The cultural heritage is rich and varied in the arts of human ingenuity. Love, tradition, and duty are what created and destroyed the ancient civilization of history, customs, and traditions. But love, above all, triumphs over duty since love is a duty, a service to humanity. We came upon the ancient Benin Kingdom’s Queen Iden Osemwekha in the joy of genuine love for humanity. Among the noble queens of the ancient kingdom of Benin, Queen Iden stands out for her devotion to and love for the peace and stability of the vast realm, where inhumane traditions were upheld as a means rather than an end in the reign of King Ewuakpe.
In contrast to Idia, which is well-known to all except Iden, whose history is rooted in Benin’s peace and stability, the female warriors of Benin are rarely given due recognition. The ancient Benin Kingdom is remembered as a land of warrior kings with tales of powerful adventures and expansion that have persisted in Africa and Nigerian history. The devoted and adored spouse of the illustrious Oba Ewuakpe of the Benin Kingdom was Queen Iden.
She was the pride and epitome of African beauty and femininity, as well as love, strength, courage, and brevity. Around 1700 A.D., Ewuakpe assumed the throne as Oba (king) in the old Benin kingdom.
He was the 26th ruler of the Benin dynasty, an inherited title. Before Ewuakpe became monarch, however, Oba Ewuare had predicted that the Benin Kingdom would go through difficult times at some point, specifically between 1440 and 1473 AD.
This occurred under the rule of Oba Ewuakpe. Oba Ewuakpe now weds Iden, a stunning woman, following his coronation. She shared a home with him in the royal palace, which was constructed without water using red soil mixed with palm oil. Early in Ewuakpe’s reign, he suffered so many setbacks that every subject in the kingdom rose up in rebellion against him.
The primary motivation behind the uprising was opposition to the monarch’s haughtiness and egregious disregard for human life. This culminated in the mass execution of his subjects at Uselu, at his mother Queen Ewebonoza’s funeral, in or around 1715 A.D. The Kingdom’s elders and populace were forced to cut off ties with the King when it became clear that they could no longer put up with his excesses. As a result, they called off all of the palace meetings. Additionally, social services were grounded.
The royal slaves (ovien), all of his wives (Olois), and other palace attendants were also impacted by this insurrection and left!
Queen Iden’s decision to stay with her husband showed her love and dedication to him, saving the Oba from being abandoned. Over time, Oba Ewuakpe found life at the palace intolerable and made the decision to relocate to Ikoka, the town of his mother. He wasn’t treated well there, though. He didn’t get a warm welcome when he got there. He received harsh treatment. For example, they told him to work with the town’s teenagers to pave the way to the community well so that it would be clear for the upcoming rainy season. He had to cast a curse on the inhabitants and the town of Ikoka because he was so incensed by their disdain for his noble status.
He returned to Benin in a depressed state of mind. Queen Iden presented herself as the king’s only hope in the midst of a terrible and isolating moment, turning herself into Oba Ewuakpe’s lone companion and comforter. Queen Iden made the decision to act on her husband Oba Ewuakpe’s behalf by consulting an oracle in an attempt to discover a solution to his failure.
She thought the oracle would provide guidance and an answer regarding the course of action to be taken regarding the catastrophe that befell the old kingdom and its ruler.
Following extensive divination, the oracle came to the conclusion that a human being serving as a sacrifice lamb to satisfy the gods was necessary for the kingdom’s peace and the restoration of Oba Ewuakpe’s throne, which he then informed Queen Iden of. She immediately went to the palace to deliver the message of the gods to His Majesty the King in their empty harem after learning the oracle’s answer to the dilemma. The diviner’s revelation appeared to worsen the situation for Oba Ewuakpe because, Queen Iden—his beloved wife and the source of this information—was the only other free or bound human being in his palace.
As a result, the royal couple’s chances of finding another person to offer as a human sacrifice decreased. Queen Iden offered herself as the sacrifice lamb that the gods required in order to restore the country and his regal status, as no one else was available. When Queen Iden proposed to her husband that she would pay the ultimate price as the ancestors had demanded, Oba Ewuakpe became anxiously resentful because he could not fathom that he would kill his beloved wife, who had supported him through good times and bad, to make up for the sins she had not committed. However, the resolute Queen urged the royal hands to spill her blood in the hopes that doing so would placate the ancestral spirits of Benin and end the unrest in the realm.
Oba Ewuakpe reluctantly gave in to persuasion from his devoted girlfriend and Queen to be sacrificed to the gods when it became obvious that there was no other way out of the situation.
In the end, he buried her alive in the middle of Benin’s city, close to the Oba market.
Prior to willingly offering herself to the gods as atonement, Queen Iden asked the monarch to grant her one favor: he should always ensure that her grave side be maintained spotless.
She also issued a warning to anyone who dared to trespass on her tomb, saying that they would be immediately executed as a sign of respect for her holy memory. Thus, her will was faithfully followed—that is, until the brutal British invasion in 1897, the famous Benin Massacre!
Queen Iden was therefore a lady of faithful worthiness, willing to sacrifice her life and pass away in order to ensure the prosperity of her husband, Oba Ewuakpe, and the restoration of peace and unity to the Benin Kingdom.
Following the completion of the sacrifice rites, a number of notable leaders in the kingdom demanded a ceasefire between the throne and its resentful populace. Other Benin chiefs resumed honoring the Benin king and swore allegiance to the grieving Oba Ewuakpe. And in all honesty, she was not present when the country was once again united, prosperous, and peaceful. What an example of pure love! Then, in unison, all the other Binis arrived to formally acknowledge Oba Ewuakpa as their king and to swear loyalty to him. As a result, the whole kingdom made amends with the king and continued to be faithful to his royal majesty till the end of his rule.
Such reunions had to be commemorated, so the subjects assembled at the palace and set up drums to create an unforgettable atmosphere. Instead of being delighted at the reunion, the people were taken back to witness their king sobbing uncontrollably in the middle of celebration. This prompted his subjects to ask the Oba why he was crying during the festive season. The Oba retorted that he was crying because he was grieving the selfless passing of his beloved wife, Queen Iden. He continued by recounting the experience they had together in the palace as the country collapsed, which led to the premature departure of his dearly loved friend and Queen.
The only man or woman born of a human mother and father who has shown genuine love for her husband and realm is Queen Iden. Therefore, looking back, given what happened in the Benin Kingdom under Oba Ewuakpe’s rule approximately 500 years ago and the part a woman—Queen Iden—played in preserving the monarchy and Benin Kingdom, this proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that she is history’s greatest heroine.
