Reign of Ehengbuda, last of the warrior Obas

The end of the sixteenth and beginning of the seventeenth centuries saw the reign of Ehengbuda, the last of the warrior Obas. Dutch visitors in the early seventeenth century heard of a major victory won a generation earlier over a large army of horsemen sent to invade Benin from the direction of Oyo or Nupe. From this victory Ehengbuda won recognition of Benin suzerainty over large areas of Ekiti and tribute from rulers of Akure and Owo. The Iyase (senior town chief) quarrelled with Ehengbuda; fighting broke out in Benin City. Ehengbuda was subsequently drowned in the creeks between Lagos and Benin during a personal military expedition.