Benin
Benin, pronounced beh NEEN, was a West African kingdom that flourished from the mid-1400's to the mid-1600's. It was the largest and most powerful state in the forest region of what is now Nigeria. At the height of its power, Benin controlled several states along the coast of the Gulf of Guinea, from Lagos in the west to Bonny in the east. The largest group of people in Benin were the Edo, also called the Bini.
Benin probably became rich because it lay on trade routes between the forest and the northern plains. At first, cotton goods were traded for copper, dates, figs, ivory, and salt. Soon after the Portuguese came in 1486, Benin also began to sell slaves and to buy European firearms and other goods. The port of Gwato was a center for the export of slaves from West Africa. Benin was renowned for its beautiful bronze figures. The technology for creating these figures apparently came from Ife, a state in what is today Nigeria.
The cost of trading with the Portuguese was horrific, however. Portuguese expansion into North and South America created ever increasing demands for slave labor, and the coast around Benin soon became known as the Slave Coast. By 1499, the Kingdom of Benin was sending some 500 to 600 slaves a year to what is today Ghana. The leaders of Benin realized the dangers this trade posed to their society and stopped exporting male slaves in 1516. Beninís neighbors were not so perceptive, however, and stepped in to meet the European demand for slaves. Such a trade allowed the neighboring states to eclipse Benin's power.
Sources: The "Benin" article in The World Book Encyclopedia © 1999; J. D. Fage. A History of West Africa. Cambridge, 1972.