A History of the Esan People

Origin and Early History

Oral traditions preserved by Esan elders say that the ancestors of today’s Esan people migrated east‑north‑east from Benin during the reign of the warlike Oba Ewuare (14th century). The story relates that after the death of two of his sons, Oba Ewuare imposed severe mourning laws and onerous taxes. Large numbers of Benin citizens fled to the plateau to avoid the mourning rites and gradually established villages that became the Esan communities. Because the tradition is based on oral memory rather than documentary evidence it is treated as an origin story.Academic historians emphasize that migration from Benin should be understood as a process rather than a single event. The settlement of the plateau had begun before the 15th century and was driven by a mix of agricultural expansion and flight from Benin. The resulting communities — Irrua, Ekpoma, Uromi and Ugboha — developed as autonomous agrarian kingdoms linked by a common language (Esan), which has many dialects but is mutually intelligible.

Political Organization and Warfare

Each Esan community was ruled by an Onojie (king). Government and military decisions were taken through a three‑tier age‑grade system: elders (Edion) acted as council and judiciary; the Igene (men aged c. 25‑50 years) formed the militia; and the Egbonughele (youths) performed communal labour. There was no standing army; war was an ad hoc enterprise that mobilised the Igene and dispersed once the threat ended. Conflicts were common because each kingdom sought autonomy and refused to pay tribute to Benin or to neighbouring Esan rulers. Divorces and personal grievances also led to inter‑village wars.A famous early war was the Uzea or Uromi‑Benin war (1502‑1503). Onojie Agba of Uromi stopped paying tribute to Benin and persuaded only the Onojie of Uzea to support him. Oba Ozolua destroyed Uzea and beheaded its king, but Agba marched his army to meet the Benin forces. Soldiers on both sides eventually conspired to kill both leaders to stop the war. Other conflicts include the Irrua–Opoji war (1845‑1850) triggered by Opoji’s refusal to accept Irrua’s overlordship and the Uromi–British war (1901) in which Uromi and neighbouring villages resisted British troops until superior firepower compelled their surrender.Some kings gained reputations as warriors or tyrants. Ogbidi Okojie (Onojie of Uromi, 1857–1944) is remembered for resisting British colonialism and for his autocratic rule. In Irrua, Ogbeide “the Terrible” and his successor Eromosele the Great were notorious for brutality; one account notes that Ogbeide once sent men to behead all women and children in a village because its peace made him feel ignored. These rulers illustrate the violent power struggles that characterised Esan politics.

Religion and Spirituality

Traditional Esan religion was polytheistic. People worshipped numerous environmental deities (gods of earth, iron, medicine, trees and rain) but believed in a supreme, omnipotent being Ose Nobulua/Oghodua/Oghenan. The supreme god had no shrine and was invoked indirectly; prayers and sacrifices were offered first to lesser gods and ancestral spirits. Ancestral worship formed the moral foundation of society. Dr Christopher Okojie explains that fear of one’s ancestors enforced honesty, marital fidelity and social cohesion; offenders feared that ancestral spirits would cause illness or death. Ritual alliances (okoven) bound neighbouring villages and forbade violence between them.

Crafts and Economic Activities

Cloth Weaving

Esan women developed a sophisticated textile industry using vertical hand looms. A 2015 academic study describes how they produced varieties of cloth such as ukpon‑ododo (thick, khaki‑like multicoloured cloth), ukpon‑nogian (scarlet ceremonial cloth), ukpon‑agbo (everyday wrapper) and ukpon‑asiso (used for farm dress and bags). Uromi and Ohordua were the main weaving centres. The ukpon‑ododo was thick and multi‑coloured; its strips were sewn together to make a larger male coverlet called ukpon‑igbu. Weaving was organised as a family trade: mothers taught daughters; production used manual tools such as wooden rods, spindles and vertical looms; and secrets were closely guarded.Another study notes that cotton with long,coarse fibres was woven into “Ishan Khaki” (ukpon‑ododo) using vertical looms; weaving was the most important craft undertaken by women, and every household in pre‑colonial Esan was said to have at least one loom. The cloth was highly valued, traded to neighbouring groups, and even reached Europe via Benin–Portuguese trade in the fifteenth century. In pre‑colonial Esan, ukpon‑igbu cloth functioned as a form of currency alongside cowries and metal rods, but British colonial policies and imported textiles later undermined the industry.

Pottery and Other Industries

Pottery was another flourishing industry. Women from Ewu, Ibore, Uzea and Idegun dug clay from stream beds and produced household ceramics of various shapes and sizes. British officials were impressed by the quality of the ceramics; during the Second World War local pottery enjoyed a brief boom when imports were disrupted, but afterwards cheap iron and aluminium utensils caused its decline. Pre‑colonial Esan also had cottage industries in basket and rope making, soap and palm‑oil production, palm‑wine tapping and blacksmithing. Iron tools and weapons were supplied by neighbouring Uneme blacksmiths. These industries allowed Esan communities to meet their needs and trade with neighbours long before colonial rule.

Legacy

The Esan people developed from an amalgam of Benin refugees and indigenous settlers into autonomous kingdoms bound by a common language. Their history is marked by fierce defence of independence, notable war leaders such as Agba of Uromi and the tyrannical Ogbeide the Terrible, a rich spiritual life centred on a supreme deity and ancestral spirits, and a vibrant craft tradition. The weaving of ukpon‑ododo and ukpon‑igbu cloths, which once served as currency and prestige garments, remains a symbol of Esan identity, while pottery and other cottage industries attest to the creativity and resilience of this Edoid people.