PRE-COLONIAL PERIOD

People from different communities around the world have interacted with one
another in a variety of ways for their benefit from the beginning of time. This link has
been studied from both an intra-group and an inter-group perspective over time. Worldwide political, economic, and socio-cultural progress of people and societies can be
attributed to both types of integration. This is especially true because no society can exist
in isolation from others; no society can live and flourish in this way. Thus, reality has
influenced both inter-group cooperation and integration as well as inter-group relations
on a global scale. From pre-colonial times to 1900, the Benin and Urhobo people were
farmers, focusing on cassava, yam, plantain, and vegetables. They relied on neighbors for
essential products like salt, fish, clay, and pepper. Factors like geography, climate, economic resources, food supply, and contact with other civilizations influenced their
inter-group relations, with language being a barrier.