The
Benin Empire was a pre-
colonial empire located in what is now southern
Nigeria. Its capital was Edo, now known as
Benin City,
Edo. It should not be confused with the modern-day country called
Benin, formerly called
Dahomey. The Benin Empire was "one of the oldest and most highly developed states in the coastal hinterland of
West Africa, dating perhaps to the eleventh century CE", until it was annexed by the
British Empire in 1897.