Advent of the Second (Oba) Dynasty: Another Assessment of a Benin History Key Point

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Periodical article

Title:	Advent of the Second (Oba) Dynasty: Another Assessment of a Benin History Key Point
Author:	Bondarenko, Dmitri M.
Year:	2003
Periodical:	History in Africa
Volume:	30
Pages:	63-85
Language:	English
Geographic term:	Nigeria
Subjects:	Benin polity history traditional polities History and Exploration Peoples of Africa (Ethnic Groups) Education and Oral Traditions
External link:	https://www.jstor.org/stable/3172082
Abstract:	In studies of the precolonial Benin Kingdom (Nigeria) a lot of controversy exists regarding the consolidation of the present-day second ('Oba') dynasty around the turn to the 13th century and the person of its founder Oranmiyan (Oranyan in Yoruba), a member of the Ife royal family. The main reason for the controversy is the existence of considerable disagreement between numerous Bini and Yoruba versions of the oral historical tradition. Besides this, the story of Oranmiyan is one of the Bini and Yoruba oral history pages most tightly connected with mythology. Finally, there are the apocryphal versions of Benin oral tradition. Using recent literature on the subject, this paper examines the following questions: who initiated the founding of the Oba dynasty: Bini or Yoruba? Was it a request or a conquest? Are the characters of the oral tradition historical figures? What were the historical, sociocultural and political circumstances of the Oba accession? Bibliogr. [ASC Leiden abstract]