Igala forms a kingdom whose ruler, the attah, has as his capital idah on the river niger. Prior to the intrusion of the colonial forces in igala kingdom, attah ameh oboni. Obonis rise to power affected the history of the northwestern nsukka and the igbo communities on the anambra. The history of the fifty years rei gn of the attah igala. It was a punishment for collaborating with the attah of igala in idah, about 1500s a. Pa rt of the ottoman empire for nearly 500 years, bulgaria gained independe nce in 1878, but became a communist republic in 1946. By the 1920s, igala empire was a spent force and a limping shadow, the british easily took over control of both nsukka and the igala territories. Ocholi in his book, the history of the fifty years reign of the attah igala, alhaji aliyu ocheja obaje 19562006, said, any person wishing to take the office of. It also offers africanbased insights and interpretations to various western concepts in gender and sexuality studies. Obonis rise to power affected the history of the northwestern nsukka and the ibo communities on the anambra river and the lower niger during the igala commercial and sociocultural ascendancy and domination. The new attah igala will receive his staff of office on april 27 at the attah s palace, idah, and this event also promises to be another major gathering of igala sons and daughters. Aug 02, 2017 igala history kigala online august 2, 2017 blackhistory938 1 comment iduu eri is the putative ancestor of all the kwa peoples of west africa. Atayi babs live short notes on past attahs of igala land. In this way, igala mega state took control and allegiance were paid.
A peoples history fraught with controversies and distortions cannot stand the test of time. Ambrose okonkwo also confirms the fact of the igala origins of the nri when he again wrote, the son of the first nri was first attah of igala until his death. Nwando achebe presents the fascinating history of an igbo woman, ahebi ugbabe, who became king in colonial nigeria. Oct 04, 2016 there aboundtheories for instance, that support a benin origin of igala kingship. With the help of the attah ruler of igala, whose influence extended to. This book offers a unique portrayal of a resilient people living in a country with immense, but unrealized, potential. Her book distinguishes between western concepts of gender and sexuality, and the indigenous meanings of these concepts in an african setting.
The history of igala land welcome to myculturebase. They are goalgetters in every positive sense of the term, never mediocres. His royal majesty idakwo ameh oboni ii, attah igala of igala kingdom geographical location. The home of the igala people is situated east of the river niger and benue confluence and astride the niger in lokoja, kogi state of nigeria with its headquarters in idahseat of the attah. Reverend anthony attah agbali, who sacrificed a lot of time to read through.
Alhaji aliyu ocheja obaje 1920 july 16, 2012 was the paramount ruler of the igala kingdom in nigeria born in 1920, aliyu obaje was the youngest person to be installed as attah igala. It is historically documented that some chiefs have been barred by royal edict, from wearing any ivie or ekan as a punishment. Attah igala urges prayers, fasting for igala land vanguard news. Her father, the attah of igala loved his daughter so much. Prior to this, oral history holds that attah ayegba had invited hausa men of war. The myths and fallacies about late ameh obonis magical. It is not possible to assign any specific date as to when the igala kingship or the institution of the attahship began due to the absence of historical records and the diversity of legends and traditions surrounding these institutions.
Hrm aliyu obaje ascended the throne on the october 20, 1956 following the death of his. She traveled widely and learned to speak many languages, including igala, nupe, and pidgin english. Apr 11, 2020 achebes study of ahebi ugbabe is significant because it salvaged the history of a woman who became the only warrant chief in colonial nigeria, and perhaps africa. Oral history is passed from generation to generation through story telling alo, songs eli and proverbs ita or akpo. Princess inikpi was the beloved and only daughter of attah of igala then ayegbu oma idoko, who willingly gave herself to be buried alive.
Pdf igala colonisation of northern igbo states 145018th. Georgia history revolution, 17751783 proceedings of a council of war held at burke jail, georgia, january 14th, 1779, with a narrative of the subsequent proceedings, and the proclamation issued by lieut. The importance of attah ayegba om idoko in igala history is that he won an independent kingdom. Controversy about the origin of oduduwa should be clarified using the igala oral history. In this chapter, is the authors query on why an average igala person thinks more of himself than. Pdf a society that has no room for difference has no room for humanity. His royal majesty hrm alhaji aliyu ocheja obaje is the paramount ruler of the igala kingdom in nigeria. He notes that he was just playing out his book of life and so.
A read is counted each time someone views a publication summary such as the title, abstract, and list of authors, clicks on a figure, or views or downloads the fulltext. Oral tradition and the history of igala1 the journal of. Igala is the language spoken by the people located within the triangle formed by the confluence of the rivers niger and benue in kogi state of nigeria. These are the edo, the itsekiri, the urhobo, the ijaw, the ogoni, the ika, the opobo, the efik, the anang, the ibibio, the ogoja the obubra, the owerri, the anambra, the udi, the ezeagu, the nkanu, the nsukka, the akpoto, the izza the izzi, the ikwo, the ngwa, the. Indeed, by 1939 the igala economy had been irreversibly integerated within an imposed colonial system. There is hardly any igala person worthy to be socalled that will. Nigeria, july 2008 2 of slaves flowed north across the sahara for a millennium, ending only at the beginning of the twentieth century. The igala monarchy, one of the oldest and most formidable kingdoms in central nigeria, is centered on the office of the attahigala, who was regarded as the father of all igala people. The igala kingdom, also known as the kingdom of idah, an. International journal of arts and humanitiesijah african journals. Kingdoms of nigeria, the nigerian database of rulers, kings. Reverend later bishop samuel ajayi crowther, after his second voyage on the victorian expedition to ida in 1854, published a book, a comparative wordlist of yoruba, igala and english languages.
In 1914 the british burnt down ibagwa and obukpa as a punitive measure. Files are available under licenses specified on their description page. Read this article and tell us your opinion history has it that the igala kingdom is one of the nine well entrenched kingdoms that existed in precolonial nigeria,with its historical and well celebrated seat of power at idah where tha atta,agabaidu cuts the short. This research thus, explores nigerian historical evidences in dramatic form.
A bilingual dictionary with notes on igala language, history, culture and priestkings. Thus it is argued that the early period of igala history, where most of the divergence occurs, demonstrates the interaction of different principles of political growth and change, the time span being defined conventionally by associating each major development with one reign or generation. However, there was already in existence indigenous igala people with their kingship systems before the arrival of the benin kings. Akoya media a brief history of the igala kingdom it is. Igala kingdom news newspapers books scholar jstor december 2018 learn how and when to remove this template message. In the history of the igala kingdom recorded by boston, the. Igala practice a number of different religions, including atr, christianity, and islam. A history of the traditional igala textile industry. Jul, 2014 this s an igbo history book that has the first time told of how the people of the south east and the south south zones are igbo. They were at one time vassals of the aku uka of wukari.
Mar 09, 2016 attah igala urges prayers, fasting for igala land. The recent installation of idakwo michael amehoboni as the new attahigala naturally makes many to recall his father who reigned as attah igala between 1946 and 1956. Heinemann educational books, for the historical society of nigeria. Achebes book is a brilliant reconstruction of local history through a.
History of nigerias igala, northern yoruba and nupoidspeaking peoples to. Project muse the day i met ahebi ugbabe, female king of. Dec 12, 2012 history and oral traditions of igala people. If we assume, as we surely can, that the niger and benue rivers played an even more strategic role in the nigerian past than they do today, then it is clear that the igala area holds the key to an important chapter of nigerian history, a chapter which particularly concerns the problem of interrelations between different groups in nigeria. It is to avoid such a calamity that this blog post is being placed in. The satisfaction of the british self interests measured in economic and political terms, forced collection of colonial taxes, the imposition alien non igala rulers and insufficient social services had resulted in passive and violent resistance. Aliyu obaje was the youngest person ever to be installed as attah igala. The history of the fifty years reign of the attah igala, alhaji aliyu ocheja obaje. Chapter two on ideologies is better left to individual assessment but a major food for thought. The kingdom was founded by the igala people, with its capital at idah. Ugbabe was exiled from igboland, became a prostitute, traveled widely, and learned to speak many languages.
Igala, is a precolonial west african state, north central nigeria. Ibaji in kogi state and the crude oil located in the area. There is no doubt whatsoever that oduduwa is the progenitor of the yoruba people. When he was informed of the only solution to the problem by the oracle and some of the eunuchs in his palace, he wished there was an alternative. A history of the traditional igala textile industry, nigeria 19001960. Learn how and when to remove this template message. It is a major contribution to african history and the practice of oral history. There were also periodic royal visits to the attah igala to pay tributes and as. Pdf speech by ayegba abdullahi aduojo in honour of 2018.
A condensed history of bulgaria at the crossroads of europe and the orient, bulgaria has come under the influence of many neighboring cultures, from greek and roman to byzantine and bulgar. A history of the traditional igala textile industry, nigeria. History of igala people igala are an ethnic group of nigeria. The igala people are found east of the confluence of these rivers. Ahistoryofnigeria assets cambridge university press. A history of the traditional igala textile industry, nigeria 19001960 danladi, abah on. Abuja the attah igala ii, dr ameh oboni, on wednesday called on all igala people to pray and fast for gods divine intervention. He traced the roots of the igalaa to a yoruba sovereign who had lost his territory to fulani invaders and ran to the sultan of nupe kingdom for assistance to enable him to have a new habitat. Search millions of objects in the collections including photographs, artworks, artifacts, scientific specimens, manuscripts, sound records, and transcripts.
Speech by ayegba abdullahi aduojo in honour of 2018 igala cultural day celebration by ayegba omaidoko ane igala association, in abuja, held on 8th presentation pdf available december 2018. Great leaders in nigerias history before total colonisation. All structured data from the file and property namespaces is available under the creative commons cc0 license. Her sex work and linguistic skills gave her access to the attah igala king and the british divisional officer, who not only facilitated her return to nsukka division, but supported her claim to the office of headman, warrant chief, and, later, eze. Jul 07, 2017 igala history is a priceless legacy that igalas of the present generation are compelled to preserve for effective transfer to the next generation in undiluted form. The passage of the attah of igala, dr aliyu obaje, signifies the end of an era in the nations history. Apr 30, 2017 igala history april 30, 2017 december 29, 2018 kigalaonline there exist various traditions on the origin of the igalaa, a mainly agrarian people who speak a language of that name and occupy the arc created in the south of the nigerbenue confluence in the middlebelt region of nigeria. Library of congress federal research division country profile. The attah s palace the seat of power in the igala kingdom is located in the ancient city of idah. The igalanation as a prominent precolonial nigerian entity.
In a nutshell, they are typical achievers, movers and shakers of history egbunu 2001. History equally has it that the igala kingdom span from the present day. Dr obaje who died at the ripe age of 102 was the longest reigning 1st class monarch in nigeria. Atta eri, his son,is the ancestor and father of the igalas and the founder of the stillsurviving ancient lineage of atta kings of the igala nation.
Nwando achebes book is wellwritten, amply researched, and efficiently documented. Their homeland, the former igala kingdom, is an approximately triangular area of. Between monotheism and polytheism article pdf available november 2014 with 3,044 reads how we measure reads. The kingdom of igala survived well into the 19th century, becoming a british protectorate in 1901. His royal majesty idakwo ameh oboni ii, attahigala of igala kingdom geographical location. But it must be understood that at some stage of igala history, the benin people wielded some power of influence over them. The first ata, the title given to the ruler of the kingdom, was ebule jonu. The igala soldiers built forts and fortifications that stretched from ete down to opi archaeological site and then to anambra. The book establishes 28 phonemic consonants and 7 vowels, as well as lexical and grammatical tones in igala. It is really hard to think of one and not remember the other, because, quite naturally, they. Until the decline of igala power, the ezes of enuguezike, akpugo, nkpologu, ibagwa ani and opi continued to receive their titles from idah. Things fall apart by chinua achebe, half of a yellow sun by chimamanda ngozi adichie, purple hibiscus by chimamanda ngozi a.
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