Kingdom of Warri
The Kingdom of Warri, Warri Kingdom or Iwere Kingdom, was established in 1480, and is part of the Nigerian traditional states. Its ancestral capital is based in Ode-Itsekiri, Warri South LGA, Delta State, Nigeria with a palace erected in 1950s in the heart of the city of Warri, Warri South LGA, Delta State, Nigeria.
History
Foundation
The Kingdom of Warri was founded around by Prince Ginuwa, the eldest son of Oba Olua of the Kingdom of Benin, himself a son of Oba Ewuare. Born around 1445 and raised in the Benin royal court, Ginuwa’s assertive nature, shown through his strong opposition to certain traditional practices of the Benin chiefs and people, created tensions with the chiefs, who feared that as Oba, he would threaten their cherished customs. To secure his son’s future Oba Olua consulted Ogifa, the Chief Oracle Diviner of Benin, who after consulting his oracle, advised that an Iroko wood ark be crafted to house Ginuwa, the firstborn sons of the seventy chiefs, their attendants, and possessions. Oba Olua summoned a council of seventy chiefs, announcing his intent to send a sacrifice in the Iroko box to the water via Ugharegin and requesting their firstborn sons to accompany it. The chiefs agreed, and the box was conveyed to Ugharegin over three days. There, Ginuwa emerged from the box in regalia, proclaiming his sovereignty, and drifted to the Warri region to establish his kingdom.The migration of Ginuwa began around 1470 with seventy Benin chiefs. At Ugharegin, pursued by Benin warriors, Ginuwa prayed to Umalokun, God of the Sea, promising annual sacrifices. The waters rose, enabling his escape, marking the origin of the Umalokun Olaja festival, with its priest at Ureju.
The party drifted to Efurokpe on the Jamieson River, where Ginuwa’s sister Oyeifo stayed due to impending childbirth. They moved through Arun-owun to the Escravos River, settling at Amatu for several years. Due to sandy, infertile soil, Ginuwa relocated to Oruselemo, marrying Derumo, an Ijaw. During his prolonged stay at Oruselemo, a conflict arose between him and the Ijaws of Gulani, triggered by the death of Derumo. She was killed by him due to her sharp-tongued remarks against Ginuwa. This incident made the Ijaws to declare war on him, leading them to set up an ambush in preparation for the ensuing confrontation. Ginuwa had his people mourn her publicly, convincing the Ijaws her death was accidental, avoiding war.
Prince Ginuwa decided to relocate due to the risk of renewed conflict with the Ijaws of Gulani, who might uncover his involvement in Derumo's death. By then, he was joined by Idibie, a renowned diviner. Guided by Idibie, Ginuwa migrated to Ijala, where he met Itsekiri people. Crowned the first Olu of Iwere, Ginuwa I ruled until his death around 1510 and was buried in Ijala. His son, Olu Ijijen, later moved the capital from ijala to Ode-Itsekiri and unified the indigenous Itsekiri communities, including Omadino, Ureju, Ugborodo, and Inorin, forming the Kingdom of Iwere, now known as Warri. Ijijen’s reign followed the itsekiri maxim Igbo mini, mini igbo. He was succeeded by his brother Olu Irame, who ruled until around 1570.
European contact and Christianisation (c. 1506–1900)
The kingdom’s location in the Niger Delta made it a hub for early European contact. The first recorded interaction with Europeans occurred in 1475, with another documented encounter in 1500 by Duarte Pacheco Pereira, who noted in his work, Esmeraldo de Situ Orbis, thatThis has been confirmed by multiple scholars and historians, including J. D. Fage, P. E. H. Hair, and A. F. C. Ryder, who noted that Pereira’s “Huela” was a variant of the native name of the kingdom, “Iwere,” which is known today as Warri.
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JD Fage wrote
P.E.H Hair wrote
AFC Ryder Wrote
A major turning point came in 1570 with the coronation of Olu Atorongboye, the first Christian Olu, who cultivated ties with Portuguese missionaries and traders. This connection deepened under Olu Atuwatse I, the 7th Olu, who was educated in Portugal and returned in 1611 as one of the earliest university educated African monarchs. He married a Portuguese woman and strengthened Warri’s Christian identity and access to European firearms.
Throughout the 17th and 18th centuries, Warri prospered as an intermediary in the trans-Atlantic trade, exporting palm oil, ivory, and slaves, and extending influence over surrounding creeks and islands. Under Olu Erejuwa, the kingdom expanded its commercial and political reach, leveraging Portuguese alliances to reinforce its hold on the region.
Warri became a more important port city during the late 19th century, when it became a centre for the palm oil trade and other major items such as rubber, palm products, cocoa, groundnuts, hides, and skins.
Warri was established as a provincial headquarters by the British in the early 20th century.
Independence
From its foundation until the late 19th century, the Kingdom of Warri remained sovereign, never under the direct rule of another kingdom or empire before British colonisation. Contemporary European observers consistently described Warri as independent.In 1705, Willem Bosman noted that
In 1682, John Barbot wrote that
A mid-19th-century traveller likewise reported that
Another late 1890s European records describe the Kingdom of Warri as a distinct and independent political entity in the sixteenth century. According to British explorer and ethnographer Mary H. Kingsley:
Kingsley’s observation highlights both the political autonomy of Warri and the cultural divergence between its traditional religious practices and those of neighboring Benin. Her account provides one of the clearest contemporary records distinguishing Warri’s independent identity and governance structure.
Interregnum and British conquest (1848–1900)
The death of Olu Akengbuwa in 1848, followed shortly by the deaths of his designated successors, Prince Omateye and Prince Ejo, triggered an 88-year interregnum in the Warri Kingdom. During this period, merchant-governors administered the affairs of the kingdom:- Diare
- Chaninomi
- Olomu
- Nana
The Size Of The Kingdom Of Warri
In the work of Jean-François Landolphe published from his diary described the size of Warri Kingdom:The sovereign of this state owns not only both banks of the Benin river but also all the rivers of these parts as far as the tributaries of the Calabar or are near to it.
Military
In 1656, the equipment of the Warri military was dominated by arrows and javelins with the use of few muskets. By the following century, Warri forces became accustomed to firearms. In the late 18th century, the naval vessels of Warri were equipped with simple sails and primary sources documented that such vessels could carry some personnel of about 100. According to historian Thornton, the Warri navy was unfamiliar with tacking. Shields were built onto the vessels to provide protection for the personnel. Warri vessels may have utilized artillery. Jean-François Landolphe provided a description of the King's canoes in the early 19th century which he mentions to have mounted 7 blunderbusses arranged in series on a swivel. As a result, these guns could fire simultaneously and Landolphe states they were rarely used. Warri's military was largely naval as its armed forces seldom fought on land. A traveller estimated its naval and marine forces to number 60,000.Itsekiris and the Europeans
The Itsekiri people were among the first ethnic groups in present-day Nigeria to come into contact with Europeans. Their earliest recorded interaction occurred along the Benin River, which the Itsekiri call Odo-Okun. The first Itsekiri settlement to be documented was Tebu, around the year 1500, by the Portuguese explorer Duarte Pacheco Pereira. In his work Esmeraldo de Situ Orbis, Pereira wrote:The Itsekiri acted as middlemen between European traders and the various communities of the hinterland. This role brought them significant wealth and influence, and many European visitors remarked on their intelligence, trade skill, and sophistication.
The British explorer Mary Henrietta Kingsley described the Itsekiri in highly favorable terms:
Also, Major Arthur Glyn Leonard, a British soldier and ethnographer who visited the Niger Delta in the early 1900s, wrote:
Another European traveler and scholar, Sir Harry Hamilton Johnston, also commented on the Itsekiri in his account The Niger Delta:
Trade
The early trade between the Itsekiri people and the Europeans brought several cultural and economic influences to the kingdom of warri. Among these was a transformation in dressing styles and the introduction of new agricultural products such as cassava. The Europeans are credited with teaching the Itsekiri methods of processing cassava into products like starch and garri. In turn, the Itsekiri traded cassava and its derivatives with neighboring tribes across southern Nigeria. Through these exchanges, cassava gradually spread across other parts of the country.Documentation of cassava cultivation in the Itsekiri region dates back to the 17th century. The Dutch geographer Olfert Dapper recorded the presence and use of cassava in 1668 in his work Description of Africa, noting that:
John Barbot likewise recorded cassava among local products, writing:
These early European records highlight the role of the Itsekiri in the spread and trade of cassava and its products within the Niger Delta and beyond.
The Crowns
There are multiple crowns of the Warri Kingdom, many of which hold significant historical importance, with origins tied to the Kingdom of Benin and the empire of ife. The primary crown, introduced by Ginuwa I from udo, resembles the Yoruba "Adé-Ń?á". Historical accounts by European visitors provide detailed descriptions of its appearance.Lieutenant John King of the Royal Navy, who visited the Warri Kingdom between 1815 and 1820, described the original crown as:
"At Warri the actual crown of the sovereign is a sort of large cap in the shape of a cone three feet high, covered with coral beads and with a couple of birds' heads on top."
A later crown was documented during the reign of Olu Akengbuwa. Another European observer described this crown as follows:
"Coral beads were sometimes threaded in the hair or attached to the hat; the 'crown' of the King of Warri was of the latter kind, and 3 feet high. In the manufacture of caps, the skins of leopards and other animals were used, and leopards' skins were also worn on the body."
The ancient crown, originally brought by Ginuwa, was used by seven Olu monarchs of the Warri Kingdom until it was replaced during the reigns of Christian Olu monarchs. Starting with Olu Atuwatse I in 1611, a European-style silver crown from Portugal was introduced to the royal jewels. His son, Olu Oyenakpagha, further added a European diamond crown adorned with a cross in 1645.
Both crowns, along with other royal jewels, were stolen by two princes of Olu Ikenwoli during a succession dispute in 2021 over the next Olu to the throne of Warri.
Despite the theft, the coronation of the subsequent Olu proceeded without disruption. On August 21, 2021, Olu Atuwatse III CFR, the current Olu of Warri, introduced new Crown Jewels, including silver and pure gold crowns, to replace those that were stolen.