kingdom · West Africa

Kingdom of Ketu

1500 CE – 1886 CE (approx.) · capital Ketu

Ancient Yoruba kingdom on today's Benin-Nigeria border, a Yoruba outpost between the Oyo and Dahomey powers.

Origins

Ketu traditions trace its royal line, the Alaketu, to a grandson of Oduduwa who left Ile-Ife, and name Ede as the founder of the walled town of Ketu. The kingdom took shape in the western Yoruba lands, and its massive town wall and gate, the Idena, became symbols of its antiquity.

Rule and society

The Alaketu was chosen from royal houses in rotation and ruled with town chiefs and powerful religious societies. Ketu was a centre of Yoruba religion, notably of the orisha cults later carried to Brazil. Lying between the Oyo Empire and the Kingdom of Dahomey, it was repeatedly raided by Dahomean armies from the late 18th century.

Decline and legacy

In 1886 the forces of Dahomey under King Glele destroyed Ketu and carried off much of its population. After the French conquest of Dahomey the town was resettled within French Dahomey, and the Alaketu still reigns at Ketou in Benin.

Few sources survive for this state; details are uncertain.

Connections (1)

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Cite this page
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Kingdom of Ketu. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/kingdom-of-ketu
MLA
“Kingdom of Ketu.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/kingdom-of-ketu. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Kingdom of Ketu.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/kingdom-of-ketu.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Kingdom of Ketu’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/kingdom-of-ketu (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻