BENIN, be-nen' (from Lat. ben/gnus, kind, good, benign). A former kingdom of Africa, in chided, since 1897, in the Niger Coast Protecto rate. It is bounded by the Niger, Dahomey, and the Bight of Benin (q.v.) (Map: Africa, E 4). The name was formeily applied to the entire coast of Upper Guinea from the estuary of the Volta to that of the Niger, which is also known under the name of Slave Coast (q.v.). The shores are generally low and indented, and the climate unhealthy. The soil is very fertile, and produces rice, yarns, and all other products char acteristic of Upper Guinea ; the interior is well wooded. The chief article of trade is palm-oil. The population of the coast regions consists of Jakris, who are mostly engaged in trade. The inhabitants are little advanced beyond the sav age state, and the sacrifice of human beings as a religious custom is of frequent occurrence. The
town of Benin, in the eastern part of the region, has an estimated population of 15,000. Benin is supposed to have been discovered by the Portu guese navigator Diogo Cam in 1434. At the end of the Eighteenth Century several French settlements were established near the estuary of the Niger, but were soon destroyed by the British. At that time Benin was the centre of the slave-trade, which was suppressed by the British. Benin was declared a British posses sion in 1385, but for a long time the authority of the British was merely nominal. In 1897 Benin was incorporated in the Niger Coast Pro tectorate, and a British Resident placed at the capital. Consult: on Benin Cus toms (Leyden, 1898) ; "Primitive Art from Benin," in No. 15 The Studio (London, 1S98).