When Portuguese ships began moving steadily along the West African coast in the fifteenth century, they entered a region shaped by long-standing commercial routes and political authority. Markets linked forest zones to savannahs, rivers carried goods inland, and royal courts regulated exchange. European trade did not introduce commerce to the region, it entered systems that were already active and competitive.
By the early 1470s, Portuguese activity was firmly established along the Gold Coast, where gold trading became a central focus of maritime expansion. From there, coastal exploration continued eastward in stages, with sailors charting new waters and identifying partners whose political stability and market access could support long-term exchange. This gradual movement set the stage for contact with the Kingdom of Benin later in the century.
The first sustained encounters with Benin
The earliest sustained Portuguese engagement with Benin occurred in the mid-1480s, during a period when Portugal sought to strengthen diplomatic and commercial links along the Gulf of Guinea. Accounts associated with João Afonso d’Aveiro describe a court encounter that marked the beginning of a regular relationship rather than a passing visit.
This moment mattered because Benin was already a powerful Edo kingdom with a centralized court and a strong sense of sovereignty. Foreign merchants did not negotiate with local traders alone, they engaged with royal authority. Trade required permission, tribute, and adherence to court expectations.
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Oba Ozolua and the consolidation of external trade
Benin’s early relationship with Portugal is closely associated with the reign of Oba Ozolua, remembered as a ruler who strengthened the kingdom’s political reach and oversaw expanding foreign exchange. Under his rule, trade with Portuguese merchants became more structured, predictable, and beneficial to the royal court.
This did not mean surrendering control. Benin’s rulers approached foreign commerce as a resource to be managed. Access to markets was regulated, goods were assessed through royal systems, and exchanges were shaped to reinforce status and authority within Benin society.
Gwato, the river port that controlled access
Geography played a decisive role in how Benin managed foreign trade. European ships did not sail directly to Benin City. Instead, commerce moved through riverine gateways that connected the coast to the inland capital.
Gwato, also known as Ughoton, functioned as Benin’s primary river port. From here, goods passed under royal supervision before reaching Benin City. This arrangement allowed the court to monitor trade, collect tribute, and limit uncontrolled contact. Gwato was not merely a harbor, it was an extension of royal power.
What Benin traded and what Portugal brought
The exchange between Benin and Portugal involved goods that carried both economic and symbolic value.
Exports from Benin and its surrounding trade networks included pepper, ivory, finely woven cloth, and people taken for enslavement. These goods linked Benin to wider Atlantic demand and generated wealth and prestige for the court.
In return, Portuguese traders brought brass, copper, textiles, and other manufactured items valued for their durability and status. Among these imports, brass became especially important, not only as trade metal but as raw material for artistic production.
Manillas and the metal of memory
Manillas, metal bracelets used as a form of commodity money, became a defining feature of coastal trade. Large quantities arrived through European commerce, circulating as exchange objects and stores of value.
In Benin, manillas took on an additional role. They were melted down and transformed into sculptures and plaques that celebrated royal authority, court rituals, and historical events. These brass works preserved visual records of foreign contact, depicting Europeans, trade objects, and ceremonial life.
Scientific studies of Benin bronzes have traced their metal composition to European trade sources, confirming the scale of imported brass in Benin’s artistic economy. The art itself stands as lasting evidence of sustained exchange and adaptation.
Trade, enslavement, and the limits of control
Benin’s participation in Atlantic commerce unfolded within a world increasingly shaped by the demand for enslaved labor. Enslaved people formed part of the goods exchanged in early trade with Portuguese merchants, alongside pepper, ivory, and metal.
Benin’s rulers sought to regulate external commerce and protect internal stability, but regional trade patterns along the Bight of Benin grew more tightly connected to Atlantic slavery networks over time. The court’s strategy was not isolation, but management, balancing profit, power, and social cost in an era of expanding foreign pressure.
Cowries and the growth of monetary exchange
Currency also played a role in transforming trade. Cowrie shells had long circulated in parts of Africa, but European shipping expanded their availability dramatically. From the early sixteenth century onward, Portuguese traders moved large quantities of cowries from the Indian Ocean into West African markets.
These shells became a widely used medium of exchange, supporting larger trade volumes and linking local economies more tightly to Atlantic systems. Their spread reflects how foreign commerce reshaped not only goods, but the very language of value.
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A relationship that reshaped power and art
The relationship between Benin and Portugal was neither accidental nor one-sided. It was built through negotiation, controlled access, and selective exchange. Benin’s court used geography, authority, and cultural strength to shape the terms of trade, while Portugal integrated the kingdom into expanding Atlantic networks.
The most enduring legacy of this relationship is visible today in Benin’s art, where imported metal was transformed into symbols of kingship and memory. Pepper and ivory moved through markets, but brass became history cast in form.
Author’s Note
The story of Benin and Portugal is not about discovery or isolation, it is about a powerful kingdom choosing how to engage the outside world, channeling trade through controlled gateways, turning foreign materials into royal art, and navigating prosperity and pressure as Atlantic commerce reshaped the coast forever.
References
Khan Academy, Benin and the Portuguese, Nigeria, West Africa art history resource.
Smarthistory, Benin and the Portuguese, trade goods, manillas, and early written accounts.
Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Cambridge, Kingdom of Benin teaching resources.
Ruy de Pina, Portuguese chronicle accounts relating to West African voyages and court encounters.
Marion Johnson, The Cowrie Currencies of West Africa, Part I, Journal of African History, 1970.
Smithsonian Magazine, research reporting on the metal sources and Atlantic trade connections of the Benin Bronzes.
