State · 1170 – 1897

Kingdom of Benin

A state of 1170 – 1897 — 727 years in sub-Saharan Africa. The atlas records 5 things within it — wars and battles 2 · people 3. Its line of rulers holds 15 people, 11 with dated terms. Its own article says it was conquered by British Empire.

Wikidata's English label: Benin Empire.

For the full story, the article on Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0); this page holds what the record says of the state.

Stood: 727 years; 1170 – 1897
Rulers: 15; the Oba of Benin
Within it: 5; recorded rows

Where it sits in time

Five thousand years, 3000 BCE to 2026; the state in gold.

How it ended, as its article says

Conquered by British Empire, 1897. Read from the article's section “lead” by its grammar; the claim is only that the article says so.

It grew out of the previous Edo Kingdom of Igodomigodo around the 11th century AD; it was annexed by the British Empire in 1897, but endured as a non-sovereign monarchy.

One sentence of the English Wikipedia article, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Rulers

The line of Oba of Benin.

killed, executed or dead in battledied in officeleft alive by a regular roadending not on recorda second row: a reign that began before the last had ended — rival claimants, or a shared throne

Ruler	Reign	Length	How it ended · source	To the ruler before
Eweka I	1200 – 1235	35 years	died in office, manner not recordedread off the dates alone
Uwakhuahen	1235 – 1243	8 years	died in office, manner not recordedread off the dates alone	child
Ehenmihen	1243 – 1255	12 years	died in office, manner not recordedread off the dates alone	sibling
Ewedo	1255 – 1280	25 years	died in office, manner not recordedread off the dates alone	child
Oguola	1280 – 1295	15 years	ending not on record	child
Udagbedo	1299 – 1334	35 years	left office aliveread off the dates alone	child
Ohen	1334 – 1370	36 years	executed, the article saysread from the ruler's own article	sibling
Ewuare	1440 – 1473	33 years	died in office, manner not recordedread off the dates alone
Ozolua	1483 – 1514	31 years	the term ends after the recorded deathread off the dates alone	child
Esigie	1504 – 1550	46 years	ending not on record	child
Ovonramwen	1888 – 1897	9 years	left office aliveread off the dates alone

15 rulers, 11 with terms dated as terms, covering 1200 – 1897. Median reign 31 years. 2 of 10 handovers irregular - a killing, a deposition, a rival claimant, a rising or a coup beside it. A blank in the last column means no kin on record, which is coverage, never “unrelated”.

What happened within it, by century

Every row the atlas hosts under this state, by the century it began in: wars and battles in red, risings, regime changes and massacres beside them, everything else in grey. A tall bar is a century the record is full for, which is partly a fact about Wikipedia.

1400 – 14992 rows · 1 wars and battles

Battle of Guinea · battle · 1478
Ewuare · ruler · 1400 – 1473

1500 – 15991 row

Ozolua · ruler · 1500 – 1504

1800 – 18992 rows · 1 wars and battles

Benin Expedition of 1897 · battle · 1897
Ovonramwen · ruler · 1857 – 1914

Among all states

Each measure against the states that carry it, never against all of them: a bar is the share of those states below this one.

How long it stood727 years
stood longer than 94% of 3,187 states with a recorded end or still standing.
Wars recorded per centurynone
had more wars on record per century than 44% of 3,187 states, counting the wars the atlas hosts under each.
How long a reign lasted, at the median31 years
had longer reigns, at the median, than 85% of 967 states whose dated line can carry a median.
Rulers on record15
has more rulers on record than 88% of 1,968 states with a line of rulers.

Open in the atlas

On the timeline, 1097 – 1970, with everything that stood beside it.
On the map in 1534, live: scrub the year and watch its borders move.
Investigate it: what led to it, what came of it, and its succession analysed.

Wikidata Q171203 (CC0) · one sentence of the English Wikipedia article, CC BY-SA 4.0 · data built 2026-10-06 · Pastlas v2.9.1, by Oleh Voronko. The published atlas and its data are for non-commercial use.