THE MUDFISH AND THE EUROPEAN:

AN AFRICAN RECORD OF THE AGE OF DISCOVERY

Some of this material is excerpted from Dr. Vess's article in Teaching History

The Voyages of Discovery opened vast new worlds for European exploration, including the mysterious Dark Continent. The Portuguese left ample written records of their "discovery" of Africa, which have dominated the historian's approach to the Age of Discovery. Many African cultures were not literate and, consequently, the African perspective on the European explorations is often largely lost in introductory surveys.

Although European records provide much valuable insight into African history, they are embodiments of European perceptions and European experiences. There is, however, another portrait of the Age of Discovery that Africans created for the benefit of Africans, and which provides a more complete view of the interaction of Europe and Africa in the early modern period. The arrival of the Portuguese in 1486 in Benin, a kingdom on the West coast of Africa near modern Nigeria, prompted a renaissance in art. Images of the Portuguese are abundant in the art of Benin, and contributed to the myths of Benin's national origin and the divine presence of the Oba. A.F.C. Ryder has raised some historical and geographical problems with this account.

This early African record lived on in myth and art long after the Portuguese left Benin, providing a rich resource which introduces indigenous African culture and lays a strong foundation for a critical analysis of the success and/or failure of the Europeans in Africa.

The Mythology of the Oba

The Kingdom of Benin, located in southern Nigeria, was a strong military and economic power when the Europeans arrived in the fifteenth century. Said to have been governed by the "Rulers of the Sky" in its early period, the rise of Benin began in the fourteenth century. According to legend, the Oba's divine origins emanated from Ife, from which the world originated. After the collapse of the Rulers of the Sky, the uzama, or elders, sent for a new Oba from the Oni of Ife. He sent his son in response, who fathered a son by the daughter of one of the chiefs of Benin. The boy became Eweka I, the first of a dynasty which still rules today. The fourth Oba, Ewedo, reorganized his administration to counter foreign influences. His decrees established the Oba as the only person able to confer titles and to display the ceremonial symbols of power. The climax of the growth of the Oba's power before the arival of the Portuguse was during the reign of Ewuare, who built a new palace which separated the twon chiefs from the Oba and his palace chiefs by an enormous wall. He introduced the coral bead regalia of the oba, as well as the annual rites and rituals which are still practiced today. (slide)

The kingdom of the Oba was defined as the land over which the Oba had the power of life and death. It was divided into fiefs held by officials, who were appointed by the Oba from the uzama, palace and town chiefs. The government was administered from the capital, and collected tribute from the villages, which also supplied the soldiers needed to expand the kingdom. Although the Oba was once in conflict with the uzama, the coming of the Portuguese would enable him to more fully dominate his subordinates.

The Oba was the center of political and religious life in Benin. He could not be seen eating in public, nor could he appear ill. Unlike mortal men, the Oba did not need to sleep. The mythology surrounding the Oba contributed to his mystique by expressing his spiritual and political control over the kingdom. The Oba was all-powerful in Benin, where his subjects addressed him as "Child of the Sky, whom we pray not to fall and cover us, Child of the earth, whom we implore not to swallow us up." The Oba was the channel through which the spiritual world permeated the physical world. Through him, deceased ancestors continue to interact with the living. The Oba's power over the material world was just as great. He controlled trade, and had the power of life and death over his subjects. His complete power was symbolized by the wall through Benin City which separated him from the twon chiefs and townspeople.

This power was and is symbolized in many court rituals which enhanced the mystique of the Oba, particularly Ugie Erha Oba and Igue. The various rites are centered around the agricultural year, and followed the planting and harvesting of crops. In the Ugie Ehra Oba, the Oba pays tribute to his ancestors, and the chiefs honor him as their successor by paying homage to him. The chiefs and titleholders dance with upraised swords indicating their support for him. (see slide above) At the climax of the ritual, they engage in mock battle, symbolizing the Oba's victory over his enemies. In Igue, the Oba is fortified with various medicinal compoiunds, is presented with a leather box, containing legendary gifts from the Oni of Ife, and drives out the evil forces from his kingdom while playing an ivory gong.

Art, as well as ritual, symbolizes the spiritual and physical powers of the Oba. When the British came into Benin City in the nineteenth century, they discovered a hoard of bronze plaques, heads, and other art works. According to Benin tradition, bronze heads to honor and commemorate the ancestors of the Oba were first created in the late fourteenth century and placed on altars dedicated to each past Oba. (slide) The head symbolizes leadership. The head directs the body, just as the Oba directs Benin. The heads support elaborately carved ivory tusks, which symbolically reach out to the spiritual world. (slide) The altars symbolize the continuity between the living Oba and his predecessors.

The heads display the beaded coral regalia of the Oba, and rings of necklaces which cover the chin. The three marks above the eyes reflect the gender of the oba, and the pupils are made of inlaid iron, creating an impression of fierce power. Even the color, red, symbolizes the oba's fierce power. The projections on the crown may symbolize the ceremonial sword, or perhaps the barbels of the mudfish, another mythological image of the Oba. (slide)

The mudfish was an important image of kingship, for it suggested the mythological origins of the Oba, as well as his divine spiritual powers. (Look at the slide again). There are several species of mudfish, some of which are capable of surviving for extended periods out of water, symbolizing the Oba's power as ruler of land and sea. Some mudfish are capable of delivering electric charges, pointing to the Oba's terrifying power. It is also among the most robust fish, and an apt image for the prosperity which the Oba brings. The image of the mudfish can also be seen in the ceremonial staff of the Oba, its curled fins wrapping around the Oba's hand at the top.

The mudfish also identifies the Oba with the God of the Sea, Olokun, the ancestor of the Obas of Benin. The living Oba, then, is considered the counterpart of Olokun. Like Olokun, he provides for the prosperity of the kingdom. In many plaques, the Oba is depicted as a human whose legs end in the curled legs of the mudfish. (slide) This image not only conveyed the power of the Oba, but also reminded him of his own obligation not to overstep his authority. According to legend, the fifteenth century Oba Ohen, who was paralyzed, attempted to hide his malady from his followers. The paralysis was reported as a manisfestation of divine power. When the deception was discovered, the Oba ordered the perpetrator killed. Because the Oba had deceived his subjects, he too was stoned to death. Thus the universal order occasionally took precedence over the divine power of the Oba. This reminder of the oba's obligations is also seen on ivory bowls and on cermonial staffs.

The Portuguese Arrival in Benin

The strength of the Kingdom of Benin was a natural attraction for the Portuguese as they colonized the coastal regions of Africa. When the Portuguese arrived in Benin in the fifteenth century, they developed a mutually advantageous relationship with the Oba which capitalized on an already well established national mythology. In many parts of Africa, Africans identified the Portuguese with the gods of the sea since the Europeans arrived by boat. The Christian practice of baptizing initiates often further strengthened their association with water. In some areas of Africa, natives literally translated the term for white man (muzungu) as "sea monster." Since the white men went below the decks of their ships to bring up treasures to trade, many Africans assumed that they were opening passages into the depths of the ocean.

Similarly, inhabitants of Benin identified the Portuguese with the sea god, from whom legend held that their Oba drew his power. The Portuguese traded brass and copper manillas, cowrie shells, coral and glass beads, and other items in exchange for slaves, pepper, ivory, stone beads and African cloth, which they ultimately exchanged for gold on the Gold Coast. The Portuguese brought great wealth to Benin, which the natives interpreted as a gift from the god of the sea to the Oba. Although Portuguese manillas (brass and copper rings) were used as a form of currency in Benin from the late fifteenth to the mid-twentieth century, the strong presence of Portuguese currency did not allow the Portuguese to dictate the terms of trade. Because the kingdom was strongly centralized, the Portuguese were forced to trade exclusively with the Oba, whose own status and wealth were increased at the expense of the westerners from the sea.

Although the art of brass casting in Benin likely originated before the fifteenth century, the influx of the copper and brass manillas brought by the Portuguese fueled a creative outburst of artistry in the sixteenth century. Not only were more plaques made, but the traditional heads of past Obas which decorated the ancestral altar of the ruling Oba became bigger and heavier. The impact of the wealth brought by the Portuguese is evident in the depiction of Portuguese heads straddling a series of extremely large manillas, reflecting the larger-than-life economic power of the manilla (click here for slide).

The Portuguese are clearly distinguishable by their western dress, facial hair and features. Their beards, however, are oddly reminiscent of the ceremonial eben swords which chiefs carried during the annual court rituals in honor of the Oba. African craftsmen did not depict the Portuguese as equals, nor as invaders, but as another faction which paid homage to the Oba.

Many brass plaques decorated the palace, the center of royal authority. European art possibly influenced the designs and images on the plaques. African artisans may have derived the rectangular format as well as the relief technique itself from books brought from Europe. The Portuguese brought items from India which may have influenced the style of the plaques as well. Background designs, such as the fourfold leaf motif, reflect a style common in the west at the time, but also symbolize the "ebe ame," or river leaves symbolic of the sea god Olokun. This material provides an excellent forum for a discussion of the problems of determining cultural transmission and studying the global interaction of cultures.

Further, Portuguese seamen often appeared by the side of images more commonly associated with the Obas, such as the mudfish, and symbolize the power brought by the influx of wealth. Native artisans portrayed them on the ceremonial bracelets worn by the Oba, alternating with the mudfish, which can be seen in the square designs (click here for slide). The fact that artisans drew the mudfish and the hair of the Portuguese with the same style of parallel lines enhances the intermingling of the imagery.

The Portuguese also appear on ceremonial thrones, which are deeply symbolic of the Oba's power. The Edo phrase "to convene a meeting" literally means "to bring out the agba," or ceremonial stool. On ceremonial thrones, the standard mythological depictions of the Oba appear in conjunction with Portuguese, who lounge calmly on their ships looking up to the majesty of the Oba. (slide) Stools described in oral traditions do not agree with surviving stools, leading some scholars to suggest that the currently existing forms are forms which were introduced in response to European stimulus. Unlike most native forms of furniture, these stools are pieced together as opposed to being carved out of a single block of wood. Later ceremonial chairs show a more marked European influence. The images on the seat are sideways, which points to a lack of familiarity with European design. (slide)

Portuguese seamen are also seen on ceremonial bells which were displayed on the ancestral altars.

The Portuguese served as mercenaries for the Obas, and artisans often depicted them carrying firearms, which the Portuguese introduced to Benin. In the sixteenth century two Europeans, known as Ava and Uti, helped to form the Iwoki guild, which was responsible for the royal firearms. According to legend, they protected the Oba by flanking him, which is still the custom of the Iwoki today. Africans perhaps base this legend on two Portuguese, Duarte Pires and João Sobrino, who accompanied an Oba on a war campaign. Portrayals of the Iwoki still reflect Portuguese influence (click here for slide). In statuary, Iwoki wear leopard skin armor combined with the pleated skirt of the Portuguese, in a pose modeled on that of European musketeers.

The art also records the origin of the Oba, and helps to explain a comical incident in which Portuguese misinterpretated native imagery. The accounts of early Portuguese explorers, such as João Afonso d'Aveiro, told of a custom whereby natives gave the new Oba a brass cross as a token of approval from a powerful ruler to the east, whom they called Oghenne in Benin, or the Oni of Ife. Because the token resembled the Christian cross, the Portuguese hoped that this eastern ruler was from the Kingdom of Prester John. Although they sent missionaries to educate the Oba's son, there is no evidence that they achieved any lasting success. Here, they misinterpreted the symbolism of the Oba's court.

Although there is a great deal of debate over the origins of the image in figure 5, it links the Oba to the divine origins of the kingship in Ife. Tradition held that the Oni rewarded messengers to the Benin Oba with the gift of a cross, indicating their status as freemen. These messengers, possibly representing the creator God of Benin, may have begun to wear crosses after their contact with Portuguese missionaries in the sixteenth century.

Although it is uncertain when the cross motif first appeared, native mythology was compatible with Christian imagery, which may account for the later custom of depicting the priests of Benin as Portuguese seamen on the tusks of the royal ancestor altars. The tusks, made of ivory, symbolized the wealth and power of the Oba. Its color symbolized the purity of the Oba, and was associated with the sea god Olokun. The Oba controlled the ivory trade, taking one tusk from every elephant, and only he could wear ivory.

Images of Portuguese officials often occur on the tusks, flanking an official wearing a cross. They are dressed in typical sixteenth-century fashion, and their features are depicted according to African convention. In tusks produced in later eras, these figures no longer represent Portuguese seamen, but priests of Benin (slide coming soon). They have slanted eyes, representing a prayerful attitude, and stand with their arms crossed, a ritual gesture of priesthood in the nineteenth century that they derived from the posture of early Portuguese merchants. These images vividly convey the power brought to the Oba through trade with the Portuguese and, even after the Portuguese left Benin, their appearance was the standard way of depicting all foreigners.

Analysis of the Sources

These works are but a few examples which present an African record of the Portuguese. The art of the royal court shows the ways in which Africans employed European commodities, wealth, and imagery. Africans, such as the Oba's chief in Ughoton, the port to which Portuguese trade was restricted, visited Portugal and impressed Ruy de Pina as eloquent and wise. Unlike the experience of the Congo, however, Benin's encounter with Europe did not result in Portuguese domination of Benin, for the power of the Oba was far too centralized. The royal brass casters, bead-workers and ivory carvers were in the exclusive employ of the Oba. The resurgence in art work in the wake of the Portuguese expedition contributed not only to the image of power and majesty of the Oba, but to his control over society. The relative importance of the Portuguese in the court of Benin can be seen from this ivory cup, which depicts the Portuguese as smaller in size than their African counterparts.

Although the Oba struggled to assert his authority over the palace and village chiefs in the early days after the fall of the Rulers of the Sky, the arrival of the Portuguese and the wealth they brought helped to consolidate his power to form a stronger centralized state. Even the coral beads brought by the Portuguese increased the mystique surrounding the Oba. Although legend traces the coral bead costume of the Oba to Ife, it was the Oba Ewuare who introduced the costume in the fifteenth century. The coral beads brought by the Portuguese contributed to this custom, and the Oba still wears the coral bead regalia in the annual rites. The Oba controlled all crafts and trade, and he alone owned all coral and stone beads in Benin. The Oba distributed them to titleholders and chiefs, whose heirs returned them to the Oba upon the recipient's death. The Portuguese also brought hats to Benin, which became part of the court regalia.

The horse was another gift from the west, and by the seventeenth century Benin was importing the horse and using horsetails in the royal regalia. On the palace plaques, artisans render the horsetail in the same style as Portuguese hairstyles, connecting the commodity with the people who brought it. Here again, however, the horse symbolized the economic prowess of the Oba.

By providing the materials which fueled the growth of the Oba's art and his ceremonial identity, the Portuguese unwittingly strengthened the Oba's power. By 1550 it was already apparent that the Europeans were unable to dominate Benin, and trade declined in the late sixteenth century. The extent to which the Oba limited Portuguese activity in Benin is indicated by ships' records of the goods brought to Portugal from Benin. Although the artisans of Benin made many fine vessels and utensils of ivory for the Portuguese, there is no evidence that the Portuguese imported these objects en masse. Records of ships entering Lisbon, published accounts of ships' cargoes, and customs tax listings provide information concerning the number of items imported, and corroborate the visual evidence of the art.

Between 1491-93, ships brought fourteen ivory spoons from the African mainland. Because records were often inexact concerning the origin of these goods or even misidentified the continent of their origin altogether, it is difficult, if not impossible, to make accurate estimates of the numbers of imported ivories. Records do suggest, however, that these goods entered Portugal through private hands, rather than through massive cargoes. The Oba exploited and controlled trade with Portugal and, therefore, was able to further centralize his kingdom.

ENDNOTES

1. Thomas Hodgkin has argued forcefully that there was, in a very far-reaching sense, an "African discovery of Europe": "For present purposes, we must reject the Europe-centered approach implied in talking about the "discovery" of West Africa ... From the African standpoint, it was not the Portuguese who first "discovered" Benin, but Benin which first "discovered" the Portuguese." See his Nigerian Perspectives: An Historical Anthology (London: Oxford University Press, 1975), 32. My approach is a bit more restricted, implying only that there is a profound sense in which Africans encountered European models, imagery, and ideology and integrated them to varying degrees with African traditions.

2. Primary sources suggest various possibilities for the date of the Portuguese arrival in Benin. Antonio Galvão's Tratado dos descombrimentos (Porto, 1944) claims that Ruy de Sequeira first reached Benin in 1472, while Chief Egharevba's record of the oral tradition of Benin, found in A Short History of Benin (Ibadan, 1960), states only that de Sequeira reached the general vicinity of Benin. Ruy De Pina's Chronica del Rey Dom Joao II, trans. J.W. Blake, in Europeans in West Africa (London: Hakluyt Society, 1942) and João de Barros's Da Asia, trans. G.R. Crone, in Voyages of Cadamosto and other Documents (London: Hakluyt Society, 1937, 124-125), and in Hodgkin, 112-113, assert that João Affonso d'Aveiro's journey to the court of Benin in 1486 was the first visit of the Portuguese to Benin.

For general background on the Portuguese in West Africa, see Eric Axelson, Congo to Cape. Early Portuguese Explorers (London, 1973), James Duffy, Portuguese Africa (London, 1949), J.W. Blake, Europeans in West Africa 1450-1560 (Hakluyt Society, 1942), E.G. Ravenstein, The Voyages of Cão and Bartholomew Dias 1482-88, in Geographical Journal (London, 1900), and A.F.C. Ryder, Benin and the Europeans 1485-1897 (Longmans, 1969). For primary source material on the Portuguese in West Africa, see J.W. Blake, Europeans in West Africa: Documents to Investigate the Nature and Scope of Portuguese Involvement in Africa; Basil Davidson, ed., The African Past: Chronicles from Antiquity to Modern Times, (rpt. London: Penguin Books, 1966), and Thomas Hodgkin, ed. Nigerian Perspectives.

3. The Oba, or ruler, was considered to be divine. According to oral tradition, the first Oba came from the east in Ife, where the world itself originated. The geographical location of Ife to the north-west of Benin raises questions about the reliability of oral tradition.

Only the Oba could confer titles and display the ceremonial symbols of power. He had the power of life and death over his subjects and, for this reason, the Oba was identified with Olokun, the source of all life and the god of the sea. He was the channel through which the spiritual world permeated the physical world, and was often symbolized by the mudfish, a creature which was able to live on land for lengthy periods and which could deliver a strong electric charge. The Oba could not be seen eating in public nor could he appear ill. Unlike mortal men, inhabitants believes that the Oba did not need to sleep.

4. An interesting issue to pursue is whether manillas were originally indigenous to Africa or were brought by the Portuguese. At any rate, west Africans continued to use them as currency through the twentieth century. Ryder has traced the explosion of brass casting to the shift from copper to brass in the composition of the manillas.

5. All illustrations, with the exception of Figure 1, are by Margee Bright-Ragland, Instructor of Fine Arts, Dekalb College (now Georgia Perimeter College), Atlanta, Georgia.

6. See W.B. Forman and Philip Dark, Benin Art (London: Paul Hamlyn, 1960).

7. See the letter of Duarte Pires to King Manuel, in Hodgkin, 127.

8. Although the royal craftsmen used Portuguese imagery to convey the function of the Iwoki, it would be a mistake to infer that the Portuguese brought large quantities of arms into Benin. In a letter of November 20, 1514, King Manuel forbade the sale of arms to those who were not Christians. As the Obas of Benin ultimately failed to convert to Christianity, the sale of arms was greatly restricted.

9. Although Duarte Pires indicated in his letter of October 20, 1516, to King Manuel that the Oba had ordered the construction of Roman Catholic churches in Benin City, this account cannot be confirmed by archaeology. (See Pires, in Hodgkin, 127; Ryder, Benin and the Europeans, 50-51) Despite the fact that the Oba baptized many converts, including his son and successor, many converts reverted to pagan ways as they reached adulthood. The failure of the Portuguese missions is poignantly apparent in a letter of August 30, 1539, written by priests to King Manuel, in which they make clear the Oba's refusal to be turned from his native practices and react distastefully to the pagan customs of Benin. For an English translation of this letter, see A.F.C. Ryder, "The Benin Missions," in Journal of the Historical Society of Nigeria, vol. ii, no. 2. See also Ryder, Benin and the Europeans, 49-50 and 70-71 for a discussion of these issues.

10. Barbara Blackmun first documented this transformation in her article "From Trader to Priest in Two Hundred Years: The Transformation of a Foreign Figure on Benin Ivories," in Art Journal 47 (no. 2):128-38.

11. See Ruy de Pina, in Blake, I; Ryder, Benin and the Europeans, 30.

12. See Ryder for an excellent discussion of Portuguese shipping and trade with Benin, 55-65.

13. Ben-Amos, The Art of Benin, 55.

copyright © Dr. Deborah Vess 1998-2001, Georgia College & State University and the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia. All rights reserved. Rights to chapters authored by contributing faculty members reserved to Georgia College & State University, to the Interdisciplinary Studies Program at GC&SU, and to the individual faculty authors.