Ìsèdó (Ìsẹ̀dó or Ìsẹ̀dó-Olúmọ̀) is an ancient

Igbomina The Ìgbómìnà (also colloquially Igboona or Ogboona) are a subgroup of the Yoruba ethnic group, which originates from the north central and southwest Nigeria. They speak a dialect also called Ìgbómìnà or Igbonna, classified among the Cent ...

kingdom in northeastern

Yorubaland Yorubaland () is the homeland and cultural region of the Yoruba people in West Africa. It spans the modern-day countries of Nigeria, Togo and Benin, and covers a total land area of 142,114 km2 or about 60% of the land area of Ghana. Of this ...

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

. Ìsẹ̀dó was founded as a new

city-state A city-state is an independent sovereign city which serves as the center of political, economic, and cultural life over its contiguous territory. They have existed in many parts of the world since the dawn of history, including cities such as ...

several centuries ago (between 1250 to 1400) by Ọba'lumọ, a Prince of the ancient Oba civilization (whose name or appellation is contracted from "Ọba Olumọ" meaning "knowledgeable king", or "king of the lords of knowledge"). Ìsẹ̀dó is fully known and called "Ìsẹ̀dó-Olúmọ̀" using its founder-king's name as an identifier suffix. Ọba'lumọ, emigrated from the ancient Ọ̀bà civilization in northeastern Yorubaland.

Foundation and development

Obalumo {{unreferenced, date=November 2008 The Obalúmo is a royal personage, a traditional monarch amongst the Igbomina clan of the Yorubas of West Africa. The earliest manifestation of his title dates back to the 12th century at the latest, making him a r ...

, a

prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. Th ...

of the Oba civilization, and a

veteran A veteran () is a person who has significant experience (and is usually adept and esteemed) and expertise in a particular occupation or field. A military veteran is a person who is no longer serving in a military. A military veteran that has ...

hunter Hunting is the human activity, human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, or killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to harvest food (i.e. meat) and useful animal products (fur/hide (skin), hide, ...

and

warrior A warrior is a person specializing in combat or warfare, especially within the context of a tribal or clan-based warrior culture society that recognizes a separate warrior aristocracies, class, or caste. History Warriors seem to have been p ...

, founded Ìsẹ̀dó, his new

in one of the areas of his frequent hunting expeditions. Recent archaeological research results (and published works of

oral history Oral history is the collection and study of historical information about individuals, families, important events, or everyday life using audiotapes, videotapes, or transcriptions of planned interviews. These interviews are conducted with people wh ...

experts, anthropologists and archaeologists of the

Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in the ...

, USA and the

University of Ibadan The University of Ibadan (UI) is a public research university in Ibadan, Nigeria. The university was founded in 1948 as University College Ibadan, one of many colleges within the University of London. It became an independent university in 196 ...

, Nigeria); of the region's contemporary and later settlements suggest that Ìsẹ̀dó was founded between the 10th and the 12th centuries by Ọ̀bà refugees probably fleeing from both internal dissension in their Òbà kingdom as well as the cyclic conflicts of their Ọ̀bà kingdom with the neighbouring kingdoms, perhaps including the

Nupe Nupe may refer to: *Nupe people, of Nigeria *Nupe language, their language *The Bida Emirate, also known as the Nupe Kingdom, their former state *A member of the Kappa Alpha Psi Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. () is a historically African Amer ...

to the north. At its

zenith The zenith (, ) is an imaginary point directly "above" a particular location, on the celestial sphere. "Above" means in the vertical direction (plumb line) opposite to the gravity direction at that location (nadir). The zenith is the "highest" ...

towards the end of the 15th century, Ìsèdó had grown into a city-state of 13

clans A clan is a group of people united by actual or perceived kinship and descent. Even if lineage details are unknown, clans may claim descent from founding member or apical ancestor. Clans, in indigenous societies, tend to be endogamous, meaning ...

, some of which were later "consolidants" into the

's kingdom at Ìsèdó and were not of the ancient Oba origin.

New arrivals

Some oral-historians indicate that at the request of an arriving faction from

Ila-Yara Òkè-Ìlá Òràngún (often abbreviated as Òkè-Ìlá) is an ancient city in southwestern Nigeria that was capital of the middle-age Igbomina-Yoruba people, Yoruba city-state of the same name. Òkè-Ìlá is a city in Osun State, Ọṣun ...

, the city-state founded by Òràngún, Oduduwa's fourth son, the region's king, Ọba'lúmọ̀ gave land-grants to the new arrivals at a location thought to be sufficiently distant from Ìsẹ̀dó's location. Another version of the oral history, which seems more reliable, indicates that the land-grant occurred a few centuries later, when the faction of the younger of two quarreling princes arrived in the vicinity of the Ọba'lúmọ̀'s Ìsèdó kingdom, from the schism at their old kingdom at Ìlá Yàrà. Arutu Oluokun, the younger of the feuding princes, founded a settlement at the Ila-Magbon, but the new kingdom moved within a short time to found another city called Ila-Odo closer to Isedo, which subsists as the modern Ìlá Òràngún.

Consolidation and accommodation

An annual celebration called "Ìmárúgbó" (or "Òkùnrìn") festival was instituted between the two city-states during which the King Ọ̀ràngún leaves his palace with his chiefs to pay a day-long homage to his primogenitor, the King Ọba'lúmọ̀ in his (the Ọba'lúmọ̀'s) palace. This is in symbolic tribute to Ọba'lúmọ̀'s land grant and precedence of him in the region, in appreciation of Ọba'lúmọ̀'s hosting of the Òràngún's elderly mother who could not continue with the immigrant party to the location of their allocated land. The Ọ̀ràngún's mother died in the palace of the Ọba'lúmọ̀ and was buried at Ìsèdó. So the Ọ̀ràngún also visits her grave as part of this festival. While it has maintained the royal title of Oba'lúmò, the kingdom of Ìsẹ̀dó has in modern times been virtually engulfed by the present-day Ila Ọrangun such that the old Isedo township now lies (at ), in the southeast quadrant of Ila Orangun. In Oke-Ila, the

orature Oral literature, orature or folk literature is a genre of literature that is spoken or sung as opposed to that which is written, though much oral literature has been transcribed. There is no standard definition, as anthropologists have used var ...

s of the Ọbaálá clan refer to their origin from Ìsèdó, indicating that they are actually a segment of the Ìsẹ̀dó royalty which emigrated several centuries ago to an alliance with Apakiimo, the last Orangun at

Ila Yara Ila Yara was the original kingdom founded about the 12th century by Ajagun-nla (meaning "mighty warrior or great warrior"), also nicknamed "Orangun", a legendary grandson of Oduduwa. The kingdom split into two after Orangun Apakiimo was installed ...

kingdom to found his (Orangun's) new kingdom now known as

Oke-Ila Òkè-Ìlá Òràngún (often abbreviated as Òkè-Ìlá) is an ancient city in southwestern Nigeria that was capital of the middle-age Igbomina-Yoruba city-state of the same name. Òkè-Ìlá is a city in Ọṣun State, Nigeria. It is sit ...

. In this five-centuries-old quasi-consolidation treaty to help found with the new

Orangun state, the Ìsẹ̀dó immigrants "of the hilltop" (Isedo Oke or Isedo Ori Oke)were retained their royal title of Ọba'lúmọ̀, and subsequently were accorded a new recognition (possibly for their foremost contribution to the establishment of the new kingdom), awarding their clan the title of Ọbaálá ("mighty king" or "senior king"), a title next in rank to the Ọ̀ràngún of Oke-Ila the paramount king. The Ọbaálá is also designated as the automatic regent upon the demise of any reigning Ọ̀ràngún.

Heritage and diaspora

The Ìsẹ̀dó

retain references in their

s to their ancestry from Ìsẹ̀dó and the ancient Ọ̀bà kingdom, and citing their descent from King Ọba'lúmọ̀ of Ìsẹ̀dó and King Olunlakin of Ọ̀bà as well as nostalgically referring to themselves as "children of the great wealth" of Ọ̀bà. Other examples of Igbomina and non-Igbomina towns (in

Kwara Kwara State ( yo, Ìpínlẹ̀ Kwárà), is a state in Western Nigeria, bordered to the east by Kogi State, to the north by Niger state, and to the south by Ekiti, Osun, and Oyo states, while its western border makes up part of the internation ...

and Ọṣun states of Nigeria) with large concentrations of Ọ̀bà people, now commonly called 'The Ọ̀bà Diaspora', include the following: Oke-Ila Ọrangun, Ila Ọrangun, Ọra-Igbomina, Ipoti-Ekiti, Isanlu-Isin, Oke-Onigbin
Omu-Aran
Rorẹ, Ọyan, Inisha, Ipee, Oke-Ode, Babanla, Ajasẹ-Ipo, Omupo, Esiẹ, Oro, Ijomu-Oro, Iddo-Oro, Idofin, Ado-Eku, Oreke, Sanmora, and Pamo. The Ìsẹ̀dó

appear to be the earliest surviving ut perhaps not the onlygroup in 'The Ọ̀bà Diaspora' that purposefully set out and founded a surviving kingdom ruled by the king Ọba'lumọ. Subsequent Ọ̀bà-derivative kingdoms and diasporas appear to have resulted solely from refugee flights from wars and slave raids. Ìsẹ̀dó communities resulting from the diaspora of such wars exist in Ipoti-Ekiti, and other

and Ekiti towns as well as Omido (

Kwara State Kwara State ( yo, Ìpínlẹ̀ Kwárà), is a state in Western Nigeria, bordered to the east by Kogi State, to the north by Niger state, and to the south by Ekiti, Osun, and Oyo states, while its western border makes up part of the internation ...

) and other towns in Kwara State.

Isedo and Oba diaspora tourism

The legends of origin and of emigrations of the Isedo from Oba has been a major effort of

His Royal Highness Royal Highness is a style used to address or refer to some members of royal families, usually princes or princesses. Monarchs and their consorts are usually styled ''Majesty''. When used as a direct form of address, spoken or written, it takes ...

, Dr. Olúfẹ́mi Ọládàpọ̀ Babalọlá. He has also been active since 2004 in promoting

tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring (disambiguation), touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tour (disambiguation), tours. Th ...

(

heritage tourism Cultural heritage tourism (or just heritage tourism) is a branch of tourism oriented towards the cultural heritage of the location where tourism is occurring. The National Trust for Historic Preservation in the United States defines heritage t ...

cultural tourism Cultural tourism is a type of tourism activity in which the visitor's essential motivation is to learn, discover, experience and consume the tangible and intangible cultural attractions/products in a tourism destination. These attractions/produ ...

and geo-tourism), and planning tourist expeditions to include the various Isedo and Oba heritage sites which he himself visited, and physiographic features and cultural performances/traditional occupations of the Igbomina-Yoruba and adjoining Yoruba areas. He has led various special tours to the various old sites,

ruins Ruins () are the remains of a civilization's architecture. The term refers to formerly intact structures that have fallen into a state of partial or total disrepair over time due to a variety of factors, such as lack of maintenance, deliberate ...

and existing towns and

historical History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...

places of

, especially of the Igbomina-Yoruba region, verifying

and oral poetry of various

and ancient kingdoms.

References

{{Nigerian traditional states Ila kingdom Nigerian traditional states Yoruba history