After so much headache on the history of the various ethnic groups that make up the Southern tip of Nigeria I have made hypothesis about the place of Benin in the shaping of ethnic groups as we know them today.The answer to the question of why many Igbos,Ijaws,Yorubas,Igalas,Urhobos,Ikas and several other groups have some claim of Benin origin is because they actually lived in Benin.Benin city was a cosmopolitan city(as it is toaday) that housed several ethnic groups who spoke their language indoors and Edo as official.Evidences of these are too glaring to the eyes.Almost 70% of Ijaws claim Benin origin and 25% Igbos as well.Many Yorubas in Ondo and Ekiti states as well are of Benin origin alongside itsekiri.

Eze Chima and his group of migrants were Igbo speaking Benin citizens.They were already Igbo speaking by the time they got to Onitsha indicating that they did not learn Igbo from anybody.

More research needs to be done on this cosmopolitan nature of Benin because it will reveal the contribution of the various groups to the development of ancient Benin kingdom.The bronze crafts might have been made by Ife citizens of Benin while the coastal business was done by the Ijaw Benin.Who knows but this will solve a lot of questions.

nice post. i partly agree coz since benin was an empire, so the ancient city must have been cosmopolitan as it still is today. i think the benin and edo identity dwindled due to the fall of the empire to british control and the effects of british colonialism, because like they, it is difficult to serve two masters properly. so i guess the other ethnic groups that made up the empire and city found it easier to serve the current masters than the old one.

but i disagree that the benin bronze cast would have been done by ifes because the benin bronze cast is still very much alive at igun street in benin city and they are crafted by binis. for the ijaws doing the coastal business, it may be true because we are told the binis worshipped the rivers and seas as their god, coz olokun is their main god and i guess they didn’t see any reason in doing business on it. and i actually believe the most suppressed history in nigeria is that of the ancient benin.

and one more thing, there was nothing like “yoruba” in ancient benin but there was “lucumi” so what happened to the lucumi people? where are they? or abi dem don disappear into thin air?

i think the era of the ogisos should be concentrated on coz before the ancient benin had the obas, they had the ogisos. and i believe the ogiso era holds the key to the puzzle.

exotik:

nice post. i partly agree coz since benin was an empire, so the ancient city must have been cosmopolitan as it still is today. the most suppressed history in nigeria is that of the ancient benin.

I do not believe it was suppressed.The Africans lost the ability to write and hence lost credible history.If you take a look at the word used for Bini in Igbo which is "Idu", it translates literally to "leader"."Ndi Idu" means "the leaders".There must be a reason for that.

Abagworo:

I do not believe it was suppressed.The Africans lost the ability to write and hence lost credible history.If you take a look at the word used for Bini in Igbo which is "Idu", it translates literally to "leader"."Ndi Idu" means "the leaders".There must be a reason for that.

Or maybe it's just a variation of 'Edo'.

Abagworo:

The bronze crafts might have been made by Ife citizens of Benin

Their bronze casting traditions are different (material, form).

Abagworo:

After so much headache on the history of the various ethnic groups that make up the Southern tip of Nigeria I have made hypothesis about the place of Benin in the shaping of ethnic groups as we know them today.The answer to the question of why many Igbos,Ijaws,Yorubas,Igalas,Urhobos,Ikas and several other groups have some claim of Benin origin is because they actually lived in Benin.Benin city was a cosmopolitan city(as it is toaday) that housed several ethnic groups who spoke their language indoors and Edo as official.Evidences of these are too glaring to the eyes.Almost 70% of Ijaws claim Benin origin and 25% Igbos as well.Many Yorubas in Ondo and Ekiti states as well are of Benin origin alongside itsekiri.

Eze Chima and his group of migrants were Igbo speaking Benin citizens[b].They were already Igbo speaking by the time they got to Onitsha [/b]indicating that they did not learn Igbo from anybody.

More research needs to be done on this cosmopolitan nature of Benin because it will reveal the contribution of the various groups to the development of ancient Benin kingdom.The bronze crafts[b] might [/b]have been made by Ife citizens of Benin while the coastal business was done by the Ijaw Benin.Who knows but this will solve a lot of questions.

This is placing Benin City as the Nigerian version of the legendary city of Babel.
Benin had succession wars and some bad rulers that made some inhabitants of the city to move to places that they could find peace. Also,the story of Iken n`Uselu will tell you that successful war generals were not expected to return to the city but to stay and live and administer the territory conquered. This could explain why some non Binis claim Benin.
Eze chima could possibly have been a Biniman. Moving eastwards he would have encountered people that spoke variants of Igbo language before getting to Onitsha.
Ife has no history of brass work.

ezeagu:

Or maybe it's just a variation of 'Edo'.

That is no variation.

bokohalal:

That is no variation.

Okay, so what does it mean?

bokohalal:
Eze chima could possibly have been a Biniman. Moving eastwards he would have encountered people that spoke variants of Igbo language before getting to Onitsha.
Ife has no history of brass work.

The fact that he's called 'Eze Chima' means he is not a Bini person, along with the fact that none of his direct descendants in Onicha bear Bini names, even Onicha is not a Bini word.

bokohalal:

This is placing Benin City as the Nigerian version of the legendary city of Babel.
Benin had succession wars and some bad rulers that made some inhabitants of the city to move to places that they could find peace. Also,the story of Iken n`Uselu will tell you that successful war generals were not expected to return to the city but to stay and live and administer the territory conquered. This could explain why some non Binis claim Benin.
Eze chima could possibly have been a Biniman. Moving eastwards he would have encountered people that spoke variants of Igbo language before getting to Onitsha.
Ife has no history of brass work.

ezeagu:

The fact that he's called 'Eze Chima' means he is not a Bini person, along with the fact that none of his direct descendants in Onicha bear Bini names, even Onicha is not a Bini word.

With the history of the migratory pattern of Delta-Igbos,it is obvious that the language was not acquired by interaction.The Niger River presents a huge barrier which gives an edge for Edo language influence over Igbo.The survival of Igbo language through the centuries of Benin prowess means it is indigenous and deep rooted in some of those places.I have seen some people try to rename Chima as Ikhime but it lacks substance because it is his own children that call him Eze Chima and not Eastern Igbos.

bokohalal:

This is placing Benin City as the Nigerian version of the legendary city of Babel.
Benin had succession wars and some bad rulers that made some inhabitants of the city to move to places that they could find peace. Also,the story of Iken n`Uselu will tell you that successful war generals were not expected to return to the city but to stay and live and administer the territory conquered. This could explain why some non Binis claim Benin.
Eze chima could possibly have been a Biniman. Moving eastwards he would have encountered people that spoke variants of Igbo language before getting to Onitsha.
Ife has no history of brass work.

Huh?

lakal:

Huh?

I think he was saying the material composition is different (and it is). Though I can't really speak for him. The material is still brass, though, from what I've read.

On  "Idu"

Idumwonyi can be assumed to be a version of Edomwonyi (Edo is respectable) and Idubor can be assumed to be the same as Edobor, but they are really not the same in all cases. When Idu or Edo is used, the names can sometimes be the same, but not always.

I found that Idu can mean:

a) the spirit of the ancestors of the land

b) The supposed ancestor of the Edo, a man named Idu

c)  the Edo people

For example, the name Idugbowa means Idu (the spirit of the ancestors of the land) has established prosperity for me. There is nothing like "Edogbowa" because Idu and Edo are not really equivalent in all circumstances in the Edo language.

The last of these meanings I listed (c) almost certainly comes later than the original meanings.

Idumwonyi should mean that Idu (the spirit of the ancestors of the land) is respected.

Iduseri means that the spirit of the ancestors of the land has blessed us.

Iduorobo means that the spirit of the ancestors of the land is my doctor/healer

. . .and so on.

That is what Idu really refers to, originally, in the Edo language. However, Idu did come to take on a meaning equivalent to Edo for some names. But it really is not an equivalent, originally, from what I have seen. There are some sources written by Binis where you read that Idu was the original name that preceded Edo, and that may be correct, but Idu had even earlier meanings from what I have read and in the language, meaning (a) above is what Idu usually refers to, rather than meaning (c).


As for Igbos calling the Edo the Idu, taking definition (b) into account, this could be likened to the descendants of a man supposedly called Canaan, being called Canaanites, or the descendants of a man called Shem/Sem being called semites, the descendants of a man called Ham being called Hamites, or the descendants of a man supposedly called Cush being called Cushites by the Hebrews.

1. With regard to Ife and Benin brasses:

“By and large, since evidence of an Ife stylistic influence has yet to be convincingly demonstrated, a new and independent chronology is needed for Benin art, and this should be structured on internal evidence, rather than on an assumed continuum of Ife naturalism” - Babatunde Lawal, THE PRESENT STATE OF ART HISTORICAL RESEARCH IN NIGERIA: PROBLEMS AND POSSIBILITIES, Journal of African History, XVIII, 2 (1977), pp. 193-2I6


“As for the Ife-Benin succession in bronze casting, recent analysis of mould- and core-stuff does not seem to support the tradition.” - from Sources of Yoruba History (1973), p. 163, edited by Saburi Biobaku


“Ifẹ̀ and Benin employed entirely different methods of the cire-perdue process” -D. Williams, [1974]. Icon & Image: a study of sacred & secular forms of African classical art. p. 208


2. The idea of brass casting from Ife comes largely from Jacob Egharevba. Egharevba actually claimed, originally, that the Edo came from Ife to found Benin. Later he said they stopped at Ife (maybe because he later knew it was untenable to claim the Edo came from Yorubaland and had to clear up his story). But what is relevant to the brass casting tradition is that he originally implies that there was brass casting during the time of the Ogisos (though it is not stated outright), but later replaced this with an introduction by Oba Oguola


"In Ekhere Egharevba writes that the Obagodo, also known as Ogiso, came to Benin with a charm in form of a snail shell, afterwards cast in brass, containing some earth which vested power over land on him"

- A Comparison of Jacob Egharevba's "Ekhere Vb Itan Edo" and the Four Editions of Its English Translation, "A Short History of Benin"
Author(s): Uyilawa Usuanlele, Toyin Falola, Jacob Egharevba
Source: History in Africa, Vol. 25 (1998), pp. 361-386

(Ekhere vb Itan Edo is Egharevba's first manuscript of A Short History of Benin)

This quote could be read as stating that the "afterwards" means at the time of Oba Oguola, but that is a period of nearly 600 years later, going by Egharevba's own dates for the time of the first Ogiso (c. 900 AD) and Oba Oguola (14th century AD). It's more likely the quote reveals that the snail was cast in brass not long after the first Ogiso, rather than for "afterwards"  to mean that it was cast in brass 600 years later.

The statement about brass casting from Ife is not in his original manuscript (Ekhere).

However, later:

"In the first edition of A Short History he adds that:

'Oba Oguola wished to introduce brass casting into Benin so as to produce works of art similar to those sent him from Ife. He therefore sent to the Oni of Ife for a Brass smith and Iguegha was sent to him. Iguegha was very clever and left many designs to his successors, and was in consequence deified, and is worshipped to this day by brass smiths.  The practice of making brass casting for the preservation of the records of events was originated during the reign of Oguola.43'

The difference might seem to be one of adding details about the place of origin of Benin brass work. However, this added detail has largely been disputed by the local Edo scholars. They counter Egharevba's claim with extracts from oral traditions which relate to the use of brass under the Ogisos, to argue that brass work could not have been introduced from Ile-Ife during the reign of Oba Oguola. In using this piece of information, this controversy must be considered along with the issue of what was really introduced under Oba Oguola, whether it was brass casting for preservation of historical records or the brass casting guild. The added detail might have been prompted by the need to an- swer the questioning by some European writers of the indigenous development of brass working. Leo Frobenius' acclaim of Ife art in the 1920s as European-derived was accepted by many writers and officials in Nigeria at that time. This information might have reached Egharevba through his European associates. Since he held the view of an Ife origin for Benin and its kingship institution, and since the brass casters traced their master craftsman to Ile-Ife, it only follows that Egharevba would probably trace Benin brass work to Ile-Ife as well. The differences between Ife and Benin brass-making techniques are already quite known and thus overreliance on Egharevba's account have their own implications."

(from the same article above by Usuanlele and Falola)

It's not only Eze Chima, Akalaka as well.

This has always been my view, so many tribes lived in Benin during Ogiso era before they dispersed probably caused by a tyrant Oba and never ending wars.

Edo cannot be a corrupt form of Idu.
Idu is pronounced differently from Edo.

Idu is pronounced like udu (Igbo drum) but with "u" replaced by "i".

Obiagu1:

Edo cannot be a corrupt form of Idu.
Idu is pronounced differently from Edo.

Idu is pronounced like udu (Igbo drum) but with "u" replaced by "i".

Did you read PhysicsMHD post?

ezeagu:

Did you read PhysicsMHD post?

Sure but it didn't make much meaning to me because I don't know how the "idu" (spirit/Ancestor) is actually pronounced and if it's the same as "Idu", the name of the people. A people cannot bear "spirit" as a name, can they?

It could be a mere coincidence of spelling.

Obiagu1:

Sure but it didn't make much meaning to me because I don't know how the "idu" (spirit/Ancestor) is actually pronounced and if it's the same as "Idu", the name of the people. A people cannot bear "spirit" as a name, can they?

Idu is their ancestor, same as 'Igbo'.

I doubt the ancestor of the Igbo was Igbo.

From every indication, it is not.

Obiagu1:

I doubt the ancestor of the Igbo was Igbo.

From every indication, it is not.

What indication, the fact that many Igbo communities have a tale of an ancestor called Igbo, or by the fact that Anambra State tourism board is protecting a site said to be the house of 'Igbo'?

@ abagworo

I do not believe it was suppressed. The Africans lost the ability to write and hence lost credible history

when i said the most suppressed history in nigeria is that of the ancient benin, i was not talking about ancient benin as it is called today, i was talking about the ancient city when it was called igodomigodo because mind you, the name of the land only changed to benin after about 31 or so ogisos ruled the land.

and funny enough, it was the obas that started the suppression of the ogiso dynasty and even the mere mention of the name “ogiso” was seen as a taboo that may have attracted a death penalty during the early reign of the obas because whenever and wherever there has been a change of dynasty, the new one always suppress the history of the old one, like when dan fodio took over the hausa kingdoms, his successive son ordered all the already written pre-jihad works of hausa kings to be burnt to wipe off the old ways of the hausa kings and replace it with the new ways of the caliphate, and i guess that is the reason the fulanis still control the power-structure in hausaland. so i think the obas also did it did to strengthen their kingship with the people of igodomigodo.

and i think that the suppression of the ogiso dynasty is still going on even till this day. for example, when i was growing up, we had an “ogiso market” along 2nd east circular road benin city. but for some odd reason, the market was renamed “new market”. how can a market so old be renamed “new”? that is why i said the ogiso era should be focused on to unveil the structure of the ancient city to see how it may have looked like because we already know so much about the obas but know very little about the ogisos.

and also, because there was no written record should not make it lack credibility because not all “written” histories are credible. for example, not everything people write/post on this forum as history are credible, so should someone reading it a thousand years from now believe they are?

and oh, one more thing, if chief agho had succeeded ovoramwen in the power struggle with his son aiguobasiwin, it would had been a change of dynasty,  and chief agho would probably have taken the a new title for king, so instead of “oba”, maybe he would have chosen his name “agho” and agho would become the new edo name for king. then maybe he would have even renamed the land and he definitely would have started the systematic suppression of the oba dynasty, and all things about the obas would have either be destroyed or renamed, and we would never have known how great benin was. and to crown it all, egharevba would never have had the opportunity to write his popular book on benin history.

so in a thousand years from now after about 35 aghos that have mostly been written about, would that make the stories of about 35 obas in the oba dynasty lack credibility? all because they were not written?  even that of esigie? and i guess no one would take it seriously that his mother was a beautiful and powerful warrior queen called idia, who fought gallantly to defend her people.

I always knew Benin kingdom housed alot of other tribes from Nigeria because i would wonder where they kept slaves from most of the places they conquered during war.