Benin and the Slave Trade

Benin. In T. Falola, A. Warnock (eds.). Encyclopedia of the Middle Passage. Westport, CT; London: Greenwood Press, 2007. P. 56–58. Benin and the Slave Trade The kingdom of Benin (not to be confused with the modern Republic of Benin) was among the earliest, longest lasting, and most active participants in the European trade on the Slave Coast, including the trade in slaves. From "pre-European" times, Benin was one of the mightiest powers on the eastern Slave Coast. The Portuguese probably reached Benin in 1472, but established strong relations with the kingdom only in 1485/86, when they founded a trade “factory” at the port of Gwato. Europeans demanded slaves from the very beginning of trade with Benin, and it was there that the Portuguese purchased their first large slave cargoes. Portugal (until the mid-16th century), the Netherlands (late 16th – early 18th centuries), and Great Britain (mid-18th – 19th centuries, culminating in the occupation of the country in 1897) successively became the dominant European powers in the Benin region, although the French, Germans, and others also intermittently established presences there. Before the mid-17th century, Benin exported slaves not only to the New World, but also to Europe and the Gold Coast. In 1506, a slave typically cost between twelve and fifteen manillas (brass bracelets); by 1517, the price had risen to 57 manillas. After the 1520s, cowry shells replaced manillas as the most popular “money” in the slave trade (in 1522, fifty manillas were equal to 6,370 cowries). Goods such as hats, beads, etc. were also bartered for slaves. From the late 16th to the late 17th century, Benin never sold its own citizens, but only female captives (including Igbo, Sobo, Ijaw, and others) captured in war or purchased from neighboring peoples. From the mid-17th to 18th centuries, however, slaves became the principal trade “goods” acquired by Europeans, and foreign male prisoners and eventually citizens of Benin itself were also sold abroad. In the heyday of the slave trade, Benin supplied 3,000 slaves a year. A contemporary related that “The West India planters prefer the slaves of Benin … to those of any other part of Guinea…” The overseas slave trade's influence on Benin should not be overestimated, however, and Benin-European trade relations cannot be reduced to the history of the slave trade. Slavery and the slave trade in Benin preexisted the arrival of the Europeans. Slaves were never the only, and until the mid-17th century were not the principal, article purchased by the Europeans (others included pepper, ivory, cloth, etc.). The slave trade from Benin continued until the late 19th century, long after the official abolition of the overseas slave trade, and slavery existed within Biniland till the 1920s. Most significantly, the course of Benin’s socio-cultural development was firmly established before the Europeans arrived. Unlike some West African societies such as Ouidah and Calabar, Benin’s rise and decline were not determined primarily by the slave trade, although the European presence in general and the slave trade in particular did accelerate or hinder specific social, economic, political, and cultural processes. In particular, the rise of Benin, accompanied by intensive military expansion and the growth of inland trade -- both preconditions for obtaining growing numbers of slaves -- began several decades before the Europeans’ arrival and ended in the early 17th century, long before the slave trade’s end. On the other hand, Europeans supplied Benin with firearms – sometimes in exchange for slaves – and served as mercenaries in the kingdom’s armies, allowing Benin to expand more rapidly and successfully. Benin acquired captives mainly through slave raids on its neighbors, but European demand also stimulated trade with inland peoples. At the same time, the kingdom’s growing demand for slaves undermined the loyalty of its dependencies. In the 17th century, the European presence encouraged the coastal Itsekiri, who played the role of middlemen in the overseas trade, to acquire their independence from Benin. Although the overseas slave trade was declared a royal monopoly, it enriched and enhanced the political power of the courtiers who traded in the king’s name, contributing to the effective transfer of power to court officials at the expense of the king. In the cultural sphere, the association of the Bini deity of wealth, Olokun, with the sea may be due to trade with Europeans; some folklore motifs and royal ceremonies were introduced in the same connection. The flowering of Benin’s celebrated royal art owes a considerable debt to the inflow of metals received from Europeans as payment for local goods, including slaves; new themes such as depictions of Europeans and even new art media such as the so-called Afro-Portuguese plastics and bronze plaques appeared. Although the slave trade formed part of the Benin-European trade in general, its influence proved particularly strong in the two areas of demography and morality. The slave trade led to the depopulation of the inland areas from which people were taken away for sale. It also led to a depreciation in the value attached to human life and freedom in Benin, as demonstrated by the enslavement and sale of free-born Bini and by an increase in human sacrifices – phenomena which continued till the end of the 19th century, despite the decline of the overseas slave trade. Suggestions for Further Reading: Graham, James D. “The Slave Trade, Depopulation, and Human Sacrifice in Benin History.” Cahiers d’Études Africaines 5, no. 2 (1965): 317–334. Roese, Peter M., and Dmitri M. Bondarenko. A Popular History of Benin: The Rise and Fall of a Mighty Forest Kingdom. Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang, 2003. Ryder, Alan F. C. Benin and the Europeans. 1485–1897. London: Longman, 1969. Dmitri M. Bondarenko 3 PAGE 3