Ọranyan


Oranmiyan Omoluabi Odede, Great Prince of Ife, King of the Yoruba, also known as Ọranyan, was a Yoruba king from the kingdom of Ile-Ife. Although he was the youngest, he became the prime heir of Oduduwa upon his return to claim his grandfather's throne.
According to Yoruba history, he founded Oyo as its first Alaafin at around the year 1300 after he had left Benin where he had been crowned the first Oba of Benin.
Following the Oba Oranyan'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 down 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, during what is known as the "classical" Ife period.

Early life

Not much is known about Oranmiyan's childhood and most of the information about his early life comes from Ife sources. A man of two fathers - Oduduwa and Ogun - who both had relations with his mother Lakange Anihunka
The legend further compounds the controversy by stating that Oranmiyan was two-tone in complexion: half his body was light-skinned, while the other half was ebony-black. Due to this, he was given the name Oranmiyan. 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 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

The cold war in Oduduwa dynasty of Ile-Ife made the fourth Ooni Obalufon Ogbogbodirin of Ife to send Oranmiyan on war expedition to Igodomigodo.Oranmiyan, a warlike Prince, son of Ogun, the third Ooni and grandson of Oduduwa.The mission was intended to be a "death trap" for Oranmiyan, and to allow the reigning Ooni to reign peacefully and supreme. Oranmiyan and his large Calvary army invaded Igodomigodo, subdued it and brought the kingdom under his control. Oranmiyan camped at a place called Use, meaning "making of a city" or "politicking", and began to rule Benin from there. His foreign style of management didn't go down well with the chiefs, and 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, he stopped briefly at Egor where he took Erinmwide, the daughter of the Enogie of Egor, as a wife. Eweka I was the result of this union. Oranmiyan was never to return to Benin. In his place, Eweka I became king. Oranmiyan, or Oromiyan as pronounced by the Edo people, is recognized as the first Oba of Benin a direct linage of Oduduwa, Oranmiyan become known as the first Oba of benin, the new dynasty known as the "God King". which is still ruling today.

Oranmiyan at Oyo

After leaving Benin at about 1190, he moved north with his ever loyal entourage and settled close to the river Moshi. 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.

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 the month of September in Oyo, Nigeria.