Oduduwa

{{royal house|

|surname = House of Oduduwa

|type = Yoruba royal dynasty

|image = Cabeza de rey (ciudad yoruba).jpg

|image_caption = Ife Head, relic of the royal cult of an ancient Ooni of Ile-Ife and heraldic symbol of Ife royalty

|parent house =

• Oke Ora (Historically)
• Olodumare (God) (Philosophically)

|founded = c.11th century

|founder = Oduduwa (Olofin Adimula)

|region = Yorubaland

|current head = Ojaja II

|traditions = Ìṣẹ̀ṣe
Christianity
Islam

|titles = * Ọba, Ọọni Ifẹ

• Ọba, Olofin Adimula Ife

----

Ojoye/Oloye Ife{{cite book |last1=Lange |first1=Dierk |title=Ancient Kingdoms of West Africa: African-centred and Canaanite-Israelite Perspectives ; a Collection of Published and Unpublished Studies in English and French |date=2004 |publisher=J.H. Röll Verlag |isbn=978-3-89754-115-3 |page=368 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=syATJKcx5A0C&dq=Wasin+obajio&pg=PA368 |access-date=1 November 2023 |language=en}}

• ÌHÀRẸ – Outer/Town chiefs (Àgbà Ifẹ̀):{{cite book |last1=Okelola |first1=Olubayo |title=Political History of Ile-Ife (cradle of Yoruba Race) 1900–1980 |date=2001 |publisher=Lichfield |page=4 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lJAPAQAAMAAJ&q=Obalaaye+Obajio |access-date=1 November 2023 |language=en}}
• Ọbalufe (Ọ̀runtọ́) Ife
• Ọbalọran Ife
• Ọbajio Ife
• Ọbalaye Ife
• Akọgun Ife
• Waasin ife
• Jagunọṣin ife
• Ejesi Ife

----

• MỌDÉWÁ – Inner/Palace chiefs (Ẹmẹsẹ̀):{{cite journal |last1=Adegoke |first1=Ebenezer Olalekan |title=A study of the role of women in the burial rituals of the Ife of southwestern Nigeria. |date=March 1995 |page=20 |url=https://kclpure.kcl.ac.uk/ws/portalfiles/portal/2933262/244106.pdf |journal= King's College Research Portal |access-date=10 November 2024}}
• Lọwa ijaruwa
• Isanire
• Jaran
• Aguro
• Arodẹ
• Ladin
• Lọwate
• Erebẹsẹ

----

• Ọmọba Ife
• Yeyeluwa Ife
• Oloori Ife

|members = * Olubuse II

• Adesoji Aderemi
• Tejumade Alakija

|styles = Kábíèsí
Majesty
Imperial Highness

|other_families = Oyo royal family
Bini royal family

|cadet branches = In Ife (4)

• Oshinkola of Iremo
• Giesi of Moore
• Ogboru of Ilare
• Lafogido of Okerewe

Outside Ife (Several)

• Oyo royal family
• Bini royal family
• Ketu royal family
• Various royal families across Yorubaland.

|motto = Ilé Ifẹ̀ orírun ayé, Ibi tí ojúmọ́ ti ń mọ́ wá. (Yoruba: Ife, source origin of the world, the place from which dawn begins)

}}

Ife tradition, which modern historians accord precedence, relates that Oduduwa was a personage who migrated from the community of Oke Ora, a hilltop abode to the east of the original Ife confederacy of thirteen communities known as the Elu. The leadership of these communities structured themselves to be rotational, with the Oba of each community taking turns at chairmanship. The communities are remembered to be; Iloromu, Imojubi, Ideta (Idita), Oke-Oja, Parakin, Ido, Iwinrin, Odin, Ijugbe, Iraye, Oke-Awo, Iloran and Omologun.{{sfn|Ogundiran|2020|p=53}}

Oduduwa and his group are believed to have disrupted the political structure of the 13 communities being lead by Obatala, a conflict said to be responsible for some early migrations from Ife.{{sfn|Ogundiran|2020|p=64}} Between war and diplomacy lasting several generations, the groups were at a stalemate, until a large smallpox outbreak brought about a truce from the Obatala camp, eventually forming these communities into a single Ife state under the Oduduwa group.{{sfn|Ogundiran|2020|p=65}}

The reconciliation and reintegration of the Obatala group into the political and civil structure of Ife is commemorated annually in the Itapa festival.{{sfn|Ogundiran|2020|p=65}}

There were elements of the Ugbo, members of the former Obatala faction, who strongly opposed the new alliance. Some, seeking more fertile land, are said to have left Ife of their own accord to resettle and form their own Yoruba communities near the coast, while others relocated elsewhere in Ife to continue the conflict.{{sfn|Ogundiran|2020|p=89}}

{{Main|Oranyan}}

{{Main|Moremi Ajasoro}}

Long after the era of Oduduwa and Obatala, the next major progression of events were captured in the figure of Ọranyan (Ọ̀rànmíyàn).{{sfn|Ogundiran|2020|p=115}} In tradition, Oranyan was a son of Ogun,{{sfn|Wyndham|1921|p=45}} and the youngest of Oduduwa's grandsons.{{sfn|Johnson|1921|p=8}} He is said to have been the most war-like Yoruba prince out of all his contemporaries,{{sfn|Peter M. Rose|2004|p=112}} and certainly one of the most adventurous of the historical princes. Ife was under constant raids by disassociated factions of the previous Ugbo groups, but upon learning their secrets from Mọremí, Oranyan is said to have brought an end to their brigandry, and along with Moremi, brought a long period of peace to Ife.{{sfn|Wyndham|1921|p=45, 46}}

Ife enjoyed remarkable royal and technological developments throughout its classical period. It became the largest emporium for religious, economic, and political advancement in the region, and attracted traders from all over West Africa who sought its exclusive offerings.{{sfn|Ogundiran|2020|p=104, 105}} As Ife's renown increased, the eminence of the Oduduwa dynasty grew to the extent that the possession of a "crown of Oduduwa" projected the ability to guarantee security through cultural, military, and political power for migrating groups.{{sfn|Adebayo|2018|loc=[https://books.google.com/books?id=vPdKDwAAQBAJ&dq=crown+of+oduduwa&pg=PT21 page 21]}}

Oranyan spread the consolidated model of Ife kingship to many parts of the Yoruba world through his own offspring, notably establishing the two most prominent regional dynasties after Ife in the Oyo Empire, and the Benin kingdom. Some traditions from Ado Ekiti and other Yoruba kingdoms also associate part of their royal Ife origins with figures who accompanied Oranyan's initial entourage out of Ife.{{sfn|Ogundiran|2020|p=144}} Oranyan later returned home, to claim Ife's crown of Oduduwa.{{sfn|Wyndham|1921|p=47}}

Various traditions say that up to 16 different princes or groups left Ife (Oranyan being the last) to create kingdoms that would constitute a familial commonwealth with Ife as their sacred fatherly centre. The founders of these various royal lineages are commonly translated from Yoruba traditions to English as sons or grandsons of Oduduwa.{{sfn|Adebayo|2018|loc=[https://books.google.com/books?id=vPdKDwAAQBAJ&dq=crown+of+oduduwa&pg=PT21 page 21]}}{{sfn|Law|1973|p=210}}{{sfn|Shillington|2013|loc=[https://books.google.com/books?id=umyHqvAErOAC&q=%22Omo%20oodua%22 p. 1680]}} Historians and anthropologists generally see these traditions as the compressed selections of Yoruba descendants who were remembered for their impact, rather than as a literal and complete family tree.{{cite book |title=ANCIENT IFE: A REASSESSMENT |date=June 1979|isbn=9789783550766|last1=Robin|first1=Horton | publisher=Historical Society of Nigeria | page=98}}{{sfn|Law|1973|p=211}} Till today Yoruba people call themselves Ọmọ Odùduwà (descendants of Oduduwa) after the same manner.{{sfn|Shillington|2013|loc=[https://books.google.com/books?id=umyHqvAErOAC&q=%22Omo%20oodua%22 p. 1680]}}

{{Main|Primordial Goddess}}

Yoruba religious traditions about the dawn of time claim that Oduduwa was Olodumare's favorite Orisa. As such, he (or she, as the primordial Oduduwa originally represented the Divine Feminine aspect and Obatala the Divine Masculine) was sent from heaven to create the earth upon the waters, a mission he/she had usurped from his/her consort and sibling Obatala, who had been equipped with a snail shell filled with sand and a rooster to scatter the said sand in order to create land. These beliefs, held by Yoruba traditionalists, are said to be the cornerstone of their story of creation. Obatala and Oduduwa here are represented symbolically by a calabash, with Obatala taking the top and Oduduwa taking the bottom. In this narrative, Oduduwa is also known as Olofin Otete, the one who took the Basket of Existence from Olodumare.{{Cite book|title=The Architects of Existence|last=Washington|first=Teresa|publisher=Oyas Tornado|year=2014|isbn=978-0991073016|location=United States|pages=25–28}}

Another depiction of Oduduwa as being the wife of Obatala is presented in Odu Ifa Osa Meji, a verse of the Ifa oracle. In this Odu, Obatala discovers the secret of his wife and steals the masquerade's robes from her to wear it himself. This is suggested to be a historical representation of a switch from matriarchy to patriarchy.

This cosmological tradition has sometimes been blended with the tradition of the historical Oduduwa. According to others, the historical Oduduwa is considered to be named after the earlier version of Oduduwa, who is female and related to the Earth called Ile.{{Cite journal|last=Lawal|first=Babatunde|date=1995|title=À Yà Gbó, À Yà Tó: New Perspectives on Edan Ògbóni|url=http://www.obafemio.com/uploads/5/1/4/2/5142021/ogboni-lawal.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151027215245/http://www.obafemio.com/uploads/5/1/4/2/5142021/ogboni-lawal.pdf |archive-date=2015-10-27 |url-status=live|journal=African Arts|volume=28|issue=1|pages=36–49|doi=10.2307/3337249|jstor=3337249}}{{Cite web|url=https://ayelekumari.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/ketumyths-women.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191018014717/https://ayelekumari.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/ketumyths-women.pdf |archive-date=2019-10-18 |url-status=live|title=Ketu Myths and the Status of Women|last=Babatunde|first=E.D.|date=1980|website=Ayelekumari.com|access-date=October 18, 2019}}

The earlier traditions of either a gender-fluid or an expressly female Oduduwa are seen in the spirit's representation in the Gelede tradition. Initiates of Gelede receive a shrine to Oduduwa along with a Gelede costume and mask. This speaks to Oduduwa as being associated with the divine ancestral mothers that are known as Awon iya wa or Iyami. Here, Oduduwa is revered as the mother of the Yoruba.{{Cite book|title=Gelede: Art and Female Power among the Yoruba|last=Drewal|first=Margaret and Henry|publisher=Indiana University Press|year=1993|isbn=0253205654|pages=232–234}}

Certain other people have claimed a connection to Oduduwa. According to the Kanuri, Yauri, Gobir, Acipu, Jukun and Borgu tribes, whose founding ancestors were said to be Oduduwa's brothersHistory of the Yorubas by Samuel Johnson 1921 (as recorded in the 19th century by Samuel Johnson), Oduduwa was the son of Damerudu, whom Yoruba call Lamurudu, a prince who was himself the son of the magician King Kisra. Kisra and his allies are said to have fought Muhammad in the Battle of Badr and Kisra was forced to migrate from Arabia into Africa after losing the war to the jihadists in 624 AD. According to the legend, he and his followers founded many kingdoms and ruling dynasties along their migration route into West Africa.A. Matthews " The Kisra legend) "https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00020185008706819?journalCode=cast20{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ztExAAAAIAAJ&q=oduduwa|title=This is Ile-Ife|date=17 June 2018|last1=Eluyemi|first1=Omotoso}}).{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Hn0uAQAAIAAJ&q=oduduwa+13+communities+ife|title=Milestones and concepts in Yoruba history and culture|year=2018|last1=Akinjogbin|first1=I. A.|publisher=Olu-Akin Publishers |isbn=9789763331392}} This tradition is a variant of the belief, popular amongst some Muslims, that held that Oduduwa was a prince originating from Mecca. However, it is thought by some scholars to derive from the later influences on Yoruba culture of Islam and other Abrahamic religions and conflicts with other traditions in the Yoruba traditional corpus.{{Cite book|title=Esu Elegbara: Chance, Uncertainly In Yoruba Mythology|last=Ogundipe|first=Ayodele|publisher=Kwara State University Press|year=2012|isbn=9789789275908|location=Ilorin, Kwara State, Nigeria|pages=15|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KVNjDwAAQBAJ&q=Oduduwa+mecca+islamic+influence&pg=PA15}}Bascom, Yoruba, p. 10; Stride, Ifeka: "Peoples and Empires", p. 290.

• Candomble religion
• List of rulers of Ife
• Santeria religion
• Yoruba religion

{{Reflist}}

• {{cite book | last=Ogundiran | first=Akinwumi | author-link= Akinwumi Ogundiran | date=2020 | title= The Yoruba: A New History | publisher= Indiana University Press | isbn=9780253051509 }}

• {{cite book | last=Shillington | first=Kevin | title=Encyclopedia of African History 3-Volume Set | date=4 July 2013 | publisher=Taylor & Francis | isbn=978-1-135-45670-2 }}

• {{Cite journal| last=Law | first=R. C. C. | date=1973 | title=The Heritage of Oduduwa: Traditional History and Political Propaganda among the Yoruba | journal=The Journal of African History | volume=14 | issue=2 | pages=207–222 | doi=10.1017/S0021853700012524 | jstor=180445 | s2cid=148987750 | issn=0021-8537 }}

• {{cite journal | last1=Bondarenko | first1=Dmitri | author1-link=Dmitri Bondarenko | title=Advent of the Second (Oba) Dynasty: Another Assessment of a Benin History Key Point | journal=History in Africa | date=2003 | volume=30 | url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/3172082 |access-date=12 March 2025}}

• {{cite journal | last1=Peter M. Rose | first1=Dmitri M. Bondarenko | title=Between the Ogiso and Oba Dynasties: An Interpretation of Interregnum in the Benin Kingdom | journal=History in Africa | date=2004 | volume=31 | url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/4128520 }}

• {{cite book | first=John | last=Wyndham | title=Myths of Ífè | date=1921 | publisher=E. Macdonald | ISBN=9781465517128 }}

• {{cite book |last1=Adebayo | first1=Akanmu |title=Culture, Politics, and Money Among the Yoruba | date=6 February 2018 | publisher=Routledge | isbn=978-1-351-52419-3 |language=en}}

• {{Cite book |last=Johnson | first=Samuel | title=The history of the Yorubas : From the Earliest Times to the Beginning of the British Protectorate |publisher= |year=1921 }}

• Ojuade, J. S., "The issue of 'Oduduwa' in Yoruba genesis: the myths and realities", Transafrican Journal of History, 21 (1992), 139–158.

{{Rulers of Ife}}

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