AjaanaOka:


LOL. Everyone has a lot of free time on their hands now. Trying to fill the boredom with stuff I enjoy, i.e., history.

Here is one piece on the research on Lake Bosomtwi (I murdered the name earlier because I was writing from memory) in Ghana:
https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2016/07/20/486670144/an-archaeological-mystery-in-ghana-why-didn-t-past-droughts-spell-famine

We are all grateful for the time, and thanks for the link.

My dating is certainly closer to Chambers' than to Onwuejeogwu's. But I doubt he (Chambers) took 'dateable' ecological occurrences into consideration.

His estimation that Nri's formative period lies between 1225 and 1425 is certainly close to my suggestion of an upper limit for the beginning of the Nri system around 1100, with the 1300s being probably closer to the mark. On some other points on the chronology we disagree by a substantial amount.

That was my recollection too but I didn’t know if he, or anyone else, had published some updated material.

Ajaala (or in my own dialect, Ajaana) literally means 'Soil of the Earth', Aja being soil, and ana/ala being Earth. For my people, it is a more emphatic way of referring to Ana in a spiritual context, especially when one needs to make the distinction between the earth/soil of his own community/clan, and the earth/soil of other clans. Hence it is often followed with the name of the community, eg., Ajaana Oka (my moniker) = the Soil of the Earth of Awka. Not a very elegant translation, but you get it.

Semantically there is no relationship with Agbala

Ah, understood. A recent dictionary I have offers “agbala” as both a variant of “agbara” (as in spirit) and a specific ‘Agbala’ deity in the Nri-Oka area. Both seem to be pronounced with the same tones [high-low-low?] so just wondering how they fit into the broader understanding of “ala.”

As an aside, I thought this exhibition might interest you. The catalog is supposed to be published this year but I haven’t seen any updates on it. The curators have written some impressive work about Oka decades ago but one of them seemed to have taken a lengthy break from academia until recently.

letu:
Ajaala is the same as sand or ordinary ground but that's what it is to ordinary person, for someone who understands the mysticism within the Ajaala such person will be seeing the Ajaala as more than ordinary sand/ground.
Ajaala is an integral part of our Igbo culture, it plays a very important role in spiritual things when it comes to tradition, it is where spiritual things are done and that's where the drink offering are pour during prayer(when you're praying to your chi eg Agbara and also Chineke kere eluigwe la uwa la ojujuya) that's if you know how to do the Igbo traditional prayer, it can be used for ritual's eg Igba Afa, and don't be surprised for you will see some Bible verse that speak's about it eg the Bible Gen 35: 14,Num 28:7--8,Ex 29:41, lev23:13 and Ex 20: 24 etc .

Just seeing this—thank you for the description.

TerraCotta:



Ah, understood. A recent dictionary I have offers “agbala” as both a variant of “agbara” (as in spirit) and a specific ‘Agbala’ deity in the Nri-Oka area. Both seem to be pronounced with the same tones [high-low-low?] so just wondering how they fit into the broader understanding of “ala.”

Agbala/Agbara is quite a complex concept. I'm not even sure I can give a comprehensive explanation. It is (especially in Southern Igboland) often used in a generic sense to mean spirit-forces/deities.

In my axis (the north) it is used in narrower senses. Agbala is a fertility spirit for us. It is also one of the manifestations of Chukwu, which is why one of the compound names for the high god among us is Anyanwu-na-Agbala (translation may go something like "the sun and the source of all fertility). It is perhaps its connection to fertility that explains why women with progeny are referred to as Agbala Nwanyị. As Agbalanze, Agbala is also connected with titled men and title-taking. This connection I cannot explain.

If there was a semantic connection with Ala/Ana, one would expect that sound laws as regards the use of 'l' and 'n' or 'l' and 'r' in Igbo would apply.

One would expect my people who use Ana to call it Agbana. We call it Agbala however.

And one would expect Chinenye's people who use Ala to call it Agbala. They call it Agbara however.

As an aside, I thought

this exhibition might interest you. The catalog is supposed to be published this year but I haven’t seen any updates on it. The curators have written some impressive work about Oka decades ago but one of them seemed to have taken a lengthy break from academia until recently.

Ah. Thanks for this.

Alright, I'm back. Sorry it took some time to get back. I had to finish some client work.

I do enjoy these moments of eureka, when corroborating information comes to light. Thank you very much for the brief overview of the Little Ice Age/West African Dry Period (LIA/WADP... I'll go with WADP). I will jot this down in my notes and do some more research for myself later on. It seems reasonable and relatively safe to speculate that notable periods of dryness in other regions in West Africa would occur just the same for areas in Igboland that are also prone to dryness. Oh, how I wish we took archeology seriously at home. There is probably much that Ala still wants to share with us.

Truthfully, I am surprised by the fact that the Igbo academia casually glosses over climate change when painting a picture of the migratory and cultural dynamics in pre-colonial times. Much of what I've read has given substantially more weight to population pressure and secondarily to the effects of the slave trade. However, reading what you've written now and reflecting on some known details, I certainly believe climate change should be given a bit more consideration, at least.

For instance, even without corroborating against climate change, we can provide some relatively (speculatively) accurate dating for some known events. Consider the Igwe ka Ala oracle in Umunneoha. We are already relatively certain that it would have been established at least by the 17th century. We know this, because we know it is associated with a period of intense slave trading and that it predates Aro's movement in the area. Numbers don't lie, and based off recorded numbers for slaves during that 1625 - 1651 period, it seems reasonable to say that Igwe ka Ala and Amadioha Ozuzu (along with other Amadioha and non-Amadioha oracles) were responsible/highly active.

Now, I believe nuance can be a beautiful thing, because it shows us that details matter. Since I was young, there is one thing I had always wondered about. Throughout the southern Igbo axis, the satellite shrines for Amadioha are all generally called "Amadioha". Even moving northward, we see that the Amadioha shrines there even retain the name, granted as "Amadiora". It is only the one at Umunneoha that is different, and I've always wondered why. Why in the world would the sky have supremacy over the land, knowing fully well that Ala is at the apex of the pantheon? I believe this knowledge of the WADP might answer that question for me. It seems highly plausible that the priest of Amadioha (responsible for the founding of Umunneoha) might have found himself lucky enough to have been established in the area just in time to capitalize on the WADP's wet interlude. With Amadioha's domain being the sky and it having command over the elements, that wet period might have earned it "Igwe ka Ala" as an epithet. Supposedly, it could have taken credit for the relief from the dryness in Owerre/Isu axis, and the "Igwe ka Ala" epithet stuck with it in the region. This then sets up Igwe ka Ala to be a well-acknowledged juju by the time the dry period returns, allowing it to become heavily involved in the slave trade. Igwe ka Ala might very well have been established in the late 1500s/early 1600s then.

This certainly provides an entirely new angle that I had not previously considered. Much of what I have read from the Igbo academia and Igbo historians truly does not reflect on climate change as a factor for socio-cultural change/development.

Granted this is speculative, but it gives me some sense of new insight which might help in interpreting some of the traditions in the region. Sigh. It's always nice to stimulate the mind like this.

Regarding migrations. It seems the academia really only cares about the infamous Isuama migration, probably because the current prevailing "Igbo Heartland" hypothesis. Not much about migrations gets mentioned beyond that, so it is as though they're treating it as a single migratory event (as a result of population pressure). They don't really focus any attention on possible formative movements before or after this.

However, the evidence does suggest that migrations southward would have been ongoing throughout that period. When exactly those migrations hit communities such as Uratta, Echie, Mbaise and Ngwa, and whether or not we can determine a time for a single massive (or if the infamous Isuama migration is actually several large spurts close together) is a different question. I guess in a way, this clears up a number of things, but still leaves room for many more unanswered questions. That said, I'm becoming more convinced that much of what we think of as Igbo culture and language (including economics) is indeed recent and owed to the cultural changes brought on by the WADP.

Thanks for that bit about Umudioka and your explanation of your thoughts on the Eze Nri system's timeline. Do you also happen to know which Eze Nri (whether one, or across multiple reigns) the Nze/Ozo system is attributed to?

I still suspect the infamous Isuama migration (or series of migrations) harmonized Igbo culture and language after a notable amount of influence from the Nri hegemony. That said, I'll just keep that at the back of my mind for the time being.

ChinenyeN:
Alright, I'm back. Sorry it took some time to get back. I had to finish some client work.


For instance, even without corroborating against climate change, we can provide some relatively (speculatively) accurate dating for some known events. Consider the Igwe ka Ala oracle in Umunneoha. We are already relatively certain that it would have been established at least by the 17th century. We know this, because we know it is associated with a period of intense slave trading and that it predates Aro's movement in the area. Numbers don't lie, and based off recorded numbers for slaves during that 1625 - 1651 period, it seems reasonable to say that Igwe ka Ala and Amadioha Ozuzu (along with other Amadioha and non-Amadioha oracles) were responsible/highly active.

Now, I believe nuance can be a beautiful thing, because it shows us that details matter. Since I was young, there is one thing I had always wondered about. Throughout the southern Igbo axis, the satellite shrines for Amadioha are all generally called "Amadioha". Even moving northward, we see that the Amadioha shrines there even retain the name, granted as "Amadiora". It is only the one at Umunneoha that is different, and I've always wondered why. Why in the world would the sky have supremacy over the land, knowing fully well that Ala is at the apex of the pantheon? I believe this knowledge of the WADP might answer that question for me. It seems highly plausible that the priest of Amadioha (responsible for the founding of Umunneoha) might have found himself lucky enough to have been established in the area just in time to capitalize on the WADP's wet interlude. With Amadioha's domain being the sky and it having command over the elements, that wet period might have earned it "Igwe ka Ala" as an epithet. Supposedly, it could have taken credit for the relief from the dryness in Owerre/Isu axis, and the "Igwe ka Ala" epithet stuck with it in the region. This then sets up Igwe ka Ala to be a well-acknowledged juju by the time the dry period returns, allowing it to become heavily involved in the slave trade. Igwe ka Ala might very well have been established in the late 1500s/early 1600s then.

Brilliant. You know, I didn't quite consider that the 1625-1651 big spike could also be related to the pre-eminence of Igwe-Ka-Ala Umunoha and Amadioha Ozuzu. Don't know why I didn't think in that direction, especially as I have always believed they rose to prominence before Ibini Ukpabi. For people who still hold the view that the Aro people established the Amadioha oracle at Ozuzu, well, here's another strong counter-argument from numbers that pre-date (at least by general academic consensus) Aro expansion into the region.

Something else: The supply of slaves during this spike period (1625-1651) and the next period (the 1650s to the 1670s) most likely came largely from southern Igboland: Isuama, Uratta and Ngwa. The north didn't come fully within the sphere of slave 'recruitment' until the next century with the coming of the Aro: that much is clear from the traditions and also from written records from the West, where the first mention of an 'Ibo' slave with ichi marks dates from the mid-18th century. If Isuama, etc, was shedding off 33,500 slaves in the 1620s to the 1650 (up from 2,900, in the preceding 25-year period) and then went up to shedding 80,700 in the 1650s - 1670s, I think we have to make the argument for a fairly densely settled (by pre-industrial standards) southern Igboland by the mid-17th century.

I think this is important in considering Isu migrations into Southern Igboland. I think the big movements and the main cultural outlines of Southern Igbo society had occurred/been drawn before the 17th century, and the demographic map fairly set and close to what the European travellers described from the 1890s on. Smaller movements of course continued to happen down to the beginning of the last century.

ChinenyeN:
Regarding migrations. It seems the academia really only cares about the infamous Isuama migration, probably because the current prevailing "Igbo Heartland" hypothesis. Not much about migrations gets mentioned beyond that, so it is as though they're treating it as a single migratory event (as a result of population pressure). They don't really focus any attention on possible formative movements before or after this.

However, the evidence does suggest that migrations southward would have been ongoing throughout that period. When exactly those migrations hit communities such as Uratta, Echie, Mbaise and Ngwa, and whether or not we can determine a time for a single massive (or if the infamous Isuama migration is actually several large spurts close together) is a different question. I guess in a way, this clears up a number of things, but still leaves room for many more unanswered questions. That said, I'm becoming more convinced that much of what we think of as Igbo culture and language (including economics) is indeed recent and owed to the cultural changes brought on by the WADP.

Now that I can look at my notes, let me say just a little bit more here about what I think about the West African climate periods, and their implications for the southward migrations of groups particularly the Isu.

So, before the Dry Period (c. 1100 to c. 1860) there was an 'Era of Plentiful Rainfall' between c. 300 and c. 1100. The Northern Igbo Plateau probably attracted large numbers of settlers in this wet period. In wet periods, highlands tend to offer more attraction to settlers than lowlands. They are less swampy, less prone to malarial and other diseases that spread fast in humidity, and the land is easier to clear and cultivate using the primitive tools of the period. I cannot remember where I read a historian's or a paleobotanist's view that the clearing of the primeval rain-forest around Owerri was probably followed by widespread malaria, and that when people could they stayed on higher drier land.

So, probably, northern Igboland was more settled between c.300 and c.1100 than southern Igboland.

Then came the Dry Phase, which 'trapped' this fairly dense (by the pre-industrial standards) population on an increasingly non-cooperating soil. Colonial geographers in Igboland found it puzzling that a dense rural population (the most dense in the region, if I remember correctly) should cluster together on the infertile lands of the Awka-Orlu uplands and the Udi highlands. I believe this was a 'trapped' population, who had built up sentimental and cultural ties with their land between c.300 and c.1100, and couldn't just up and leave. (It is something worth noting that when traditions did talk of emigration, it was often the emigration of people with no strong ties to the earth--- hunters, blacksmiths and dibias. If it wasn't hunters and dibias, it was someone who had committed an abomination against the earth and had to flee, or a social/political dissenter; farmers are hardly ever presented in the traditions of the northern Igbo as emigrating in search of arable land.)

Afigbo writes that craftsworking (in ivory, in wood, in metal) and long distance travelling for the purposes of trading and ritual services provision were more highly developed on the Northern Igbo Plateau than on the low-lying region around it, and attributes this to the poor soil [a state of affairs we're now linking to a Dry Period, starting in the 1100s] which necessitated the search for alternate means of livelihood.

The Nri would appear to be one (and by far the most successful) of the ritual services providers that arose in this Dry Period (c. 1100 to c. 1860). The Isu, too would appear to have begun their southward drift in this same period, running into southern groups like the Uratta and the Ngwa, before the 17th century. You said something about them carrying Nri culture or influence with them. Yes, they could have. Presently, I feel it's safer to just say they carried ideas and practices that were Northern Igbo (not specifically Nri.) I say this partly because some of the things that up until recently were thought to be strictly Nri innovations seem to be reflected in Igbo-Ukwu culture, a Northern Igbo high culture, which historians now think is older than and antecedent to the Nri System.

Thanks for that bit about Umudioka and your explanation of your thoughts on the Eze Nri system's timeline. Do you also happen to know which Eze Nri (whether one, or across multiple reigns) the Nze/Ozo system is attributed to?

The Ozo system is explicitly attributed to Nrifikuanim. In the kinglist I presented here, I haven't listed him seperately [I only mentioned him in connection with the Nri Namokes] because fitting him in the chronology is very problematic. Dr Nwaezeigwe noted the same problem. He seems to have established a parallel 'Ezenriship' at Agukwu during the Nri Namoke period, i.e., the formative period of the Nri System.

I still suspect the infamous Isuama migration (or series of migrations) harmonized Igbo culture and language after a notable amount of influence from the Nri hegemony. That said, I'll just keep that at the back of my mind for the time being.

I agree on the harmonizing. "After a notable amount of influence from the Nri hegemony", however? Possibly. My opinion on that is in one of the responses above.

The fullest descriptions of the climate periods for West Africa and attempts to build up a schema for West African history based on them that I have seen were the works of George Brooks written in the 1980s.

I'm dropping some links here, just in case you hadn't run into his works while doing your own research.

Again, his focus was the northerly regions of West Africa, but broadly the schema (I believe) works for the whole subregion.

https://www.persee.fr/doc/cea_0008-0055_1986_num_26_101_2164

https://scholarworks.iu.edu/dspace/bitstream/handle/2022/287/Western_Brooks.pdf?sequence=1

AjaanaOka:
The fullest descriptions of the climate periods for West Africa and attempts to build up a schema for West African history based on them that I have seen were the works of George Brooks written in the 1980s.

I'm dropping some links here, just in case you hadn't run into his works while doing your own research.

Again, his focus was the northerly regions of West Africa, but broadly the schema (I believe) works for the whole subregion.

https://www.persee.fr/doc/cea_0008-0055_1986_num_26_101_2164

https://scholarworks.iu.edu/dspace/bitstream/handle/2022/287/Western_Brooks.pdf?sequence=1

Thank you very much for this. I will definitely read through it. In the meantime, I'm wondering if I can get your thoughts on this topic: https://www.nairaland.com/5723796/trying-peek-into-ethnoreligious-history

Concerning your thoughts on the climate and its implications on movement from the Isu complex, I definitely find it more than sensible. I guess part of what hindered this line of reasoning for me was the implications of Nri in all of this. I generally did not see sense in how Nri could have been responsible for Igbo culture. However, as a conservative measure, I decided to see if I could reconcile the migratory movements with respect to Nri's influence.

If historians now think that the Igbo Ukwu artifacts predate the rise of the Nri culture, then that loosens things up and makes far more sense. I can definitely find the argument for pre-17th century contact agreeable. So certainly the effects of climate change were indeed severe enough to prompt movement sooner.

Southern Igbo generally considers the Isu to be more or less strangers in the area, so we tend to think of their movement as being recent. However, for the Echie to have knowingly diffused northwards in about the 16th century and forcibly establish Umunneoha within Isu enclaves says a lot. This is great. This is the first time since I've been pondering the topic that much of this has made sense. I will need to consider this when building out my speculative chronology.

AjaanaOka:
The Ozo system is explicitly attributed to Nrifikuanim. In the kinglist I presented here, I haven't listed him seperately [I only mentioned him in connection with the Nri Namokes] because fitting him in the chronology is very problematic. Dr Nwaezeigwe noted the same problem. He seems to have established a parallel 'Ezenriship' at Agukwu during the Nri Namoke period, i.e., the formative period of the Nri System.

I see. Wow. You have your work cut out for you in this respect. I'd be interested in hearing more about what you discover or the various conclusions you may arrive at. I was interested in knowing the hows/whens so that I may better understand the Eze/Duru relationship with respect to Nze/Ozo.

ChinenyeN:


Thank you very much for this. I will definitely read through it. In the meantime, I'm wondering if I can get your thoughts on this topic: https://www.nairaland.com/5723796/trying-peek-into-ethnoreligious-history

Anyanwu worship is rather obscure, at least in my neck of the woods. But I've dropped my scraps and bits.

ChinenyeN:


With Amadioha's domain being the sky and it having command over the elements, that wet period might have earned it "Igwe ka Ala" as an epithet. Supposedly, it could have taken credit for the relief from the dryness in Owerre/Isu axis, and the "Igwe ka Ala" epithet stuck with it in the region.

By the way, this comment about what role a sky-based elements-commanding deity could have played in the cycle of dryness and wetness has offered me a potentially-rewarding perspective from which to review Nri origin myths. I appreciate (and benefit immensely) from our exchanges here.

Still reading

AjaanaOka:


Agbala/Agbara is quite a complex concept. I'm not even sure I can give a comprehensive explanation. It is (especially in Southern Igboland) often used in a generic sense to mean spirit-forces/deities.

In my axis (the north) it is used in narrower senses. Agbala is a fertility spirit for us. It is also one of the manifestations of Chukwu, which is why one of the compound names for the high god among us is Anyanwu-na-Agbala (translation may go something like "the sun and the source of all fertility). It is perhaps its connection to fertility that explains why women with progeny are referred to as Agbala Nwanyị. As Agbalanze, Agbala is also connected with titled men and title-taking. This connection I cannot explain.

If there was a semantic connection with Ala/Ana, one would expect that sound laws as regards the use of 'l' and 'n' or 'l' and 'r' in Igbo would apply.

One would expect my people who use Ana to call it Agbana. We call it Agbala however.

And one would expect Chinenye's people who use Ala to call it Agbala. They call it Agbara however.




Ah. Thanks for this.

Agbalanze means an ideal/model nze na ozo man. In Umuoji there is only one in each village/ebo.

AjaanaOka:
So, the internet is filled with sites/pages that list the Eze-Nris of Agukwu-na-Diodo-Akamkpisi, but not one single page online has much to say about each individual Eze-Nri apart from their names. I've wanted to put together brief profiles of the Eze-Nris for a long time now, but...little time. Now that everyone has a lot of time on their hands though, why not.

This write-up is based on information I have derived over the years from the works of Northcote Thomas, MDW Jeffreys, Michael A Onwuejeogwu, Douglas Chambers, Tony Nwankwo Nwaezeigwe and Nri local historians, like B.I.O Odinanwa. I have used Nri in this piece as the name of a town, one of the two centres that have an Eze-Nri (the other one being Oraeri); but it should be clear that no town went by that name until the 1940s. What we now call Nri Town was two loosely connected settlements, Agukwu and Diodo-Akamkpisi. But because Agukwu-na-Diodo-Akamkpisi is rather a mouthful, I'll stick to the modern designation, which is Nri Town.

The first seven Eze-Nris used the regnal title ‘Nri Namoke’ and came from the section of Nri Town known as Diodo. Most traditions have however telescoped them into one Eze Nri.)

1. Ogbuodudu Akakomme (Nri Namoke I) – Ogbuodudu Akakomme, the first Nri Namoke, was also known as Okporo Odudu. He was a son of Eri and migrated from Aguleri to Amanuke. Either this Eze Nri or his successor left Amanuke and migrated to the present site of Nri Town (after a brief stay at Achalla-Isuana) where he founded the Diodo section of that town. It was from the Diodo section of Nri Town that the Eze Nris originally came until the kingship passed to Nribuife from the Agukwu section some generations later.

2. Edu Anyim (Nri Namoke II) – Son of Ogbuodudu/Okporo Odudu. He appears to have been an Eze Nri of far-reaching prestige, because his name is still recalled in the traditions and the rituals of the people of far-away Aku, near Nsukka. For instance, the Aku people claim that the Odo cult was introduced to their town by ritual agents from Nri; and on the day that the Odo spirits are to depart to the spirit world after the Odo festival period, this proclamation is made in Aku: “Nshi Namoke Nwa Okporo Odudu, Ezitere Odo na onoghalu n'Igbo.” (Translation: Nri Namoke, son of Okporo Odudu [the first king of Nri], Has sent a message that Odo has overstayed outside.)

3. Nri Egbobe (Nri Namoke III) – According to traditions, Nri Egbobe was not qualified by blood to ascend the throne, i.e., he was a usurper. But because no eligible successor to Edu Anyim could be found from the line of Okporo Odudu, he was crowned. His reign was brief and characterised by disorder, for he was a tyrant. The Diodo people hated him, and finally decided to be rid of him. It was an abomination to shed kingly blood, so the people settled on carrying him away to the Evil Forest, tying him to a tree, and leaving him there to die. For seven days the deposed king rained curses on the people from the tree in the forest. He declared that they would be struck by misfortunes and disasters, depopulated and would remain a small community (Ana Nta). Then he died. The curse seemed to have worked. Many young men from Diodo were killed in a tree-felling accident. This was perceived as a bad omen and led to a mass exodus of people from the Diodo section. Diodo was left under-populated. The underpopulation may have affected the balance of power in Nri Town and may have been a remote contributing factor to the eventual shifting of power from Diodo to Agukwu.

Nothing is remembered about the careers of the next three Eze Nris:
4. Anwu Obele (Nri Namoke IV)
5. Odunukwe (Nri Namoke V)
6. Agufugo Egbeli (Nri Namoke VI)

7. Ezeagu Akubilo (Nri Namoke VII) – By the time of Nri Namoke VII, the Agukwu section of Nri Town had been established by Nri Ifikuanim who appears to have instituted a parallel kingship at Agukwu. Nri Ifikuanim and his people had migrated directly from the town of Ugbene, but were also ultimately of Umueri descent. A daughter of Nri Namoke VII was given in marriage to Nri Ifikuanim (or a descendant of his). This daughter had a son who became Nribuife.

In his old age, Nri Namoke VII was utterly neglected by his people, the Diodo section. It was during this time that one of his sons named Avo emigrated and established the 'rival' Nri centre at Oraeri. Nribuife, his (Nri Namoke VII's) daughter’s son, was the one who took care of him and brought him food. When he was nearing the end of his life, Nri Namoke VII cursed his family and declared that the eze-ship would depart from Diodo and never return to it, and that if any Diodo man attempted to take up the title of Eze Nri he would perish. He then handed the paraphernalia of royal office to his grandson, Nribuife from the Nrifikwuanim line. Nrifikwuanim kings from Agukwu have being reigning in Nri Town since then. (Although recently the Diodo people have tried to resurrect their claim to the kingship by having one of their sons Chikadibia Ogunmor crowned as Nri Namoke VIII, as a counterpoise to the more recognised king of the Nrifikwuanim line, Nri Enweleana II.)

8. Nribuife –Nribuife unified the two moieties of Agukwu and Diodo-Akamkpisi into one kingship and ruled as the first Eze Nri of both communities. He established the “Council of State” known as Nzemabua made up of twelve high-ranking ozo titleholders.

9. Nri Omalo – Nothing is remembered about him, except his name.

10. Nrijimofor I – Remembered as a great king during whose time Nri itinerant ritual agents spread the cult of ikenga all over the northern and western Igbo areas. According to Onwuejeogwu, Nri influence, during this time, reached Nsukka in the north, the vicinity of Orlu in the south, and as far west as the vicinity of Agbor. But, as we have seen, Aku traditions suggest that Nri influence had reached the Nsukka area earlier in the time of the Nri Namoke kings. What happened in the time of Nrijimofor I was probably consolidation of an already far-flung area of influence, and expansion into some new areas, especially to the west.

11. Nri Omalonyeso – Nothing is remembered about him, except his name.

12. Nri Anyamata –(mid 17th century.) The only notable event associated with this king was a long drought (probably in the 1640s), which was followed by severe famine all over the area within Nri’s sphere of influence. Onwuejeogwu puts his reign to between c. 1465 and 1511, and Douglas Chambers to between c. 1500 and 1530. The chronology of the Little Ice Age droughts in West Africa suggests his reign could have been in the middle of the 17th century.

13. Nri Fenenu – (later part of the 17th century.) Fenenu was renowned for his mystical powers. It was said that he lived to be over one hundred years. Because he lived to be so old, people began to believe he was immortal. His reign is associated with one of the earliest remembered appearances of a large host of locusts (igwulube) in the area. Eze-Nris are believed to have the ability to control the appearance and disappearance of locusts; it can then be understood how the Coming of Locusts during the reign of Fenenu added to his renown as a powerful mystic.
In the last years of his reign (according to traditions), Nri Fenenu mastered the art of levitation, from which he got his ‘reign name’ – Fenenu. One evening, so goes the story, the old king came out into his courtyard to ‘bask in the evening sun’. There he floated away into the sky, and came to rest atop a tall iroko tree. This display of supernatural powers deeply troubled the townspeople. He remained there atop the tree until the elders of Agukwu with their ofo sticks assembled and petitioned him to come down and die like an ordinary eze. Everyone was relieved when the king descended from his lofty perch some hours later. The head of the Adama people went and touched him on the forehead with the ofo and he died at once and was buried. Jeffreys suggests that this ‘touching on the forehead with the ofo’ is probably a euphemism for ‘ritual killing the king’. In African history, divine kings who had reigned for too long or who were perceived to be dangerously too powerful were asked to die or were killed by their officials; and this might have been the fate of Nri Fenenu. His descendants and the people of his lineage (the Umunnechi lineage) were thereafter debarred from ever producing an Eze Nri again. This debarment still holds true today.

14. Nri Agu – The beginning of Nri Agu’s reign portended great promise. There was an increase in trade, resulting in an increasing accumulation of wealth by a section of the people. Dr TN Nwaezeigwe suggests that a number of Nri settlements sprang up in western Igboland during his reign, pre-eminently in the Aniocha-Oshimili axis, including Ogwashi-Uku and Ogboli Ibusa. Ogboli Ibusa is still called Ogboli Nshi-Agu and Ogwashi-Uku called Adaigbo Nshi-Agu, apparently after him; and a secondary school in Ogwashi-Uku still bears his name. However, it must be stated that the 'rival' centre of Oraeri also had an Eze-Nri who was known as Nri Agu, and it might have been this Eze-Nri, rather than the one who reigned in Agukwu, who was connected with the founding of Ogwashi-Uku and Ogboli Ibusa. The traditions closely link Nri Agu of Oraeri with the River Niger.

Nri Agu of Agukwu soon found his life as an Eze Nri with all its restrictions and rigid observances unbearable. He therefore abdicated and, with a few faithful followers, secretly left the town and went to settle in Oraukwu. It is said that a chiefly lineage in the latter town (Oraukwu) still traces its origin to Nri Agu.

15. Nri Alike and Nri Apia – After Nri Agu, two very wealthy men vied for the Nri throne – Alike and Apia. Being men of means and power, no one could stop them and they both succeeded in getting themselves crowned as Eze Nri – the first time the town had seen two crowned kings since the unification under Nribuife . Apparently, the trade boom that began in the reign of Nri Agu had affected the politics of Nri: a class of noveau riche had risen who could force or manoeuvre their way into power. They both died ominously. According to some traditions, they both died on the same day; according to other traditions, they died within one market week (four days) of each other.
The reign of Alike and Apia witnessed a massive expansion of the trans-Atlantic trade in slaves. This trade appears to have only penetrated the Nri-influenced areas significantly from the middle of the 18th century, when we got the first reference to an Igbo slave in the New World with ichi marks, in 1752. Thus, it is likely the reign of Alike and Apia embraced the mid-18th century. And while these two Eze Nris authorised the inhumane trade in slaves (perhaps because they were traders themselves who might have also dealt in slaves), they declared it an abomination to kill or bleed a slave. This is the origin of the claim by the Nri people that they did not practise human sacrifice. (There are, however, indications that human sacrifice persisted in Nri.)

16. Nri Ezimilo – Before his selection as the next Eze Nri, Nri Ezimilo had been a ritual agent based in Asaba. He was recalled to Nri Town and consecrated. One night, however, shortly after he became Eze Nri, he was murdered by thieves from Enugu Ukwu. The thieves were raiders who had come to the king’s compound to steal the cattle paid to the Eze Nri as tribute. Nri Ezimilo had gone out into his yard to see what was going on when the men, not knowing his identity, murdered him. The death of Nri Ezimilo was followed by a severe drought which was said to have affected all of Igboland. This was probably in the late 18th century (sometime between the 1770s and the 1790s) when, according to records, several parts of the West African forest regions were affected by drought.

17. Nri Enwenetem – Because of Nri Ezimilo’s untimely death and because of the drought, which was attributed to the wrath of the murdered king, his son was allowed to step into his father’s position immediately (without the necessary interregnum), and he became Eze Nri Enwenetem. This was the first and only time a son was succeeding his father as Eze Nri, at least since the time of the Nri Namokes. It was also the first and only time an interregnum was not observed after the passing of the preceding king. The drought that followed his father’s death is said to have only ended when Enugu Ukwu made amends for the murder by giving up an Enugu Ukwu son and an Enugu Ukwu daughter to die in Nri in compensation.

18. Nri Añua – Around the turn of the 19th century, Añua was consecrated as Eze Nri. He was an aged man, and soon agreed to abdicate in favour of a younger candidate. He has officially been forgotten, and his name does not appear in the official kinglist. His descendants, however, (the Añua minimal lineage within UmuNri major lineage of Obeagu) have kept his memory alive by maintaining an Eze-Nri Añua Royal Band.

19. Nri Enweleana I – Nri Añua was to be succeeded by a man whose name is remembered as Nwankpo, but the position was forcibly wrestled from Nwankpo in what was essentially a coup by a young firebrand who assumed the position of Eze Nri as Nri Enweleana I. The reign of Nri Enweleana I coincided with the career of the notorious Aro slave dealer Okoli Ijoma of Ndikelionwu, who was raiding the Nri-Awka axis in the mid-19th century. Enweleana I sent his ritual agents to dissuade Ijoma from slave-raiding and from instigating towns to fight one another with arms and the Ada [Edda] warriors which he (Ijoma) supplied. But when Ijoma rebuffed the Eze Nri’s diplomatic overtures, Enweleana I placed an anathema on him and formed a military alliance called Amakom to resist the activities of the Aro slavers. The member-towns of the alliance were Awka, Nibo, Nise, Amawbia, Ugwuoba, Enugu-Agidi, Ebenebe, Ukpo, and Amansi. The military alliance is said to have achieved some success in checking the Edda raids in the Nri-Awka axis, notably defeating the hired warriors at Nawfia and Enugu-Ukwu. Nri Enweleana I died around 1869 and was succeeded after a long interregnum of about 20 years by Nri Obalike.

20. Nri Obalike – Nri Obalike became Eze Nri around 1889, and was the Eze Nri when British colonialism arrived in the heart of Igboland. Against the tradition that an Eze Nri must not leave his town, the British forced him to attend the Native Court at Awka. It was a reflection of the awe and terror in which the people of the Nri-Awka axis held the Eze Nri that when Nri Obalike entered the Native Court for the first time while a sitting was going on, the whole assembly rose and prepared to flee.There, in Awka, he was forced (at gunpoint, my sources say) to renounce the powers of his sacred office. In August 1911, the British colonial administrators struck the biggest blow on the power of Eze Nri Obalike when they compelled the Eze Nri to publicly abolish nso and alu (the very props of the Eze Nri’s authority) in a gathering of Ezeanas (chief priests of the Ani deity) at Nkwo Marketplace in Enugu-Ukwu. By this act, the Eze Nri was repudiating his ritual control of Igbo communities: the Nri hegemony had come to an end, in theory at least. Eze Nri Obalike passed on in 1926.

The attached picture was taken in 1911, probably during the abrogation of nso and alu in Enugu-Ukwu. Eze Nri Obalike is seated at the far left in the tall crown, surrounded by his attendants.

21. Nrijimofor II – The first Eze Nri of a ‘modern’ Nri Town. He was enthroned in 1936 after an interregnum of 10 years.
22. Nri Enweleana II – Eze Nri Enweleana II Obidiegwu Onyeso became Eze Nri in 1988. He died around 2018 (the death and burial of Eze Nris are not usually publicised, as they were supposed to be immortal), and his son Prince Ikenna Onyeso was confirmed as Regent of Nri in 2019.

~ Picture: Nri Obalike and his attendants, and some Chiefs, during the abrogation of nso and alu, 1911 (Courtesy: Northcote Thomas)

Bump.

This is an interesting thread.

What is the Igala ethnic connection to Nri?

Can you put a date to when Igalas through Eri the son of Achado arrived in the Nri axis and what role Igalas played in establishing the kingship system in Nri if the aborigenes never had kingship systems in the past according to the submissions I read online by some folks from the East of Nigeria.

I have read since the early 1990s that Eri was a Prince whose ancestry is originally from Igala and incidentally Ifa (which you folks called "Afa" in Nri) exists there. If Eri was an Igala man, then that explains how Ifa divination got to Nri.

I've also seen old photographs posted online of a past Eze Nri dressed and adorned with insignia that are originally associated with the Attahs of Igala.

Second, at what point did Nri adopt the Ifa divination traditions? There are also Igala-associated communities such as Nsukka in Enugu State, Oshimili axis of Anioma (in Delta North especially) Delta State, and Anambra State.

The Igalas who according to the late Attah of Igala Michael Ameh Oboni in a 2017 Sunday Punch newspaper interview CLEARLY stated are an amalgam of people who migrated from Wukari in Taraba State (Wukari people are of Jukun ethnicity) along the River Benue and they merged with the Yorubas and some Edos they met at the Rivers Niger and Benue confluence area now in Kogi State. The Attah said that is how the Igalas evolved. It's also NOT surprising that Igala is officially classified as a Yoruboid language due to the Yoruba ancestral lineages that fused into Igala. All these ethnic fusions between the Wukari migrants, Yoruba, and a small number of Edo people to form Igala happened within the last 700 years I believe.

Last but not least, the Attah also emphasized that Ifa priests (also known as Babalawos) are consulted before any new Attah of Igala is crowned. It's historically and internationally known that Ifa divination has it's original roots in Yorubaland and spread to areas where Yorubas had trade and imperial influences such as in the Oyo Empire, so, I'm fascinated about how folks from the Yoruba/Igala/Nri areas may have interacted with one another in the current Kogi State and Northernmost Anambra and Northernmost Enugu States areas centuries before British Colonialism.

I did read an online article that Igalas have been in the current Enugu State area for 500 years now.

I want your perspectives on these key points.


All the best.