ADSactly History : History Of Southern Nigeria [Part 3] - Bini In The Pre-colonial Era

In our last two posts (part 1 and part 2), we did a survey of two politically influential tribes in Southern Nigeria; the Yoruba and the Igbo tribes and we looked at their origin and socio-political organization in the pre-colonial time. In this episode, we will be looking at another tribe in the Southern Nigeria; the Bini Tribe.

Bini Tribe

Bini is a very strategic tribe in Southern Nigeria and is predominantly found in Edo state (kingdom of Benin in Nigeria), parts of Delta state and even in Rivers state. During the pre-colonial times, the Bini tribe played a very strategic role that charted the course of Nigerian history. It will interest you to know that the first contact made by Europeans in Nigeria was in Bini (this was around the 15th century AD). The two foremost Europeans (Portuguese) to arrive in Nigeria in the 15th century were Ruy de Sequeira and Alfonso de Aviero.

Asides receiving the Europeans, the kingdom of Benin (Bini tribe) is regarded as the first Nigerian tribe and also in the entire west African sub-region to exchange ambassadors with the Portuguese. During that time, the Portuguese were regarded as a major European power.

Origin of Bini

We will take a look at the origin of Bini tribe. Just like the other tribes we have looked at in the previous episodes, Bini has many accounts of their origin but we will look at a few that have been generally accepted by Bini history scholars.

The version of Igbafe

This is a creationist account. It has been believed by some Bini people that the almighty creator (Osanobua) sent his sons to the ancient kingdom of Benin to populate the place and among the sons sent was Bini (the youngest son of of Osanobua). While being sent to the ancient kingdom of Benin, Bini was given a large snail shell containing sand.

When Bini arrived the earth, he discovered that almost the entire face of the earth was covered with water. He was advised by a mystery bird to pour the sand from the large snail shell unto some parts of the water. He did and that was how lands were formed. It was on this land that the kingdom of Benin was formed. At first, the land was so large that he had to sell parts of it to his elder brother who later became the king of Ife (remember we talked about Ife in the Yoruba origin). It is worthy to note that, as a creationist account, this account does not fit into the ideology of evolutionists and is void of scientific explanation - though it has been generally accepted by Bini people as part of their "oral tradition".

The version of Ogiso

The initial period of the history of the Bini people in the ancient times was called "Ogiso era". The name came from the rulers of the ancient Bini tribe who were called "Ogisos" - (literarily translated to "King of sky"). the first ever ruler (Ogiso) of the ancient Bini was "Igbodo" and the last was "Owodo". These were the kings known to have established the Ogiso dynasty and they had sovereign reign in ancient Bini.

It has been believed that Owodo fought his way through many kingdoms and noblemen for the establishment of this dynasty. Owodo had many sons and among them is Ekaladeran who established a very strategic port-town in ancient Benin kingdom called "Ughoton". Ekaladeran's son; Oranmiyan; founded the Eweka dynasty and this was how the Bini tribe expanded during the pre-colonial times. The reign of the kings of sky came to an end and the Ogiso dynasty translated into a republican and for the first time, the ancient Bini kingdom had a choice of leadership.

This marked the end of the celestial reign in Bini (because the Ogisos were majorly regarded by many as being celestial). The Benin kingdom established a monarchical system of government with the king (Oba) having the center of authority. Even till this present time, throughout the land of Benin (and Edo state), the Obas are seen as the mace of authority.

Bini Administration and Socio-political Organization

The people of Bini, during the pre-colonial time, had a political structure that had the Oba (king) as the head and center of authority. An Oba was usually succeeded by his eldest son (this is a primogeniture monarchical system). Apart from being the head and center of the government, the Obas were also seen as religious leaders and, sometime, divine being. Though in the real sense, they are not divine, but they are believed to posses the spirits of their forefathers.

During the ancient Bini, there was a great distinction in classes within the society. The high-ranking class and the nobles were called "Adesotu", while the commoners were regarded as "Ighiotu". The noble class wielded great authority and some of them were drafted into the Oba's cabinet. Among the noble class, they were further divided into three sub-classes: The "Eghaevbo n'ogbe" - These were the palace chiefs and king-makers. There was also the "Eghaevbo n'ore" - they were the town chiefs and the head of various communities. The last one was the Uzama.

For the Ighiotu that were not among the noble men, they were divided into various sub-classes according to their profession or trade, like the blacksmith, meat butchers, trado-medical doctors (herbalists) etc. Even among these sub-classes, there were heads of each of them that were answerable to the Adesotu and ultimately to the Obas. One very unique characteristic of the monarchical system of the Bini is the hierachical structure they exhibited, even till this present time, a trace of this feature has remained.

References: Ref1, Ref2, Ref3, Ref4