After the last ogiso, Owodo, was banished for misrule, the Edo chose Evian to govern; he restored order (subduing a tyrant named Osogan in the tradition) and governed for many years, then tried to have his son Ogiamwen succeed as king.
The elders refused and sent to Ife for a prince. In Egharevba's history Ogiamwen opposed Oranmiyan, and his house kept the old palace ground at the centre of the city, so that the first Obas lived outside it at Usama until Ewedo forced the issue about 1255; the Ogiamwen title survives to this day as the symbolic owner of the land, from whom each new Oba ritually acquires his palace site. On 1 January 1200 this house is either the outgoing regency (Egharevba) or the government itself (later chronologies).
Who he is
- Name
- Ogiamwen, son of Evian, or his heir bearing the same name; not pinned. Egharevba names a later holder, Ogiamwen Irebor, as the opponent of Oba Ewedo about 1255.
- Title
- Ogiamwen (later a hereditary title: 'owner of the land' in Benin City)
- Since
- not pinned (after the banishment of Owodo and Evian's regency)
- Family
- Descendants of Evian, the man chosen to govern after the last ogiso
- Confidence
- low
Overlord
The elders' council in theory; in practice a rival centre of power in the city
What it holds
- The old palace ground of the ogiso in Benin City
- a following among the city's lineages
- the claim to the land of the city
How it was acquired
From Evian's regency after the last ogiso (tradition).
Allies and rivals
Rival of the Oranmiyan line and of the elders who invited it.
How things stand that morning
Holds the old palace ground; whether he governs Benin that morning or has just been overruled depends on the chronology.
Wealth
Rights over city land and the regent's former dues.
Military
His followers in the city; nothing more is attested.
Threats
- The installation of Oranmiyan's son by the elders
What the year holds
What happened next, if nothing in play changes it. Each event carries what it depends on and what would stop it.
- about 1200 (Egharevba)The elders install Eweka over Ogiamwen's objection; Ogiamwen's house keeps its ground in the city.Depends on: Egharevba's chronology. Stopped by: A later chronology, or the elders backing Ogiamwen.
Where the sources disagree
- Some accounts give Evian's and Ogiamwen's administration 'over 30 years until 1200', a figure that depends entirely on Egharevba's round date.
Evidence: Court tradition only.
On the map: A point of power in the city, not a territory.
Primary sources for Benin
Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.
- Ife, Benin, Nri, the Yoruba towns and the Akan: archaeology and recorded tradition (no contemporary text; traditions written down from the 1890s). No text of any kind exists for the forest belt in 1200.
Sources and studies
- Wikipedia, Ogiso (Egharevba 1968; Bondarenko and Roese 2004 on Evian and Ogiamwen)
- Egharevba, A Short History of Benin (1968), via Wikipedia, Eweka I
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.