Recently, while going through a paper by Simon Ottenberg, the famous anthropologist of the Afikpo people, I came across a passage on the deity Kamalu (Nkamalu) that at first made no sense to me:

Ottenberg describes Nkamalu among the Afikpo as an all-purpose personal tutelary deity for males, instead of the community-wide god of thunder and lightning that students of Igbo religion are familiar with. Nkamalu is associated with success in farming, and is propitiated at least twice during the farming season: the first time is after the pre-farming bush burning to ask for good crops; the second time after the harvest as a thank-offering.

Ottenberg mentions a number of other minor rites that shows a clear connection between Nkamalu and a farmer's hopes for a successful harvest.

It wasn't just success in farming that Nkamalu is linked with. He is linked with success in wrestling, in headhunting, in fights... In short, Nkamalu is a personal deity of individual male success, much like Ikenga among the Igbo west of the Cross River area. Ottenberg himself sees and remarks on the close parallel between Nkamalu and Ikenga. Ottenberg also says that his Afikpo informants were emphatic that Nkamalu has nothing to do with thunder and lightning. He writes: "Elsewhere in Igbo country, Nkamalo is a high deity of considerable importance associated with lightning and thunder. The Afikpo, however, are emphatic that their Nkamalo is associated neither with these elements nor with a high god."

Elsewhere among the Cross River Igbo, I've come across references to "Nkamalu Ji", "Kamalu Oba" (Kamalu of the Barns), "Kamalu Agbata Uzo Oba" (Kamalu of the Pathway to the Barn), etc, who are all connected to the farming cycle and to the male well-being in general, but not to the sky.

It would appear that Kamalu was in the beginning a Cross River Igbo deity very distinct in character from the Amadioha of the Southern Igbo. The Aro are the most likely agency of the Kamalu-Amadioha association and eventual convergence, perhaps dating back to the beginning of their relations with the Etche of Ozuzu in the 18th century or so.

One wonders what purpose identifying Amadioha of Ozuzu with Kamalu might have [been intended to] serve(d). To increase Amadioha's marketability among the Cross River Igbo? Perhaps. Identifying an originally non-Igbo deity with a strange name (Ibini Ukpabi) with the Chi concept certainly made it more marketable among the Igbo.

One also wonders if the question of marketability informed the Amadioha Oracle established to the north among the Isu people going by a different name. The sky (even if in a vague form) was somewhat deified in the north. Thunder and lighting, not so much. Those precolonial hustlers were quite clever.

Are you saying that Igwekala was Aro manipulation of Amadioha to suit local beliefs of the Northern Isu?

Igboid:
Are you saying that Igwekala was Aro manipulation of Amadioha to suit local beliefs of the Northern Isu?

Not necessarily by the Aro. The Aro didn't establish it. The Etche did. At least traditions says they did.

But, yes, I am wondering if the handlers of Igwekala had something like that at the back of their minds.

Gbaghara... I seem to have written quite a lot

This has been one of my biggest annoyances. You know, there are times when the Igbo academia (historians, supposed culture experts, etc.) really and truly fails. I wonder just how much of this failure is intentional, because how could they miss glaring details such as this.

From what has been told to me, we credit Aro with the diffusion of Kamanu into our axis. The Aro people that I've spoken with have referred to Ohafia's Kamalu Ikere as the "Kamalu" in question. Ohafia's Kamalu Ikere is the "Kalu of Akanu" (Kalu Akanu), I believe. Now, I don't what Kalu Akanu's relationship is with Nkamalu in Afikpo. As in, I'm not sure what the diffusion pattern was for this idea in that area, but it seems more than likely that there is a relationship. They are both tutelary deities, and from what I know, Kalu Akanu is associated with war. I cannot speak for or against the other qualities attributed to Kalu Akanu relative to Nkamalu in Afikpo.

Now, I don't know why historians loved attributing Amadioha and Igwe ka Ala to the Aro, when we know that Amadioha (and satellites such as Igwe ka Ala) had a strained relationship with the Aro confederacy.

The Aro were sponsoring and employing raids as an effective means of destabilizing the region and procuring slaves. Amadioha is an arbitration deity, hence it's name "Amadi" (arbitrator, from the amadi culture of the Ngwa-Ikwerre axis) and "Oha" (of the people). Amadioha is non-tutelary, so during the ongoing raids, generally, no one was turning to these oracles for protection, as that was not their function. This impacted their ability to engage in the slave trade at the same capacity that they did before. So, Aro's first introduction into the area hit Amadioha (and the satellites) hard.

The relationship became further strained when Aro effectively ended its ongoing raiding campaign. Supposedly, the southern rain forest region made it difficult for Aro to continue executing effective raids without a heavy cost. So it turned to using oracular trade. Aro traders capitalized on already existing trade routes to do business. They carried Ibini Ukpabi with them, and through trade were able to establish local Ibini Ukpabi satellites often called "Chukwu Obiama/Abiama", emphasizing it as an ultimate and infallible center for arbitration. This further pushed Amadioha and its satellites out of the picture.

Along with Ibini Ukpabi, Aro brought a host of other ideas, ie. Ekpe as Okonko, and of course, the main reason for our conversation, Kamalu. Though we have now come to generally use Kamanu to refer to Amadioha (as in Kamanu Ozuzu), southern communities still actually distinguish between Amadioha satellites and Kamanu satellites. Firstly, we recognize Kamanu as having shown up much later than Amadioha. Secondly, much like how we refer to Okonko as Ekpe Aru, so also is Kamanu often locally dubbed as Kamanu nde Aru.

So, it leaves one asking and wondering why and how Amadioha and Kamanu converged, if we can distinguish between the two. Here are my thoughts on that.

Convergence between the two is most likely due to the confederacy seeking a stronger economic foothold through propaganda. Historians have credited Aro with sponsoring a number of shrines in the area. These were mostly Kamanu shrines which seemed to serve in a subordinated capacity to Ibini Ukpabi. Ozuzu traditions hint at a vague relationship with Aro, which has been the basis for historians asserting that Nneoha (founder of Igwe ka Ala) had Aro ancestry. However, we can be fairly certain that Aro did not establish Amadioha, and that Nneoha was not of Aro ancestry. That said, it is most likely that Amadioha Ozuzu was sponsored in one way or another by the Aro.

Here is my line of thought on this:

1. There are Amadioha and Kamanu shrines throughout the southern-ish tip, and we don't confuse the two. By southern-ish tip, I refer to the communities within the Ngwa-Mbaise, Asa-Ndoki, Ngo-Okpuala-Echie-Ikwerre stretch. I am excluding the Uratta and the Isu complex, because I have not really heard much about Kamanu from their end. Instead, what seems to be present for them is the idea of "Chukwu Abiama". Interestingly enough, Chukwu Abiama is not well instituted within the southern-ish tip. This leads me to my next line of thought.

2. Chukwu Obiama/Abiama and Kamalu, as diffused into the southern region, are likely the exact same thing, being Ibini Ukpabi satellites. Both were sponsored by the Aro, and both either trafficked victims to Ibini Ukpabi or deferred disputes/cases to Ibini Ukpabi. In fact, I don't recall where I read this (I'll have to go searching through my drives), but there were some Kamanu shrines in Ngo-Okpuala and Ngwa that were known to transport criminals to Arochukwu (most likely Ibini Ukpabi). Crimes were not punished locally, and this was a well-known thing within the communities. Now, looking at the distribution on a map, Chukwu Obiama/Abiama and Kamalu hardly ever overlap, indicating distinct or separate campaigns (perhaps starting at different times). Chukwu Obiama/Abiama predominantly stretches from the upper Abia, upper/central Imo, the uppermost part of Rivers (Ekpeye & Ogba) and into Delta. We observe Kamalu as predominantly stretching from the lower half of Abia, southern/eastern Imo, and into western/central parts of Rivers. If this indeed represents separate Aro campaigns, then it leads me to my next line of thought.

3. We know that there exists a vague relationship with Aro and Ozuzu, leading us to be fairly certain that Amadioha Ozuzu was sponsored by Aro in some way. It is also safe to say that the satellite shrines associated with Aro, within the southern-ish tip, were primarily known as "Kamanu", hence the common epithet of "Kamanu nde Aru". Sponsorship of Amadioha Ozuzu might very well have occurred during this campaign period. If I take a step back from thinking about spirituality and philosophy and take a look at economics and trade, we know that business agreements and business relationships come with conditions. It could very well have been as simple as saying that one of the conditions of that sponsorship was for Amadioha Ozuzu to go by "Kamanu Ozuzu". It's possible that the arrangement might have been for Amadioha Ozuzu to preserve its independence and authority, maybe in exchange for deferring at least some of the traffic and cases to Arochukwu. Perhaps.

4. If this (or anything similar) is the case, then it might explain why the various Amadioha in the region are not called "Kamanu", while Amadioha Ozuzu is. It might also explain why Ozuzu's Aro relationship is characterized as "vague", despite there being a known Aro settlement just miles away at Isiokpo in Ikwerre. It is also well known in the area that when you mention "Kamanu", though there are a plethora of Kamanu shrines in the southern-ish tip, you are most likely referring to Amadioha Ozuzu. Amadioha's independence and renown was preserved. As a consequence, some of its stronger attributes (sky, lightning, thunder and rain) might have been fed backward into the concept of "Kamalu" within the southern-ish tip. This might explain the discrepancy in attributes for communities in the Cross River/northeastern where Amadioha's influence did not reach.

Hmm... Now, I'm not presenting this as a "matter of fact". This is really just my thought process right now as I ponder the issue. I have not come across any traditions that explicitly explain the convergence between Amadioha and Kamalu, though there are several things that are known about the relationship in the area, already as it is. I have based much of this on that.

I would be interested however, in knowing the timeline for which ports (within the Bight of Biafra) became dominant for whichever duration, during the transatlantic slave trade. I wonder as well what we know about how the ports either grew or declined in their involvement with human trafficking. I wonder if it might lend some credence to this line of thought and likely give us a timeline for my newly speculative "Kamalu" campaign.

AjaanaOka:
Not necessarily by the Aro. The Aro didn't establish it. The Etche did. At least traditions says they did.

But, yes, I am wondering if the handlers of Igwekala had something like that at the back if their minds.

As far as this is concerned, I had never stopped to think about that aspect. In truth, I've always wondered why Igwe ka Ala had a different name, and it's only recently that I suppositioned climate change as part of that. It never crossed my mind though to consider the effect of an already present Sky-related spirituality. However, that does leave me wondering about other satellite shrines in the area and further north that may answer "Amadioha" or "Amadiora", but not "Igwe ka Ala".

Either way, the pre-existing Sky-related spirituality provides a solid basis for such a thought, and I would not be surprised if Nneoha capitalized on that. I would not even be surprised if it turned out that the forceful establishment of Umunneoha was to do just that. After reading and researching into pre-colonial Igbo history and culture, one thing has been made very clear to me. Ako na uche was abundant during those dynamic times.

ChinenyeN:
Gbaghara... I seem to have written quite a lot

This has been one of my biggest annoyances. You know, there are times when the Igbo academia (historians, supposed culture experts, etc.) really and truly fails. I wonder just how much of this failure is intentional, because how could they miss glaring details such as this.

From what has been told to me, we credit Aro with the diffusion of Kamanu into our axis. The Aro people that I've spoken with have referred to Ohafia's Kamalu Ikere as the "Kamalu" in question. Ohafia's Kamalu Ikere is the "Kalu of Akanu" (Kalu Akanu), I believe. Now, I don't what Kalu Akanu's relationship is with Nkamalu in Afikpo. As in, I'm not sure what the diffusion pattern was for this idea in that area, but it seems more than likely that there is a relationship. They are both tutelary deities, and from what I know, Kalu Akanu is associated with war. I cannot speak for or against the other qualities attributed to Kalu Akanu relative to Nkamalu in Afikpo.

Now, I don't know why historians loved attributing Amadioha and Igwe ka Ala to the Aro, when we know that Amadioha (and satellites such as Igwe ka Ala) had a strained relationship with the Aro confederacy.

The Aro were sponsoring and employing raids as an effective means of destabilizing the region and procuring slaves. Amadioha is an arbitration deity, hence it's name "Amadi" (arbitrator, from the amadi culture of the Ngwa-Ikwerre axis) and "Oha" (of the people). Amadioha is non-tutelary, so during the ongoing raids, generally, no one was turning to these oracles for protection, as that was not their function. This impacted their ability to engage in the slave trade at the same capacity that they did before. So, Aro's first introduction into the area hit Amadioha (and the satellites) hard.

The relationship became further strained when Aro effectively ended its ongoing raiding campaign. Supposedly, the southern rain forest region made it difficult for Aro to continue executing effective raids without a heavy cost. So it turned to using oracular trade. Aro traders capitalized on already existing trade routes to do business. They carried Ibini Ukpabi with them, and through trade were able to establish local Ibini Ukpabi satellites often called "Chukwu Obiama/Abiama", emphasizing it as an ultimate and infallible center for arbitration. This further pushed Amadioha and its satellites out of the picture.

Along with Ibini Ukpabi, Aro brought a host of other ideas, ie. Ekpe as Okonko, and of course, the main reason for our conversation, Kamalu. Though we have now come to generally use Kamanu to refer to Amadioha (as in Kamanu Ozuzu), southern communities still actually distinguish between Amadioha satellites and Kamanu satellites. Firstly, we recognize Kamanu as having shown up much later than Amadioha. Secondly, much like how we refer to Okonko as Ekpe Aru, so also is Kamanu often locally dubbed as Kamanu nde Aru.

So, it leaves one asking and wondering why and how Amadioha and Kamanu converged, if we can distinguish between the two. Here are my thoughts on that.

Convergence between the two is most likely due to the confederacy seeking a stronger economic foothold through propaganda. Historians have credited Aro with sponsoring a number of shrines in the area. These were mostly Kamanu shrines which seemed to serve in a subordinated capacity to Ibini Ukpabi. Ozuzu traditions hint at a vague relationship with Aro, which has been the basis for historians asserting that Nneoha (founder of Igwe ka Ala) had Aro ancestry. However, we can be fairly certain that Aro did not establish Amadioha, and that Nneoha was not of Aro ancestry. That said, it is most likely that Amadioha Ozuzu was sponsored in one way or another by the Aro.

Here is my line of thought on this:

1. There are Amadioha and Kamanu shrines throughout the southern-ish tip, and we don't confuse the two. By southern-ish tip, I refer to the communities within the Ngwa-Mbaise, Asa-Ndoki, Ngo-Okpuala-Echie-Ikwerre stretch. I am excluding the Uratta and the Isu complex, because I have not really heard much about Kamanu from their end. Instead, what seems to be present for them is the idea of "Chukwu Abiama". Interestingly enough, Chukwu Abiama is not well instituted within the southern-ish tip. This leads me to my next line of thought.

2. Chukwu Obiama/Abiama and Kamalu, as diffused into the southern region, are likely the exact same thing, being Ibini Ukpabi satellites. Both were sponsored by the Aro, and both either trafficked victims to Ibini Ukpabi or deferred disputes/cases to Ibini Ukpabi. In fact, I don't recall where I read this (I'll have to go searching through my drives), but there were some Kamanu shrines in Ngo-Okpuala and Ngwa that were known to transport criminals to Arochukwu (most likely Ibini Ukpabi). Crimes were not punished locally, and this was a well-known thing within the communities. Now, looking at the distribution on a map, Chukwu Obiama/Abiama and Kamalu hardly ever overlap, indicating distinct or separate campaigns (perhaps starting at different times). Chukwu Obiama/Abiama predominantly stretches from the upper Abia, upper/central Imo, the uppermost part of Rivers (Ekpeye & Ogba) and into Delta. We observe Kamalu as predominantly stretching from the lower half of Abia, southern/eastern Imo, and into western/central parts of Rivers. If this indeed represents separate Aro campaigns, then it leads me to my next line of thought.

3. We know that there exists a vague relationship with Aro and Ozuzu, leading us to be fairly certain that Amadioha Ozuzu was sponsored by Aro in some way. It is also safe to say that the satellite shrines associated with Aro, within the southern-ish tip, were primarily known as "Kamanu", hence the common epithet of "Kamanu nde Aru". Sponsorship of Amadioha Ozuzu might very well have occurred during this campaign period. If I take a step back from thinking about spirituality and philosophy and take a look at economics and trade, we know that business agreements and business relationships come with conditions. It could very well have been as simple as saying that one of the conditions of that sponsorship was for Amadioha Ozuzu to go by "Kamanu Ozuzu". It's possible that the arrangement might have been for Amadioha Ozuzu to preserve its independence and authority, maybe in exchange for deferring at least some of the traffic and cases to Arochukwu. Perhaps.

4. If this (or anything similar) is the case, then it might explain why the various Amadioha in the region are not called "Kamanu", while Amadioha Ozuzu is. It might also explain why Ozuzu's Aro relationship is characterized as "vague", despite there being a known Aro settlement just miles away at Isiokpo in Ikwerre. It is also well known in the area that when you mention "Kamanu", though there are a plethora of Kamanu shrines in the southern-ish tip, you are most likely referring to Amadioha Ozuzu. Amadioha's independence and renown was preserved. As a consequence, some of its stronger attributes (sky, lightning, thunder and rain) might have been fed backward into the concept of "Kamalu" within the southern-ish tip. This might explain the discrepancy in attributes for communities in the Cross River/northeastern where Amadioha's influence did not reach.

Hmm... Now, I'm not presenting this as a "matter of fact". This is really just my thought process right now as I ponder the issue. I have not come across any traditions that explicitly explain the convergence between Amadioha and Kamalu, though there are several things that are known about the relationship in the area, already as it is. I have based much of this on that.

Thanks for this. You don't get information like this in the published books and journal articles.

I would be interested however, in knowing the timeline for which ports (within the Bight of Biafra) became dominant for whichever duration, during the transatlantic slave trade. I wonder as well what we know about how the ports either grew or declined in their involvement with human trafficking. I wonder if it might lend some credence to this line of thought and likely give us a timeline for my newly speculative "Kamalu" campaign.

I will be back to talk about this. Because as it is, at least one historian of the slave trade that I am aware of did discuss the timeline and which Bight-of-Biafra ports were in ascendancy at diffrrent periods, although not as exhaustively as I would have liked. But there's enough information to build a hypothesis on. I'll be back.

AjaanaOka:



Thanks for this. You don't get information like this in the published books and journal articles.



I will be back to talk about this. Because as it is, at least one historian of the slave trade that I am aware of did discuss the timeline and which Bight-of-Biafra ports were in ascendancy at diffrrent periods, although not as exhaustively as I would have liked. But there's enough information to build a hypothesis on. I'll be back.

Nnwanne I've been wanting to ask... What does "Nri" mean?

AjaanaOka:
Recently, while going through a paper by Simon Ottenberg, the famous anthropologist of the Afikpo people, I came across a passage on the deity Kamalu (Nkamalu) that at first made no sense to me:

Ottenberg describes Nkamalu among the Afikpo as an all-purpose personal tutelary deity for males, instead of the community-wide god of thunder and lightning that students of Igbo religion are familiar with. Nkamalu is associated with success in farming, and is propitiated at least twice during the farming season: the first time is after the pre-farming bush burning to ask for good crops; the second time after the harvest as a thank-offering.

Ottenberg mentions a number of other minor rites that shows a clear connection between Nkamalu and a farmer's hopes for a successful harvest.

It wasn't just success in farming that Nkamalu is linked with. He is linked with success in wrestling, in headhunting, in fights... In short, Nkamalu is a personal deity of individual male success, much like Ikenga among the Igbo west of the Cross River area. Ottenberg himself sees and remarks on the close parallel between Nkamalu and Ikenga. Ottenberg also says that his Afikpo informants were emphatic that Nkamalu has nothing to do with thunder and lightning. He writes: "Elsewhere in Igbo country, Nkamalo is a high deity of considerable importance associated with lightning and thunder. The Afikpo, however, are emphatic that their Nkamalo is associated neither with these elements nor with a high god."

Elsewhere among the Cross River Igbo, I've come across references to "Nkamalu Ji", "Kamalu Oba" (Kamalu of the Barns), "Kamalu Agbata Uzo Oba" (Kamalu of the Pathway to the Barn), etc, who are all connected to the farming cycle and to the male well-being in general, but not to the sky.

It would appear that Kamalu was in the beginning a Cross River Igbo deity very distinct in character from the Amadioha of the Southern Igbo. The Aro are the most likely agency of the Kamalu-Amadioha association and eventual convergence, perhaps dating back to the beginning of their relations with the Etche of Ozuzu in the 18th century or so.

One wonders what purpose identifying Amadioha of Ozuzu with Kamalu might have [been intended to] serve(d). To increase Amadioha's marketability among the Cross River Igbo? Perhaps. Identifying an originally non-Igbo deity with a strange name (Ibini Ukpabi) with the Chi concept certainly made it more marketable among the Igbo.

One also wonders if the question of marketability informed the Amadioha Oracle established to the north among the Isu people going by a different name. The sky (even if in a vague form) was somewhat deified in the north. Thunder and lighting, not so much. Those precolonial hustlers were quite clever.

From what I know as an Igbo man and what I understand in relation to your write-up, within our Igbo tradition/culture that has to do with the spiritual beings in as much as there difference I will divided them into different category/spiritual area's.

1) Agbara Ala(I mean the spiritual realms/ Land and not entirely about the Earth goddess) : here we have the spiritual beings associated with
*) Mountain
*) Cave
*) Spiritual beings associated with the boundaries
*) Spiritual beings associated with different mystic trees or sacred grove
*) And Ala the Earth goddess.

2) Agbara nmiri(realms) : Here, we have different river in the villages in Igbo land and each of them have different spirit force/beings(Male and Female) that goes by different names whom are attached to each of the different rivers but they all fall within the Agbara nmiri.

3) Agbara Elu(Sky or upwards realms) : Here, we have spiritual beings associated with the sky which is where Kamalu,Amadioha and Ayenwu etc belongs.

4) Winde/Breeze and Fire/Light : the Winde is associated to the sky realms while Fire is associated with the Land and also with the Sky.

IN GENERALE

Kamalu and Amadioha both are spiritual force from the sky realms, in your write-up Kamalu is associated with good farming and for there to be a good farming there has to be a raining day with something that comes with the rain eg thunder and lightning, now comes Amadioha that is know as God of thunder and lightning also associated with love peace and justice, people in the past also reverence Amadioha so that they will have good farming and for their family to be able to have children (multiple), for thunder and lightning also comes with the rain.

ChinenyeN:


I would be interested however, in knowing the timeline for which ports (within the Bight of Biafra) became dominant for whichever duration, during the transatlantic slave trade. I wonder as well what we know about how the ports either grew or declined in their involvement with human trafficking. I wonder if it might lend some credence to this line of thought and likely give us a timeline for my newly speculative "Kamalu" campaign.

Sorry. This took way longer than I had intended.

So it does happen that we possess a working timeline for the Bight-of-Biafra's ports and in which periods they were in ascendancy. The most conscious attempt at presenting a timeline that I am personally aware of was by AFC Ryder in his chapter in Groundwork of Nigerian History edited by O. Ikime. Chapter title: "The Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade.

Ryder recognises three phases of the slave traffic with respect to Nigeria:

Phase one: c. 1480 to c. 1630. The period saw a peak between 1515 to 1540, with the number of slaves taken from the Benin River and the Rio Real (i.e., the combined Bonny-Kalabari estuary) reaching a total of some 2,000 in exceptional years.

Phase two: c. 1630 to c. 1730. This period saw all the European slave-trading states seeking cargoes from the Eastern Delta, and to a lesser extent from Old Calabar and Andoni. The number of slaves sold in this period varied greatly from year to year with conditions in the trading states, in Europe and the Americas.

Phase three: c. 1730 to the end of the traffic. The period of the opening of the Yoruba slave ports and the ascendancy of Bonny in the delta.

This is too general; but based on Ryder's discussion in the chapter, one can develop a modified Bight-of-Biafra-centric timeline which will look like this:

First period: c. 1480 to c. 1520 The trade in this period was focused in the Western Delta, involving the so called 5 slave rivers: Benin, Escravos, Forcados, Ramos, Primiero. The Eastern Delta saw some traffic in this period (for example, we have a Portuguese description of slaving in the Rio Real, i.e, Bonny-Kalabari area, c. 1500) but not a great deal.

Second period: c. 1520 to the end of the 17th century The trade's epicentre shifted from the Western Delta to the Bight of Biafra. Ryder says that almost all the slaves in this period were obtained from Elem Kalabari, the remainder coming from Bille or Ifoko. Bonny appears to have been bypassed, he says. According to Jones, the reason for Kalabari's virtual monopoly of the slave trade in this period lay in its advantageous position in relation to the inland markets from which slaves were obtained. Whereas it took the Bonny canoes a week or more to visit their Ndoki markets on the Imo River, the Kalabari could reach their markets up the New Calabar River "on a single tide." This meant that a ship could expect to complete its cargo much more quickly at New Calabar than at Bonny.

Now, since we know that Elem Kalabari's hinterland markets were in Ikwerreland, Elem Kalabari's ascendancy in the period from the 1520s to the late 17th century must have meant a flourishing of the trade in Ikwerreland. For the nearby Amadioha Ozuzu, this must have also been its era of ascendancy in Southern Igboland. I also think this is the background against which the Iwhnuruohna/Ochichi movement should be understood: a colonization of strategic economically important locations in Ikwerre territory by Ozuzu oracle handlers cum slave dealers, and not really as the initial settling of empty lands by migrants from Ozuzu. I suggest that the word Iwhnuruohna (whatever it means) was introduced by these Echie 'businessmen', and that it was probably in this period that the peoples of (parts of) Ikwerreland began to develop some sense of common identity around the 'Iwhnuruohna' concept. In other words, Ozuzu-Echie 'colonization' perhaps in some sense inspired/catalysed an Ikwerre ethnogenesis apparently centred on Elele.

Ryder remarks that the volume of the slave trade increased dramatically from 1638 when the number of slaves exported suddenly rose into the thousands annually. On the Eze Nri post we mentioned the dramatic rise in the number of slaves sold from Biafra from 2,921 between 1601 and 1625, to 33,540 between 1626 and 1650. This was Ryder's dramatic increase. The focus of the trade was still Elem Kalabari, so we are looking at a giant boost in the Echie-Ikwerre traffic. This period (the mid-17th century) is the period the Ozuzu were most likely to have expanded north dramatically and established a 'liaison office' at Umunneoha. [By the way, was 'oha' some sort of Ozuzu catchphrase: Amadioha, Iwhnuruohna, Umunneoha? ]

Ryder says Bonny emerged from eclipse in the last quarter of the 17th century to challenge Kalabari domination of the traffic in the Rio Real. Reason for Bonny's emergence? His words: "It was aided by a growing reluctance on the part of ships' captains to spend the five or six weeks needed to collect a cargo anchored off New Calabar. Instead they preferred to lie near the river mouth [where Bonny was located] where the crews were less exposed to mosquitoes. Taking advantage of this development, the people of Bonny were able to compete more effectively with the Kalabari, even though they had still to send their canoes on journeys of 9 or 10 days to gather slaves and provisions."

Ryder also suggests, and I agree, that the rise of the "Long Juju" of Arochukwu played a major role in the awakening of Bonny by co-ordinating slave-gathering far inland to feed the Imo River (i.e., Ndoki) markets of the Bonny. This means that the Arọ with their Chukwu and their Kamalu probably began making their presence felt in the Imo Basin (Ngwa/Asa/Ndoki axis) late in the 17th century or slightly earlier, where they were probably preceded by Ozuzu men. The cooperation and intertwining of business networks that eventually led to the Amadioha-Kamalu Convergence probably began here and at this point.

I don't know how this helps our hypotheses, but the Arọ seem to have viewed Chukwu and Kamalu as a pair of some sort. In the Shrine of Ibini Ukpabi was/is a statue of Kamalu, and I found this Aro saying, relating to this "Chukwu-Kamalu complex": Gi biawa inye Obasi, nyekwe Kalu; ma Obasi erighi, Kalu anara ya rie.

Perhaps, the Aro started off seeing Amadioha Ozuzu as Chukwu's partner. Just like Kamalu back home. And in time Amadioha evolved from being just like Kamalu to being Kamalu. There were probably more complex dynamics at work than this, though.

Third period: the 18th and 19th centuries Bonny's and by extension the Aro's era. Not much to add here.


You may notice the timeline is almost entirely focused on Bonny and Kalabari and says next to nothing about how other important players like Andoni fared. Consider that one of its weaknesses.

Identifying the Aro-exported Kamalu with the Kalu Akanu helps me solve a little puzzle though: How did the 'l' change to 'n' (hence, Kamanu) among a people who do not typically replace 'l' with 'n'?

If indeed it came from Akanu village in Ohafia, it is possible that some people, in trying to use the full name "Kamalu Akanu" may have in time condensed the names to Kamanu, taking the -nu from the name of the village.

Although now I'm kind of wondering why the Arọ adopted and widely promoted an Ohafia deity.

cheruv:

Nnwanne I've been wanting to ask... What does "Nri" mean?

Nobody has an answer as far as I know. I do have a couple of theories though.

letu:
From what I know as an Igbo man and what I understand in relation to your write-up, within our Igbo tradition/culture that has to do with the spiritual beings in as much as there difference I will divided them into different category/spiritual area's.

1) Agbara Ala(I mean the spiritual realms/ Land and not entirely about the Earth goddess) : here we have the spiritual beings associated with
*) Mountain
*) Cave
*) Spiritual beings associated with the boundaries
*) Spiritual beings associated with different mystic trees or sacred grove
*) And Ala the Earth goddess.

2) Agbara nmiri(realms) : Here, we have different river in the villages in Igbo land and each of them have different spirit force/beings(Male and Female) that goes by different names whom are attached to each of the different rivers but they all fall within the Agbara nmiri.

3) Agbara Elu(Sky or upwards realms) : Here, we have spiritual beings associated with the sky which is where Kamalu,Amadioha and Ayenwu etc belongs.

4) Winde/Breeze and Fire/Light : the Winde is associated to the sky realms while Fire is associated with the Land and also with the Sky.

IN GENERALE

Kamalu and Amadioha both are spiritual force from the sky realms, in your write-up Kamalu is associated with good farming and for there to be a good farming there has to be a raining day with something that comes with the rain eg thunder and lightning, now comes Amadioha that is know as God of thunder and lightning also associated with love peace and justice, people in the past also reverence Amadioha so that they will have good farming and for their family to be able to have children (multiple), for thunder and lightning also comes with the rain.

Yea, I also did consider that it was just one step from being considered important to Agriculture, to being linked to rain, storm, the sky, etc.

OFF-TOPIC: One thing I just realised while typing that long reply:

For Arọ history to make sense, we have to postulate a founding for Arochukwu in the 16th century, at the latest. Not the 18th, as Nwauwa (following colonial historians) suggests, or the 17th century as Ekejiuba and Onwuka would appear to suggest.

Think about this: Arochukwu was strategically placed to service the Cross River and Calabar, but gained fame servicing relatively far-away Imo River and Bonny. It makes no geographical sense. Unless we postulate that it initially developed its commercial instiutuons during a trade boom period on the Cross River, then shifted elsewhere (after they had hardened into a mercantile people) during a decline in trade along the Cross River.

And there is some evidence in Ryder's chapter that this may have been the case. By the late 1520s, the Cross River appears to have become [in Ryder's words], "so active a centre of the slave trade". The Aro may have cut their teeth in the trade during this period that lasted the century. By the mid-17th century there was little to no slave trading going on in the Cross River, owing to a sand bar that had formed in the main channel presenting navigational difficulties. The Aro, by then a fully mobile trading people, may have started carrying their merchandise to the Imo River instead, eventually leading to Bonny being able to compete with Kalabari by the last quarter of the 17th century, and actually outpacing them in the 18th. By the late 17th century when trading resumed in Old Calabar the slave trade there was overshadowed by palm oil and barwood. So the Imo River (and not the Cross nearer to their 'metropolis') remained the prime destination for Aro slave dealers.

AjaanaOka:
Sorry. This took way longer than I had intended.

Enyi, no worries. I, just as much as anyone, understands and appreciates the time an effort involved in all of this.

AjaanaOka:
You may notice the timeline is almost entirely focused on Bonny and Kalabari and says next to nothing about how other important players like Andoni fared. Consider that one of its weaknesses.

I certainly agree. In fact, I had your Abiriba-Aro thread from earlier in mind, hoping that some of this information (relating to ascendancy) might reveal something about the Calabar groups. Well, we already know how this goes for people like us. We work with what we have, until we find come across something novel and interesting. Nevertheless, I do appreciate this breakdown. One thing you said struck me in particular:

AjaanaOka:
This period (the mid-17th century) is the period the Ozuzu were most likely to have expanded north dramatically and established a satellite at Umunneoha.

You know, this makes sense. Initially, I wanted to consider the establishment of Igwe ka Ala as potentially earlier, since we do not traditionally associate Amadioha exclusively with the slave trade. In short, we don't associate Amadioha with oracular trade in general, as we would with say Agbala or Ibini Ukpabi, for instance. However, this excerpt above makes a great deal of sense if I consider one important detail--Igwe ka Ala was forcibly established. This story of violent settlement is not associated with the other Amadioha satellites (at least to the best of my knowledge), but it does make sense that it would likely occur in this period (or just slightly before this period) to either capitalize on or initiate the boom in traffic.

I guess there is justification for a later sudden and dramatic establishment (in the mid-17th century) as opposed to an earlier one during the wet interlude (16th century).

Anyhow, it certainly seems like the Kamalu and the Chukwu campaigns were separate. I wonder what prompted the use of Kamalu in the southern end, when we know that the raids were far less effective (meaning far less opportunity to display warrior prowess). Unlike further north, Chukwu campaign was in place while raids were still ongoing, even through 19th century.

If it is possible that Kamalu (or use of Kamalu by Aro) predates Chukwu, then it might provide the basis for your comments on Aro being established sooner than contemporary historians believe. If so, we might say they established with Ibini Ukpabi and Kamalu, and the adoption of "Chukwu" for Ibini Ukpabi would have come after they had already begun expansion into different Igbo-speaking territories. But I do not have much to support this speculation, so I'll consider it "floating" for now.

But where would this leave other aspects of Aro history, such as their war with Ibibio elements, which predates their acquisition of Ibini Ukpabi, consequently predating Arochukwu. Unless... it was Kamalu they were using before acquiring Ibini Ukpabi. Which might explain the pair/partner view or relationship as opposed to a superior-subordinate relationship.