AreaFada2:

Well, since everything about tradition is erroneously considered paganism these days, most people don't care to know. Moreover, it does not give you money to know. Money now rules.

Some now even greet "La-Jesu" instead of their family greeting.

Ask people the importance of Evbiemwen, Ibiwe, Ogbe-Alaka or those areas and quarters of Benin, they won't know.

It would surprise them that princes of Benin who were not appointed dukes, resided at Evbiemwen those days. The same applied to such princes in Owo, who were settled at Ugboroko/Igboroko quarter.

Princesses of Benin who became widowed and needed succour later in life, also had own quarter.

Even some family names and names of places have lost their true meanings due to how they are now being pronounced, examples, Oredo, Ero, Oregbeni.

AreaFada2:

Nice one. Very consistent.

Furthermore, the Benin-Idah war was well-documented in a letter still in existence. Written in Benin to King of Portugal in 1516.
Benin army used firearms in that war. Oba Esigie had to come up with new military tactics at that time.

Please always CC guys like AutomaticMotors, Gregyboy, etc.

Okay. I wonder how many people in Benin city know that Ogida quarters got it's name because of the king (Ogie) of Idah was imprisoned there briefly after Benin-Idah War of 1516.

How many Benin people know the connection between Eko (camp) of Oshoidin popularly known as Ekosodi, the community by University of Benin and the Oshodi in Lagos.

How many people know the connection between Ugbo (farm) of Owo or Ugbowo and Owo in Ondo state.

Imaguero have a College named after her in Benin City, Imaguero College Benin City.

Benin City is full of history.

Meanwhile I am still searching for evidence of Benin/Ife connection dating back to the period before 1897 when the British destroyed Benin City.

A BRIEF ON THE BENIN-IDAH WAR.
By Dr. Paul Osa Igbineweka

The first Attah of Idah was a Benin Prince who went for hunting expedition and never returned but displaced the existing rulers to become the Attah.

The war between the Attah of Idah and Benin was a war between relatives caused by the then Oliha whose wife that he boasted of her fidelity was seduced by the stage managed cripple Young man by Oba Ẹsigie to prove to Oliha that no one can vouchsafe for a woman fidelity.

At the end Oliha killed the wife Imaguero. To pay back as revenge he sent emissary to the Attah of Idah that Ọba Ẹsigie was waging war against Idah and did same to Oba Ẹsigie by different emissary.

And in addition to that was Chief Oliha's animosity against Ọba Ẹsigie for accepting Christianity from the Portuguese. The Benin-Idah war was where the The Queen mother Idia fought as the first Amazon of the Benin Kingdom.

After the defeat of the Attah, he was captured and brought to the place in Egọ under house arrest, and upon investigation, it was discovered how chief Oliha caused the war.

The place the Attah was kept was named prison of "Ogie Idah" which to date is called Ogida quarters. When the matter was finally resolved, Attah was released to go back to Idah to be reinstated.

In a mood of tolerance the pendant of Queen mother IDIA was presented to the subsequent Attah as a souvenir of unity and good memories of reconciliation.

Igala Chief depicted in Benin artefact. There are no verifiable historical evidence of Benin/Ife relationship before 1897.


Igala Chief

Igala Chief

Seemingly, the high-profile launching of the book, which brought to light the information mainstream art historians and historians had hitherto called ‘abuse of oral tradition’, frightened the Yoruba scholars, historians and kings. Naturally, there was a lot of mud-slinging as Edo and Yoruba essayists, scholars, and writers presented their "facts" about Ododuwa and the Benin/Ile-Ife relationship. Many Yoruba essayists, scholars and writers stuck to the contention of the Ooni of Ile-Ife that Ododuwa descended directly from heaven, created the world and started civilisation in Ile-Ife in the 10th century. In support of the Ooni, Dr Siyan Oyeweso, a professor of history, of the Lagos State University asserted,


*"... The origin of the Yoruba people started in Ife, the cradle of Yoruba, the Orisu, the word that cannot be translated, which is believed to be their own Garden of Eden. The identity of Oduduwa is not so much in doubt. It is agreed by historians of all persuasions that the ancestor of the Yoruba is Oduduwa. According to the Yoruba belief system, Oduduwa was sent from Heaven through a chain and landed in Ife”.*

Eventually, credible facts began to emerge from the archives. The Eleko of Eko, Oba of Lagos, Eleko Rilwanu Aremu Akilolu threw his weight behind Omo N’Oba Erediauwa’s view, insisting that Oduduwa was the exiled Prince Ekaladerhan from Benin kingdom. According to a newspaper report,
*The Oba of Lagos, Rilwanu Aremu Aklolu I yesterday joined the ongoing controversy between Oba Okunade Sijuwade Olubuse II and his Benin counterpart, Omo N’Oba Erediauwa, weighing in on the side of the Benin monarch that Qduduwa, was an escapee Prince Ekaladerhan from Benin kingdom*.

The Ooni said,

*It is just right to allow the entire world to know that the name Ododuwa, the founder of our dynasty, can never be corrupted or bastardised by any living being in an attempt to create for himself an unnecessary distortion of historical fact...Oduduwa, the legend, the father of the bigger Yoruba dynasty, has no connection whatsoever with the Ogiso dynasty in Benin history as portrayed by the Oba of Benin because Oduduwa descended directly from heaven through a chain to where is now known as Ife today in the company of 400 deities*


It was like the Yoruba scholars, historians and kings, especially Ooni Okunade Sijuwade Olubuse II, were hearing the Edo view of Ododuwa’s origin and the Benin/Ile-Ife relationship for the first time.

In 1960, the Enogie of Obazuwa, Enogie Edun Akenzua (then a journalist), published an article, _A Bini View,_ in the Nigeria Journal of June 1960. It was the Edo perspective of Ododuwa’s origin.

Then, in 1973, Oba Erediauwa, then Prince Solomon Igbinoghodua Akenzua, reiterated this Edo perspective in a lecture to the Benin Museum Society in Lagos, Nigeria. Again, in 1982, during his nationwide Thank-You- Tour after his coronation in 1979, the Benin king repeated the Edo viewpoint about Ododuwa and the Benin/Ile-Ife link on the occasion of his visit to Ile-Ife. Actually, it was the Ooni of Ile-Ife, Ooni Okunade Sijuwade, Olubuse II, who had raised the subject matter in his welcome address. Once again, in 1984, Oba Erediauwa reiterated the Edo view in a lecture, _The Evolution of Traditional Rulership in Nigeria_, which he gave at the Institute of African Studies, University of Ibadan, Nigeria.

The Benin king among other things, said,
*We in Benin believe, and there are historical landmarks for such belief, that the person whom the Yorubas call Ododua was the fugitive Prince Ekaladerhan, son of the last Ogiso of Benin by name Ogiso Owodo…*

Oba Erediauwa Book:

Then, on April 29, 2004, the Benin king, Omo N’Oba Erediauwa, publicly launched a book, _I Remain, Sir, Your Obedient Servant_. In chapter 36 of the book, the Benin king claimed that Ododuwa was Ekaladerhan, an Edo fugitive prince from Benin City. He further said that Ododuwa was neither the founder of Ile-Ife nor the progenitor of all Yoruba kings.

He wrote,
*..it is historically wrong to describe Odua or Oduduwa as “father and progenitor of the Yoruba kings.*
*That Oduduwa could not have been the father of Yoruba kings or founder of Yoruba race, as modern Yoruba historians now put it, is also borne out of the fact that the Ife account itself has it that there were five rulers in Ife before the advent of Oduduwa*

Many Yoruba writers, historians and kings reacted furiously to the claim and clamoured for the removal of the book from circulation. They argued that Oba Erediauwa was not a ‘trained’ historian thus not competent to write about Ododuwa’s origin. The Ooni of Ile-Ife, Ooni Okunade Sijuwade Olubuse II, accused Omo N’Oba Erediauwa of attempting to re-write Yoruba history saying.

Several Yoruba historians and scholars investigated the possibility that the fugitive or celestial Ododuwa was the founder of Ile-Ife and the progenitor of all Yoruba kings.

These include Professor Bolaji Idowu (_Olodumare Bibliography_), Bose Emmanuel (_Odun Ifa-Ifa Festival_), Dr Isaac Adaegbo Akinjogbin (_Yorubaland before Oduduwa_) and Dr Isola Olomola (_Eastern Yoruba before Oduduwa_). They have essentially enquired whether Ododuwa was a historical or mythological person.

Dr Isaac Adaegbo Akinjogbin argued that probably the alleged descent of Ododuwa from heaven was culled from the mythology of the pre-Ododuwa inhabitants of Ile-Ife. He believed that the fugitive Oduduwa, whether from Mecca or an eastern kingdom, did not establish Ile-Ife but perhaps arrived in the city-state during the last days of the Obalata epoch.

Dr Isola Olomola also dismissed the argument that Ododuwa, celestial or fugitive, founded Ile-Ife and was the father of all Yoruba kings. He believed that the arrival of Oduduwa in Ile-Ife was an isolated event that did not affect the entire area now known as Yorubaland.

Professor Bolaji Idowu also argued that Ododuwa did not establish Ile-Ife. He maintained that when Oduduwa arrived in Ile-Ife, there was already a community of aboriginal people. Indeed, there are many communities in what is now known as Yoruba land, such as Oba-Ile near Akure, and Ijamo and Idoko people of Ondo state, including the Oba Igbomina and Igbo-Idaisa in the present-day Republic of Benin, whose creation story is at variance with the popular Ododuwa’s descent-from-the-sky version.

The Ijebu claim they migrated from Wadai and had nothing to do with Ile-Ife or Oduduwa.

Although these writers did not ascertain Ododuwa’s origin, the descent-from-the-sky postulation became the standard and accepted story. Western scholars of African art history and history such as P.A. Talbot, William and Bernard Fagg, Frank Willett, Ms Blackmun, Paula Amos ,Kathy Curnow, Kate Ezra, Laure Meyer etc also promoted the postulation and claimed that Ododuwa was a god.

Okpame-Edward Oronsaye sent in this lengthy and exhaustive treatise on a trending contentious issue.
Please peruse;

ODODUWA: MYTHS & NARRATIVES AS HISTORY. PART I*

The story of Ododuwa by many essayists and scholars of African art history and history comes in different flavours and styles.

First story of Ododuwa:

One of these narratives claims Ododuwa was the son of Olodumare, a Yoruba(**)deity and the king of the sky or heavens. The assertion is that Olodumare sent Ododuwa from his domain in heaven to create the world. Oduduwa had a cockerel, a handful of sand and a palm nut and sixteen lesser deities (or four hundred according to one other version) were let down from heaven by an iron chain to the exact spot today known as Ile-Ife. On arrival on earth, Ododuwa and his companions found the area was waterlogged. So Ododuwa threw the handful of sand over the water surface, and then the cockerel scattered sand grains, and the place became dry land. Then, he planted the palm nut, which grew into a palm tree with sixteen branches. Each palm tree branch is said to represent each of the sixteen crowned heads of the Yoruba people. The belief is that Ile Ife is the cradle of civilization.

Second story of Ododuwa:

One other narrative asserts that Ododuwa was the son of King Lamorodu, said to be a king of Mecca. Ododuwa and his followers were expelled from Mecca for idol worshipping.

Third story of Ododuwa:

A third variant of the story claims that Ododuwa was a fugitive prince from an unnamed city-state or kingdom ‘East’ of Ile-Ife.

(**)Note
According to Michael Crowder, _Story of Nigeria_ prior to the nineteenth century there was no one common term for the people now known as Yoruba. The word *Yoruba* he claims is a corruption of Yaboo, the dialect of the Oyo people, by CMS European missionaries .

Prior to the 20th century the Ilaje, Ijebu, Egba, Ijesha, Awori, Egun, Oyo, Ondo, Akoko, Akpe, Akure and Ekiti peoples never referred to themselves Yoruba and neither did they in their folktales ever subscribed to an ancient pre-Ododua Yoruba Empire with a presumed capital at Ile-Ife. The Edo people referred to the Oyo people as _Olukumi_, Akure as _Ekue_ and Ekiti as _Ekhiri_. Akure and Ekiti had been colonies of Benin since about the 16th century and there were a large number of Edo merchants and settlers (_Edo N’ Ekue_) that were concentrated in Ado Ekiti and Ado Akure until 1917.

The Ondo people were known as *Emwan N’Udo*(Udo fugitives) while the Ikale(_Eko Alile_) and Akotogbo(_Ago Otobo_ Otobo's camp) people and other migrant from Benin City that intermarried with the indigenous people were known as *Iyanha*. *Alile and Otobo were Edo war chieftains during the Benin/Udo wars.*


In the _Encyclopedia of the Yoruba_ by Professor Toyin Falola and Professor Akintunde Akinyemi, the Term or Word *Yoruba* is claimed to be a creation of European Missionaries and in the middle of the 19th Century. It was given to the ethnic groups in today South West Nigeria who spoke various dialects of the same language.
Culled from a yet to be published manuscript _Benin and Historians_
©2024 Okpame Oronsaye

AreaFada2:


samuk, please tag people or they might miss these eyewitness accounts.

As for the burial rights, not sure when such stopped or if indeed this was in Benin proper.

Okay thanks.

20-12-1514 King Manuel: to Ruy Leite, to give clothes to Benin ambassador

Ruy Leite. We command you to give to Pero Baroso, a black man who came to us with letters from the king of Benin a capuce and a cloth cape worth 200 reals a yard, red or of any other colour, as he prefers, trousers of heavy cloth worth 180 reals, and shorts of red camlet. Give him everything made and tailored to fit him, which we are having him given to wear. Do not wait for a bill, because it is an understanding between us. By this letter, which you are to show to the accountants, I command them to please pay for the cost.
Given in Almerim, on 20 December 1515. The Secretary wrote it. Also give him a red hat.
a) The King -
The said Pero Barroso received from Ruy Leyte all the clothing mentioned above, made and tailored, as well as a red hat on 22 January 1516.
a) Jorge + Correa.
a) P. + Barroso.
A hood and cape made cloth worth two reals a yard, a pair of trousers of heavy material worth 170 reals a yard, shorts of a red camlet and a red hat, to Baroso, who came with letters from the king of Benin, to your Higheness and Ruy Leite.
Received Y. da Fonseca

AreaFada2
Ghostagain
gregyboy
UMUAZEE

Lord, when these fathers reached Benin the pleasure of the king of Benin was too great to be told; the same for all his people. He sent for them at once and they stayed with him during a whole year of war. The fathers and we reminded him of the embassy of your Highness, and he answered that he was very satisfied with that, but, since he was at war, he could not do anything until he returned to Benin, because he needed to take his time to think of such a great mystery as this. As soon as he was in Benin he would fulfil what he promised your Highness and that he would act in a such a way as to give much pleasure to your Highness and to your whole kingdom. And so at the end of one year, in the month of August, the king gave his son and some of the greatest officials of his kingdom, so that they might become Christians. He also had a church built in Benin. The fathers made them Christians right away and taught them to read, which your Highness should know that they learn very well. Lord, the king of Benin hopes to finish his war this summer and we shall return to Benin and give your Highness an account of everything that happens.
Lord, I, Duarte Pirez and Johão Sobrynho, a resident of the island of Principe, and Gregorio Lourenço, a black man and formerlly the servant of Francysquo Lourenço, all remain in the service of your Highness and have made proposals on your behalf to the king of Benin, and have described to him what a great Lord your Highness is and how you can make him a great lord.
Written in this war, on 20 October 1516.
Duarte + Pirez.

20-10-1516 Duarte Pires to King Manuel, on reaction of Oba of Benin to mission

Most high and powerful King, the Prince, our Lord, whose royal status may God increase.
Lord, your Highness will know how Pero Baroso gave me a letter from your Highness, with which I much rejoiced because your Highness remembered such a poor man as I am. And now I give your Highness an account regarding the letter which you sent to me. Lord, regarding what you say that I am on very good terms with the king of Benin, it is very true, because the king of Benin was very happy with the good that I spoke of your Highness and wants to be your very close friend. He speaks of nothing else but of the affairs of our Lord and of yours and takes great pleasure in them, both he and his officials and his people. Your Highness should know how well the king of Benin has treated us for love of your Highness. He gives us every honour and places us at table to eat with his son; he hides nothing in his palace from us, but keeps all the doors open.

They have no hair, but only some tufts on their heads which do not grow. The rest of their bodies has no hair at all.
They live long, even to 100 years, always in good shape and except at certain times of the year, when they feel ill, as when they have fever. Then they have themselves bled and they get well, since blood is the major factor in their treatment.
In the interior there are some superstitious negros who worship the first thing they see in the day.
There grows on this coast a spice called malagueta, very much like Italian millet, but with a strong taste like pepper. Another species of very strong pepper grows there, twice as strong as that of Calcutta which we Portuguese are familiar with. That is because it has a seed that can be preserved when dry; we call it cauda pepper; it is much like the cúbebas in appearance, but its taste is so strong that one ounce of it has the same effect as a pound of ordinary pepper. Although its export from the coast is forbidden under the most severe penalties, it is smuggled out and sold in England at double the price of ordinary pepper. This prohibition stems from the fear of the King our Lord that this plant might displace the large quantity of pepper coming every year from Calcutta; so he decided to take some step to regulate the trade. There is another tree that produces long pods like those of beans, with some seeds inside, which have no taste, but when chewed they have a delicate taste like that of ginger. The negroes call it unias, and they use it as seasoning, together with the said pepper, when they eat fish, which they are so very fond of.
Likewise the king has forbidden making soap from ash and palm oil. That product is strong in making the hands white; it likewise makes linen cloth twice as white as ordinary soap.

AreaFada2
Ghostagain
gregyboy
UMUAZEE

Among others, there is in the kingdom of Benin an ancient custom, observed to the present day, that when a king dies, the peole all assemble in a large field, in the centre of which is a very deep well, wider at the bottom than at the mouth. They cast the body of the dead king into this well, and all his friends and servants gather round, and those who are judged to have been most dear to and favoured by the king (this includes not a few, as all are anxious for the honour) voluntarily go down to keep him company. When they have done so, the people place a great stone over the mouth of the well, and remain by it day and night. On the second day, a few deputies remove the stone, and ask those below what they know, and if any of them have already gone to serve the king; and the reply is, No. On the third day, the same question is asked, and someone then replies that so-and-so, mentioning a name, has been the first to go, and so-and-so the second. It is considered highly praiseworthy to be the first, and he is spoken of with the greatest admiration by all the people, and considered happy and blessed. After four or five days all these unfortunate people die. When this is apparent to those above, since none reply to their questions, they inform their new king, who causes a great fire to be lit near the well, where numerous animals are roasted. These are given to the people to eat, and he with great ceremony is declared to be the true king, and takes the oath to govern well.
The negros of Guinea and Benin are very irregular in their eating, because they never eat at fixed hours and eat four or five times a day. Their drink is water or palm wine.

Late 16th century, Anonymous Portuguese sea captain: The situation in Benin

To understand the negro traffic, one must know that over all the African coast facing west there are various countries and provinces, such as Guinea, the coast of Malageta, the kingdom of Benin, the kingdom of Manicongo, six degrees form the equator and towards the south pole. In the hinterland there are many tribes and negro kings here and also communities which are partly Muslim and partly idolaters. These are constantly making war among themselves. The kings are worshiped by their subjects, who believe that they come form heaven, and speak of them always with great reverence, at a distance and on bended knees.
Great ceremony surrounds them, and many of these kings never allow themselves to be seen eating, so as not to destroy the belief of their subjects that they can live without food. They worship the sun, and believe that spirits are immortal, and that after death they go to the sun.

UMUAZEE:


Bro forget these Edo/yoruba arguments, we all know the manufactured relationship is less than 100years old. Going back and forth with Yoruba revisionists will distract you.
Focus on your research on Edo history. I saw Benin/Portuguese letters you posted.. Nice one, keep it up.

Thanks. I have more to post as soon as nairaland allow me to post them.

macof:


Anybody can write anything in a fit to throw tantrum
Doesn't change the facts which all historians all over the world know

Very stupidd of anyone to say Benin dynasty is of Nupe-Igala origin just so to deny its Ife origin
Na so madness dey start. What evidence exists to even mildly justify such Nupe origin

Where did you read that Benin dynasty is of Nupe-Igala Origin.

macof:

You are inconsequential. If you like claim your father didn't exist that's a problem for your headache
Historians are not clowns like you

You mean Ibadan manufactured historians that are not taken seriously outside Nigeria. Yoruba can not write their history without mentioning Benin.

Most of Yoruba verifiable eyewitness historical accounts began in 1824.

I am still waiting for the evidence I challenged you to provide in support of your claim.

We preached to him concerning the affairs of the Faith and his dangerous situation, because of which he abhorred us so much that he has not seen us for a long time. And if we try to see him, he cuts us off by the root. And if we go out to walk he orders us to stay indoors, and, what is worse, if we don't know how he treats his own men, they shut the door in our face and sometimes beat us. Our life her is to sell all that we brought to save our lives from hunger, which is very rampant here because of the dryness of this year and because we receive little or no charitable help from anywhere, except from your Highness, and even of that the French robbed us of all that you sent us last year, which was to come to us in the commercial ships, which they robbed. For these and other reasons we asked him to let us depart with a reply to the letter of your Highness, but he refused and said that we could not leave this place without an ambassador of your Highness to carry his letter, and he wanted to say that we are his captives, which is true because of the guards that he keeps over us, and we cannot go out of the city. By these and other things and by the hunger which we suffer he is killing us little by little. We do not want to ask him for anything, since he knows our needs, and if we tell him that he robbed us, he tells us publicly before everybody that we are lying.

The letters of your Highness, which we offered him through his boys, he did not want to accept, but rather forbad their teacher, Afonso Añes, a Christian captive, to teach them with these letterssince they do not know the things of the Faith. He commanded Gregorio Lourenço, a native Christian, not to baptize his children and women, asking who had him permission to do so. The king asked for the cross and and image of our Lady, and these were taken to him with much pomp and the priests in their vestments. After seeing this, sitting on a throne on a three-step platform, he touched everything with his hands, and had the crucifix put on the step where he put his feet. He did this for Antonio, who had become a Christian in the island where he was before, for which reason we drew him to ourselves.

AreaFada2
Ghostagain
gregyboy
UMUAZEE

1538-9 mission to Benin

3-8-1539 Missionaries to João III

The Fathers, Master Miguel of the habit, Friar Antonio and Friar Francisco of the Order of St. Francis, whom your Highness sent to the king of Benin for information of conscience and matters of our holy Catholic Faith, have been there for more than a year and want to inform your Highness that they have no confidence at all in the pretended arguments of that king to be converted to Christianity, but he is now persevering more than ever in his human sacrifices, with idolatrous practices and diabolical invocations day and night, and in dedicating his people twice a day to the Enemy of man, which is the devil. Sometimes he sends for us while he is anointed with human blood and many other superstitions, abominations and errors that he keeps.

He did not receive us with much satisfaction, because he knew that we were not bringing him temporal advantages. Despising spiritual advantages, he never values them as he should were he to know them. The favour that your Highness did in sending him your letter, which, kissing and bowing our heads we gave him with much respect, he did not receive as he should have, but threw it into a basket or box which he had on his left and did not open it until three months later, and he then called us. He keeps us under guard as guests in houses of gentiles with many idols and fetiches, where all pass over us night and day. Because of the many disturbances, noise and lack of peace we cannot recite our daily office. All we had has been stolen and we have been badly treated and insulted by his men.

Yet it is never our will to refuse to receive our friends and servants into our friendship and service when they admit their errors with fidelity and truth and they turn to us, after the example of what our almighty Lord God always does to those who wander and go against him [....] We have sent our men and arms to other places much further away in order to serve God our Lord by spreading his holy Faith, which obliges us more than any other thing in this world, and by helping the souls of those who are deprived of knowledge of his holy Faith. For all those souls who do not receive the faith of Jesus Christ our Lord will be forever lost in the fire of Hell, whereas those who die with the knowledge of the Faith will live forever in glory and the happiness of Paradise.
Therefore with much good will we send you the priests that you sent for. They are bringing all the things that are necessary to teach you and your people the knowledge of our Faith. We hope that our Lord will give you his grace to understand it and be saved by it for the things of this world all pass away, while those of the other world last forever. I urge you strongly to continue to receive the teachings of the Faith of Chrisitians, as we count on you to do as a king who is our dear friend. For when we see that in the affairs of Christianity you act as a good and faithful Christian, there is nothing in our realms that we will not continue to put at your disposition, whether arms or canons or other instruments of war against your enemies, since we have so many such things, as your embassador Dom Jorge will tell you. We are not sending them now, although he requested them, because the law of God forbids giving them as long as you are [an unbeliever...]
We urge you strongly to keep your markets open and allow free trade, as has always been the case, and to let goods come in and out freely with their ships, as we expect of you and of your friendship. We will very willingly see to it that, as you do so, nothing will come to your or to your land except what is good and profitable. Our secretary, who is very devoted to our service, will always place all your requirements before us, and we will see that they are taken care of.
Written in Allmeirim, on 20 November 1514.

AreaFada2
Ghostagain
gregyboy
UMUAZEE

1514 mission to Benin

20-11-1514 King Manuel: to the Oba of Benin on sending priests

The powerful and noble King of Benin: We, Dom Manuel, by the grace of God King of Portugal, of the Algarves, at home and abroad, in Africa, Lord of Guinea and of the conquest, of the navigation and commerce of Ethiopia, Arabia, Persia and India. We inform you that we have learned from Dom Jorge, your embassador, all that you require of us. His coming to us has helped us very much to appreciate the good will you declare to have for the things of our service. We were very pleased with all that he told us about your good will.
Certainly, since we desire that all your affairs prosper, you are right in doing what helps our affairs and service, just as if they were your own. For never, thanks be God, I know of no king, whether in Guinea or India or more distant places, who has regretted having friendship with us; rather they have always continued and do continue to nourish it the more and preserve it themselves along with us, with the good actions which we do for them, just as we will be pleased to do with you, if with regard to our affairs you do what you should as a king who is a friend of ours, as we believe that your are, given the fact that in past years we have had different information and we saw it in action.

When the ambassador is leaving, he is shown a foot below the curtains as a sign that the prince is within and agrees to the matters that he has raised; this foot they reverence as though it were a sacred relic. As a kind of reward for the hardships of such a journey the ambassador receives a small cross, similar to that sent to the king, which is thrown round his neck to signify that he is free and exempt from all servitudes, and privileged in his native country, as the Knights are with us. I myself knew this, but in order to be able to write it with authority, (although the King D. João in his time had also enquired well into it) when in the year 1540 certain ambassadors of the king of Beny came to this Kingdom, among whom was a man about seventy years of age who was wearing one of these crosses, I asked him the reason, and he gave an explanation similar to the above. And as in the time of the King, D. João, whenever India was spoken of, reference was always made to a very powerful king called Priest John of the Indies, who was reputed to be a Christian, it seemed therefore to the King that it might be possible to enter India by way of this kingdom. For he had learnt from the Abexijs (Abyssinian) priests who came to these parts of Spain, and also from some friars who had been from this kingdom to Jerusalem and whom he had ordered to gather information about this Prince, that his country was in the land above Egypt whence it stretched to the southern sea. Wherefore the King and his cosmographers, taking into consideration Ptolemy's general map describing Africa and its kings on the coast, as was ascertained by his discoverers, and also the distance of two hundred and fifty leagues to the east where according to the people of Beny the country of prince Ogané lay, concluded that he must be Priest John, for both were hidden behind curtains of silk and held the emblem of the cross in great veneration. And it also appeared to him that if his ships continued along the coast they had discovered, they could not fail to reach the land where the plateau promontory was, which is the boundary of that country. Therefore taking into consideration all these facts which increased his ardour for the design of discovering India, he determined to send immediately in the year 1486 both ships by sea and men by land, in order to get to the root of this matter which inspired so much hope in him.

AreaFada2
Ghostagain
gregyboy
UMUAZEE

1486 João de Barros: Pre-Protuguese Christian influence in Benin - Ibid., 126-7

Among the many things which the King D. João learnt from the ambassador of the king of Benin, and also from João Afonso d'Aveiro, of what they had been told by the inhabitants of these regions, was that to the east of Beny at twenty moons' journeywhich according to their account, and the short journeys they make, would be about two hundred and fifty of our leaugesthere lived the most powerful monarch of these parts, who was called Ogané. Among the pagan chiefs of the territories of Beny he was held in as great veneration as is the Supreme Pontif with us. In accordance with a very ancient custom, the king of Beny, on ascending the throne, sends ambassadors to him with rich gifts to announce that by the decease of his predecessor he has succeeded to the kingdom of Beny, and to requesst confirmation. To signify his assent, the prince Ogané sends the king a staff and a headpiece of shining brass, fashioned like a Spanish helmet, in place of a crown and sceptre. He also sends a cross, likewise of brass, to be worn round the neck, a holy and religious emblem similar to that worn by the Knights of the Order of Saint John. Without these emblems the people do not recognize him as lawful ruler, nor can he call himself truly king. All the time this ambassador is at the court of Ogané, he never sees the prince, but only the curtains of silk behind which he sits, for he is regarded as sacred.

macof:

Referring to Benin as a one time empire is correct, the problem arises when people don't have respect for timeline consistencies and speak as if the polity was always an empire.
Benin started off as a distant offshoot of Ife benefiting from Ife's trade network and commercial monopoly which saw that polity rise to primacy in the first place. Until the mid 15th century, of all the cities with links to Ife, Benin was the first to maintain a steady growth (Owu would have been, but couldn't due to rivalry with Oyo during Sango's reign and Ife's still existing power under Ọbalufọn, but also constant Nupe raids)
By the 1550s-1600s Benin was at its peak, Oba Ehengbuda was the last great expansionist King Benin had. By the 1690s a long civil war that lasted decades broke out between the supporters of Oba Ozuere and those of Oba Akenzua. Benin city itself was destroyed and later rebuilt but never able to fully recover it's early 1600s power. It's hold on some formerly answerable kingdoms became mostly relegated to legitimacy rather than actual authority, which Benin itself maintained with Ife.

There are no verifiable historical evidence that support Benin relationship with Ife until the fall of Benin in 1897.

Everything you wrote were fabricated after 1897. You cannot provide any written evidence before 1897 that link Benin to Ife.

I challenged you to provide such evidence.

1486 João de Barros: The Oba of Benin asks for missionaries - Tr. in G.R. Crone, The voyages of Cadamosto (London: Hakluyt Society, 1937), 124

Though the christianizing of these people of Congo progressed greatly to the glory of God, through the conversion of their king, little profit accrued from what the King did in the matter of the request of the king of Beny, whose kingdom lay between that of Congo and the Castle of S. Jorge da Mina. For at the time of Diogo Cam's first return from Congo, in the year fourteen hundred and eighty six, this king of Beny also sent to solicit the King to despatch thither priests who might instruct him in the Faith. This country had already been visited in the previous year by Fernão Po, who had discovered this coast and also an island near the land, now known by his name. On account of its size he called it Ilha Formosa - but it has lost this name and bears that of its discoverer. This emissary of the king of Beny came with João Affonso d'Aveiro, who had been sent to explore this coast by the King, and who brought back the first pepper from these parts of Guinea to theKingdom. This pepper is called by us de rabo (long tailed) because the stem on whihc it grows comes away with it to distinguish it from that obtained from India. The King sent some to Flanders, but it was never held in as high esteem as the Indian.

AreaFada2
Ghostagain
gregyboy
UMUAZEE

1486 mission to Benin

1486 Ruy de Pina: Discovery of Benin - Tr. from J.W. Blake, Europeans in West Africa (London, 1942), 2 vols.; this part is from vol. 1, 78-9

In this year [1486] the land of Benin beyond Mina in the Rios dos Escravos was first discovered by Joham Affom da Aveiro, who died there. The first Guinee pepper came to Europe from that land, where it grows in great abundance. Samples of it were sent to Flanders and other places, and it was soon popular and selling for a high price.

The king of Benin sent as ambassador to King João one of his captains, a negro from a seaport town called Gwato, because he desired to learn more about Europe, whose people were regarded there as an unusual novelty. This ambassador was a man of good speech and natural wisdom. Great feasts were held in his honour, and he was shown many of the fine things of Europe. He returned to his land in one of the King's ships, who gave him on departing a gift of rich clothes for himself and his wife. Through him he also sent to the king of Benin a rich present of such things he knew the king would like very much. He also sent through the ambassador some holy and Catholic words of advice, with a praiseworthy appeal to embrace the Faith, rebuking him sternly for the heresies and gross idolatrous and fetish practices which are so common among the negroes of that land.

New commercial agents of King João went with the ambassador to reside in that land and buy pepper and other things of interest to the King's business. But because the land was later found to be very dangerous from sickness and not so profitable as had been hoped, the trade was abandoned.

AreaFada2
Ghostagain
gregyboy
UMUAZEE

HISTORY OF ILE IFE AS SEEN ON THE OONI’S WEBSITE www.oonirisa.org Or the book 📕 HISTORY OF ILE IFE … it’s agreed Oduduwa was a stranger who came with his group to Ife , fought with the aborigines , won dem and became their leader .