A Short History of Benin
1934 non-fiction work by Jacob U. Egharevba
A Short History of Benin is a non-fiction book by Jacob Egharevba, first published in 1934 by the Church Mission Society Press in Lagos. The book offers a historical perspective on the Benin Empire, a pre-colonial African state now part of Nigeria. The book is an English version of the author's earlier work in Edo, Ekhere Vb' Itan Edo, which was published in 1933. The book explores the beginnings, culture, and political structure of the Benin Empire, as well as the events leading to its invasion by Britain and Ovonramwen's exile in 1897. It also includes a chronology of the Obas (kings) of Benin from the 13th to the 20th century.
The book is considered one of the earliest works of indigenous African historiography, as it was written by a native of Benin who had access to oral traditions and written sources from both the local and European perspectives. The book is appreciated for its simplicity, clarity, and authenticity, as well as its contribution to the preservation and promotion of the Benin cultural heritage. However, the book has also been criticised for its inaccuracies, inconsistencies, and biases, especially in relation to the origin of the Benin people and their relationship with other ethnic groups, such as the Yoruba and the Itsekiri. The book has been revised and enlarged several times by the author, with the fourth and last edition published in 1968 by the Ibadan University Press.
Background and publication
Jacob Egharevba began writing the history of Benin in the 1920s, using both oral and written sources.
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The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jan 12, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q124219948. 4 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1934, 1933, 1897 and 1968.
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This entry incorporates text from “A Short History of Benin” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.