Benin and the Europeans

Ryder's Benin and the Europeans, 1485-1897 has been presented as one of the better texts to read for an understanding of the Kingdom of Benin based on written sources. Sadly, despite the long history of contact and trade with Europe (Portugal, England, Netherlands, France, Capuchin missions), Benin was never a major exporter of slaves and commerce with Europe appears to have been more peripheral to the kingdom's economy. Instead, unspecified links with the interior, including distant Nupe and Hausa centers to the north, were likely far more important. To make things even more complicated, Benin lost control of the lower river to the Warri kingdom's Itsekiri, relying on Ughoton as their major port of trade. However, large European ships could not sail that far, further complicating trade. Benin, consequently, had to rely on the Itsekiri and Ijo peoples to some extent for trade with Europeans. And due to the royal monopoly on ivory and attempts by the oba to control trade tightly, conflicts with the Dutch and other Europeans were frequent. 

Nonetheless, Ryder's study analyzes the surviving corpus of European sources to narrate the history of Benin's relations with the European powers active on the West African coast. Unfortunately, he was not successful at connecting the events and features in the European sources too strongly with the narratives and traditions of Benin based on oral sources and art history. Some critics of Ryder's study suggest he was too tentative here and, like them, we feel at times that we have very little idea what was going on in Benin internally. Some of the conflicts over trade, trade stoppages, and attempts by the oba to lower prices or attain access to firearms certainly can be linked to some degree with events in Benin known from tradition. The civil wars, for instance, or the period of 17th century weak rulers, can be glimpsed or inferred from the reports, journals and letters of Europeans stationed on the coast. Still, one feels like this book must be read in conjunction with Bradbury, Egharevba, and Connah's archaeological research to make sense of what was happening.

Intriguingly, Ryder's book alludes to some possible deeper ties Benin enjoyed with the Nupe, Idah, and perhaps Hausa networks of trade and circulation of goods. During the mid-17th century, when cloth exports of Benin became a major item of trade for resale on the West African coast, Ryder suggests that much of this product had to be acquired by Benin traders from interior parts of West Africa. Some may have been supplied from as far away as Nupeland, pointing to a trade link that connected Nupe production centers with the coast and European trade. Later, in c.1787, Ryder briefly discusses Landolphe's encounter with Muslims in Benin, said to have come from Oyo. While his description of them suggests a more northerly origin in the Hausa states or the Sahel, this brief description of them points to long-distance trade between Benin and northern Nigeria (and beyond). One wonders to what extent Benin's cloth, salt, ivory, and slave trading linked to as far away as Oyo and the northern of the Niger River. Indeed, Benin's interior trade must have been of enough importance for the kingdom's interests due to their often limited exchange with Europe. Of course, the European sources scarcely tough upon this theme, and perhaps one can understand the reluctance of Ryder to infer too much from these aforementioned sources.

Last, but certainly not least, the extensive documentation on Benin does point to the troubling issue of assumptions of immutable traditions. On a number of instances, Ryder cites sources which point to different traditions, greetings, and changing customs like human sacrifice. Allegedly not reported in the early Portuguese sources, human sacrifice rituals grew and decreased depending on circumstances. Due to the lower power of some obas in terms of political centralization and military authority, Ryder believes they endeavored to increase their status through the belief in their supernatural powers. Perhaps this was why some obas organized rituals featuring more sacrifices than others? Regardless, the documentation is enough to point out how tradition can change rather quickly, making it more problematic to assume too much continuity for any society based on traditional beliefs and practices.