How Did Benin Build A Strong Army

Benin. As the Oba, he put a strong emphasis on the need of a strong army. An article stated, “under Ewuare’s rule…Benin changed dramatically (US History).” As a civilization, they began to create a powerful military and started expanding their kingdom by winning land from surrounding civilizations. Ewuare was only the first of several great warrior kings, after Ewuare came his son, Ozolua. Oba Ozolua was historically known for being victorious in nearly two hundred battles. After Oba Ozolua came Oba Esigie, Esigie was credited for expanding Benin eastward to help build their empire a take land from the Kingdom of Ife. Both Esigie and Ozolua encouraged trading with Portuguese merchants in order to build a large and technologically advanced

military. After Oba Esigie came Oba Orhogbua, during his reign the ancient civilization reached its largest size, the kingdom stretched past the Niger River in the east and extended west as far as where modern-day Ghana is located. The fifth and final of the warrior kings was Oba Ehengbuda. His accomplishments were far less than the past four warrior kings, Ehengbuda spent the majority of his time as Oba stopping rebellions led by local chiefs throughout the civilization. Oba Ehengbuda passed away in 1601, he passed away due to a freak storm while him and his army were crossing a lagoon, his river-craft was cap-sized leading to his death. After the death of Oba Ehengbuda, the ancient Benin empire began to slowly shrink in size.
The British colonization of Africa led to the downfall of many ancient African civilizations, including the pre-colonial kingdom of Benin. By the 1800s ancient Benin was no longer the powerful empire they used to be, the Obas struggled to rule their people and the civilization began to fall apart. Not to mention they were dealing with external problems regarding the threat of Britain attempting to gain control of their kingdom. They were primarily interested in Benin so they could get wealthy by selling their abundance of rubber and palm oil. The Oba at the time tried to cut off all communications to Britain thinking they would leave their civilization alone, however, Britain insisted on their right to trade with them. Around 1897, a group of British officials attempted to visit the kingdom of Benin. Those protecting the borders of the civilization, sent the British away primarily because the Oba was preoccupied by a religious ceremony taking place within the kingdom. The British insisted on visiting Benin, however, as they approached the civilization a group of warriors attacked them and drove them away from the borders of Benin. During the attack, several British men lost their life, this made the British very upset at the people of ancient Benin. The British wanted revenge for their fallen comrades, not long after, the British sent thousands of troops to invade the kingdom of Benin. During the attack, Benin City, what was the capital of the Edo state, was burnt entirely to the ground. This attack is what led the pre-colonial