Ughoton (or Gwato) is a town in
Nigeria
Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...
's
Edo State.
According to
Benin
Benin ( , ; french: Bénin , ff, Benen), officially the Republic of Benin (french: République du Bénin), and formerly Dahomey, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the nort ...
oral tradition, the town was reportedly founded as 'Iguekaladerhan' (the land of Ekaladerhan) by
Ekaladerhan, the son of
Owodo, the last Benin
ogiso (monarch). At the time of Owodo's exile for misadministration, Ekaladerhan had fled Owodo, who wanted to sacrifice him to the gods. Reports of Ekaladerhan's location reached Owodo after he was spotted by hunters, and he sent soldiers to capture him. When they arrived, Ekaladerhan was gone, and the soldiers and hunters remained where they were, forming the town rather than returning to face Owodo's wrath.
In the fifteenth century, Ughoton began to function as a port city for nearby
Benin City, first hosting the
Portuguese
Portuguese may refer to:
* anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal
** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods
** Portuguese language, a Romance language
*** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language
** Portu ...
, and later the
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
and
Dutch
Dutch commonly refers to:
* Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands
* Dutch people ()
* Dutch language ()
Dutch may also refer to:
Places
* Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States
* Pennsylvania Dutch Country
People E ...
traders. The famous
Venetian explorer
Giovanni Belzoni
Giovanni Battista Belzoni (; 5 November 1778 – 3 December 1823), sometimes known as The Great Belzoni, was a prolific Italian explorer and pioneer archaeologist of Egyptian antiquities. He is known for his removal to England of the seven-tonn ...
, known for his success in searching for
Egyptian antiquities and selling them to the
British Museum
The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...
, died here in 1823 of dysentery during an expedition.
There is another Ughoton town in Okpe Local Government area of Delta State, which is made up of Urhobo-Okpe speaking people. Like the Urhobos this Ughoton people are migrants from Benin and share a unique language with other Okpes who together occupy two of the 25 local governments of Delta State. Ughoton borders the creeks with a rich flow of rivers and streams through the town. Its southern neighbours are the Itsekiris of Orere and Omadino. To the north are Jeddo and Ugbokodo, two Okpe villages.
Sources
History of the Edo folk
{{coord, 6, 10, N, 5, 22, E, region:NG_type:city, display=title
Populated places in Edo State