Lesson Y8-U06-L03

Benin A Great West African Kingdom Quiz: KS3 History, Unit 12

20 questions

Written by Revision Ninja · Last reviewed 11 October 2026

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Lesson Y8-U06-L03, Benin A Great West African Kingdom: 20 multiple choice questions for the KS3 History (National Curriculum), Unit 12: Year 8: Meanwhile Elsewhere, written with Revision Ninja.

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The 20 questions

  1. Who was the Oba of Benin?

    • A priest who looked after the bronzes in the temple at Lagos
    • The all-powerful king of Benin, who was seen as semi-divine
    • A chief who commanded the British troops in the 1897 expedition
    • A Dutch merchant who traded ivory and pepper on the coast

  2. What were the 'Benin Bronzes'?

    • Coins minted by the Oba to pay the soldiers of his army and to trade with the merchants on the coast each year
    • Metal plaques and sculptures made to honour the Oba and record the kingdom's history
    • Pottery jars used to store palm oil for trade with the Portuguese merchants who visited the port of Lagos
    • Tools made of iron that were used to farm the land around the city and to clear the forests for new fields

  3. What does it mean to 'sack' a city?

    • To violently rob, burn and destroy a captured city
    • To hold a festival that celebrated the defeat of an enemy
    • To build a new city on the land of a conquered people
    • To move the capital of a kingdom to a safer location

  4. What does 'punitive' mean in the phrase 'Punitive Expedition'?

    • Done to explore new lands and map the rivers
    • Done to punish
    • Done to celebrate the wedding of a royal family
    • Done to trade with a rich and peaceful kingdom

  5. Where was the Kingdom of Benin located?

    • In the highlands of Ethiopia, far from the sea
    • On the coast of Morocco, facing the Atlantic Ocean
    • In the rainforest of what is now southern Nigeria
    • In the modern country of Benin, on the coast of West Africa

  6. From which decade did Benin trade with European merchants?

    • The 1880s
    • The 1680s
    • The 1480s
    • The 1280s

  7. What was Benin City?

    • A planned, walled capital, with the Oba's palace at its centre
    • A Portuguese trading post with stone walls and a harbour
    • A tented camp that moved from place to place with the herds
    • A small village of fishermen that lived beside the coast

  8. What did Dutch visitors in the 1600s compare Benin City to?

    • A desert trading post with tents and camels
    • A Chinese palace filled with silk and porcelain
    • A Mughal fort built beside a river in India
    • A great European city

  9. Who did the master casters who made the Benin Bronzes work under?

    • The Ottoman sultans in Istanbul
    • Portuguese merchants who lived in Benin City
    • The Oba
    • The Mughal emperor in Agra

  10. Which metalworking technique did Benin's craftsmen use to make the bronzes?

    • Hand-hammered iron forged in a blacksmith's shop
    • The lost-wax method of casting
    • Carved stone chiselled into statues by slaves
    • Blown glass shaped by a team of glassmakers

  11. What were the Benin Bronzes mostly made of?

    • Brass
    • Pure iron
    • Solid silver
    • Solid gold

  12. What do the walls and ditches around Benin City show?

    • They were built by the Dutch to protect their trading posts along the coast
    • They were copied from the walls of Constantinople by Portuguese builders
    • They are among the largest man-made structures ever built by people working by hand
    • They were used only to keep the wild animals out of the city

  13. In what year did the British attack Benin in the 'Punitive Expedition'?

    • 1914
    • 1897
    • 1853
    • 1939

  14. How many troops did Britain send against Benin in 1897?

    • About 12,000
    • About 120
    • About 1,200
    • About 120,000

  15. What happened to the Oba after the British attack in 1897?

    • He was crowned as king in London
    • He was executed in the palace gates
    • He was overthrown and sent into exile
    • He was made a British governor of the city

  16. What happened to the Benin Bronzes after 1897?

    • They were given to the Dutch as a gift for their trade alliance
    • Thousands were looted, shipped to Britain and sold, and now sit in museums worldwide
    • They were returned to the Oba and kept in his palace, where they were displayed each year at the great festival
    • They were melted down and sold as scrap metal in London, and the brass was used for pipes and fittings

  17. Source A is a 1668 account by a Dutch writer, and it describes long, broad streets and houses in good order. What does this suggest about Benin?

    • That Benin City was well planned and organised
    • That Benin City was a camp of nomadic herders
    • That Benin City was abandoned by its people after a war
    • That Benin City had no walls and no government at all

  18. Source A was written in 1668 by a Dutch writer. Why should a historian be careful when using it?

    • Its writer never visited Benin and based his account on traders' reports
    • Its writer was a member of the British expedition who fought in the city
    • Its writer described Benin only in the year 1897 after the British attack
    • Its writer was a king who ruled Benin and wrote about his own life

  19. Source B was written by a British survivor of the 1897 fighting and calls the people of Benin 'savages'. Why is this a biased choice of word?

    • It is an accurate description of the people of Benin who lived in the forests
    • It is a term used only by the Oba to describe his enemies in battle
    • It is a word that appeared in every newspaper in Britain at the time
    • It is a racist label that hid Benin's sophistication and helped justify the British attack

  20. Which evidence best supports the claim that Benin was a sophisticated society?

    • Its people had no cities, writing or trade, and lived in small camps that moved from place to place each season
    • Its planned capital, skilled bronze casting and organised government all needed expert planning and craft
    • Its people sold their land to Europeans and then left the kingdom to settle in the Caribbean islands for ever
    • Its people relied on the Portuguese to make all of their tools and goods, and had no craftsmen of their own at all

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