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Oba Esigie was an Oba (king) of Benin who ruled the ancient Guinea Coast, 1400–1600 A.D. , Timeline of Art History , The Metropolitan Museum of Art
/ref> Esigie was responsible for the abolishment of the killing of the king's mother. He abolished it and crowned his mother the Eguae-Iyoba (Palace of the Queen Mother) making her the first Iyoba. Works of art commissioned by Esigie are held in prominent museums including the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the British Museum.
50 Great Africans - Oba Esigie & Oba Ewuare
Accessed 10 January 2007
Accessed 10 January 2007 {{Obas of Benin 16th-century monarchs in Africa Obas of Benin Edo people 16th-century Nigerian people
Oba Esigie was an Oba (king) of Benin who ruled the ancient Benin Kingdom
The Kingdom of Benin, also known as the Edo Kingdom, or the Benin Empire ( Bini: ') was a kingdom within what is now southern Nigeria. It has no historical relation to the modern republic of Benin, which was known as Dahomey from the 17th c ...
, now Benin City
Benin City is the capital and largest city of Edo State, Edo State, Nigeria. It is the fourth-largest city in Nigeria according to the 2006 census, after Lagos, Kano (city), Kano, and Ibadan, with a population estimate of about 3,500,000 as of ...
, Edo State
Edo, commonly known as Edo State, is a state located in the South-South geopolitical zone of Nigeria. As of 2006 National population census, the state was ranked as the 24th populated state (3,233,366) in Nigeria, However there was controversy ...
, Nigeria (c.1504 – c.1550).
At the time of his father Oba Ozolua's death, Esigie controlled Benin City
Benin City is the capital and largest city of Edo State, Edo State, Nigeria. It is the fourth-largest city in Nigeria according to the 2006 census, after Lagos, Kano (city), Kano, and Ibadan, with a population estimate of about 3,500,000 as of ...
and his brother Arhuaran controlled Udo, a town about northwest of Benin City that was nearly its equal in size and influence. Following a bitter power struggle with Arhuaran, and with major assistance and support from his mother Queen Idia, "Esigie gathered the Benin army at Unuame on the river Osse and from there launched an attack which finally destroyed the might of Udo and his half-brother Arhuanran" (Egharevba, 1968: 26). Esigie became Oba of Benin. Esigie later fended off an attack from the Igala people.
Esigie started a tradition in Benin by investing his mother with the title of Iyoba
The Iyoba of Benin is an important female titleholder in the chieftaincy system of the Kingdom of Benin, a Nigerian traditional state. She is otherwise known in English as the Queen Mother.
History
When King Ozolua died in the fifteenth century ...
(or ''Queen Mother'') and providing the Eguae-Iyoba (Palace of the Queen Mother) in lower Uselu for her use./ref> Esigie was responsible for the abolishment of the killing of the king's mother. He abolished it and crowned his mother the Eguae-Iyoba (Palace of the Queen Mother) making her the first Iyoba. Works of art commissioned by Esigie are held in prominent museums including the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the British Museum.
References
External links
50 Great Africans - Oba Esigie & Oba Ewuare
Accessed 10 January 2007
Accessed 10 January 2007 {{Obas of Benin 16th-century monarchs in Africa Obas of Benin Edo people 16th-century Nigerian people