuare asked both guilds to create an image of him. The brass casters depicted him in his prime, while the carvers portrayed him as an old man.^[35] Ewuare then lowered the status of the carvers and declared that they would no longer rank above the brass workers.^[35]

Ubi, Ewere, Oyoyo and Igue traditions

One tradition recorded by Egharevba connects Ewuare with three daughters of a chief named Ogieka: Ubi, Ewere, and Oyoyo. Ewuare first married Ubi, although Ogieka warned him that she was disobedient.^[16] Ubi, who did not want the marriage, refused relations with the Oba, behaved disruptively in the harem, and broke Benin custom by urinating inside the house.^[50][k] She was expelled from the harem by maids carrying burning brands and shouting "Ubi rie", meaning "Ubi, go".^[51]

Three days later, Ewuare asked Ogieka to send him Ewere, the second daughter. She entered the palace ritually escorted by the Ihogbe and Osuma,^[l] and her arrival was marked by songs and gifts. Ewere was remembered as respectful, and her presence was said to have brought stability to the harem and palace.^[51] Ewere missed her sister Oyoyo, and Ewuare asked Ogieka to permit Oyoyo to visit the harem.^[51] Ewuare later married Oyoyo as well.^[53] Oyoyo became pregnant and was sent to the Ihama at Idumwihogbe ('quarter of the Ihogbe') to be cared for, giving birth to a daughter. Ewuare rewarded the Ihama with an odigbokofo, a large red-bead collar, and granted the Ihama's wives the right to wear the ukpokhokho hairstyle used by the Oba's wives. The odigbokofo remained part of the Ihama's dress at Ugie-Ewere ceremonies.^[53][m]

The Ewere tradition became connected with Igue rites. Ewuare marked the anniversary of his marriage to Ewere by sacrificing animals and by offering kola nuts and coconuts to his head, understood as his good fortune. Chiefs and people of Benin participated, and four days later individuals performed their own Igue ceremonies at home. Ugie-Ewere was held at the palace on the fifth day. Participants danced with ebe-Ewere, or "Ewere's lucky leaves", and Benin prayers preferred travel on Ewere day rather than Ubi day.^[53]

Kathy Curnow offers a different reading of the Ubi-Ewere rites, suggesting that the ceremonies might reflect older dynastic accommodation rather than only stories about Ewuare's wives.^[54] In this interpretation, Ubi belonged to the Ogiamiẹn family and Ewere to the Ogiefa family, and the rites remembered reconciliation between the Oranmiyan dynasty and an indigenous republican group. The saying "Ogiamiẹn l'Ubi, Ogiefa i gb'Ewere" means "Ogiamiẹn does not take part in Ubi and Ogiefa does not take part in Ewere".^[55] Ewere day in the extended royal Igue celebrations begins with an Ubi phase, involving burning brands, and continues with an Ewere phase involving leaves gathered at the waterside.^[56] During the Ubi phase, youths run through the streets shouting "Ubi rrie", meaning "Ubi, be gone", and throw the burning sticks into the iya moat. The rite acts as a purification and removal of unwanted things from the city.^[55] During the Ewere phase, youths distribute ewere leaves as signs of good fortune, and palace groups, including the Ihogbe ancestral priests, present leaves to the Oba. The Ihogbe also strengthen the Oba's head and body, lead worship of his ancestors, and propitiate land spirits associated with pre-Oranmiyan rulers.^[57] Songs from the Ewere ceremony refer to blessings and peace rather than to the three sisters.^[58] The prominent role of the Ihogbe in the ceremony supports the view that the rite concerns dynastic origins and royal ritual rather than only harem behaviour.^[58]

Portuguese contact

Ewuare's reign coincided with the earliest Portuguese exploration of the Benin coast. Ruy de Sequeira explored the coast south of Benin around 1472 and may have reached the Benin area, although it is uncertain whether he visited the Benin capital.^[16][59] Tradition sometimes presents Ewuare as the first Oba connected with Portuguese contact, perhaps reflecting memory of Sequeira's voyage.^[34] There is no direct evidence that Europeans entered the Benin capital during Ewuare's reign. Coral beads and red cloth associated with his time indicate European goods, but such items may have reached Benin before Europeans themselves arrived in the city.^[34][45] The Olokun bead legend, in which Ewuare obtained coral through Ughoton, may preserve an indirect memory of early Atlantic trade.^[45] Clearer traditions of direct Portuguese presence in the Benin capital belong to the reigns of Ozolua and Esigie.^[47]

Portuguese contact increased after Ewuare's reign. An ambassador from the Oba visited Portugal during the reign of João II (1481–1495). Missionaries were present in Benin by 1515 or earlier. Duarte Pires wrote in 1516 that missionaries had accompanied the King of Benin to war, that the king ordered his son and the sons of leading nobles to become Christians, and that a church was to be built in Benin. In 1517, a Portuguese official on Principe reported that a priest was travelling to Benin to convert a young Oba who governed through two captains.^[59]

Trade with Europeans

Benin's trade with Europeans developed within a kingdom that already had political and commercial connections with distant regions. The Portuguese attempted to control trade along the Guinean coasts and regarded Benin as a market for European goods. Benin obtained guns, powder, metals, salt, and cloth from Europeans. Its exports included palm oil, ivory, cloth, beads, pepper, and enslaved people. Enslaved people came partly as a result of Benin's wars, but Benin did not become heavily dependent on the slave trade.^[34]

For the Portuguese, trade with Benin was difficult because the Benin capital stood about 50 miles (80 km) inland. In 1487, they built a fort at Ughoton, or Gwato, as close to the capital as ships could reach. Traders still had to travel about 40 miles (64 km) upriver and 19 miles (31 km) overland before reaching the capital. Benin controlled both river and land routes and required Portuguese traders to deal with the Oba and his authorised agents under terms set by the kingdom. The Portuguese left Ughoton after about 30 years because the Oba's conditions, including a prohibition on exporting male slaves, became restrictive for them.^[34]

Children and mourning law

Ewuare's eldest son Kuoboyuwa became connected with Uselu and the title Edaiken after Iken's death. His second son Ezuwarha was sent to the Iyowa community as Ogie ('chief'). At first, Kuoboyuwa and Ezuwarha exchanged gifts and maintained a close relationship. Their relationship worsened after Kuoboyuwa replied to Ezuwarha's gift of yams by sending farming tools. Ezuwarha interpreted the tools as an insult implying that Ezuwarha was a "bushman". The brothers later poisoned each other and died on the same day.^[31] The royal jester Akaromwon, or Oden, reported their deaths to Ewuare through a parable, saying that it rained at Iyowa but did not reach Uselu and that the rain of Uselu did not reach Benin. The Oba did not understand the parable, and the chief Ihama later explained it to him.^[31] Ewuare then withdrew into the inner palace and mourned his sons.^[60] He ordered the Avbiogbe ('town criers') to announce the deaths by ringing bells and to ask the people to mourn with him.^[41]

Ewuare issued a mourning law that forbade anyone in the land to wash, dress up, or have sexual intercourse for three years. The law caused disorder and led many people to leave the kingdom. On the advice of an elderly man called Omaen n'Erokhin ('old man chameleon'), Ewuare withdrew the law after seeing that the country was losing people through migration. The emigrants refused to return, and Ewuare tried to prevent further flight by asking neighbouring rulers not to receive his subjects and by marking their bodies for identification.^[41]

A later epic tradition recorded by folklorist Guida Myrl Jackson-Laufer in the Encyclopedia of Literary Epics explains the exclusion of women from rule in Benin through the story of Ewuare's daughter Edeleyo. In the story, Edeleyo received the title Edaiken when Ewuare's sons were unable to take the throne and was taken to Uselu for her coronation. She became ill on the journey to Uselu, and her bodyguards formed a human fence around her because Obas were considered superhuman and were not to be seen as sick. She died, and her death led to the decision that women should not rule in Benin.^[61]

Death and successors

Ewuare died after a long reign and, according to his instruction before death, was buried at Esi near Udo.^[n] His surviving sons included Ezoti, Olua, and Okpame (later Ozolua). An illegitimate son became the first Olughoton ('duke') of Ughoton.^[16] Ezoti succeeded Ewuare but ruled for only 14 days; he was struck in the forehead with a poisoned arrow during his coronation ceremonies.^[53] Later summaries of Benin's expansion often identify Ozolua, Ewuare's son, as the next major ruler in the sequence.^[6] Sixteenth-century kings continued patterns of conquest and court development associated with Ewuare.^[40][62]