Egbado History!! (fwd)
Ayinde Elegbede
This is a section of a book I read recently involving the History
of the Yoruba. I find the part on the Egbado a little bit inadequate but
its a start. I hope you read it and kindly send me your input.
Babatunde "Ayinde" Elegbede
A Brief History Of The Egbado.
By Robert S. Smith
To the west of Egbaland accross the river Ogun lived the Egbado, their
name contracted from egbaluware, 'the wanderers towards the river'
-probably an alllusion to the river Yewa, which runs through their lands
to the lagoon at Badagry.
They seem never to have constituted a state or federation as did the
other major yoruba peoples. The traditions of origin of their towns are
disparate, referring to Ife, Oyo, Ketu and Benin, and the populations
includes communities of Awori, Egun, Anago and Ohori.
The Oldest of the Egbado communities are probaby the Ilobi and Erinja,
who have traditions of migration from Ife via Ketu; the Ilobi indeed,
claim that their ancestor, Onidokun Leke, was a member of of Oduduwa
house. Later arrivals in the area were the Ado and the Ipokia, of Awori
and Anago descent respectively, though the people of Ipokia have been
joined by migrants from Oyo. Other Egbado towns such as Igan, Egua and
Aiyetoro, seem to have been founded by Anago groups moving or possibly
returning eastward from Dahomey. But the most important of the Egbado
towns are those founded directly or indirectly by Oyo. There are two main
groups of these, and in each case the settelements were apparently made
by the Oyo in order to protect their communications with the coast.
The first group consist of the former Anago kingdom of Ifonyin, ruled by
the Elehin or Elewi Odo ( the king behind the river), and its daughter
kingdoms of Ihumbo and Ikolaje, to whose rulers the Elehin Odo with the
Alafin's permision, granted crowns. (Ifonyin lies across the present
frontier in Benin.) They seem to have been founded about 1700, at the
time when Oyo became aware of the threat to her route to the coast from
the westward expansion of Benin and the growing power and ambition of the
Fon of Dahomey. A later offshoot from Ifonyin was Ilashe. The second
group was founded (or in some cases, given a new role and improtance)
probably late in the eighteenth century by Alafin Abiodun when the Oyo
trade route was moved father to the east; it includes the two leading
towns of Ilaro and Ijanna, established in an area, which perhaps as a
result of slave-raiding was only lightly populated. Ilaro (whose origin
according to Folayan, ante-date Abiodun's reign by some two centuries)
was ruled by its Oba, the Olu, who was crowned by the Alafin. Each Olu
rules for a period of only three years and then retire to Oyo Ile with
ten of his wives. Ijanna was subject to an official known as the onishare
(he who acts an envoy), who was chosen among the Alafin's Ilari, the
titled slaves; he had the alarming honour of being one of the Oyo Abobaku
(those required to take their own lives on learning of the Alafin's death
and he was always a Nupe), but the Onishare was described as Hausa.
Ilaro became the principal town of Egbadoland, while nearby Ijanna took
second place. Formerly their rulers held a ceremonial meeting once a
year, sitting back-to-back on a hilltop boundary between their kingdoms
(since kings should never see each other).
These satelite Kingdoms of Oyo in Egbado seem to have fulfilled well
their purpose of protecting the road to the coast up to and even some
years beyond the outbreak of the general wars of the nineteenth century.
They had their own troups and remained very loyal subjects of the Alafin.
Many travellers passed through the towns between Oyo and the coast and
though the tolls which they were required to pay (in cowries) on entering
and leaving had to be transmitted to the Alafin, their patronage of the
local markets were profitable and the Egbado grew wealthy.
When Clapperton and Lander, the first Europeans to give a first hand
account of Yorubaland, travelled up this route at the end of 1825 they
were impressed by the order, peace, and prosperity which they saw around
them. But four years later, as Landers noted, conditions had detoriated.
Two towns lying in the mainly Awori area to the south of the Egba and
Egbado countries must be mentioned. The first is Otta, ruled by a crowned
Oba, the Olota, who claims to derive his title from Ife, and now a
wealthy center of cocoa production and trade. The second is the former
port and slaving center of Badagry, which is situated, like other west
african ports, not directly on the coast but on the coastal lagoon; from
the west it is protected by the Yewa estuary And on other side by swamp
and forest. The town seem to have been founded in about 1736 by a Dutch
trader and populated by Egun refugees driven eastwards by the Fon. As it
became important as an outlet of the trade of Oyo and for the commerce of
the Egbado, its population grew. Other Popo refugees and Awori from the
sorrounding district being attracted there, as well as Spanish,
Portuguese, French, Dutch and English slave traders who established their
baracoons along the shore. All the eight main chiftancies in the town
were held by the Aja and there was a prepodenrance of Whydah influence.
The leading chief, the Akran was normally a member of the Jegba ward of
the town which traced its descent from Whydah, the Popo port some fifty
miles to the west, but he had little authority over the other wards. The
town seems to have constituted a semi-independent state; in the
eighteenth century it was apparently a tributary to Oyo, which controlled
the hinterland down to Ipokia in the south, while in 1830, according to
the Landers, it was a tributary to Lagos.
