Ewuakpe 1 Hero In History Medallion

Edo artist
Benin City, Edo State, Nigeria
Altarpiece dedicated to Oba Ewuakpe I
Early 18th century
Copper alloy
Ethnologisches Museum der Staatlichen Museen zu Berlin–Preußischer Kulturbesitz
Photograph by Claudia Obrocki

Humbled by his people, Ewuakpe I learned to place limits on his rule.

Ewuakpe I
c. 1670s–1712, Benin City, Edo State, Nigeria
Reigned c. 1701–12 over Benin kingdom from Benin City

Iyase̩ lend me twenty cowries
Esọgban lend me twenty cowries
Esọn lend me twenty cowries
To buy a basket and a bag
For marketing in the Agbado market.
—Song Ewuakpe I played on his harp during his exile, showing his dependence on the other titled members of the Royal Executive Council

• Ewuakpe I came to the throne after a period of crises around the issue of royal succession. Initially quite unpopular, he was driven out of the palace by the people of Benin.
• Only through the self-sacrifice of his devoted wife, Iden, did Ewuakpe I regain spiritual authority.
• When permitted to return to the throne, he reclaimed political authority by ending a detested law that transferred Edo chiefs’ properties to the king upon their deaths.
• Ewuakpe I instituted a system whereby the title of oba (king) passed to the first-born son (primogeniture), lowering the potential for future periods of dynastic conflict and ensuring the continuity of the monarchy.