lynpetra:


Yea,but there is another Benin warrior I read sometime ago that is impenetrable by bullets....the only way to kill him was to shoot at his shadow....I think he was betrayed...can't remember...

.


Lol, he was Asoro.

I was discussing him with my cousin a few years back. My cousin is the second oldest living male blood relative of Asoro. There was a bit of embellishment in the shadow shooting story, as it usually is with iconic figures/heroes.

Fact is that in our village (Asoro's place) such protective okpor was nothing extra-ordinary. Of course the higher your military position the more the fortification you got. Until Christianity became more widespread in the 1970s.

Even now some of the strongest traditional medicine in Edo state still come from there. Note that "bad/destructive medicine" is strictly forbidden.

As an ancient warrior dukedom/duchy, people there fortified themselves before going to war or embarking on risky journeys.

My great uncle (grand dad's elder brother) escaped death from robbers in Ondo area around 1910 using similar Okpor.

What many people also don't know about Asoro is that he was an Edo n'Ekue/Ado-Akure as Edo-Yoruba hybrid are colloquially called.

Asoro was specifically a Bini-Owo hybrid.

The Last Nazgûl: Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to
speak out and remove all doubt.

Epic.

I tried hard to educate one Edo lost child here on Nairaland about the closeness of the Edos to yoruba and he became rude and insultive. Please educate some more pple like him.

Can some 1 please interpret these words in Bini and Portuguese.

English. Bini. Portuguese.
Shoe
Spoon
Albino

I heard that the original name for the Binis by early yorubas was Ilu-ibinu.
Becos of the anger with which the progenator of d binis left yoruba land. I stand to be corrected.

Asiwaju9ja: I tried hard to educate one Edo lost child here on Nairaland about the closeness of the Edos to yoruba and he became rude and insultive. Please educate some more pple like him.

Can some 1 please interpret these words in Bini and Portuguese.

English. Bini. Portuguese.
Shoe Ibata Sapato
Spoon Ekuye Colher
Albino Eyaen Albino

I heard that the original name for the Binis by early yorubas was Ilu-ibinu.
Becos of the anger with which the progenator of d binis left yoruba land. I stand to be corrected.

Note that spoon in French is called cuillère. Portuguese like French derives from Latin.

My Portuguese is pretty weak, I mostly know these words by way of French which helps you understand Portuguese/Spanish/Italian a bit.

@Asiwaju, I am pretty happy with being a hybrid and so are all my relatives. We have the unique privilege of Royal descent from both Yoruba and Edo side.

In fact in our part of Edo state, we can switch in an instant to Yoruba dance, song in occasions like funeral, marriage etc, to the surprise of those who don't previously know that aspect of us or take the names we bear (Adeyemi, Adewole, Adedeji, Akinbiyi, Ajibade, Adenuga) as a mere coincidence. It is a very exciting cultural mix indeed.

I think our problem in Naija is that we have this "unseen tribal supremacy struggle". People think having something in common with others dilutes your tribal/ethnic identity.

At some point, Benin territory was up to Northern Ekiti (border with Oyo Empire). Of course there was always conquest and loss of territory. These things were fluid. Considering trade, intermarriages, migration etc, a lot of people who call themselves Bini today were originally Yoruba.

In Akure in particular, lots of people going by Yoruba identity today were Ado-Akure, same in Owo, Ado-Ekiti, Emure-Ekiti, Idanre, Okitipupa.

In fact two Benin Iyase (Benin Traditional Prime Minister) in the past where Ado-Akure specially invited by Oba of Benin to come as neutral ministers.

Gayigaskia: wow touching that guy awaiting execution. I wonder what he did

His name is chief Ologbosere, he betrayed the benin kingdom then by telling the British soldiers where to shoot to get them. He was uses by the British after deceiving him with some articles like mirror and some hand gadgets


During the war the British army discovered that their weapon was not as effective as they thought









Ologbosere simply told them to shoot the shadows of the warriors and not the warriors directly and that lead to the capturing of one Benin army commander; Asoro the great.

The King of Benin was eventually captured by the British consul-general Moor, deposed and sent to live out his days in Calabar. He died in 1914.

For his filthy acts, the Gods placed a curse on the British consul General.

Moor committed suicide in Barnes, Middlesex in 1909. He died before the Oba of Benin.

jude33084:

What you call bini is called Edo.

The Edos did not leave the Yoruba land, instead the a message was sent to the Yoruba King then( whom happen to also come from the Benin Kingdom in person of Ikaladeran(spelling might be wrong) to help the Edos for a king during their early predicament.

Yorubas are more educated than the Edos hence they tried to change history in Nigerian Educational system.


A debate came up years ago; not too long though when the Ooni of Ife or so make that comment and Oba of Benin corrected him immediately.

Punch as usual took the matter up but when they discovered the truth, silence as usual covered everything up.

The Yoruba will tell you that Oduduwa came directly from heaven.

.

THIS is a very controversial topic. What is sure is that Oranyan/Oranmiyan founded the current Benin Monarchy. Before that, dozens of Ogiso/Kings ruled in Benin. Nothing unusual about this: British Royal family is from Germany, Swedish one from France, former Greek royal family was German/Danish etc.

The entire Bini tribe did not descend from Yorubaland. There are certainly Yoruba heritage people in Benin and vice versa.

Oranmiyan who was requested by senior Benin chiefs from Ododuwa to help resolve the rulership crisis in Igodomigodo (as Benin was called then). Oranyan could not speak Igodo language, didn't understand the culture. Don't forget that some people would have been suspicious of this foreign dude lording it over us. As soon as his wife was pregnant, Oranyan left Benin hoping the baby would be a boy.

The people of Igodo were very plain-talking people and would not hesitate to break your neck if you mess up.

Oranyan declared that this was "Ile-Ibinu" = roughly land of vexation/temper/anger, as he left quickly.

The name was initially used by other tribes to describe Benin. One school of thought is that Possibly the Itsekiri (close to the coast) told early Europeans that the kingdom was called Ile-Ibinu which the Portuguese wrote down as "Beny" and later as Benin by the Dutch, French, British etc.

In the 15th century, Oba Ewuare (about 1440 AD) changed the tribe's name to Edo, in honour of a Slave that helped save his life. But maybe he was fed up seeing the Kingdom being described using a disparaging name too.

MacLovington: .

THIS is a very controversial topic. What is sure is that Oranyan/Oranmiyan founded the current Benin Monarchy. Before that, dozens of Ogiso/Kings ruled in Benin. Nothing unusual about this: British Royal family is from Germany, Swedish one from France, former Greek royal family was German/Danish etc.

The entire Bini tribe did not descend from Yorubaland. There are certainly Yoruba heritage people in Benin and verse visa.

Oranmiyan who was requested by senior Benin chiefs from Ododuwa to help resolve the rulership crisis in Igodomigodo (as Benin was called then). Oranyan could not speak Igodo language, didn't understand the culture. Don't forget that some people would have been suspicious of this foreign dude lording it over us. As soon as his wife was pregnant, Oranyan left Benin hoping the baby would be a boy.

The people of Igodo were very plain-talking people and would not hesitate to break your neck if you mess up.

Oranyan declared that this was "Ile-Ibinu" = roughly land of vexation/temper/anger, as he left quickly.

The name was initial used by other tribes to describe Benin. One school of thought is that Possibly the Itsekiri (close to the coast) told early Europeans that the kingdom was called Ile-Ibinu which the Portuguese wrote down as "Beny" and later as Benin By the Dutch, French, Brtish etc.

now I know that what they said is true. For Seun to have hidden his post means that the Yoruba's are hiding something

MacLovington: .


Lol, he was Asoro.

I was discussing him with my cousin a few years back. My cousin is the second oldest living blood relative of Asoro. There was a bit of embellishment in the shadow shooting story.

Fact is that in our village (Asoro's place) such protective okpor was nothing extra-ordinary. Of course the higher your military position the more the fortification you got. Until Christianity became more widespread in the 1970s.

Even now some of the strongest traditional medicine in Edo state still come from there. Note that "bad/destructive medicine" is strictly forbidden.

As an ancient warrior dukedom/duchy, people there fortified themselves before going to war or embarking on risky journeys.

My great uncle (grand dad's elder brother) escaped death from robbers in Ondo area around 1910 using similar Okpor.

What many people also don't know about Asoro is that he was an Edo n'Ekue/Ado-Akure as Edo-Yoruba hybrid are colloquially called.

Asoro was specifically an Owo-Bini hybrid.

Edo and other nations Of Ondo area have always had strong relationships.

I heard bini once headed Owo before they revolted

Moukafoam:

now I know that what they said is true. For Seun to have hidden his post means that the Yoruba's are hiding something

hiding wat?

macof:

Edo and other nations Of Ondo area have always had strong relationships.

I heard bini once headed Owo before they revolted

Yup.

Not exactly clear how it happened. But history says that although Owo was defeated in war, the diplomatic negotiations after the war gave Owo a lot of autonomy still.

What we know in the family, is that our family (said to be imperial ambassador/colonial officer/prince of Bini royalty) left Owo for Benin when things became unpleasant in Owo. But by this time we had already assimilated a lot of Owo culture/language, mixed with Owo royalty/nobility, essentially returning more as Yoruba than Bini to Benin City.

In modern times, German-Russians called "Aussiedler" have returned to Germany post-soviet era. They are all but Russians except for German DNA.

Hundreds of years later, we still have the "Ado-Akure" culture.

Great Edo people i greet u all,we hav d best cultural background in naija,pls post more pic of iwu,i would lyk u pple to some comparinzism with some other tribe culture

MacLovington:


Note that spoon in French is called cuillère. Portuguese like French derives from Latin.

My Portuguese is pretty weak, I mostly know these words by way of French which helps you understand Portuguese/Spanish/Spanish a bit.

@Asiwaju, I am pretty happy with being a hybrid and so are all my relatives. We have the unique privilege of Royal descent from both Yoruba and Edo side.

In fact in Edo state, we can switch in an instant to Yoruba dance, song in occasions like funeral, marriage etc, to the surprise of those who don't previously know that aspect of us or take the names we bear (Adeyemi, Adewole, Adedeji, Akinbiyi, Ajibade, Adenuga) as a mere coincidence. It is a very exciting cultural mix indeed.

I think our problem in Naija is that we have this "unseen tribal supremacy struggle". People think having something in common with others dilutes your tribal/ethnic identity.

At some point, Benin territory was up to Northern Ekiti (border with Oyo Empire). Of course there was always conquest and loss of territory. These things were fluid. Considering trade, intermarriages, migration etc, a lot of people who call themselves Bini today were originally Yoruba.

In Akure in particular, lots of people going by Yoruba identity today were Ado-Akure, same in Owo, Ado-Ekiti, Emure-Ekiti, Idanre, Okitipupa.

In fact two Benin Iyase (Benin Traditional Prime Minister) in the past where Ado-Akure specially invited by Oba of Benin to come as neutral ministers.

DOnt call yourself hybrid.

Infact I believe Bini are the missing link between the final separation of the Yoruba and other further western related groups such as the Fon and Ewe, from the other Eastern Volta-Niger groups such as the Urhobo, Itsekiri, etc.

These are today different tribes due to years and years of internal cohesion and isolation.

Deiok: erm miss what tribe are you?

Igbo

lynpetra: Igbo

oh. why are you so much interested in the histories of Edo, well i guess we have an interesting hostoric background.

Deiok: oh. why are you so much interested in the histories of Edo, well i guess we have an interesting hostoric background.

Schooled in Uniben....I love Benin's history ,the people,but I don't like the level of infrastructural dev.

PhysicsHD:

This is an Esan (Ishan) indigene of Edo State, not Benin

PAGAN 9JA:


DOnt call yourself hybrid.

Infact I believe Bini are the missing link between the final separation of the Yoruba and other further western related groups such as the Fon and Ewe, from the other Eastern Volta-Niger groups such as the Urhobo, Itsekiri, etc.

These are today different tribes due to years and years of internal cohesion and isolation.

.

Well that's my personal family history. I am not speaking for all Edo people. In the same way there are very many people of dual tribal origins all over Naija. Only that due to tribalism, people just aren't comfortable enough to admit or they just don't know their family history well enough.

No doubts that there were waves of migrants from Benin throughout history, some are beyond the borders of Nigeria today such as Togo, Osu area of Ghana (the Ga people), Republic of Benin and of course within Naija like Delta, Ondo, Bayelsa, Lagos Island, etc.

I even read an interview by Late Dim Ojukwu in which he said some Onitsha people regard themselves as coming from Benin.

4teelaw:

This is an Esan (Ishan) indigene of Edo State, not Benin

.

True, although most royal houses in Esanland would trace their origins to Benin Royalty/Nobility.

In any case we're both branches of a common family tree.

lynpetra: Schooled in Uniben....I love Benin's history ,the people,but I don't like the level of infrastructural dev.

Good for you.
About the infrastructure, its so true, Edo is lagging behind,

@ PhysicsHD,

where are you to spice up your thread on fp

MacLovington: .

Well that's my personal family history. I am not speaking for all Edo people. In the same way there are very many people of dual tribal origins all over Naija. Only that due to tribalism, people just aren't comfortable enough to admit or they just don't know their family history well enough.

No doubts that there were waves of migrants from Benin throughout history, some are beyond the borders of Nigeria today such as Togo, Osu area of Ghana (the Ga people), Republic of Benin and of course within Naija like Delta, Ondo, Bayelsa, Lagos Island, etc.

I even read an interview by Late Dim Ojukwu in which he said some Onitsha people regard themselves as coming from Benin.

Most Traditional heads in Aniocha delta state are of bini origin.

And I'll like to address the errors of people thinking Lagos island was founded by bini, Lagos island was founded by Olofin(grandson of Oduduwa), He and his disciples left Ile-Ife during the Great expansion strategy(I like to call it dat ) as they followed a plate through rivers, the spot were the plate sank(Awori) became the name of their Nation.

4teelaw:

This is an Esan (Ishan) indigene of Edo State, not Benin

I know.

When I was posting it, I was using the word "Edo" in a more inclusive modern sense of the word - not in the sense of the original meaning of the word - and so were other posters who posted some Esan attire in the thread.

If you have more pics of Esan attire, feel free to post them. Or if you'd like to start a separate thread for that, you could do that instead.

MacLovington: @ PhysicsHD,

where are you to spice up your thread of fp

I've been pretty busy because it's near the end of this academic semester.

I have many more pictures that are relevant to this thread than what I originally posted that I could upload and post here, but don't have them with me right now and I have a lot of other things I need to attend to anyways. Since this thread was already long dead, I wasn't expecting to have a reason to post them. If I was to post anything now they would just be pics that one can find easily online through an image search.


By the way, if you don't mind my asking, where exactly are you from? I get that you're part Bini and part Yoruba, but I ask because you said earlier in the thread:

"In fact in Edo state, we can switch in an instant to Yoruba dance, song in occasions like funeral, marriage etc, to the surprise of those who don't previously know that aspect of us or take the names we bear (Adeyemi, Adewole, Adedeji, Akinbiyi, Ajibade, Adenuga) as a mere coincidence. It is a very exciting cultural mix indeed."

And that hasn't really been my experience (although maybe I haven't lived long enough to have enough of those kinds of experiences - I'm still in my early 20s; also I've spent a lot of my life outside of Nigeria), so I was curious about where exactly it's like that.

MacLovington: .


Lol, he was Asoro.

I was discussing him with my cousin a few years back. My cousin is the second oldest living blood relative of Asoro. There was a bit of embellishment in the shadow shooting story.

Fact is that in our village (Asoro's place) such protective okpor was nothing extra-ordinary. Of course the higher your military position the more the fortification you got. Until Christianity became more widespread in the 1970s.

Even now some of the strongest traditional medicine in Edo state still come from there. Note that "bad/destructive medicine" is strictly forbidden.

As an ancient warrior dukedom/duchy, people there fortified themselves before going to war or embarking on risky journeys.

My great uncle (grand dad's elder brother) escaped death from robbers in Ondo area around 1910 using similar Okpor.

What many people also don't know about Asoro is that he was an Edo n'Ekue/Ado-Akure as Edo-Yoruba hybrid are colloquially called.

Asoro was specifically an Owo-Bini hybrid.

Could you name that village?

I've seen different claims about where exactly Asoro was from. I'm inclined to think that people have tried to associate specific places with him, regardless of what his exact origin was. I would be interested in knowing where it is that you or your relatives hold as his place of origin. One of the places I saw him mentioned as being from is Iguogho village. Is that the same village you're referring to?

[edited]

macof:

Most Traditional heads in Aniocha delta state are of bini origin.

And I'll like to address the errors of people thinking Lagos island was founded by bini, Lagos island was founded by Olofin(grandson of Oduduwa), He and his disciples left Ile-Ife during the Great expansion strategy(I like to call it dat ) as they followed a plate through rivers, the spot were the plate sank(Awori) became the name of their Nation.

There probably was some earlier settlement there founded by peoples from the hinterland and possibly from Ife specifically.

By 1603 however, there was only a Benin war camp there - a foreign visitor who went to Lagos in 1603 (a German surgeon aboard a Dutch ship) wrote about this and that written description is the earliest written mention of the inhabitants of Lagos island. Had he visited a century earlier, that foreigner probably would have written about the Olofin's settlement without any mention of Benin. There was clearly some significant change in that place at some point during the 16th century.

PhysicsQED:

There probably was some earlier settlement there founded by peoples from the hinterland and possibly from Ife specifically.

By 1603 however, there was only a Benin war camp there - a foreign visitor who went to Lagos in 1603 (a German surgeon aboard a Dutch ship) wrote about this and that written description is the earliest written mention of the inhabitants of Lagos island. Had he visited a century earlier, that foreigner probably would have written about the Olofin's settlement without any mention of Benin. There was clearly some significant change in that place at some point during the 16th century.

that's one thing we have as a problem, we rely so much on wat white explores say about our own people, and disregard the story of the people being talked about.

macof:

that's one thing we have as a problem, we rely so much on wat white explores say about our own people, and disregard the story of the people being talked about.

Not really. Most of the material in historical accounts about pre-colonial Nigeria isn't really derived from foreign writers/explorers.

PhysicsQED:

Could you name that village?

I've seen different claims about where exactly Asoro was from. I'm inclined to think that people have tried to associate specific places with him, regardless of what his exact origin was. I would be interested in knowing where it is that you or your relatives hold as his place of origin. One of the places I saw him mentioned as being from is Iguogho village. Is that the same village you're referring to?

[edited]

.

Iguogho it is. All elderly people there are bilingual (Bini & Ogho dialect of Owo Yoruba).

Asoro's living closest relatives are the Omorogbe & Omorodion families. etc.

I'm from the Enogie of Ogho family. Like all Bini Provincial Enigie, we're of Benin royal family origin.
Some of my other relatives are from Usen, Okeluse etc, again Edo n'Ekue areas.

I hope to be able to document more of the history before it's too late.

MacLovington: .

Iguogho it is. All elderly people there are bilingual (Bini & Ogho dialect of Owo Yoruba).

Asoro's living closest relatives are the Omorogbe & Omorodion families. etc.

I'm from the Enogie of Ogho family. Like all Bini Provincial Enigies, we're of Benin royal family origin.
Some of my other relatives are from Usen, Okeluse etc, again Edo n'Ekue areas.

I hope to be able to document more of the history before it's too late.

I see. Thanks for answering.