Ekaladerhan n'Izoduwa n'ovbie Ogiso
Ekaladerhan n'Izoduwa n'ovbie Ogiso also known as oduduwa was the son of ogiso owodo the 32nd king of Edo and the last ogiso of Edo Kingdom. Prince Ekaladeran was banished and migrated to Ife because of wrong allegation on him. On his banishment, he migrated to Ife. On getting to Ife, he helped the Ife people to defeat the people to defeat the people who were waging war on them and wanted to take over the land of the Ife people.
After helping the Ife people to win the war, he was made a leader to rule over the Ife people as the first ooni of Ife. Because of that favour and honour he got to be a king in a strange land, he decided to change his name from his original benin name (Ekaladeran) and choose to be called Izoduwa which means "I have found a home " which was later corrupted to oduduwa
In Yoruba religious traditions, Oduduwa is seen as a divine or semi-divine being that was sent by the creator deity, Olodumare, from heaven to create the earth upon the waters. These beliefs are held by Yoruba traditionalists to be the cornerstone of their story of creation. Obatala, Oduduwa's sibling and Oduduwa here are represented symbolically by a calabash, with Obatala taking the top and Oduduwa taking the bottom. In this narrative, Oduduwa is also known as Olofin Otete, The one who took the calabash of existence (Igbá Ìwà) from Olodumare.[1]
Etymology
[edit]The etymological derivation of the Edo name “Izoduwa” ---- izo-du-wa ------- O-du-du-wa.[3]
This translates literally to: i have found a home [3]
Ife traditions
[edit]| House of Oduduwa | |
|---|---|
| Yoruba royal dynasty | |
.jpg) | |
| Parent house |
|
| Current region | Yorubaland |
| Founded | c.11th century |
| Founder | Oduduwa (Olofin Adimula) |
| Current head | Ojaja II |
| Titles |
Ojoye/Oloye Ife[4]
|
| Style(s) | Kábíèsí Majesty Imperial Highness |
| Members | |
| Connected families | Oyo royal family Bini royal family |
| Traditions | Ìṣẹ̀ṣe Christianity Islam |
| Motto | Ilé Ifẹ̀ orírun ayé, Ibi tí ojúmọ́ ti ń mọ́ wá. (Yoruba: Ife, source origin of the world, the place from which dawn begins) |
| Cadet branches | In Ife (4)
Outside Ife (Several)
|
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (August 2022) |
Ife tradition, which modern Yoruba historians accord precedence, relates that Oduduwa was a personage who migrated from the Benin kingdom known as igodomigodo, history has it that he passed through ondo before getting to ife
He held the praise names Olofin Adimula, Olofin Aye and Olufe. Since he is held by the Yoruba to have been the ancestor of their numerous crowned kings, his name, phonetically written by Yoruba language-speakers as Odùduwà and sometimes contracted as Ooduwa, Odudua or Oòdua, is generally ascribed to the ancestral dynasties of Yorubaland. Following his posthumous deification, he was admitted to the Yoruba pantheon as an aspect of a primordial divinity of the same name, historical accounts state.
Later years
[edit]The leadership contest was brought to an end following the collaborative effort of Obatala, Orunmila and Owa Ilare. The three figures were able to facilitate the death of Oduduwa. Following this, a major part of Oduduwa's support base dispersed - this has been reinterpreted to mean a dispersal of his children and grandchildren from Ife to the outposts that they had previously founded or gained influence over.
Obalufon II Alayemore was on the throne when Oranmiyan, the son of Ogun but often associated with Oduduwa, returned from his sojourn and contested Obalufon's kingship. It is unclear how Lajamisan is Oranmiyan's son, though he brutally seized the throne and is arguably the progenitor of all of the Oonis that have reigned in Ife from his time till now, prompting historians to label it the Lajamisan dynasty, which has remained unbroken for almost 700 years.
Oranmiyan
[edit]Oranmiyan is said to have been a biological son of Ogun, who was in turn the son of Oduduwa and his war captain, hence the misconception that Oranmiyan had two fathers. He was one of the most adventurous of the Yoruba historical figures. The controversy surrounding his birth is due to the fact that both Oduduwa and Ogun had affairs with the same woman, his mother, Lakange. Ogun was a warrior whose expedition led to capturing Lakange as war booty and he had sexual relations with her. Oduduwa equally desired the woman and had sexual relations with her while she was pregnant. Whatever the case, the affair resulted in the birth of Odede, otherwise known as Oranmiyan.[6] Oranmiyan would later become the first Alaafin of Oyo and, later, the Ooni of Ife. He ruled also in the Kingdom of Benin for awhile after a crisis among the people of Benin forced them to consult Oduduwa to send them a ruler who will rule over them, but left to return to Ife after finding the People of the Benin Kingdom ungovernable, Prior to his departure from Benin Kingdom, he married a Benin woman with whom he had a son called Eweka who later proceeded to the throne, and is the progenitor of all the Obas in the Kingdom of Benin to the present day.
Moremi and the Ugbo
[edit]After the dispersal of most members of the family of Oduduwa, the aborigines became ungovernable and constituted themselves as a serious threat to the survival of Ife. Thought to be descendants of Oranfe through Obalufon Ogbogbodinrin (Osangangan Obamakin) who had ruled the land before the arrival of Oranmiyan, these people turned themselves into marauders. They would come to town in costumes made of raffia with terrible and fearsome appearances, burn down houses and loot the markets. It is at this point that Moremi Ajasoro, a woman from Igun in Ile-Ife, came onto the scene. She was married to Lukugba, Obalufon Alayemore, and Oranmiyan at different times; she subsequently played a significant role in restoring normalcy to the situation through a spying mission. She allowed herself to be captured and taken away with the marauders. Subsequent to this, she married the king of the Ugbo. Her new husband wanted pleasure from her, but she would not give in because she was already married and was on a mission. She told him to tell her the secret of the marauders; he initially refused to but after great insistence on her part, he gave in. He told her that the only thing they feared was fire; if they saw fire, they would retreat. With this information, she concocted an escape plan. She asked for some oranges and prepared a formula that drugged the palace entourage, causing them to fall into a deep slumber. When they woke up, they found that she had escaped to inform her people of their weakness. Using this information, the people of Ife were well prepared to face the marauders.[7]
Alternative views
[edit]Oduduwa and his/her role in creation
[edit]Yoruba religious traditions about the dawn of time claim that Oduduwa was Olodumare's favorite Orisa. As such, he (or she, as the primordial Oduduwa originally represented the Divine Feminine aspect and Obatala the Divine Masculine) was sent from heaven to create the earth upon the waters, a mission he/she had usurped from his/her consort and sibling Obatala, who had been equipped with a snail shell filled with sand and a rooster to scatter the said sand in order to create land. These beliefs, held by Yoruba traditionalists, are said to be the cornerstone of their story of creation. Obatala and Oduduwa here are represented symbolically by a calabash, with Obatala taking the top and Oduduwa taking the bottom. In this narrative, Oduduwa is also known as Olofin Otete, the one who took the Basket of Existence from Olodumare.
Another depiction of Oduduwa as being the wife of Obatala is presented in Odu Ifa Osa Meji, a verse of the Ifa oracle. In this Odu, Obatala discovers the secret of his wife and steals the masquerade's robes from her to wear it himself. This is suggested to be a historical representation of a switch from matriarchy to patriarchy.[1]
This cosmological tradition has sometimes been blended with the tradition of the historical Oduduwa. According to others, the historical Oduduwa is considered to be named after the earlier version of Oduduwa, who is female and related to the Earth called Ile.[8][9]
The earlier traditions of either a gender-fluid or an expressly female Oduduwa are seen in the spirit's representation in the Gelede tradition. Initiates of Gelede receive a shrine to Oduduwa along with a Gelede costume and mask. This speaks to Oduduwa as being associated with the divine ancestral mothers that are known as Awon iya wa or Iyami. Here, Oduduwa is revered as the mother of the Yoruba.[10]
Non-Yoruba views
[edit]Certain other people have claimed a connection to Oduduwa. According to the Kanuri, Yauri, Gobir, Acipu, Jukun and Borgu tribes, whose founding ancestors were said to be Oduduwa's brothers [11] (as recorded in the 19th century by Samuel Johnson), Oduduwa was the son of Damerudu, whom Yoruba call Lamurudu, a prince who was himself the son of the magician King Kisra. Kisra and his allies are said to have fought Muhammad in the Battle of Badr and Kisra was forced to migrate from Arabia into Africa after losing the war to the jihadists in 624 AD. According to the legend, he and his followers founded many kingdoms and ruling dynasties along their migration route into West Africa.[12][13][14] This tradition is a variant of the belief, popular amongst some Muslims, that held that Oduduwa was a prince originating from Mecca. However, it is thought by some scholars to derive from the later influences on Yoruba culture of Islam and other Abrahamic religions and conflicts with other traditions in the Yoruba traditional corpus.[15][16]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ a b Washington, Teresa (2014). The Architects of Existence. United States: Oyas Tornado. pp. 25–28. ISBN 978-0991073016.
- ^ Onuwaje, Oriiz (October 20 2018). Benin red book. Wells crimson Ltd. pp. Page 29 to page 32. ISBN 9789785473414.
{{cite book}}: Check date values in:|year=and|date=(help)CS1 maint: date and year (link) CS1 maint: year (link) - ^ a b The Rev Johnson, Samuel (1921). The history of the Yorubas : From the Earliest Times to the Beginning of the British Protectorate. p. 143.
- ^ Lange, Dierk (2004). Ancient Kingdoms of West Africa: African-centred and Canaanite-Israelite Perspectives ; a Collection of Published and Unpublished Studies in English and French. J.H.Röll Verlag. p. 368. ISBN 978-3-89754-115-3. Retrieved 1 November 2023.
- ^ Okelola, Olubayo (2001). Political History of Ile-Ife (cradle of Yoruba Race) 1900-1980. Lichfield. p. 4. Retrieved 1 November 2023.
- ^ Beier, Ulli (1980-10-02). Yoruba Myths. CUP Archive. ISBN 9780521229951.
- ^ Yoruba Alliance: Archived 2011-07-02 at the Wayback MachineWho are the Yoruba!
- ^ Lawal, Babatunde (1995). "À Yà Gbó, À Yà Tó: New Perspectives on Edan Ògbóni" (PDF). African Arts. 28 (1): 36–49. doi:10.2307/3337249. JSTOR 3337249. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2015-10-27 – via Jstor.
- ^ Babatunde, E.D. (1980). "Ketu Myths and the Status of Women" (PDF). Ayelekumari.com. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2019-10-18. Retrieved October 18, 2019.
- ^ Drewal, Margaret and Henry (1993). Gelede: Art and Female Power among the Yoruba. Indiana University Press. pp. 232–234. ISBN 0253205654.
- ^ History of the Yorubas by Samuel Johnson 1921
- ^ A. Matthews " The Kisra legend) "https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00020185008706819?journalCode=cast20
- ^ Eluyemi, Omotoso (17 June 2018). "This is Ile-Ife".).
- ^ Akinjogbin, I. A. (17 June 2018). Milestones and concepts in Yoruba history and culture. Olu-Akin Publishers. ISBN 9789763331392.
- ^ Ogundipe, Ayodele (2012). Esu Elegbara: Chance, Uncertainly In Yoruba Mythology. Ilorin, Kwara State, Nigeria: Kwara State University Press. p. 15. ISBN 9789789275908.
- ^ Bascom, Yoruba, p. 10; Stride, Ifeka: "Peoples and Empires", p. 290.
Further reading
[edit]- Ojuade, J. S., "The issue of 'Oduduwa' in Yoruba genesis: the myths and realities", Transafrican Journal of History, 21 (1992), 139–158.