Esigie
Oba of Benin
Kingdom of Benin
Reign1504 AD – 1550 AD
PredecessorOzolua
SuccessorOrhogbua
Diedc. 1550
Benin City
SpouseElaba
FatherOzolua
MotherQueen Idia
An Edo figure from the reign of the oba Esigie (c. 1504 – 1550) Brooklyn Museum.

Oba Esigie was the son of Oba Ozolua, who reigned in the late 15th century, and his second wife, Queen Idia. Oba Esigie ruled the ancient Benin Kingdom, now Benin City, Edo State, Nigeria (c.1504 – c.1550).[1][2] Works of art commissioned by Esigie are held in prominent museums including the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the British Museum.

After Ozolua's death, Esigie controlled Benin City, while his brother Arhuaran controlled Udo, a town about 30 kilometres (20 mi) northwest of Benin City, that was nearly its equal in size and influence.[3][4] Following a bitter power struggle with Arhuaran, and with major assistance and support from his mother Idia, Esigie gathered the Benin army at Unuame on the river Osse and from there launched an attack and overthrew Arhuanran.[5] Esigie became Oba of Benin and would later fend off an attack from the Igala people.[6][7][8]

Esigie started a tradition in Benin by abolishment of the killing of the king's mother, giving Idia the title of Iyoba (or Queen Mother), and providing the Eguae-Iyoba (Palace of the Queen Mother) in lower Uselu for her use.[9][10][11] Idia was responsible for many cultural innovations that still hold strong in Benin’s cultural history; she notably dressed as a man marched alongside her son and led Benin to victory in the Idah battle of 1515. When Idia died, her protege and Esigie's wife Elaba would go to support the Oba until his death c. 1547.

References

  1. ↑ "Oba esigie".
  2. ↑ Hunter, David J. (2013-08-01). "A Response to Rudolf Klein: A Battle May Have Been Won but Perhaps Not the War". Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Law. 38 (4): 871–877. doi:10.1215/03616878-2210512. ISSN 0361-6878.
  3. ↑ "Oba Esigie". www.edoworld.net. Retrieved 2023-01-24.
  4. ↑ Ojaruega, EE (2015-09-11). The place of Urhobo folklore in Tanure Ojaide’s poetry. Tydskrif vir Letterkunde Association. OCLC 923960138.
  5. ↑ "West African Journal of Archaeology". 1976.
  6. ↑ OKAKA, C.E.; AKHIGBE, J.E. (1999-01-01). "Helminth parasites of some tropical freshwater fish from Osse River in Benin, southern Nigeria". Tropical Freshwater Biology. 8 (1). doi:10.4314/tfb.v8i1.20861. ISSN 0795-0101.
  7. ↑ "A Wife of the King", Saint Margaret, Queen of the Scots, Palgrave Macmillan, retrieved 2023-02-01
  8. ↑ Nevadomsky, Joseph. The costume and weapons of the Benin brass horseman. OCLC 57828940.
  9. ↑ Guinea Coast, 1400–1600 A.D. | Timeline of Art History | The Metropolitan Museum of Art
  10. ↑ "Śāntimāhātmya:kiṁvā sādhu Iyoba hyāceẽ ākhyāna /". Hebrew and Judeo-Arabic Printing in Baghdad Online. Retrieved 2023-02-01.
  11. ↑ "The Untold Tale between Oba Esigie and Iyoba Idia of Benin". The Guardian Nigeria News - Nigeria and World News. 2019-06-04. Retrieved 2021-07-12.
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