Benin is the capital of Edo State. It is located in the southern part of Nigeria. Benin was a powerful and strong kingdom, but the history of the Benin Kingdom is not complete if the tale of Oduduwa is not being told as he was the progenitor of the Yoruba race. Oduduwa was the son of Lamurudu. He was a Yoruba divine king, who hold the title of Olofin (ruler of the Earth)of Ile-Ife. Okanbi was his only child, unfortunately, Okanbi died leaving behind his seven sons. As the sons grew up, they moved to different settlements, they were regarded as the originator of these settlements. They became rulers in the area: Olowu of Owu, Alaafin of Oyo, Orangun of Ila, Oba of Benin, Alaketu of Ketu, Olopopo of Popo, and Onisabe of Sabe.
In the 900s, the Edo people settled in the rainforests of Africa, there was peace and harmony amongst these people. They lived together as a small family group until they began to have large families. Thereafter, they established a kingdom known as Igodomigodo. This kingdom was ruled by a series of kings called Ogisos; also known as "the rulers of the sky".
In the early 1100s, there was a struggle for power among these rulers, and they were about to lose their kingdom, this made them seek intervention from the King of Ife. The King of Ife sent one of his grandsons; Oranmiyan, the Alaafin of Oyo, to restore the kingdom that was about to collapse. Oranmiyan called this territory Ile-Ibinu that is, the Land of Vexation, which was later called Ile-Ibini, later corrupted to Benin by the Portuguese. Oranmiyan married Erinmwide the daughter of Enogie, the Duke of Egor. She had a son for him, and he was named Eweka. When Oranmiyan saw that peace has been restored to the land, he crowned his son- Eweka to rule over Benin. While Oranmiyan left Benin, he ruled over the Oyo empire in the west, and Eweka rules over the Benin empire in the south.
After the death of Eweka, there were a series of rulers in Benin. Benin had great artists who were famous for their great brass sculptures. They traded with the Europeans until they witnessed a great calamity. They began to lose their power in the 1800s and were overthrown by the British colonial masters during their invasion. The great kingdom of Benin was burned by the British, this put an end to the vast empire of Benin until a new government created Edo on the 27th of August 1991.
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