Osisi/Etu
Description
Osisi (gun) and Etu (canon) are both types of firearms. Although the Portuguese developed trade and alliances with Benin Kingdom from the late fifteenth century onwards, a papal ban on the sale of firearms to non-Christian peoples prevented firearms being sold to the Ọba (Ryder, 1969, p.41). Despite this prohibition, some firearms did make their way to Benin Kingdom by the end of sixteenth... Read more
Osisi (gun) and Etu (canon) are both types of firearms. Although the Portuguese developed trade and alliances with Benin Kingdom from the late fifteenth century onwards, a papal ban on the sale of firearms to non-Christian peoples prevented firearms being sold to the Ọba (Ryder, 1969, p.41). Despite this prohibition, some firearms did make their way to Benin Kingdom by the end of sixteenth century, and as other European powers such as the Dutch traded with the Ọba, different firearms were acquired.
Although early forms were large breech-loading guns or cannons, over time matchlock and flintlock guns became available (Osadolor, 2001, p.157). Most of these firearms were produced in Europe, however one bears a stamp indicating it was made in Asia. Then, in the eighteenth century, under the command of the Ọba, guns started to be produced locally by the Igun-Ematon (Osadolor, 2001, p.158).
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15 objects
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