ESAN MEGA FORUM CELEBRATE ESAN INTERNATIONAL DAY: The true story of the Origin of Esan people of Edo State.

The true story of the Origin of Esan people of Edo State.

View pictures in App save up to 80% data.The Esan people of located in Edo state also known as Ishan (colonial masters corruption of the original name).

Formerly alot of people believe other tribes in edo are those who deserted the palace or the great Benin kingdom, due to conflicts or disagreements with the monarchs of that time.

 

The purpose of this write-up is to clarify with Archaeological evidence the origin of the Bini and Ishan people debunking the myth of oral traditions which hold no historical evidence.

The Esan people are a descendant of one Idu who emerged as the chief of a hill top settlement called 'Uhe', a people who had escaped the ravaging floods of the Benue pleatue area and sought refuge on the higher ground across the river Niger. Thus establishing Uhe in some location around 6th century A.D. Relying among other things of the historical dating and evidence of the NOK culture, who existed in that area around 1000 B.C. Further research records that the progenesis of Idu's children and the migrants that accompanied them from Uhe are the four clans we know today as Estako, Bini, Esan Urhobo (they are from same progenitor) inhabiting former mid-western Nigeria, Edo and Delta State.

The second grandson of Idu, called Esan n' Obhiodu (Esan the bravest) whose mother Ehi was Idu third daughter is the eponymous ancestor of the Esan clan.

Akka died in a place we now know today as Irrua and sometimes early in the 7th century A.D. His nephew Esan, choose to remain in the place his Uncle was buried. He told his younger Uncles, "Irru-uwa" meaning, 'i am home comfortable here'

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Irrua became the nucleate home from which the Esan people evolved, there are those who choose to rely on accounts recorded of the large groups who broke away from Benin, in the middle of the 15 century during the reign of Oba Ewuare as the origin of Esan people. The movement titled Esanfua literally meaning "jumped off" has over the years been shortened to Esan and later corrupted by the colonial masters to Ishan.

Nevertheless linguistic evidence suggests that if the 15 century departure from the Benin was their origin, why the language differences and also the Esan people constantly fought wars with the Benin kingdom for centuries before the arrival of the colonial masters. Although there was a movement, but they where already established towns and cities outside of Benin kingdom, among which where the Esan people.

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During the 16th century, the Uzea War occurred. This war was between the Uromi Kingdom and the Benin Kingdom. The war lasted from 1502 to 1503, and resulted from a refusal of friendship from Oba Ozolua of Benin by Onojie Agba of Uromi. The war ended at the town of Uzea, when both leaders were killed. However, in peaceful times Esan kingdoms would loan soldiers to the Benin Kingdom, such as during the Idah War of 1515-1516, and the sacking of Akure in 1823.

The Esan tribe where known for their military strengths in 1899 the British led an invasion into Esan kingdom, this lasted for seven years, and conquering Esan was far harder than the Benin kingdom. There are 35 established autonomous kingdom in Esanland.