Overview
Ovonramwen Nogbaisi was the Oba of Benin at the time of the British invasion of 1897, the last ruler of the independent Benin Kingdom. He was Edo, and his capital was Benin City in what is now Edo State.
Biography
Ovonramwen came to the throne in 1888 after a contested succession and ruled a kingdom under growing pressure from British trading and treaty demands on the coast. Disputes over trade monopolies and over British attempts to secure a treaty and access to the city ran through his reign.
In 1897 a British party approaching Benin against the Oba's stated wishes was attacked and most of it killed. A punitive expedition followed: the city was taken and burned, and thousands of brass plaques, ivories and figures were removed from the palace and dispersed to museums and private collections in Europe and North America, where the campaign for their return continues. Ovonramwen was tried by the British, deposed and exiled to Calabar, where he died in 1914. The throne was restored to his son as Eweka II in 1914 under colonial rule.
Notable achievements
- Oba of Benin from 1888 until the British invasion of 1897
- Resisted British treaty and trade demands on the kingdom
- Deposed and exiled to Calabar after the punitive expedition of 1897
- His reign marks the point at which the Benin bronzes were taken from the palace
Legacy
Ovonramwen's reign is the reference point for the Benin bronzes restitution debate, and his deposition marks the end of Benin's independence. Accounts of the events of 1897 differ between British colonial records and Edo tradition, and both are used by historians.