Kingdom of Benin

She just did a lot of really cool traditional stuff in it, and I just kinda wanted to talk about it a little bit, 'cause the marriage didn't last, but the wedding pictures are forever, and they are stunning.

So Simon is from Nigeria's Edo State, specifically the historic Kingdom of Benin, and their November 2022 traditional ceremony was deeply rooted in Edo native law and custom.

I put some pictures in here.

I know you've seen this before, but if you scroll down to the first one I have in here.

we ain't enemies with these brothers we ain't enemies with these was it the wrong way no we ain't enemies with these brothers man like stop try it stop doing that man this came in fresh last week man still ain't on the wall yet people i'm about to do it man but You see that? That's from Benin.

That's from the Benin Empire.

So what are you talking about? This ain't not Elaine.

I'm saying this

In the southwest, we had the Oyo Empire, which became one of the most powerful states in West Africa.

In what is now Edo state, we had the Kingdom of Benin, famous for its sophisticated political organizations and incredible works of art.

In the north, we had the Aosa city-states developed major centers for trades and learning.

There was also the powerful Kanembonu Empire which actually existed for centuries around Lake Chad region.

Meanwhile, societies such as Igbo communities actually developed their own system of governance, often organized around villages, councils, titled institutions, and other forms of local authority.

So when we say Nigeria history, we are talking about different histories, diversities that actually became one country.

now we actually had um the european contact the european contact with the west african coast actually goes back centuries we had portuguese traders they reached the region in the late 15th century and established relationship with coastal societies including the kingdom of benin the trades expanded but unfortunately one of the most devastating parts of this history was the transatlantic slave trade but if you're one of those people that is watching instagram reels a lot you if you follow on historical page you see that there are lots and lots of um insights that actually coming out on the industry um concerning this uh slave trade actually happened in africa back then now millions of africans were actually forced they were forcibly transported across the atlantic and west african societies were deeply affected by the trade the original later became nigeria which was connected to these wider atlantic networks but trade was not the only thing changing By the 19th century, European powers were actually becoming increasingly interested in Africa's resources, our territory and our political influence.

And Britain actually became particularly influential in this area.

For example, in the 19th century, the British Empire occupied much of the Nigerian coast and in 1897 forcibly captured Benin City.

The British military destroyed much of the city, including its palace, where hundreds of plaques and other important objects depicting the history of the Kingdom of Benin were stored.

Later that year, about 300 objects from Benin City were displayed at the British Museum, and many have been part of its collection ever since.

The government of Nigeria has for decades been calling for the return of these stolen works, but it took more than 100 years to even begin to gain traction.

He liked playing The Trials of Oba Oranmiyan.

Oba Oranmiyan was, um, was a king of, um, Benin, the Benin Kingdom.

It's a Nigerian story, you know, when we were, were colonized by the British, and it was just, uh, how prestigious and majestic the Oba was.

Mm.