AtaniWarrior:
Excellent post. I agree with this narrative. I have been saying this for years now . There is very strong evidence to support this view.

AjaanaOka:


It only hit me a few years ago. Then as I asked questions and read more, the evidence just sort of piled up.

It's puzzling to me how the historians who have written on Aro origins (Afigbo, Onwuka/Ekejiuba, Nwauwa, etc) seem to have missed, or at least not explored it.

IDENNAA:
Basically, Arochukwu origin lies in Abriba and not some location northwards. However, this does not apply to all the quarters in the clan.

AtaniWarrior:


I definitely understand. Historians should have explored Abiriba-Arochukwu ancestral ties more. Nwauwa did address this topic but did not get into as much detail:

https://www.jstor.org/stable/3172068?seq=1

Your post would make a great article. It will be challenging for one to dispute the points made (especially with the various sources). Some of my relatives agree with this narrative while others do not but they never make valid points to dispute this lol.



That is true. Abiriba and Edda areas.

lastempero:


A part of the clan and not all aros and it's fully recognised in aro history but saying that aro kingdom originated from abriba is not right.

AjaanaOka:
In case it wasn't clear, I was in no way suggesting everyone in Arochukwu is of Abiriba descent.

I mentioned the Yakurr in the write-up, who I believe are the people the traditions identify as Akpa.

I also mentioned aboriginal Ibibio groups. There were, by all indications, post-Aha Ibibi Ibibio remnants that were absorbed into the emerging Aro society.

And as the town grew during the slave trade era, many people probably found their way there, either as slaves or as freeborn immigrants.

IDENNAA:


This is a true story; in the '70s after the Biafran war a group of Arochukwu people from Amorka quarter found their way to Umuoji , Idenmili north. They met with our elders at Umuobia and told them their ancestors were originally from there(Umuoji) and asked to be given a piece of land to resettle. The Umuoji chiefs , however, without recollection of their existence regrettably told them they have no prior knowledge of their existence and they had to return back to Arochukwu...it was strange

AtaniWarrior:

Facts. No one on this topic posted that all Arochukwu lineages came from Abiriba (or Edda).

It is well documented that Aro lineages came from different areas. For example, I am a direct descendant of the indigenous Ibibio/Efik people of Arochukwu. Some Aro families are said to have came from Amasiri, Ibom Isii lineage originally came from the East of the Cross River, etc.

AjaanaOka:
I think this may be the single most neglected theme in early Aro history: a deep connection with the Abiriba blacksmiths. This connection appears to go back to the founding of Arochukwu. The traditions of the Aro appear to be all but silent on this. It is largely among the Abiriba that we obtain traditions that make explicit statements about this connection.

Abiriba traditions claim that while their ancestors were still living at Usukpam (somewhere in the present Cross River), the ancestors of the Aro broke off, went south and founded Arochukwu. Information from Abiriba sources also says the Abiriba and the Aro still use the term "nwadi m" to refer to one another. The term loosely translates as "my relative". But besides these traditions, there are current structures and ethnographic details that speak loudly of a solid link between the two peoples.

I suggest (tentatively) that Arochukwu started life as a colony of blacksmiths who were either Abiriba or of the same stock as the Abiriba; that the early Aro were itinerant blacksmiths like their Abiriba kinsmen, operating up and down the Cross River Valley, alongside the blacksmiths from Abiriba with whom they apparently maintained cordial relations; that the Aro largely abandoned blacksmithing in the course of the 18th century, to focus on trading in slaves, local and European products.

Aro traditions themselves hint at the town's blacksmithing past. Agwu Inobia, traditionally the first Igbo settler in the lands that became Arochukwu, is said to have been a powerful blacksmith. Some traditions go further to identify the place he came from as Abiriba. But it is from outside Arochukwu that we get even clear indications that the early Arochukwu people might have been blacksmiths.

For example, from the town of Ugep in the Middle Cross River Region, we get this bit of history: "About the 1680s, the Aros had a settlement in Ugep called Lete kom (blacksmiths’ village). About 1736, these Aros betrayed the trust of the Ugep when it was found out that the Aros used deceitful means to sell Ugep citizens into slavery in the guise that such persons were eaten by the Aro oracle. In 1736, the Aros were forcefully sent out of Ugep in what is called the Bikobiko incident". (Otu Abam Ubi, "The Yakurr of the Middle Cross River Region" )

Similar traditions of early settlements established by Arochukwu blacksmiths have been recorded at Afikpo, also in the Middle Cross River Region: “Amuzu (place-blacksmiths) was apparently the second main ward formed in the village [i.e., a village in Afikpo]. Its first compound (Ezi Chukwu) was established by two Aro men and their families, who brought with them a special blacksmiths’ shrine. Although they no longer practise this occupation, the shrine is still in use." (Simon Ottenberg, "Leadership and Authority in an African Society: The Afikpo Village-Group". )

Aro colonies that were established farther west, in the Igbo hinterland (Aro Ndizuogu, Aro Ndikelionwu, etc), appear not to make any references in their traditions to blacksmithing and blacksmiths, suggesting that by the time Aro expansion extended out of the Cross River area and into the Igbo hinterland (probably in the 18th century) itinerant iron-working had ceased to be their stock-in-trade.

But granted that Arochukwu was in the 17th century an important centre of blacksmithery, are there tangible suggestions of a specific link with Abiriba, besides the fragments of traditions already referred to? Several structural and cultural parallels between Arochukwu and Abiriba would suggest so:

1. The top stratum of Arochukwu society is referred to as Amadi Nkume Asaa (Amadi of the Seven Stones). These are the, as it were, the elite of Aro society, the 'blue-blooded' descendants of the founders of Arochukwu, not latter-day naturalised immigrants and slaves.

In Abiriba, the blacksmithing guild is known as Nkuma Asaa (the Seven Stones), so named after the traditional seven blacksmithing kindreds in Abiriba. (See, O. Chidiebere, "Origin of Iron Technology in Africa: The Abiriba Blacksmiths in Focus, 2017). A hypothesis that suggests itself is that Abiriba members of this guild founded Arochukwu and passed the name down to their descendants, and the name endured long after blacksmithing had ceased to be their profession.

2. The government of both towns follow a similar tripartite or troika system, which in Arochukwu is called Nna Ato (Three Fathers), and in Abiriba is called Ekwu Eto (Three-Legged Stand). The troika system recognizes three clan heads. One of the clan heads is then recognised as a 'first among equals', and thus the 'king' of the whole town.

In Arochukwu the three clan heads are the Eze Ezeagwu, the Eze Ibom Isii, and the Eze Okennachi. The Eze Okennachi as the 'primus inter pares' is the Eze Aro, 'king' of Arochukwu. In Abiriba, the three clan heads are the Eze Agboji (known as Iffa), the Eze Amogudu (known as Ukpaghari), and the Eze Ameke. The Eze Ameke as the 'primus inter pares' is the 'king' of Abiriba, known as the Enachioken.

3. The title of the 'king' of Abiriba draws yet another parallel. Abiriba traditions say the title of their 'king' Enachioken derives from an ancestor named Nnachi Oke. (The linguistic connection between Enachioken and Nnachi Oke would be fairly easy to see, even if traditions didn't connect them.) Arochukwu traditions also mentions an Nnachi Oke, a medicine man who played a key role in driving the native Ibibio out of Arochukwu. This Nnachi Oke had a son, called Oke Nnachi, who established the line from which the present 'kings' of Arochukwu come (i.e., the Okennachi line). But instead of Abiriba, Aro traditions say Nnachi Oke came from Edda, a town right next to Abiriba.

One possible resolution is that a priest-doctor originally from Edda (Nnachi Oke) had established himself in Abiriba, had played some role in the Aro-Ibibio struggles, and that a branch of his family had established the ruling Okennachi clan in Arochukwu. This is only a hypothesis, however. What is almost certain however, is that the Enachioken/Okennachi parallel points to some common link between Abiriba and Arochukwu.

It should probably be noted that Abiriba traditions explicitly say the Abiriba played a role in the Aro-Ibibio struggles. On one occasion, the Enachioken was said to have sent 7 of his best warriors to wade off the Ibibio who were waging guerilla warfare (using a fearsome masquerade to terrorise the people) on the new town of Arochukwu (Chidume and Nmaju, "The Aro Hegemony: Dissecting the Myth and Reality", 2019)

4. A peculiar practice that features in the festivals of both towns is something called Itu Eye. The meaning of Itu Eye differs somewhat in the two towns, but they probably have common roots. In Abiriba, Itu Eye is an annual review of the laws governing the community. In Arochukwu, Itu Eye is an annual review of communal history and genealogy.

If I were to offer a re-interpretation of the traditions of Aro origin, based on a possible connection with the Abiriba, it would go like this:

The land was originally occupied by Ibibio-id groups. A group of itinerant blacksmiths (represented by Agwu Inobia) of Abiriba origins came and settled among the earlier Ibibio-id groups. The settler-group had a fall-out with the aboriginal groups and reached out to the 'mother town' of Abiriba (under the hegemony of a chieftain/priest/doctor of possibly Edda origins) for help. The 'mother town' enlisted the help of their Yakurr allies and 'kin' (the Akpa of Aro traditions). Seeking military aid from the Yakurr was most logical. Not only do the Abiriba claim Yakurr ancestry, the Yakurr in turn claim that their kings are descended from an Abiriba 'princess' named Obia. Real or fictitious, such claims of kinship did come in handy when one community needed the co-operation of the other. Osim, the name of one the Akpa mercenaries definitely points to Yakurr roots. Nna-Ubi, the last name of another of the Akpa mercenaries is possibly part-Yakurr as well, Ubi being a common name among the Yakurr.

The Abiriba settlers and their allies prevailed against the Ibibio natives and established a society closely modeled on the 'mother town' , Abiriba, and by the latter part of the 17th century, they were setting up small colonies of blacksmiths up the Cross River (exemplified by those at Afikpo and Ugep.) The trans-Atlantic slave trade received a major boom around the turn of the 18th century. The Arochukwu travelling smiths realised that they were suitably situated and had the contacts/network (at least along the Cross River valley) to benefit from the booming trade. In any case, they probably already did some trading alongside blacksmithing (just like every other itinerant blacksmithing group in that region - - - the Nkwerre, the Awka, the Abiriba). And so began the shift from artisans to full-time merchants.