The first great warrior Oba was Ewuare, who created a hierarchy of chieftains through whom he exercised power throughout the kingdom. He also introduced the ceremony of the coral regalia which supposedly had been wrested from the sea god Olokun. Ewuare also rebuilt the capital city, Benin, giving it broad streets that led to the palace. The palace and city were surrounded by a series of earthen ramparts covering 2500 square miles, which after the Great Wall of China was the biggest man made structure.
After Ewuare's death, his descendants carried on his good works in the arts in ivory, brass, iron and wood. The Portuguese who were the first Europeans to find the Edo in the 16th century, traded with the kingdom. Later, in an effort to halt a decline, Oba Akenzua I opened trade links with the Dutch, particularly in ivory.
Increasing British influence in the 19th century brought about further decline, and in 1897 a British military expedition occupied the capital in retaliation for a massacre of Britsh envoys and banished the Oba, Ovoramwen. However his did not destroy the kingdom for in 1914 Oba Eweka II rebuilt the palace and commissioned more works of art.