Eweka I

Eweka I was the first Oba ('king') of the Kingdom of Benin and the first ruler of the Eweka dynasty, the royal line that followed the era associated in Benin historical tradition with the Ogiso monarchs and the later administrations of Evian and Ogiamien.

Eweka was born to Oranmiyan and the Edo woman Erinmwinde at Ego town and was brought up at Use town, both settlements near the Benin capital. His chronology remains uncertain: historian Jacob Egharevba placed his birth around 1171, his coronation around 1200 and the accession of his son Uwakhuahen around 1230, while other reconstructions place the beginning of the dynasty in the early fourteenth century or around 1320. Traditions about Eweka's childhood connect the origin of his name with the game of akhue, during which he was said to have pronounced Owomika, glossed by Egharevba as "I have succeeded", after previously being unable to speak. His coronation took place at Usama, the residence associated with Oranmiyan, and tradition holds that royal regalia were sent from Ife for the ceremony. Accounts of his reign also associate Eweka with the beginning of the title Oba in Benin, the organisation or expansion of the body later called the Uzama, and the appointment of royal princes over settlements beyond the immediate capital.

Not all reconstructions portray Eweka as exercising uncontested authority throughout the Benin capital and surrounding territory. Historian Osarhieme Osadolor describes Eweka and his first two successors as remaining at Usama while the faction associated with Ogiamien continued to exercise considerable authority in the capital, with more extensive royal control developing under the fourth Oba, Ewedo. Eweka was followed by Uwakhuahen and later by another son, Ehenmihen, while separate traditions associate his sons Idu and Omorodion with political centres established outside the immediate royal seat.