₦airaland Forum

Bro, you can't use contemporary historical methods to unravel black Hebrews. The methods are skewed against such by the Caucasians. In the end though, all things shall be laid bare. Yorubas are migrants and not indigenous here. That assertion should be too clear to see. Every attempt and efforts to link us here have been proved abortive. We have no common heritage, in terms of culture, language, rituals rite, etc with any tribe in Africa except those of our kits. If I may ask you my brother, do you believe the assertion of the Ijebus that they transverse and had a temporary stop at Waddai in Sudan while migrating from the Near East? Don't be deceived, history is written by the conquerer. We are not from here but we won't remember, at least majority, until fullness of time.

OmoOlofin:
First of all, I am glad you've eventually impliedly admitted that Professor Akintoye holds no such interpretation which you appear to have attributed to him in your reply to Amujale.

(1) I am not sure if you really do take your time to read what you will be replying to.

First, what you call "his view" is the unanimous position of contemporary historical scholarship.

And this position holds that the meaning of the inscription on the Opa Oranmiyan (assuming that's what you meant where you curiously spelt Oranmiyah instead) is "unknown to us today".

Scholars do not simply sit all day fabricating interpretations just because there isn't any textually/orally grounded interpretation yet. No, that's not what scholarship is about.

(2) Although your points (2) and (3) here is not exactly what I am addressing at the moment (though related), but I am glad to inform you that the scientific evidence repeatedly points to the same fact that the ethno-linguistic group known today as the Yorubas first appeared on the soil of today's Nigeria.

This is the unanimous conclusion reached from the linguistic studies conducted even by our own indigenous linguists such as Adetugbo, Obayemi, Oyelaran, Akinkugbe, et al.

Akinkugbe's study being the most thorough of the inter-dialectal and external relations of the Yoruba language. She undertook the study from the point of view not only of phonology but also of lexicostatistics.

The conclusion from these linguistic studies are also corroborated by archaeological results and interpretations.

(3) For your point (3) here, I think you have missed an important question which you must first ask.

You must first ask yourself if there is any reputable historian of African and Yoruba History today who holds such view of Oduduwa having his roots in some foreign land.

Guess what! There is none. To substantiate this claim of mine, it is sufficient to borrow the exact words of S. A.Akintoye where he writes:

"All who study the history of Ife and of the Yoruba people are now generally agreed that the great political changes which began in Ife in about the tenth century were indigenous in their origin, in their unfolding and in their dramatis personae. It is on the soil of Yorubaland that Oduduwa was born and raised; it is only in that soil that his roots can be found."

Reference:
S. A. Akintoye, "A History of The Yoruba People", p.57.

What I think you should do at this point is the very thing that historians did beginning from the mid/late 1900s.

In other words, you should pause and ask yourself who was the first person to write something about a foreign origin for Oduduwa, and from where or whom did such writer get such account.

I have once commented somewhere, at some great lenght, on this specific topic of Oduduwa's origin. I will post it here as soon as I find the comment.

In as much I understand the reason Edos may be jealous of their brother Yoruba. Although Edo is great but Yoruba is greater and elder is serving the younger as prophesied. But it is high time mods on this forum find something to do about this guy.@gregyboy is derailing the entire culture section with his wild claims. He is actually disturbing any reasonable discussion on any thread talking about Yoruba or he will create thread just to spite Yorubas and our ancestors. It is enough!

Moneywomen17:
Yoruba owns ogboni. They merely brought it to u Benin. Nothing in what u posted from Benin net shows that for a fact that Benin owns ogbeni group.

You got it sir, the carryover of the relationship is still in existence. See the Edos and their jealous of Yoruba is legendary and that is why there is no need to argue with them as many are doing on several Edo topics on nairaland. They are our brother; we are twins and the rivalry has been there since conception. Hausas are getting their rewards from Fulani for how they treated and destroyed our homeland in the Near East, and several other examples of continual relationship in this same country. Concerning the'intelligent noisemakers', leave them alone. They are asleep and not yet awake. It is the prophecy that we will forget who we were, our name will be changed and our land partitioned etc. until the time of redemption. They will sooner or later wake up.

absoluteSuccess:
That's true, the old bickering between Yoruba and Ijebu comes to mind, such that the other Yoruba are not always keen to marry the Ijebu because they would have one problem or the other with the Ijebu.

Some folks also would find one reason or the other to blame the Ijebu among other things. It's the old shenanigans the Jew have for the Jebusite playing out. Both were serious competitors at the onset of time.

Albeit, the birth of friendship was when David captured Jerusalem without bloodshed and built a capital therein. This point marked a new beginning in their frosty relationship.

Since Jebu was the old name for Jerusalem, it's pertinent that Yoruba history repeats itself in place names as continuation of her history in a new world. Hence we have Ijebu here too.



Most of the connection to the East remains foggy in Yoruba tradition. Change doesnt discriminate on what to keep or what to discard. A change in language results chiefly from separation.

Change makes random transformation of original language as people interacts with their new environment. Nobody's tongue is tied to any language forever, hence the Yoruba would say "ahon won ti lo".

The only thing that is constant is change. Two factors vital for change is isolation and interaction. It's not possible to control what a language will change to.

You can only tell how it all began studying one language with another that seems related to it. Examples is studying Yoruba language side by side with Hebrew, English or Japanese as control.



Yes, at least I've come across valuable points in this direction. I have discussed this elsewhere, the origin of Yoruba tribal marks for example originated in the concept of aristocracy that's parralel with the antiquity of the East.

Keke, a kind of tribal mark depicted the chariot, Abaja implies 'armoured chariot", Pele depicts peletites, (Philistine) and ture (tyrenians). These were soldiers of Palestines in time of old.

The Yoruba identify themselves with the tribal marks to depict their aristocratic background. For instance, in my family, we use to have the Pele. This means we align with the Philistines.

All this instances are drawn from memoirs of the ancient world that the Yoruba were once familiar with, as there's no tradition in today's Yoruba of the use of chariot to prosecute war.

Someone said they could have invented such by themselves, but to what end and where are the replica in Yoruba? The Yoruba vegetation cannot support such invention.

But the device has already imprinted an indelible mark on the consciousness of Yoruba language, art and culture that it became a practice the proponents cannot explain themselves today.

Whenever we get it right, the power of the Divine will always bless us with timeless secrets, to separate us from every "intelligent noisemakers" arrogating void importance to themselves.

Noise will eventually fade away, knowledge will remain for all time.

Ciao.

Don't close your mind to learning@macof no matter how strange it might look. There are footprints of evidence around you of Near East ancestry of Yoruba but you can't see it or you choose not to. In fact it is almost proven conclusively that Torah itself was written in Yoruba language, I mean ancient Yoruba Language, not the 'Oyonised' version we are all speaking or writing now. I found it odd that you are contesting that Yoruba are migrants here when our tradition, culture, Language, and even oral history of some Yoruba towns alluded to it.

West Africa was sparsely populated until the migrations of hebrews and cannanites following wars and persecution. Apart from Nok Kingdom (Mid central part of Nigeria), many of the occupants of the geographical space called Nigeria are migrants, and mysteriously aligned almost the same way they were in the Near East. In fact they continue in the friendship and animosity they carried from their original habitats. e.g. Lange* made us understand that a place called Igboho near Oyo is a replica of Gozan/ Hubur region ( Etymologically Igboho is Gozan/ Hubur) in eastern Syria where Assyria Army initially carried Northern Israel in 722BC. This same history is in Oyo oral history but the details are foggy to them. Same with Ijebus living side by side with Yorubas as it was in the Near East. Most of earlier history took place in the Near East but we continue here as if we were originally from here and that is why we hit rock when we want to probe further behind. The footprints of some of our cultures, naming, name of towns, rituals, language, including Oriki are not here. We will awake when it is time.
*Dierk Lange, Origin of the Yoruba and “The Lost Tribes of Israel”. Anthropos 106.2011

absoluteSuccess:
That's true bro.

Earlier Europeans were in search of a Christian Prester Jean, whose great kingdom and vast empire could help Europe against the incursion of the muhamedans after the fall of Byzantium.

That's part of the original motivation for seafaring amongst European countries. The various discoveries and trade contracts spiralled to the slave trade and opening up of foreign markets that birth the industrial revolution.

But the same process secured the power of the west against the natives at various lands so discovered. Thus began the imperial era that got European powers scrambling for control over the continent and elsewhere.

1000BC

The Yorubaland was originally discovered by the ancient mariners from the earliest seafaring neighbourhood of old, known to first circumnavigate the coasts of Africa, namely the Phoenicians.

The Phoenicians had the secret of the sea before any other nation. Copernicus possibly borrowed their idea to postulate that the earth is spherical. That said, Palestine was a warzone at the time.

The Canaanites may not have emptied to this place, but they were first to discover and exploit the mineral resources and equally settled the land during the period of its discovery.

The Phoenicians discovered west coast, they brought the Hebrew and other Canaanites alongside. It was the period Israel had an empire over Palestine and Syria, hence the larger chunks of land goes to the Hebrew.

The era was not recorded in European history that began earnestly with Homer's, but Yoruba tradition duly preserve the record. It's the best time to peruse and unravel the mystery concealed for long in our tradition.

How are you sure they were converted hebrews? Are you saying there are no original hebrews on earth again? I know religion is not ethnicity but I wonder why those migrants from far away Spain and Morroco choose to come to Yoruba land if they dont have prior knowledge of earlier migrants to the same place. Mind you the story of the migration of this Bnai-Ephraim is known and recorded in history.

macof:
Lmao
A religion is not an ethnic group. Those are converted into Judaism making up nonsense history like converted Muslims did 200 years ago

The Caucasians know us more than we do and that was the reason they partitioned us into different countries under different task-masters. There was even a British documents calling ijebus (Jabu Kingdom on the map) Jebusites/ jebus. Most of the kingdoms on that map have common ancestry/ or are neighbors from the East.

Well if true that Yoruba ancestors left Arabia because they refused to absorb Islamic tenets, what of those that have migrated earlier than 700-800AD( peak of Islam in Arabia). Yoruba migrated in waves as earlier as 1000-2000BC and the most recent was returning from Spain and Morocco around 14-15th century thereabout following persecution. They were called Bnai-Ephraim and settled in Lagos and some in Ondo. Mind you I am not disputing your theory.

This is the map I talked about. It was actually made in 1747.

Well I wouldn't know who started the Oriki as it is known in our culture but I reason these Oriki were originally meant for eulogy, characterization and identification of different clans, families, tribes, professions etc.. Although along the line Oriki became reservoir of history. In fact I can say Oriki is the backbone of Yoruba oral history. I defer to you@absolutesuccess for information from another perspective. About the material, I will look for the map for your perusal. We also should not forget that we are of different clans and tribes with different kingdoms at the time and not now we are partitioned into different countries and given a common name 'Yoruba' especially those of us in Nigeria. Personally I see Yoruba as a race of people with different tribes.

Thank you. I asked because I read a piece from a foreign author who vehemently described Whydal as ancient Hebrews. He even showed a map of 1666 or thereabout of Whydal/Judah Kingdom. I believe we will understand our roots more if we can decipher our Oriki. Our ancestors put a lot of information in our Oriki.

[quote author=MetaPhysical post=87674727]Before we go into the Oriki, let's establish first some historical connections.

Ado, Edo, Ido, Odo
These are all Yoruba ancestral words to denote features of settlement in a geo-space.

Originally, Edo (as in Edo people, Edo State) is a class of emigrants in ancestral times. They left Ife and occupied settlement in a new land in the forest. The aborigines of that forest were known as Efa, hunters and gatherers with no recognized rulership or form of civility.

The Edo of today is a political new-entity, on the surface devoid of its Yoruba ancestry but retaining in its roots traces of linkage back to Yoruba.


Ogiso >>> Oba
The ancient Edo settlement was ruled by Chiefs of Ife known as Ogiso. The settlement prospered and expanded and was characterized by constant clashes of interest between the settlers and aborigines. The capital was Igodo.

Yoruba lexicon does not have "gh" sounding words which is common in the Efa lexicon. We also dont have 'z' or 'v'.

Igodo is same as Agodo - shrine!

The Ogisos brought Ife deities to Edo and built shrines for the deities around their metropolis and took the alias Igodomigodo.

At the arrival of Oranmiyan he and his court camped in Use or Uselu.

Place names like Ughoton, Ughelli are in the aborigene language.

Given names like Akenzua are assimilated from Yoruba Akinsua, popularly used in Eastern Yorubaland.

Eweka was born in Uselu and coronated and reigned from there over the aborigene land.

The Kingdom also took a name and was called IBINI. The King at Uselu ruled over Ibini Kingdom. Eventually a new settlement was developed and the King relocated from Uselu to the new capital now called Ibini - later corrupted to Benin.



What is the connection between Republic of Benin and Benin Kingdom?

This relationship pre-dated 1600.

Both thrones at Oyo Ile and Bini belonged to same bloodline and ancestry but separate dynasties.

The greatest threat and opposition to their rulership was from the Empires of Dahomey and Ghana in West as well Songhai in North.

Hausa, Bariba, Nupe and Yoruba were the immediate contact points to those three threats and so Oyo Empire was under great pressure to preserve its rulership.

Oyo's method of warfare was well suited to the Savannah plains and wooded Guinea belt but insufficient and not suited to deterr threats from the forest and sea coast. This is where Bini Kingdom came in.

Bini itself was not a coastal kingdom but it could form alliance with sailors on the coast to put up a defense shield against intruders from Dahomey and or Ghana using vulnerability to invade and destroy Kingdoms in Yorubaland.

Bini created a sea force using alliance with Itsekiri and Ilaje. They created a seabase at Ado.....

Bini had not settled in Eko by this time. They would travel through the creeks from Bini River through Ijebu to Oto to Amuwo all way to Iwida (Whydah, Ouida).

Oto was the seat of Olofin at that time. Oto is also known as Ido.

He would host them on stopover ...kinda like a modern day Bed-and-Breakfast before proceeding on the journey.

The purpose of Bini in Iwida was to setup a fort and a defense shield against intrusion from threats in West.

Oyo had a similar arrangement in North....in Ilorin! Ilorin was a Yoruba Army fort.


It was much later that Olofin advised that if the fort in Whyday is successful in keeping enemy away, he would need one too because their pepper farm was always raided by intruders in the creek and is damaging trade and commerce with interior kingdoms.

Bini replied that they had no land and cannot fight Olofin to take land for the fort. The compromise was for Aromire to carve out land for Bini settlement.

Bini has never fought Lagos. Bini had a fort used as a defense shield to deter enemy invasion into Yoruba South....as Oyo had also created one in Ilorin that was very effective in supressing Dahomey ambitions.


Lineage and Events...
After Asipa had settled in Eko....

(Notice connection between Edo, Ado, Ido, Eko)

After Asipa settlement he coronated and started the first dynasty.

Oba Akinsemoyin had an alias and he was called Alado. The one who possessed Ado or one from Ado.

His first daughter turned down request to marry Baba Alagbaa (The Palace Priest who was from Ijesha) and instead married a man from Whydah.

Akinsemoyin's sister, Erelu married Baba Alagbaa to bear Ologun Kutere.

Ologun Kutere became King after Akinsemoyin and married an Ijebu woman who bore Eshinlokun.

Adele became King after Kutere but was deposed and left for Whydah.

Eshinlokun became King after Adele.

After Eshinlokun died Kosoko was to become King but Idewu Ojulari was coronated and Kosoko went on exile to Whydah.

After Ojulari died Oluwole became King. He was succeeded by Akintoye.

Akintoye's mother was Egba. He recalled Kosoko from Whydah.

Kosoko overthrew him and sent him on exile.

He later returned with help of British force and deposed Kosoko and regained throne. Kosoko went on exile to Epe.

Akintoye died shortly after. Dosunmu became King. Dosunmu's mother was from Whydah.


So....you see the back and forth relationship between the uproots from Bini setting up a city in Ado (Whydah) and actually marrying from there. Prince and Princesses back in those days married into royalty or a non-royal noble family.

Is it possible that when they settled into Whydah originally, a part of the family took Olofin's invitation to resettle in Lagos while another part remained in Ado?

There is a Quad-City relationship connecting Bini - Oyo- Ado and Eko.

In Lagos there is confusion whether Orisa Adimu was originally the property of Oyo or Bini. You can see the depth of link and how it should not surprise qhen in the Oriki you begin to see elements of Oyo, Bini, Ado and Eko.


Omo Ibini Arokun Yo!

The son of Bini who dominated the Sea!

This is common Oriki for all the Akarigbere White Cap Chiefs.

On the other hand, the Oriki of Oba of Lagos is Omo Erin Jogun Ola.

The son of the mighty who inherited the land!

Erin is a totem of Oyo! But Oyo is younger than Bini.....therefore it can only be traced up to Oranmiyan.

Make i stop here Oga mi!



[Please who are the whydal? are they Yorubas? /quote]