Esigie

{{Short description|Oba of Benin (1504 AD–1550 AD)}}

{{about|the Oba of Benin|the Itsekiri traditional ruler|Olu Esigie}}

{{Infobox royalty

| name = Esigie

| title = Oba of Benin

| image = Brooklyn Museum 55.87 Figure of a Hornblower (4).jpg

| caption = An Edo figure from the reign of the oba Esigie (c. 1504 – 1550) Brooklyn Museum

| succession = Oba of Benin

| reign = 1504 AD – 1550 AD

| coronation =

| predecessor = Ozolua

| successor = Orhogbua

| spouse = Elaba

| issue =

| royal house =

| father = Ozolua

| mother = Queen Idia

| birth_date =

| birth_place =

| death_date = {{circa}} 1550

| death_place = Benin City

| buried =

}}

Esigie (also spelt Oseigie), originally known as Osawe, was the son of Oba Ozolua, who reigned in the late 15th century, and his second wife, Queen Idia. He was the sixteenth Oba who ruled the medieval Benin Kingdom, now Benin City, Edo State, Nigeria from {{circa|1504|1550}}.{{Cite web |last= |first= |date= |title=Oba esigie |url=http://www.edoworld.net/Oba_Esigie_1.html |archive-url= |archive-date= |access-date= |website=}}{{Cite journal |last=Hunter |first=David J. |date=2013-08-01 |title=A Response to Rudolf Klein: A Battle May Have Been Won but Perhaps Not the War |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1215/03616878-2210512 |journal=Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Law |volume=38 |issue=4 |pages=871–877 |doi=10.1215/03616878-2210512 |pmid=23645872 |issn=0361-6878|url-access=subscription }} Works of art commissioned by Esigie are held in prominent museums including the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the British Museum.

After Ozolua's death, Esigie controlled Benin City, while his brother Arhuaran controlled Udo, a town about {{convert|30|km|mi|-1}} northwest of Benin City, that was nearly its equal in size and influence.{{Cite web |title=Oba Esigie |url=https://www.edoworld.net/Oba_Esigie.html |access-date=2023-01-24 |website=www.edoworld.net}}{{Cite book |last=Ojaruega |first=EE |url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/923960138 |title=The place of Urhobo folklore in Tanure Ojaide's poetry |date=2015-09-11 |publisher=Tydskrif vir Letterkunde Association |oclc=923960138}} Following a bitter power struggle with Arhuaran, and with major assistance and support from his mother Idia, Esigie gathered the Benin army at Unuame on the river Osse and from there launched an attack and overthrew Arhuanran.{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sBYOAQAAIAAJ&q=unuame|title=West African Journal of Archaeology|last=|first=|website=|year=1976|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=}} Esigie became Oba of Benin and would later fend off an attack from the Igala people.{{Cite journal |last1=OKAKA |first1=C.E. |last2=AKHIGBE |first2=J.E. |date=1999-01-01 |title=Helminth parasites of some tropical freshwater fish from Osse River in Benin, southern Nigeria |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.4314/tfb.v8i1.20861 |journal=Tropical Freshwater Biology |volume=8 |issue=1 |doi=10.4314/tfb.v8i1.20861 |issn=0795-0101|url-access=subscription }}{{Citation |title=A Wife of the King |work=Saint Margaret, Queen of the Scots |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |doi=10.1057/9781137035646_10 }}{{Cite book |first=Joseph |last=Nevadomsky |url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/57828940 |title=The costume and weapons of the Benin brass horseman. |oclc=57828940}}

Esigie started a tradition in Benin by abolishment of the killing of the king's mother, giving Idia the title of Iyoba (or Queen Mother), and providing the Eguae-Iyoba (Palace of the Queen Mother) in lower Uselu for her use.http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/ht/08/sfg/ht08sfg.htm Guinea Coast, 1400–1600 A.D. | Timeline of Art History | The Metropolitan Museum of Art{{Cite journal |title=Śāntimāhātmya:kiṁvā sādhu Iyoba hyāceẽ ākhyāna / |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/9789004192621.hpi-411 |access-date=2023-02-01 |website=Hebrew and Judeo-Arabic Printing in Baghdad Online|doi=10.1163/9789004192621.hpi-411 |url-access=subscription }}{{Cite web |date=2019-06-04 |title=The Untold Tale between Oba Esigie and Iyoba Idia of Benin |url=https://guardian.ng/life/the-untold-tale-between-oba-esigie-and-iyoba-idia-of-benin/ |access-date=2021-07-12 |website=The Guardian Nigeria News - Nigeria and World News }} Idia was responsible for many cultural innovations that still hold strong in Benin's cultural history; she notably dressed as a man marched alongside her son and led Benin to victory in the Idah battle of 1515. When Idia died, her protege and Esigie's wife Elaba would go to support the Oba until his death {{Circa|1550}}.{{Cite web |last=Amoako |first=Henry Kwadwo |date=2021-10-22 |title=The Legend of Iyoba Idia – ( 1484 – 1540) Popularly Know as “Idia ne Iye Esigie” of The Ancient kingdom of Benin |url=http://african-research.com/research/biography/the-legend-of-iyoba-idia-1484-1540-popularly-know-as-idia-ne-iye-esigie-of-the-ancient-kingdom-of-benin/ |access-date=2024-07-19 |website=African Research Consult |language=en-US}}