The King Of All Blackmen

Queen Victoria was a Queen and Empress of an empire that went on to become the largest empire the world has ever, or indeed is ever likely to see ....

The Areas Of The World That Were Once Part Of The British Empire At One Time.

At its peak in 1913, the British Empire held sway over 412 million people, which was 23 per cent of the world population at the time, and by 1920 it covered 35,500,000 km2 (13,700,000 sq mi), 24 percent of the Earth's total land area ... happily we won't see it its like again.

She was also still to a large degree the ruler (even though we had a growing democracy), in that her wishes were very largely carried out by whomever was the Prime Minister of the day. She also took a lively interest in the peoples of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom.

So for example, she was 'The Great White Mother' to the native American Indians of Canada and no doubt something similar to other native or indigenous peoples under her care (as she would have thought of it) ..... but not all natives thought the same way.

Take for example King Eyamba V of the Efik people of southern Nigeria in the 19th century. He was one of two monarchs based in the coastal town of Calabar, which was then made up of two sovereign states still locally ruled by King Eyamba in 'Duke Town' and King Eyo Honesty II of 'Creek Town,' who between them presided over the affairs of the Efik ethnic group, and also controlled all the commerce with European merchants.

The Efik had already developed long-standing relations with the European (mainly British) merchants, which had greatly influenced their culture, often adopting English surnames, such as Duke and Henshaw, as well as a liking for European clothing styles (that persists as a Victorian influence to this day). Oh, and they were very active in the slave trade (something BLM activists might like to consider occasionally). They acted as middlemen between the African slave traders from the hinterlands, and the white European merchants on ships in their ports.

They negotiated prices from the slavers and traders for the African slaves, then collected royalties from both the sellers and buyers, as well as working on the docks, loading and offloading ships, and supplying the foreigners with food and other provisions. So their kings became very wealthy, by their controlling of the largest trough of slaves coming out of Africa (1.5 million Africans were shipped to the New World through the Calabar ports controlled by The Efik kings). Accounts of native African slave traders are rare, but one such was found, written by a man who styled himself Antera Duke. The account is titled 'The Diary of Antera Duke', and it is the only surviving eyewitness account of the slave trade by an African slave merchant.

Britain had abolished the slave trade in 1807, but for decades human cargo was still transported to other countries and empires through Calabar under the Efik Kings. Queen Victoria was keen to try and stop the trade by whatever means possible, so although the Royal Navy ran anti-slaving patrols across the globe (something else activist groups should also consider before tearing down statues), she also negotiated with local rulers not then under British rule, in an effort to stop the trade.

To that end she wrote a letter to the Efik Kings asking that they stop trading in people and start trading in spices, palm oil, glassware, and other things with the British Empire. As an inducement to King Eyamba, Queen Victoria included an offer to protect him and his people. She then signed her letter as "Queen Victoria, The Queen of England", which a local interpreter incorrectly relayed as "Queen Victoria, The Queen of All White People". 

Apparently the King was not used to the idea of protection from a woman (white or otherwise), and determined that if he was going to accept any protection from a woman, then they had to get married. He informed her of this fact in his written reply, in which he said that he wanted to marry her, so that the two of them would rule the world and he then signed off as, "King Eyamba, the King of All Black Men".

The Obong Of Calabar And 'King Of All Blackmen' 

Queen Victoria may well have been amused (for a change), when reading King Eyamba's letter, however in her reply she did not explicitly decline his offer, while saying that she looked forward to having good trade relations with him. She also sent  some gifts - including a royal cape, a sword, and a Bible - a goodwill gesture that King Eyamba chose to interpret as acceptance of his marriage offer. And so the Efik people began to believe that their king had married the queen of the world. So to this day, and after the Efik people opted to combine the role of King into one, the coronation of the Obong of Calabar still takes place in two phases.

After the traditional rites are concluded in the community, the coronation ceremony continues in a Presbyterian Church (formerly the Church of Scotland), where the Obong wears a crown and cape custom-made for the occasion in England, and  two thrones are set side by side. The Obong then sits on one, while the second is left empty for the absent Queen of England (sometimes a Bible is placed on it). 

This acknowledges the historic union between the Queen of all White People and the King of all Black Men .... just a little reminder of a very different world.