The correct ranking of the Yoruba kings is a very difficult assignment. History has been written and re-written and written again to suit the fancies and sensibilities of some people. In order to carry out a good research on this vexing issue that has been contentious since 2004, during the reign of Oba Erediawa of Benin; and again amplified in 2016 by the Alake of Abeokuta, when the Oonirisha visited his palace, many parameters will come into our minds.
These parameters are:1. Reliance on oral tradition as it was given to us by the first ancestors. Recent fabricated versions will be jettisoned.
2. Reliance also on written sources as it came down to us through our forebears. Arab and Portuguese records, especially Roman Catholic documents will serve a good purpose.
3. Archaeological findings , Art history and preserved artifacts will go a long way to solve some riddles
4. Linguistic evidence, linguistic mapping and perhaps the use of glottochronology, velar sounds , eternal syntactic symbols and the Swadesh word list
5. Coronation rituals
6. DNA study will be reliable, but in case of Yoruba it might not be much handy as all are of the same stock except Benin, whose ruling class only is Yoruba.
The beginning of the Yoruba race
The beginning of the Yoruba race goes far beyond what any Yoruba can render in his or her oral traditions. It can only be resolved with archaeological findings. About 15,000 years ago there was a break of the Yoruba people from the Bushmen of the Middle Belt of Nigeria (Olubunmi 2007, Omolewa 1986, Shaw 1965, Honsbira and St.Ifa 2008). The very first ancestors of the Yoruba in Nigeria were discovered in Iwo Eleru, in present Ondo state of Nigeria. Before this time Igbale Aiye community, said to be 450,000 years old, is in Apotoku, Ketu (Commune de Ketou), Republic of Benin.
http://www.vanguardngr.com/2013/06/amosun-aregbesola-soyinka-visit-450000-year-old-igbale-aiye-origin-of-mankind).
Yoruba and the ancestors of the Yoruba continued for a long time developing their culture and tradition. These people who existed from time immemorial in Yoruba land are the aborigines. These people were able to develop a lot of civilization.
2. Reliance also on written sources as it came down to us through our forebears. Arab and Portuguese records, especially Roman Catholic documents will serve a good purpose.
3. Archaeological findings , Art history and preserved artifacts will go a long way to solve some riddles
4. Linguistic evidence, linguistic mapping and perhaps the use of glottochronology, velar sounds , eternal syntactic symbols and the Swadesh word list
5. Coronation rituals
6. DNA study will be reliable, but in case of Yoruba it might not be much handy as all are of the same stock except Benin, whose ruling class only is Yoruba.
The beginning of the Yoruba race
The beginning of the Yoruba race goes far beyond what any Yoruba can render in his or her oral traditions. It can only be resolved with archaeological findings. About 15,000 years ago there was a break of the Yoruba people from the Bushmen of the Middle Belt of Nigeria (Olubunmi 2007, Omolewa 1986, Shaw 1965, Honsbira and St.Ifa 2008). The very first ancestors of the Yoruba in Nigeria were discovered in Iwo Eleru, in present Ondo state of Nigeria. Before this time Igbale Aiye community, said to be 450,000 years old, is in Apotoku, Ketu (Commune de Ketou), Republic of Benin.
http://www.vanguardngr.com/2013/06/amosun-aregbesola-soyinka-visit-450000-year-old-igbale-aiye-origin-of-mankind). Yoruba and the ancestors of the Yoruba continued for a long time developing their culture and tradition. These people who existed from time immemorial in Yoruba land are the aborigines. These people were able to develop a lot of civilization.
Some are these:a. Iron mining
b. Cloth weaving
c. Pyramid building
d. Bronze making
e. Bead making
f. Glassmaking
g. Terraced roads etc
See Obayemi 1977, Alagoa 1977, Egharevba 1948, Olubunmi 2007, Roth 1903 and myriad other books for amplification of these facts. They achieved these civilization due to favorable genetic mutations – the possession of counter melanone metastasis gene (which improves intelligence quotient by twenty units) not present in any other negro and the lack of another gene, keratin cluster near 17q12 and FLD6 (Olubunmi 2007) which reduces intelligence by 20 units found in most other negroes, but absent among the Yoruboid groups – Yoruba, Isekiri, Igala, Ebu Olukumi, Iyeghenle, the more preponderance of Neanderthal gene in them than in other negroes (Shuoguo Wang, Joseph Lachance, Sarah A. Tishkoff, Jody Hey, and Jinchuan Xing) is contributive. (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3845641/ . The preponderance of this genetic mutation makes the Yoruba the most civilized, most monarchically minded, the most urban and most pragmatic of all Negroes anywhere in the world (Kenny www.dhspriory.org/kenny/DH08E.htm, Obayemi 1977, Falana & Biggs 1964 etc
The rise of Oduduwa
The Obaship movement started with a brilliant young man who escaped from the Battle of Actium in Egypt. That was 30BC (Honsbira and St.Ifa 2008, Ireyefoju 2013). This young man was Oduduwa. He came in the company of Kalori(Kanuri), Igala, Olukumi, Sekiri his son and Ise his son. Each of these persons stopped in the places named after them, but Oduduwa reached Ife. He became the first king of Ife and started the Obaship system.
The first dispersals from Ife
From Ife the first dispersals of kingdoms took place. The first dispersals are Olowu of Owu, Alaketu of Ketu, Oba of Benin, Oba of Orangun, Onisabe of Sabe, Olupopo of Popo, Alafin of Oyo. These kings spread from Nigeria to Benin Republic and Togo. Ga (Accra) is also a Yoruba kingdom, but of secondary dispersal. These listed are the initial kingdoms to leave Ile-Ife. They are therefore referred to as kingdoms of primary dispersal. There are other kingdoms of secondary dispersal. These kingdoms emerge from the kingdoms so listed. Kingdoms which left Ife first, had Obas; the kingdoms that were of secondary dispersal are called Olus(Onus), although some Olus(Onus) belong to the predynastic period before the coming of Oduduwa (Obayemi 1977), as it was in ancient Egypt (Massey 1883; Budge 1907). The Obas had ade(crown) while the Olus had akoro(crown)(Johnson 1921)
The primacy of Ife
There has been a lot of controversy in the ranking made by the Alake of Abeokuta, when the Oonirisa visited the place. Salary received by kings cannot be used as a criterion to determine the rank of an Oba. My criteria is to look at the actual area captured by the Oba and to see the extent of his empire, the depth of his civilization , and how many people were loyal to the king of the kingdom.
Following the criteria listed above, The Oonirisa will be the greatest of all the Yoruba kings. The reasons will be as follows:
a. It is the oldest kingdom, every other Yoruba kingdom emanated from it
b. It was more civilized than any other kingdom. Herodotus, the father of History, listed Ife as one of the five important cities in Africa.
c. Ife is the shrine of the Yoruba nation. All the major shrines of Yoruba land - Ogun, Obatala, Orunmila, Olokun, and a host of others have their headquarters in Ife.
d. Cloth weaving, bronze making, etc began from Ife; or, became perfected in Ife
e. The Ifa Oracle system began in Ife, with its Mathematical precision, using binary system, and a plethora of poems, it is the greatest oracle to be invented by mankind
f. All the Yoruba kings of primary dispersal received their crowns from Ife, until recently, the Oba of Benin inclusive
b. Cloth weaving
c. Pyramid building
d. Bronze making
e. Bead making
f. Glassmaking
g. Terraced roads etc
See Obayemi 1977, Alagoa 1977, Egharevba 1948, Olubunmi 2007, Roth 1903 and myriad other books for amplification of these facts. They achieved these civilization due to favorable genetic mutations – the possession of counter melanone metastasis gene (which improves intelligence quotient by twenty units) not present in any other negro and the lack of another gene, keratin cluster near 17q12 and FLD6 (Olubunmi 2007) which reduces intelligence by 20 units found in most other negroes, but absent among the Yoruboid groups – Yoruba, Isekiri, Igala, Ebu Olukumi, Iyeghenle, the more preponderance of Neanderthal gene in them than in other negroes (Shuoguo Wang, Joseph Lachance, Sarah A. Tishkoff, Jody Hey, and Jinchuan Xing) is contributive. (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3845641/ . The preponderance of this genetic mutation makes the Yoruba the most civilized, most monarchically minded, the most urban and most pragmatic of all Negroes anywhere in the world (Kenny www.dhspriory.org/kenny/DH08E.htm, Obayemi 1977, Falana & Biggs 1964 etc
The rise of Oduduwa
The Obaship movement started with a brilliant young man who escaped from the Battle of Actium in Egypt. That was 30BC (Honsbira and St.Ifa 2008, Ireyefoju 2013). This young man was Oduduwa. He came in the company of Kalori(Kanuri), Igala, Olukumi, Sekiri his son and Ise his son. Each of these persons stopped in the places named after them, but Oduduwa reached Ife. He became the first king of Ife and started the Obaship system.
The first dispersals from Ife
From Ife the first dispersals of kingdoms took place. The first dispersals are Olowu of Owu, Alaketu of Ketu, Oba of Benin, Oba of Orangun, Onisabe of Sabe, Olupopo of Popo, Alafin of Oyo. These kings spread from Nigeria to Benin Republic and Togo. Ga (Accra) is also a Yoruba kingdom, but of secondary dispersal. These listed are the initial kingdoms to leave Ile-Ife. They are therefore referred to as kingdoms of primary dispersal. There are other kingdoms of secondary dispersal. These kingdoms emerge from the kingdoms so listed. Kingdoms which left Ife first, had Obas; the kingdoms that were of secondary dispersal are called Olus(Onus), although some Olus(Onus) belong to the predynastic period before the coming of Oduduwa (Obayemi 1977), as it was in ancient Egypt (Massey 1883; Budge 1907). The Obas had ade(crown) while the Olus had akoro(crown)(Johnson 1921)
The primacy of Ife
There has been a lot of controversy in the ranking made by the Alake of Abeokuta, when the Oonirisa visited the place. Salary received by kings cannot be used as a criterion to determine the rank of an Oba. My criteria is to look at the actual area captured by the Oba and to see the extent of his empire, the depth of his civilization , and how many people were loyal to the king of the kingdom.
Following the criteria listed above, The Oonirisa will be the greatest of all the Yoruba kings. The reasons will be as follows:
a. It is the oldest kingdom, every other Yoruba kingdom emanated from it
b. It was more civilized than any other kingdom. Herodotus, the father of History, listed Ife as one of the five important cities in Africa.
c. Ife is the shrine of the Yoruba nation. All the major shrines of Yoruba land - Ogun, Obatala, Orunmila, Olokun, and a host of others have their headquarters in Ife.
d. Cloth weaving, bronze making, etc began from Ife; or, became perfected in Ife
e. The Ifa Oracle system began in Ife, with its Mathematical precision, using binary system, and a plethora of poems, it is the greatest oracle to be invented by mankind
f. All the Yoruba kings of primary dispersal received their crowns from Ife, until recently, the Oba of Benin inclusive
The place of Oyo
Oyo will now fall in as the second greatest Yoruba kingdom. At a time it took almost the whole of Yoruba land except Ife and the Eastern Yoruba block – Akure, Ekiti, Ondo etc and Lagos which came under Benin sway. Oyo was able to defeat Nupe , Borgu and Bariba in the North and its imperial might extended to Ashante in the West. This powerful Oyo was later destroyed by Fulani Islamists. They had to shift from Oyo Katunga in present Niger state to the present capital of Oyo state. After they suffered a defeat, they were able to reorganize themselves in their new environ.
The place of BeninAfter Oyo, Benin was the most important Yoruba kingdom of primary dispersal, it covered almost all the areas of the present South-South and some parts of South east Nigeria, particularly Onitsha, with a large chunk of Ondo and Ekiti Yoruba and of course Lagos. Bini chieftaincies are recorded in all these places (Egharevba 1948).
Proofs that Bini Obas are from Ife
1. Oba is a Yoruba word, Ogie is the Bini equivalent.
2. Some rituals in Bini coronation ritual – the Ekiokpagha treaty, where the Ogiamien sells Bini to the Oba. Hear “I sell Bini to you, when you die I will still sell Benin to your son, You will never be the owner of Benin”(Bini coronation ritual 1979)
3. Hear Ogiamen “The Ekiokpagha treaty is the compulsory rent a new Oba-elect must pay before he is pronounced an Oba of Benin kingdom and before he is also allowed occupation of the Benin kingdom leased to Oba Eweka 1 by Ogiamien Erebo in 12.00AD. “Put in other words, there can never, repeat, there can never be an Oba of Benin kingdom without the Ogiamien, but there can always be Ogiamien without the Oba. This is sacrosanct. Read more: https://www.naij.com/832915-controversy-crown-prince-eheneden-erediuwa-tenant-benin-kingdom.html
4. Previous heads of Obas of Benin are taken to Ife for Burial. The place of burial is called Orun Oba Ado(heaven of the Kings of Benin)
5. Ife dialect was the language of Bini palace until 1897
6. Bini deities – Ogun, Sango, Olokun, Orunmila, Aiyelala are Yoruba names with Yoruba morphemes, this shows direct borrowing and colonization – like French and Latin on one hand and English and French, on the other.
But Benin is the fourth not the third most important Yoruba state.
NB . the Bini are not Yoruba, only the ruling class is (Fajana & Biggs 1964)
The place of Warri (Isekiri)
This is the third most important Yoruba state, although it is a kingdom of secondary dispersal, having received a new dynasty from Benin (Pessu 2013, Roth 1903,). Warri comes in as one of the kingdoms of secondary dispersal that made it as a prominent Yoruba kingdom. The initial cause of the rise of Warri was that by 1644 Warri could destroy any military formation from Benin (Moore 1936, Kenny http://www.dhspriory.org/kenny/DH08E.htm), so after 1644 Isekiri took over as the most powerful kingdom in South-South Nigeria, and the third among Yoruba Kings, displacing Benin. The immediate cause of the rise of Isekiri was that during the reign of ErejuwaI in Warri, the reign of Ologun Kutere of Lagos(Eko); and Oba Akengbuda of Benin. She defeated an alliance of Bini-Awori-Anglo, in 1792(Ifediora 1999, Sagay, undated, Kenny online, Landolphe 1786 in Kenny). The Lagos chiefs were sold as slaves in Calabar. Eyo masquerade was thus introduced by sea from Isekiri. Isekiri then took over the bulk of Urhobo land and most of Western and Central Ijaw lands like Mein (around Patani and Sagbama), Kiagbodo (Moore Moore 1936) etc. After Benin became so weak they had to beg an Isekiri fugitive, Ikaye to defeat Akure(Honsbira and St.Ifa 2011). This made Isekiri the power of the Niger Delta, by not only defeating Bini, but defeating the European power at the same time. Iyatsere Okorodudu(Captain Okro) and Ologbotsere Eyinmisam(Captain Animazan) were the generalissimos of the war that sank two British ships.
Other Kingdoms
Ijebu was also a power to be reckoned with. They were mentioned in most European documents as a powerful kingdom before the 16th century. Owo is also a powerful state. Then in the 19th century, Ibadan rose as a power. She overtook most of Yoruba kingdoms (Ojelabi 1970).
So, by the extent of empire, the following will be the most important Yoruba kingdoms:
1. Ife
2. Oyo
3. Warri
4. Benin
5. Ijebu
6. Owo
7. Ibadan
Egba and others are important. They also share in the general Yoruba civilization of cloth weaving, iron mining and other Yorubic civilizations. They are still far more civilized than other Negroes, but their imperial jurisdiction in times past are relatively small compared to the above named kingdoms.
By
Augustine Oritseweyinmi Oghanrandukun Olomu(St.Ifa) of Warri Scientific History and Literary Society; a branch of Yoruba Ancient History Society(YAHS)
Bibliography
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Agharowu E.E, Honsbira And Olomu A.O.O (St.Ifa)(2008) History of Warri (3400BC-1480AD) In Cultural Perspective . Lagos: Canal Publishers.
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Alagoa E. J. (1977) The Niger Delta States and their Neighbours, to 1800 in History of West Africa (Vol I) Eds (Ajayi J. F. A. and Crowder Michael): New York: Longman.
Amosun, Aregbesola, Soyinka visit 450,000-year old Igbale Aiye (origin of mankind) On June 1, 20131:52 am http://www.vanguardngr.com/2013/06/amosun-aregbesola-soyinka-visit-450000-year-old-igbale-aiye-origin-of-mankind
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Egharevba, Jacob (1960). A Short History of Benin. Ibadan: Ibadan University Press.
Eromosele Ebhomele Family of late Oba of Benin are tenants in the kingdom?
https://www.naij.com/832915-controversy-crown-prince-eheneden-erediuwa-tenant-benin-kingdom.html
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