Ọranyan

Ọ̀rànmíyàn, also known as Ọranyan, was a legendary Yoruba king from the kingdom of Ile-Ife, and the founder of the Benin Kingdom and the Oyo Empire. Although he was the youngest of the descendants of Oduduwa, he became the prime heir of Oduduwa upon his return to claim his grandfather's throne.

According to early accounts, he founded Oyo as its first Alaafin in the year 1300 shortly after establishing a new dynasty in Igodomigodo.
Following Oranmiyan's death, his family is fabled to have erected the commemorative stele known as the Staff of Oranmiyan - ''Opa Oranmiyan'' in the Yoruba language - at the place where their grandfather died. This obelisk is 5.5m tall and about 1.2m in circumference at its base. During a storm in 1884 about 1.2m was broken off from its top and it has fallen twice and been re-erected on each occasion. It currently stands in a grove in Mopa, Ile-Ife. Radiocarbon tests have shown that this royal marker was erected centuries before the start of the Oduduwa dynasty.

Early life

Not much is known about Oranmiyan's childhood and most of the information about his early life comes from Ife sources. He is called a man of two fathers - Oduduwa and Ogun - who both had relations with his mother Lakange Anihunka (a slave captured by Ogun in one of his war expeditions). His mother, in some oral versions, is said to come from Yagba or Nupe heritage.

The legend further compounds the controversy by stating that Oranmiyan was two-tone in complexion: half his body was light-skinned (like Ogun's), while the other half was ebony-black (like Oduduwa's). From a scientific perspective, this description may suggest he had vitiligo. Regardless, due to this, he was given the name Oranmiyan (or ''Oran ni Omo ni yan'', which means "The child has chosen to be controversial"). His other name Odede signifies a great hunter, something which he was known to be throughout his early life in Ife. He was also a great warrior like his two fathers. He was the first Odole Oduduwa (youth of the house of oduduwa) as he was a strong and outspoken prince of the Oduduwa lineage. His strength and talent in battle made him take up the role of defending Ife - which had no standing military at the time - as the first Akogun of Ife.

Oranmiyan at Benin

A crisis among the administrators of Igodomigodo forced them to convene for a new ruler. Oranmiyan, sent by the Ooni of Ife, camped at a place called Use, meaning "making of a city" or "politicking". After making inroads, he began to rule Igodomigodo from there. His rulership as an Oba was foreign in the style of management and didn't go down well with some chiefs, so they sent agents to spy on him. All this made Oranmiyan declare that only a son of the soil could cope with the attitude of the Igodomigodo people. He called the land ''Ile - Ibinu'', meaning "Land of Vexation".

On leaving Ile-Ibinu (later Ibini, and corrupted to "Benin" by the Portuguese), he stopped briefly at Egor where he took Erinmwide, the daughter of the Enogie (or Duke) of Egor, as a wife. As a result of their union, Oranmiyan crystallised his new dynasty, and his son Eweka I, would come to be known as the first Oba of Benin. This dynasty is still ruling today.

Oranmiyan at Oyo

After leaving Benin at about 1290, he moved north with his ever loyal entourage and settled close to the river Moshi (a tributary to the Niger River). He founded a city there, Oyo-Ile, which his descendants then expanded into the Oyo Empire. He engaged in war with the Bariba, his immediate neighbors to the north, and subsequently married Torosi, a Tapa princess, who became the mother of Sango Akata Yẹri-Yẹri. He also married Moremi Ajasoro.

Oranyan festival

The first ever Oranyan Festival of Arts, Culture and Tourism was initiated in 2012 by his descendant and reigning successor, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi III of Oyo, who mandated that subsequently the festival was to be celebrated annually between the 8th and 15th days of September in Oyo, Nigeria.

References

{{Orisa-Ifá

Alaafins of Oyo
Oonis of Ife
12th-century births
13th-century Nigerian people
Year of birth unknown
Year of death unknown
People from Ife
Yoruba warriors
13th-century monarchs in Africa
12th-century Nigerian people
12th-century monarchs in Africa
Nigerian city founders
Yoruba kings