Ovonramwen

Ovonramwen (born Idugbowa; 1857 – 14 January 1914), recorded as "Overami" by the British, was the thirty-fifth Oba of Benin and the last ruler of the kingdom before it lost its independence (Wikipedia). He succeeded his father, Adolo, in 1888 or 1889, taking the name Ovonramwen n'Ogbaisi, "the rising sun that spreads over all". His reign began with rivalry among palace chiefs and efforts to keep Benin's authority as British influence spread across the western Niger Delta.

In 1892 the British vice-consul Henry Gallwey negotiated a treaty which, as the British read it, limited Benin's independence; Ovonramwen did not personally touch the pen, and continued to enforce Benin's trade restrictions and royal monopolies. In January 1897 the acting consul-general, James Phillips, set out for Benin although the oba had asked him to postpone his visit; a group of Benin chiefs, despite objections attributed to Ovonramwen, attacked the party and killed most of its European members (Wikipedia).

Before his father's death, Idugbowa had been dissatisfied that he had not been formally installed as Edaiken (crown prince). His accession was followed by rivalry between established palace chiefs and his own supporters, by executions and purges at court, and by provincial disputes (Wikipedia).

The British expedition that followed took Benin City in 1897 and destroyed the oba's palace (country study). Ovonramwen was deposed, sentenced to exile and sent to Calabar, where he remained until his death in January 1914; his eldest son then became oba as Eweka II (Wikipedia).

On his way into exile he was photographed by the Nigerian photographer Jonathan Adagogo Green. The images became widely reproduced records of the conquest, interpreted both as colonial pictures of defeat and within West African traditions of dignified portraiture (Wikipedia).