This article examines the economic life of the Benin Kingdom, focusing on agriculture, trade networks, and craft production. It explores staple crops, land control, market systems, long-distance trade, and royal regulation, as well as artisan guilds, bronze casting, and ivory carving, showing how economic power supported political stability and cultural achievement.

The Benin Kingdom developed one of the most centralized and enduring systems of governance in pre-colonial Africa. Anchored in the Oba system, political authority was fused with sacred kingship, institutional councils, and customary law. This structure ensured stability, continuity, and legitimacy across centuries, challenging Eurocentric assumptions about African state formation and demonstrating advanced political organization long before colonial intervention.