#egbado history

[blackexcellence]

#BlackHistory365 Art Round-Up ⬇️

Elsa Soares via @rodrigoincolors

"This is Elsa Soares. She's one of the biggest names in Brazilian music and considered a matriarch of Brazilian black artistry. BBC named her the voice of the millenium and she was one of the most important and loudest voice against racism, LGBTQIA+ and women rights, among other social causes. She's died yesterday at age 91. This is a very simple, but sincere tribute to her. May you rest in power!

Please, listen to her music and search more about this great woman."

2. Portrait of Sarah Forbes Bonetta by Hannah Uzor via @fyblackwomenart

Portrait of   Sarah Forbes Bonetta by  Hannah Uzor

Sarah Forbes Bonetta  was an Egbado princess of the Yoruba people in West Africa who was orphaned during a war with the nearby Kingdom of Dahomey and later became the slave of King Ghezo of Dahomey. In a remarkable twist of events, she was liberated from slavery by Captain Frederick E. Forbes of the British Royal Navy and became a goddaughter to Queen Victoria. She was married to Captain James Pinson Labulo Davies, a wealthy Lagos philanthropist.

3. Marian Anderson by @novva

I’ve always wanted to do a series on black classical singers for BHM, so here’s a sketch I squeezed in this week—a tribute to the great Marian Anderson!

Marian Anderson (February 27, 1897 – April 8, 1993) was an African-American opera singer and contralto. In 1939, after the Daughters of the American Revolution refused to allow Anderson to sing to an integrated audience in Washington, D.C, then First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt and her husband President Franklin D. Roosevelt arranged for Anderson to perform an open-air concert on the Lincoln Memorial steps on Easter Sunday, April 9, 1939. She was able to deliver a critically acclaimed performance before an integrated crowd of more than 75,000 people, and a radio audience in the millions.

Read more about her accomplishments here, and donate to the National Marian Anderson Museum here.

Remember: tag your history & trailblazers art with #BlackExcellence365 for a chance to be featured!

And keep your eyes out for next month's theme... 👀

[inky-duchess]

Ello duchess In my story the king sends one of his sons

( the very youngest who into seeking knowledge and enjoys traveling.)

The kingdom they travel to allows and has slavery and upon arriving the king of that place gives the prince a welcome give and which is a female slave.

My question is would it be wrong for him to regret the person and was there any cases of something like this in history?

A lot of monarchs were given people as gifts. Victoria was presented with a young princess of the Egbado clan of the Yoruba people, called Ina/Aina (Anglicanized to Sarah Forbes Bonetta) on behalf of the King of the Yoruba who overthrew Ina's father in a bloody coup. Victoria rejected the notion of having Ina as a slave but Ina never returned to her homeland again.

[247reader]

Day 7: Sara Forbes Bonetta

Sara Forbes Bonetta was born Omoba Aina, a princess of the Egbado Yoruba in modern-day Nigeria. Her home was destroyed, and family killed, by a raid from the kingdom of Dahomey when she was still a small child. Most of the captives were sold into slavery, but Aina, as royalty, was brought to the Dahomey capital for a ceremonial execution. She escaped this fate, only to be given as a gift to the man who had interceded, British diplomat Frederick Forbes, and carried away once more to an unknown land.  Forbes had come to Dahomey to battle the slave trade and expand Britain’s imperial interests; he responded to Aina as that dichotomy might suggest, treating her kindly but also renaming her: Sara Forbes Bonetta, for himself and his ship. He brought her back to England, where Queen Victoria took an interest in the story - and the young girl herself. Sara was named her goddaughter, and while she was shuttled back and forth between guardians and schools, she and the Queen seem to have formed one of history’s more unlikely genuine bonds.  In 1862, Sara married Captain James Davies, a Yoruba businessman living in England, and the pair returned to Africa, settling in Lagos. Sara, who maintained a correspondence with the Queen, had three children, naming the eldest Victoria.  After a life of turmoil, she seems to have finally found home and security, teaching local children and corresponding with an international network of friends. She died of tuberculosis in 1880, while seeking treatment in Madeira; the eight foot monument her bereaved husband erected to her memory still stands outside Ijon.  (I stick with 20th Century or earlier here, but I would be remiss if I did not mention an Awesome Lady of Modernity, Sara’s descendant Amayo Adadevo, a doctor whose work during the Ebola crisis helped save Nigeria from a wider outbreak at the cost of her own life)

[gwendolynlerman]

Languages of the world

Yoruba (Èdè Yorùbá)

Basic facts

Number of native speakers: 50 million

Official language: Benin, Ghana, Nigeria, Togo

Recognized minority language: Brazil, South Africa

Language of diaspora: Australia, Canada, Cuba, Ireland, Ivory Coast, United Kingdom, United States

Script: Latin, 25 letters

Grammatical cases: 0

Linguistic typology: isolating, SVO

Language family: Niger-Congo, Atlantic-Congo, Volta-Congo, Volta-Niger, Benue-Congo, Defoid, Yoruboid, Edekiri, Ede, Eastern Ede, Southeastern Ede

Number of dialects: 5 main groups

History

17th century - Ajami script

1830 - first Yoruba publications

1850 - first orthography

1966 - current orthography

Writing system and pronunciation

These are the letters that make up the alphabet: a b d e ẹ f g gb h i j k l m n o ọ p r s ṣ t u w y

There are three tones: high, mid, and low. The high tone is marked with an acute accent, while the low one is indicated with a grave accent.

Grammar

Nouns have no gender or class, no number, and no cases. However, there is a distinction between human and non-human nouns. Context determines whether a word denotes singular or plural.

There are no definite or indefinite articles. Yoruba only uses two prepositions.

Verbs are conjugated for tense and aspect. These are expressed by particles placed between the subject and the verb.

Dialects

There are five main dialect groups: North-West, North-East, Central, South-East, and South-West. North-West Yoruba includes Egba, Ibadan, Egbado, Ọyọ, Western Ogun, and Lagos. North-East Yoruba comprises Yagba, Owe, Ijumu, Oworo, Gbede, and Abunu. Central Yoruba is made up of Igbomina, Ijesha, Ifẹ, Ekiti, Akurẹ, and Ẹfọn. Ikale, Ilaje, Ondo City, Ọwọ, Idanre, Akoko, Remo, and Ijẹbu make up South-East Yoruba. South-West Yoruba includes Ketu, Awori, Sakété, Ifè, Idasha, and Ipokia.

Differences between them can be found in phonology, morphology, and vocabulary. Standard Yoruba is mainly based on the Ọyọ and Ibadan dialects.

[whatevergreen]

James Chappell (1648–1730) at Kirby Hall, Northamptonshire - Glory Samjolly

A servant at Kirby Hall who saved the owner Christopher Hatton from the aftermath of an explosion, and later a pub owner (the first known black English pub landlord).

Dido Belle (1761-1804) at Kenwood, London - Mikéla Henry-Lowe

The daughter of a young enslaved black woman and a Royal Naval officer, Dido was raised as part of the wealthy Murray family in London and spent much of her life at Kenwood House.

Arthur Roberts (1897-1982) at Berwick-upon-Tweed Barracks, Northumberland - Chloe Cox

Arthur Roberts, the son of a Trinidadian man, was born in Bristol and brought up in Glasgow. Enlisting in 1917, Roberts fought during World War One and survived the Battle of Passchendaele. He was later a leading civil rights activist and a fireman during the Blitz.

Emperor Septimius Severus (145-211) at Corbridge Roman Town on Hadrian's Wall, Northumberland - Elena Onwochei-Garcia

Septimius Severus was born in Leptis Magna (present day Al-Khums, Libya) in the Roman province of Africa. He travelled to Britain in 208 CE, strengthening Hadrian's Wall and reoccupying the Antonine Wall.

Abbot Hadrian (640-710) at St Augustine's Abbey, Kent - Clifton Powell

Abbot Hadrian was an African scholar in Anglo-Saxon England and the abbot of St Augustine's Abbey, Canterbury. He was from Cyrenaica, a Roman/Byzantine province in North Africa.

Sarah Forbes Bonetta (1843-1880) at Osborne House, Isle of Wight - Hannah Uzor

The daughter of the slain king of the Egbado clan of the Yoruba, Sarah was captured and enslaved by King Gezo of Dahomey (now Benin) aged five.

Originally named Omoba Aina, she was presented as a so-called 'diplomatic gift' to Captain Frederick Forbes of the H.M.S. Bonetta (saving her from execution) and brought to England in 1850.

Forbes introduced her to Queen Victoria who grew so attached that she paid for her education and became her guardian and godmother.

Above: Six new portraits and their artists, commissioned for the English Heritage exhibition series Painting our Past: The African Diaspora in England, to reflect the long and usually overlooked history of black people in England.

https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/learn/painting-our-past/

[i-am-iya]

Oodua- Female energy of Obatala ( Among the Egbados).

Oodua is an Orisa that is associated with the Gelede Mask society. She is known in her highest manifestation as Iya-funfun ( white or extremely fair complexioned mother ).

This aspect represents the power of the female energy to cut through the illusory iron clad nature of the universe . It represents the powers associated with the Iyaamis and elevates the respect that the world has for the female energy of the Iyaamis .

Who is Oodua?

- from stories in Okanran , Ogbe and Ofun in the Eerindinlogun of the Olorisas, Oodua is seen as the wife of Obatala who also played a part in creation just as Yemoo, another wife of Obatala, assisted in the creation of mankind .

Oodua is also seen as the female aspect of Obatala because her Ase, energy, is equal or exactly like that of Obatala , infact she is praised in the same oriki as Obatala .

Having interviewed some Elderly worshippers of Oodua about the nature of Oodua, this is what some said :

1. Oodua is the wife of Obatala.

2. Oodua is identical to Obatala ,

if you are asked to worship Obatala and you find Oodua, she is as good as Obatala .

3. Some think she is Obatala , this was what the Olori Agberu Gelede of Ilaro said:

However Oodua is classified among the Orisa funfun of the Obatala pantheons, due to the fact that her ewoo (taboos) are exactly what Obatala forbids e.g.:

A. No Epo ( palm oil)

B. No palm wine

C.No salt .

.Oodua takes white things and white Animals

..ORAL HISTORY OF ILARO .

Oral history of Ilaro says that at the early founding of Ilaro Kingdom, the kingdom faced all sorts of difficulties and wars. And so, a strange woman, extremely fair complexioned, appeared in a village called Itolu and started performing all types of human daily activities e.g. :farming/trading . She was identified later as Oodua and she assisted the kingdom in solving many of their problems and also in defeating their enemies in war . After this she suddenly disappeared at a spot in Itolu village and on that spot appeared a mud house covered with iki -a sort of raffia palms. She left her stones and other things of Ase there and so that is the main shrine of Oodua in Egbado , a temple was built there in Itolu forest .

Worship is done to Oodua once every three years when the Gelede festival is concluded .

Orisas linked to Oodua in Itolu are:

-

-Ibifun and Ibisere ( both river orisas )

Before Oodua left and disappeared she was said to have stamped her feet on the earth and water sprang forth... and they became the Orisas Ibifun and Ibisere. When Orisa Yewa, the sister of Oodua, heard, she came from Idogo a nearby town to join Ibifun and Ibisere. Those three Orisas are worshipped at the stream where they met. A part of the stream is hot while the other is cold .

Oodua is praised as Abiyamo:

-Aboja gboro gboro - the mother with the long sash to save her devotees .

-Onile iki -owner of the house made of iki .

-Oro oko Afin- The great spirit husband of the Albino .

-Olowo gbogboro tin yo omo re lo ofin - The long armed one who removes her children from danger .

Oodua - Egbeji igbo ,Agbe wa ooo, Ase.

Picture of Authors Oodua

One of "our mothers," an elderly priestess of the goddess

The wooden mask shown here was created for Gelede.

The Gelede tradition pays homage to the spiritual powers of women, especially elderly women known affectionately as "our mothers," awon iya wa. The powers possessed by such women, comparable to those of the deities, spirits, or ancestors, may be used for the benefit or the destruction of society. When manifesting their destructive dimension such elderly women are termed aje ("witches"). If angered, they can bring down individuals and entire communities.

As dusk approaches after a dazzling array of masqueraders imaging countless aspects of Yoruba life and thought, a final masker--one that synthesizes goddess, ancestress, and priestess--appears to conclude and bless the Gelede spectacle. Her white ensemble glowing in the growing darkness, Iya Odua (Mother Odua) moves with measured stride toward the marketplace accompanied by her priestess, her attire mirroring that of the masker visually to unite spiritual and earthly realms. Iya Odua's slow, stately tread conveys her age, wisdom, and sacred power. Her whiteness symbolizes her cool, covert demeanor and her post-menopausal purity for she is the creative, protective, nurturing mother of the gathered crowd, her offspring.

Iya Odua’s appearance assures the community that the lavish spectacle has pleased and placated her, and that the mothers will use their power and influence for the benefit of all.

From Oloye Tayese-Okungbemi Ifayele

Source: University of Iowa Stanley Museum of Art

[heywriters]

I guess this is more of an opinion but: do you think that I can write a Victorian piece without actually mentioning that it’s Victorian. I want my main characters to be of colour but life for coloured people in those times wasn’t great and my characters are part of the aristocracy. I hope this makes sense and have a great day ❤️

The British empire during the Victorian era spanned the planet, including multiple African, Asian, and Pacific Island countries. There were aristocracies and positions of privilege in each of these countries, though many were dissolved by the British.

Queen Victoria often made political ties and friendships with aristocrats from the countries England imperialized. 

One Indian high noble, Duleep Singh, was brought to England as a child and later his daughter was brought up as an English aristocrat:

Sophia Duleep Singh (goddaughter to Queen Victoria) who was very active in the suffragette movement as one of many South Asian suffragettes.

When Hawaii was imperialized it too had its own aristocracy, the last of whom was Princess Victoria Kaʻiulani (named after guess who?). She fought against the annexation of Hawaii by the U.S. and was considered highly intelligent by her white European and American peers.

After a childhood of conflict, Sarah Forbes Bonetta, a West African Egbado princess was “gifted” to Queen Victoria at a young age. (below: pictured with her husband, a high-ranking naval officer and successful Yoruba businessman).

Here also is an article and photoseries of other Black Victorians of different classes and lifestyles.

And if we’re going to talk about life in those times being “not great” for certain people, you must include: women, children, and all lower classes. There were few, if any, rights that protected these groups regardless of race. Privileged people come in all skintones during any era of human history, just like the downtrodden and abused.

As British-Indian writer Kenan Mailk puts it, 

“For Victorians, race was a description not so much of colour differences as of social distinctions…

Just as Jamaican peasants and East End costermongers were viewed as equally inferior, so Indian princes and West African tribal chiefs were often understood as the social equivalent of English gentlemen.” (x)

So, while by today’s standards being “gifted” to someone is not exactly an honor, or that being deemed “intelligent” like it’s a surprise is not flattering either, these were still privileged persons of color. They lived like aristocrats, spoke like aristocrats, and were more or less treated like aristocrats.

If you simply want to replace the real-world British aristocracy at that time with a non-white cast, then go for it! It can still be a “Victorian” society, but the genre will be historical fantasy.

Also, "colored people" is considered derogatory. Use POC or simply non-white in future.

+ If you benefit from my updates and replies, please consider sending a little thank you and Buy Me A Coffee!

+ HEY, Writers! other social media: Wattpad - Pinterest - Goodreads

[qqueenofhades]

50 Awesome Women To Know: Part 8

As we complete the latest set of 50, we ask: Are they somehow getting more awesome? Possibly. But then, they all are.

Maria Gaetana Agnesi (1718-1799): Italian, philosopher, philanthropist for the poor, mathematician, mystic, theologian. Spoke seven languages, wrote the first textbook on differential and integral calculus, and was appointed professor of mathematics at the University of Bologna. 

María Parado de Bellido (1777-1822): Indigenous Peruvian, spy and revolutionary during Peru’s fight for independence from Spain, heroine of the movement and of folk legend alike.

Marta Brilej (1917-2016): Slovenian, member of the partisan resistance against the Nazis during WWII with her husband as they made many attempts to catch her, courier and war hero, ambassador and diplomat (again with her husband) in London, Mexico City, Egypt, Yemen, and other places; died at age 99.

Mary McLeod Bethune (1875-1955): African-American, the daughter of slaves, an educator, humanitarian, and civil rights activist, appointed as a national adviser to President Franklin D. Roosevelt; founded Bethune-Cookman University, a historically black college, along with other efforts to improve education and the lives of recently freed slaves.

Mary Ritter Beard (1876-1958): American, historian of women’s rights and the labor movement, social justice advocate and activist, author of several seminal historical works (along with her husband) and dedicated suffragist.

Maryana Marrash (1848-1919): Syrian, author and poet, figure of the Arabian Renaissance, journalist and first woman to write in Arabic-language newspapers, patron of literary salons and intellectuals.

Mihrimah Sultan (1522-1578): Ottoman Turkish, daughter of Suleiman the Magnificent, the most powerful Ottoman princess in history and recognized as a huge political and economic mastermind in the empire, key figure in the “Sultanate of Women,” sponsor of major architectural projects and a patroness of the arts and sciences.

Mina Spiegel Rees (1902-1997): American, mathematician, pioneer of computer science, head of the math department at the U.S. Naval Research Office, first female president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, instrumental to the entire post-war direction of math and computer science in America.

Moremi Ajasoro (12th century): Yoruba, princess and tribal heroine, who was said to have married a rival prince and then returned to her people with information on how to defeat him, described as brave and beautiful.

N.K. Jemisin (1972 -- ): African-American, novelist, psychologist, and activist, three-time winner of the Hugo Award (the only author to have done so in three straight years) for her insightful, original, and compelling sci-fi and fantasy.

Nodira (1792-1842): Uzbek, poet, stateswoman, outspoken cultural critic, advocate for women’s rights in Central Asia under conservative 19th-century Islamic regimes, public figure, political advisor to her son who ruled as khan of Kokand, hanged after she refused to marry a rival.

Pearl Connor-Mogotsi (1924-2005): Trinidadian, actress, activist, promoter of Afro-Caribbean artistic cultures, institutions, and traditions; worked to represent black artists and authors as a literary agent in the UK in the 1950s; studied law at King’s College London.

Pearl Witherington (1914-2008): British/French, special operations agent during World War II, member of the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force, described as “the best shot the [entire Special Operations Executive] had ever seen,” leader of a ring of spies and so effective that the Nazis put a bounty of one million Reichsmarks on her head; presided over the surrender of 18,000 German troops, LITERALLY JUST. GO READ ABOUT HER.

Peretta Peronne (15th century): French, Parisian surgeon who was prosecuted by the medical faculty of the University of Paris in 1411 for being unlicensed (read: female, as part of a wider effort to restrict and professionalize medicine as an elite male university career). 

Raufa Hassan al-Sharki (1958-2011): Yemeni, feminist, activist, first female journalist in Yemen, fierce advocate for women’s education and opponent of conservative Islamist groups; historian of culture, clothing, and society.

Regina Salomée Halpir (1718-c.1763): Lithuanian, doctor, travel writer, adventurer, who was self-taught as a physician while living in Constantinople with her husband, befriended Empress Anna and Empress Elizabeth of Russia; doctor to the women of the sultan’s harem, eventually wrote her own (if somewhat tall-tale-prone) autobiography.

Rosa María Hinojosa de Ballí (1752-1803): Tejana; rancher and “cattle queen” of Mexican Texas, was left 55,000 acres by her husband in 1790 and owned more than one million acres by the time she died thirteen years later.

Rufaida Al-Aslamia (7th century): Arabian; recognized as the first professional nurse in the history of medicine and the first Islamic female surgeon (c. 620), trained and taught other women medical skills and also was a social worker for the poor, children, and the needy; knew the Prophet Muhammad personally.

Ruža Petrović (1911-1958): Croatian, anti-fascist activist who refused to give up her companions under torture; after having her eyes put out with a dagger in a hideously violent crime, she kept on fighting fascists, and provided strength and moral support to her comrades, was elected to the Antifascist Front and founded an organization for the blind.

Sara Forbes Bonetta (1843-1880): Egbado (West African) princess, kidnapped and sold into slavery, ended up arriving in England and became the goddaughter of Queen Victoria; married a wealthy Yoruba businessman and moved back to Africa; her descendants are still notable in Nigeria.

Sayyida al-Hurra (1485-1561): Moroccan, stone-cold badass governmental administrator and pirate queen, counterpart of the corsair captain Barbarossa of Algiers (who controlled the eastern Mediterranean while she controlled the west); married a king later on but made him come to her to do it; described as “living a life of adventure and romance” (WHERE IS HER MOVIE DAMMIT).

Sofia Kovalevskaya (1850-1891): Russian, mathematician, first woman to earn a doctorate in mathematics, described as “the greatest known woman scientist before the twentieth century,” first woman to edit a scientific journal, professor at Stockholm University in Sweden, feminist and author.

Therese of Bavaria (1850-1925): Bavarian, princess, daughter of Prince Liutpold of Bavaria; ethnologist, zoologist, travel writer, explorer of the Amazon, contributor and student of the (now-absolutely-tragically-destroyed) National Museum of Brazil, member of scientific and geographical learned societies.

Ulrika Eleonora Stålhammar (1683-1733): Swedish, dressed up as a man and served in the army for many years and reached the rank of corporal, married a woman named Maria and won the eventual court case trying them for homosexuality; they served brief sentences and lived happily ever after.

Zofia Potocka (1760-1822): Greek, known for her great beauty and adventurous life, born into a poor Greek family, but became the lover of high-profile nobles/royals, served as a Russian spy; friends with Marie Antoinette; later became a Polish noble, gave generously to the poor in her later years.

[bunaboy]

TRENDING HISTORY: The Owiwi War (1832-1834)

TRENDING HISTORY: The Owiwi War (1832-1834)

The Owiwi war took place in 1832between the ijebu, ibadan, Ota and egbado The egba people rise in abeokuta into a powerful force did not go unchallenged from other Yoruba groups as they became rivals in all commercial activities It reignited the feud between the newly settled Egba people and the ijebu as the Egba traders are now seen as a significant rival to the ijebu and the ibadan…

[fameinhistory]

Seyi Edun

Seyi Edun is a fast growing Nollywood actress, movie producer and entrepreneur. She is the founder and C E O of Shaiworld Entertainment. Background information Full Name: Oluwaseyi EdunBirth place: Lagos stateNationality: NigerianAlso known as: Shai or Eja NlaFamous as: actress, movie producer and entrepreneurYears active: 2009 - presentEducation: Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ogun StateSpouse: Niyi JohnsonReligion: Christian Biographical and educational history Seyi Edun was born and raised in Lagos state but hails from Ayetoro Egbado in Ogun state.Seyi had her primary and secondary education at Tunyo Nursery and Primary and Anglican Girls Grammar School in Surulere, both in Lagos State respectively.She later obtained a Bachelor’s degree at the Olabisi Onabanjo University, in Ogun State. Acting career Seyi Edun began her acting career in 2009 when she joined Nollywood through the help of her younger sister, a script writer.She later went into full time acting shortly after her graduation from the Wisdom Caucus, an acting school with repute.Seyi Edun starred in her first hit movie, Eja Nla, a movie produced by her sister in 2011. Family and personal life Seyi Edun got married to a Nollywood actor, Niyi Johnson in 2018, an ex-husband of Toyin Abraham.There were however rumours making the rounds that Seyi was into secret relationship with Niyi which led to the separation between Johnson and Toyin.But Read the full article

[terrymrriggs]

Happy black history month #MrRiggs giving that #history of are people and showing that you must question everything in life which will enable you to do your research don’t take my information that facts research it and make them #powermoves by following the yellow Brick Road of #traderoutes and discover what you don’t see #stare #stop and #think Sara Forbes Bonetta photographed by Camille Silvy in 1862 Born1843 Oke Odan, #Ogun State and Died 15 August 1880 (aged 36–37) Funchal, Madeira Island, #Portugal A little girl, who hailed from the territory of modern Nigeria, had a really powerful Godmother, probably, the most powerful person on the Earth in the 19th century, – Queen Victoria. The future Goddaughter of the queen, Sarah Forbes Bonetta, was a West African Egbado Omoba (now the Yewa clan of the #Yoruba tribe in #Nigeria), who was orphaned and captured in a war between her tribe and the Dahomeyans. The girl escaped being sacrificed by a miracle: she was saved by a British naval officer, Frederick Forbes, who was on a mission in the autumn of 1849 to negotiate an end to the slave trade among the Dahomans. King Ghezo of Dahomey handed the Nigerian girl over to the officer, as a gift for Queen Victoria. Forbes took her on his ship, the HMS Bonetta. These words formed her adoptive name. Check it out and my book coming out soon #itstrictlybusiness #blackhistory #nubeginning #lifeisforliving #blackpeople (at London, United Kingdom) https://www.instagram.com/p/B3taU1lA_g1/?igshid=bxrqv7q232na

[vague-blogging-history-blog]

Lady Sarah Forbes Bonetta Davies, Yoruba Princess and Goddaughter of Queen Victoria

It was 1843 in south-western Nigeria, hot and dry and politically torn, and a princess was born. Her name was Aina, and she was a Yoruba girl- but more than that, she was a Egbado omoba.

Egbado is a clan of the Yoruba people. Omoba is their closest equivalent to a prince or princess.

However, living in western Africa in the early 1800s meant the constant danger of slave hunts. African elites constantly attempted to capture more slaves to sell into the ever-greedy Atlantic slave trade. When Aina was around four or five, her village was raided, her family murdered, and she captured.

(The picture below is cited as Aina, but I can't find a primary source, so don't swear on it.)

She was enslaved for two years, and then suddenly, she was liberated. A Royal Navy Commander named Frederick Forbes convinced the King who owned her that she would make an excellent gift to Queen Victoria. He wrote in his journal about her;

'To refuse [to purchase Aina], would have been to have signed her death warrant which, probably, would have been carried into execution forthwith. [...] Of her own history she was only a confused idea. Her parents were decapitated; her brother and sisters she knows not what their fate might have been.'

Frederick Forbes renamed the girl Sarah Forbes Bonetta. HMS Bonetta was his ship, which would carry her to England.

There, she finally came face to face with the Queen of the British Empire. Victoria ordered that Sarah be given an education, initially at the Church Missionary Society in England. However Sarah frequently suffered from a bad cough and was for a time sent to the Female Institution of Freetown, Sierra Leone. The idea was that her lungs simply weren't used to English air and required a more familiar climate. Nevertheless, she returned to England age 12. (Yes, all of this before age twelve.)

Sarah was a genius. But don't take it from me;

'She is a perfect genius; she now speaks English well, and has a great talent for music. She has won the affections, with but few exceptions, of all who have known her, she is far in advance of any white child of her age, in aptness of learning, and strength of mind and affection.'

And she was beautiful, elegant, eloquent, talented both with music and art. She impressed Queen Victoria and the two grew closer, with Sarah regularly visiting the Queen and receiving a personal allowance. Queen Victoria even called her a princess.

Sarah Forbes Bonetta did not want to get married. We have letters from her, expressing her fear, and yet she was a young woman in the Victorian era and could only postpone for so long. She reluctantly accepted the proposal of a fellow Yoruba man living in England. He was quite a bit her senior, and very rich. His name was James Pinson Labulo Davies. With Queen Victoria's blessing, they married.

It was a marriage of convenience, but a very lucky one. Over their lifetime they grew fond of one another. Sarah may have initially been reluctant to marry, but she certainly did come to love her husband. They had three children together, who Queen Victoria adored; especially the oldest, named... Victoria. When Victoria Davies passed her music exam, Queen Victoria was so proud that teachers and children had one day of holiday. The Victorias continued to visit each other and remained close until the Queen's death.

Sarah herself died in Madeira, West Africa, of a tuberculosis which had likely been present much of her life, the cause of the coughs that had plagued her as a child. She was thirty seven years old. Her husband erected a monument to her memory in Lagos, Nigeria. He went on to have an extraordinary life of his own.

PoC in the Victorian era are frequently overlooked. Sarah's story has finally begun to be told recently, and the life of this extraordinary woman celebrated.

[newsnigeria]

Check out New Post published on Ọmọ Oòduà

New Post has been published on http://ooduarere.com/art/culture/ilu-aje-town-of-witches/

Ilu Ajẹ (Town Of Witches): A Town In Oyo State

There is a small town on your way to Oyo, just behind Fiditi, it’s called “Ilu Ajẹ”. Which literally, translates to “Town of Witches”. Ilu Aje is a relatively large agrarian community with vast lands located between Ilora and Jobele towns in the Afijio Local Government Area of Oyo State. Semantically, “Ilu Aje” is literally a town of prosperity in sales or business transaction.

However, history bequeathed it with a weird homophonic nomenclature of “Ilu Aje” (Town of Witches) following the intervention of Akinyolu, an herbalist (Ifa diviner) from the town, who cast a divination for a late Alaafin regarding a Prince of his who was missing. In the late 80s, there used to be a sign board in Fiditi that pointed to the path to the village, the signboard had the inscription : “WAY TO ILU AJẸ, HOME OF SCIENCE!”. Lots of people used to fear indigenes of Ilu Ajẹ because it was said that every man in Ilu Ajẹ is born of a witch, and every woman in ilu Ajẹ is a witch! But that is not the case… HOW THE NAME WAS DERIVED Some sources claim that it was when Alaafin Ladigbolu was on the throne, while some claim that it was when Alaafin Adeyemi II; the father of the incumbent Alaafin, Adeyemi III was on the throne. A king’s son got missing ke? Infact, scrap it, Alaafin of Oyo during Oyo-Ile era (old Oyo empire) was not a king, he was an Emperor! No, a deity! Even up till date Alaafin of Oyo’s power is paramount.

Death the father, death the mother, second only in command to the Orisa! When the son of such an entity gets missing, of course it’s bedlam in the whole empire! Hunters were commisioned to look for the son. Every nook and corner of Oyo town was searched. Every crevice was checked, all hilltops were visited, yet the Alaafin’s son couldn’t be found.

Like the shepherd who had 99 sheep but was despondent about the lone missing sheep, the father was heart broken about his missing son. Herbalists were consulted, from Oyo to Ife. Magicians were called upon from Egbado to Ilaje, yet no one could help find the missing son. Kabiyesi was sad, Olori was pained, the Oyomesi were not happy, the King’s household in confusion, the whole empire was gloomy.

Then on one market day by noon, an old tattered herbalist called Akinyolu landed in the market square asking for directions to the Alaafin’s palace. The market women looked at him with disdain as a result of his dirty and wrinkled look. After much ado, he was led to the palace.

He was restricted by protocol to see the King, Iku Baba Yeye. The Palace guards inquired why he is there to see the King. He insisted the matter is only for the Alaafin’s ears. He was turned back until one of the guard told the others that they should seek audience with the King and ask his consent. As the king and chiefs were in the open court deliberating on the issue, Akinyolu entered into the palace court with his apo ifa (oracle bag), everyone looked at him in askance,

“Baba kin le fe, kin le wa se nibi, ta ni e fe ri?” (Baba, what do you want, why are you here, who do you want to see?) Can’t you see we are in the middle of a serious issue?” the chiefs asked him. “Kabiyesi o”, Akinyolu greeted the king. “I am a babalawo from a remote and secluded part of the outskirts of town, I have come to help you with your missing son”. The region of “Ilu Aje” had no name then “Kikiki”, the chiefs laughed. “Babalawos from ‘saner climes’ have tried and failed, oniṣeguns of high repute have attempted and fumbled, who do you think you are? Please get out!”.

Kabiyesi was just looking at him in a non-interested way. Not to treat Akinyolu in a rude manner, Kabiyesi asked him to go ahead, but he should make it snappy. Iwaju ọpọn o gbo Eyin ọpọn o gbo Olumu Ọtun, olukanran Osi Aarin ọpọn Ita ọrun….. Hear o north of the universe Listen o south of the universe Hear o wise ones of the east Listen o knowledgeable ones of the west …..

Akinyolu made his divinations and told the king thus: “Kabiyesi, you need not stress yourself. In 7 days time, when the sun is directly over the head, and man stands upon his own shadow, get 5 chiefs to sit under the (Igi Emi) shea butter tree at the eastern border of the town. They should be dressed in white, and they should continuously clap their hands rythmically in unison, On the 21st clap, the king’s son would have reached them and he would ask for water”. It was clear, Akinyolu must be insane! The chiefs concluded in there mind

But one tries everything to find a lost son. so, though the recommendations of the babalawo was crazy, the Alaafin still carried them out. Behold, on the 21st clap, the king’s son came to them. When the son was brought to the king and the events narrated, the Alaafin was said to have asked: “iru babalawo adifaṣẹ bi ajẹ wo ni babalawo un?”. (What sort of herbalist who makes divinitions that comes through like a witch’s proclamation is this?) Ibo ni o ngbe? (Where does he live?) The people anwered that he lived by a forest patch at the outskirts of Oyo. The King instructed that Akinyolu be clothed in fine apparel and be treated like the important guest he was. The king later told Akinyolu to ask for anything, just anything, he would be ready to oblige.

Akinyolu said : ”Kabiyesi, all I ask for at my advancing age is that I go back to my forest in peace, you may chose amongst your slaves to follow me back to the forest to live our own life there” The King obliged and gave Akinyolu gifts and instructed he be given about 30 slaves to join him on his journey back to the forest.

Akinyolu was made the Baale of his old forest now a thriving town. As he was called “Aje” by the townsmen, so was his domain named “Ilu Aje” which literally means “The witch town”. For a long time, when people want to describe the area where the herbalist lived, they would say “ilu adifaṣẹ bi ajẹ” (One who divines or foretells with precision like a witch). Over time, people just started shortening it to it “Ilu Ajẹ”, they omitted the “adifaṣẹ”. That was how the town Got her name and Akinyolu ruled as the first Alaje of Ilu-Aje.

[alaayemore-blog]

 Fermina Gómez ( also known as Ocha Bi, timbelese Olodumare meaning at the feet of the Almighty) was a priestess of Yemaya and a child of the two waters (Ochun and Yemaya). She is credited with bringing the secrets of Olokun to Cuba from West Africa. She is also known as the founder of one of the largest ramas or branches of the Lucumi/Santeria religion, the Egwado (named after her village in West Africa). Ferminita was Madrina to Alfredo Calvo, her last surviving godchild. She lived to be 107. Her spiritual name, Ocha Bi, means "Ocha is here."

I want to add that even though the post above says that she was from Egwado, which I think means Egbado, Egbado is not a village its the name of a clan of Yoruba people who now go by Yewa and mostly inhabit Ogun state in Nigeria. In the early 18th century the Egbado towns(Ilaro, Ayetoro, Imeko, Ipoki, and Igbogila) were subjected to the rule of the Oyo Empire so these parts were very much involved/impacted by the Transatlantic slave trade as slavery was huge sector of the Oyo economy. After the fall of Oyo between the late 18th century and early 19th century, the Egbado were able to achieve independence but Dahomey and other groups of people who profited off slavery would continue to subject the Egbado to slave raids. By the mid 1800's several Egbado towns were destroyed and the Egbado lost their autonomy, the raids continued until slavery was finally abolished and it became unprofitable. I am not sure what period Ocha Bi or what part of Yorubaland she was kinapped from but its highly likely that she was Egbado. Egwado and Egbado sound very similar when pronounced but in West African Yoruba its spelt differently and as I mentioned earlier Egbado refers to a Yoruba speaking group of people, its not place but there are several towns founded and inhabited by Egbado people. Additionally this is a very brief and condensed part of the history of the Egbado people.