View source for Oduduwa

{{Short description|Yoruba divine king}}
 
[[File:Oduduwa 02.jpg|alt=|thumb|A statue of Oduduwa]]
'''Odùduwà''' (Ooduwa, Odudua or Oòdua) was a [[Yoruba people|Yoruba]] [[God king|divine king]],{{sfn|Bondarenko|2003|p=70}} a [[creator deity]] ([[orisha]]) in the [[Yoruba religion]], and the progenitor who ushered in the [[Ife Empire#Classical Period (1000–1420 AD)|classical period]] that later led to the foundation of the [[Ife Empire]].{{sfn|Ogundiran|2020|p=7}} His earthly origins are from the village of [[Oke Ora]].<ref name=Oke>{{cite book |last1=Nwanyanwu |first1=O. J. |last2=Opajobi |first2=Bola |last3=Olayinka |first3=Sola |title=Education for Socio-economic & Political Development in Nigeria |date=1997 |publisher=Visual Resources |isbn=978-978-34467-0-0 |page=159 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=99tCAQAAIAAJ&q=oke+ora+ife |access-date=1 May 2024 |language=en}}</ref> According to tradition, he was the holder of the title of the ''Olofin'' of [[Ile-Ife]], the Yoruba [[holy city]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Yoruba States {{!}} World Civilization|url=https://courses.lumenlearning.com/suny-hccc-worldcivilization/chapter/the-yoruba-states/|website=courses.lumenlearning.com|access-date=2020-05-26}}</ref> He ruled there briefly <ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tmV0AAAAMAAJ&q=oduduwa+obatala|title=The Origin, Growth & Development of Efon Alaaye Kingdom|year=2018|isbn=9789783456785|last1=Alokan|first1=Adeware|publisher=Timade Ventures }}</ref> and also served as the progenitor of a number of independent royal dynasties in [[Yorubaland]],<ref>Obayemi, A., "The Yoruba and Edo-speaking Peoples and their Neighbors before 1600 AD", in J. F. A. Ajayi & M. Crowder (eds), ''History of West Africa'', vol. I (1976), 255–322.</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BCklDwAAQBAJ&q=progenitor+oduduwa&pg=PA159|title=Dissent, Protest and Dispute in Africa|date= 2018|isbn=9781315413082|last1=Falola|first1=Toyin|last2=Mbah|first2=Emmanuel|publisher=Taylor & Francis }}</ref> with the [[Oriki|praise names]] Olofin Adimula and Olofin Aye.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MGx0AAAAMAAJ&q=olofin+adimula|title=Readings in Nigerian History and Culture|date=17 June 2018|isbn=9789783654822|last1=Atanda|first1=Joseph Adebowale|last2=Oguntomisin|first2=Dare|publisher=Hope Publications }}</ref>

Archaeologists and historians estimate Oduduwa's kingly existence to the ''Late Formative Period'' of Ife ('''800'''-'''1000CE'''),<ref>{{cite book |last1=Falola |first1=Toyin |last2=Jennings |first2=Christian |title=Sources and Methods in African History: Spoken, Written, Unearthed |date=2004 |publisher=University Rochester Press |isbn=978-1-58046-140-5 |page=43 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CS5tHpdMMa4C&dq=oduduwa+era&pg=PA43 |language=en}}</ref> which aligns with indigenous Yoruba oral chronology. However, Yoruba religious adherents take it one step further - explaining that spiritually Oduduwa, together with [[Ọbatala]], are aligned with creator divinities that, being cloaked in human-form and as old as the earth itself, took part in the creation of all that is. This spiritual figure, referred to as 'Oduduwa', is often thought to be distinct from the figure who later reigned as ''Olofin.''<ref name="patricia">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=191KzEw_heMC&q=oduduwa+deification&pg=PA89|title=African Mythology, A to Z|year= 2018|isbn=9781438119885|last1=Lynch|first1=Patricia Ann|publisher=Infobase }}</ref>

The etymological derivation of the Yoruba name "Oduduwa" is: Odu-ti-o-da-uwa (i.e. Odu-ti-o-da-iwa). This translates literally to: The great repository which brings forth existence.{{sfn|Johnson|1921|p=143}}

== Ife traditions ==
{{royal house|
| surname = House of Oduduwa
| type = [[Yoruba people|Yoruba]] [[royal dynasty]]
| image = Cabeza de rey (ciudad yoruba).jpg
| image_caption = [[Ife Head]], [[Imperial cult|relic of the royal cult]] of an ancient [[Ooni]] of [[Ile-Ife]] and [[Heraldic charge|heraldic symbol]] of Ife royalty
| parent house = * [[Oke Ora]] (Historically)
* [[Son of God|Olodumare (God)]] (Philosophically)
| founded = c.10th century
| founder = Oduduwa (Olofin Adimula)
| region = [[Yorubaland]]
| current head = [[Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi|Ojaja II]]
| traditions = [[Yoruba religion|Ìṣẹ̀ṣe]] <br> [[Christianity]] <br> [[Islam]]
| titles = * [[Oba (ruler)|Ọba]], Ọọni [[Ife|Ifẹ]] 
* Ọba, Olofin Adimula Ife 
----
[[Oloye|Ojoye/Oloye]] Ife<ref>{{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}}</ref>
* '''ÌHÀRẸ – Outer/Town chiefs (Àgbà Ifẹ̀)''':<ref>{{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}}</ref>
* Ọbalufe (Ọ̀runtọ́) Ife
* Ọbalọran Ife
* Ọbajio Ife
* Ọbalaye Ife
* Akọgun Ife
* Waasin ife
* Jagunọṣin ife
* Ejesi Ife
----
* '''MỌDÉWÁ – Inner/Palace chiefs (Ẹmẹsẹ̀):<ref>{{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}}</ref>'''
* Lọwa ijaruwa
* Isanire
* Jaran
* Aguro
* Arodẹ
* Ladin
* Lọwate
* Erebẹsẹ
----
* [[Omoba|Ọmọba]] Ife 
* Yeyeluwa Ife 
* [[Oloori]] Ife
| members = * [[Olubuse II]] 
* [[Adesoji Aderemi]]
* [[Tejumade Alakija]]
| styles = ''Kábíèsí'' <br />[[Majesty]] <br /> [[Imperial Highness]]
| other_families = [[Oyo empire#The Alaafin of Oyo|Oyo royal family]] <br /> [[Oba of Benin|Bini royal family]]
| cadet branches = In [[Ife]] (4)
* Oshinkola of Iremo 
* Giesi of Moore
* Ogboru of Ilare
* Lafogido of Okerewe 
Outside Ife (Several)
* [[Oyo empire#The Alaafin of Oyo|Oyo royal family]]
* [[Oba of Benin|Bini royal family]]
* [[List of rulers of the Yoruba state of Ketu|Ketu royal family]]
* Various royal families across [[Yorubaland]].
| motto = ''Ilé Ifẹ̀ orírun ayé, Ibi tí ojúmọ́ ti ń mọ́ wá''. ([[Yoruba language|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 (ruler)|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}}

===Early life===
Oduduwa and his group are believed to have disrupted the political structure of the 13 communities being led 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 [[Ugbo Kingdom|near the coast]], while others relocated elsewhere in Ife to continue the conflict.{{sfn|Ogundiran|2020|p=89}}

===Crowns of Oduduwa===
{{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}}

===Omo Oduduwa===
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.<ref>{{cite book |title=ANCIENT IFE: A REASSESSMENT |date=June 1979|isbn=9789783550766|last1=Robin|first1=Horton | publisher=Historical Society of Nigeria | page=98}}</ref>{{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]}}

==Alternative views==
===Oduduwa and his/her role in creation ===
{{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,<ref name="patricia"/> 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.<ref name="Washington 2014 25–28">{{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}}</ref>

Another depiction of Oduduwa as being the wife of Obatala is presented in Odu Ifa Osa Meji, a verse of the [[Ifa|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]].<ref name="Washington 2014 25–28"/>

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.<ref>{{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}}</ref><ref>{{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}}</ref>

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 Aje|Iyami]]. Here, Oduduwa is revered as the mother of the Yoruba.<ref>{{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}}</ref>

===Non-Yoruba views===
Certain other people have claimed a connection to Oduduwa. According to the [[Kanuri people|Kanuri]], [[Yauri Emirate|Yauri]], [[Gobir]], Acipu, [[Jukun people (West Africa)|Jukun]] and [[Borgu]] tribes, whose founding ancestors were said to be Oduduwa's brothers<ref>History of the Yorubas by Samuel Johnson 1921</ref> (as recorded in the 19th century by [[Samuel Johnson (Nigerian historian)|Samuel Johnson]]), Oduduwa was the son of Damerudu, whom Yoruba call ''Lamurudu'', a prince who was himself the son of the magician [[Kisra legend|King Kisra]]. Kisra and his allies are said to have fought [[Muhammad|Prophet 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.<ref>A. Matthews " The Kisra legend) "https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00020185008706819?journalCode=cast20</ref><ref>{{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}}).</ref><ref>{{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}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{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}}</ref><ref name="Bascom, p. 10">Bascom, ''Yoruba'', p. 10; Stride, Ifeka: "Peoples and Empires", p. 290.</ref>

==See also==
* [[Candomble religion]]
* [[List of rulers of Ife]]
* [[Santeria religion]]
* [[Yoruba religion]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

==Sources==
* {{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 | pages=63–85 | doi=10.1017/S0361541300003144 | jstor=3172082 | 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 | pages=103–115 | doi=10.1017/S0361541300003417 | jstor=4128520 | 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 }}

==Further reading==
*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}}
{{Orisa-Ifá}}

[[Category:Legendary progenitors]]
[[Category:Oonis of Ife]]
[[Category:Yoruba gods]]
[[Category:History of the Yoruba people]]
[[Category:Yoruba culture]]
[[Category:Yoruba mythology]]
[[Category:Yoruba warriors]]
[[Category:Yoruba kings]]