Idia

Idia was the mother of Esigie, who reigned as Oba (king) of the Edo people from 1504 to 1550.^[1][2] Historians do know that Idia was alive during the Idah war^[3] (1515 – 1516) because she played a role that led to a great Benin victory.^[2] It has been argued that Idia, therefore, was the true power behind the throne of her son.^[2] She played a significant role in the rise and reign of her son, being described as a great warrior who fought relentlessly before and during her son's reign as the Oba (king) of the Edo people.^[4] Queen Idia was instrumental in securing the title of Oba for her son Esigie following the death of his father Oba Ozolua. To that end, she raised an army to fight off his brother Arhuaran who was supposed to be the Oba by right and tradition but was subsequently defeated in battle. Esigie’s mother became the 17th Oba of Benin.^[5][6]

Idia first entered the royal household because Ozolua, the Oba from 1483 until 1514 saw her dance, and after the dance wanted to make Idia his wife.^[2] Idia and Oba Ozolua were married sometime before 1504, but historians are not positive about the exact date.^[2] As a result, Idia’s parents helped prepare her for her future life in the palace by giving her certain medical herbs.^[2] She was known to be very intelligent because she was able to retrieve the throne for her son, and she was also able to protect her son from his enemies such as Arhuahan (Esigie's step-brother).^[2]

Another interesting concept Idia was known for was her “womb of orhue”—a phrase that meant that her womb defied the odds.^[2] These odds were that her son, Esigie, was not first in line for the throne, rather Esigie was originally third in line for the throne.^[2] Although in the end, and against the odds, Esigie became the Oba.^[2] Ogidogbo, the first in line for the throne as Oba became illegitimate for the throne because he was crippled due to playing with his brothers, Arualan and Esigie.^[2] The people of Benin thought that Idia had planned this because Idia was known to possess magical powers.^[2] This also shows how the people of Benin thought that she was able to both wreak and create havoc.^[2] This resulted in Arualan being next in line for the throne, but he saw Esigie as a threat.^[2] Consequently, Esigie wanted to assassinate his brother.^[2] Arualan saw Esigie as a threat because of his mother Idia.^[2] Although, the only reason Aruanran did not assassinate his brother was because he knew that Esigie’s mother, Idia, had the skill of magical arts, while Arualan did not.^[2] There have been many representations of Queen Idia because Queen Idia represented a key part of Benin's imperial courtly culture.^[2] Also, Idia was so influential because of her determination.^[2] Overall, Idia was described as a strong-willed, beautiful, intelligent, and wise woman.^[2]

Esigie instituted the title of iyoba (queen mother) and conferred it on his mother, along with Eguae-Iyoba (Palace of the Queen Mother).^[7] Queen Idia became more popular when it was decided that her face should be used as a sculpture to represent a Nigerian Festival FESTAC ‘77, that was how the face of the Queen Mother came into art until the present date.^[8] She was supposed to be killed after the crowning of her son as the Oba, according to the then tradition but her son Esigie secretly took her to hide in a room that was to be entered by only those authorized to do so, he did this in order to protect her from being killed and it worked until he was able to make changes to the tradition which canceled that law after that Queen Idia returned freely to the palace and ruled together with her son helping him fight spiritually and physically over his enemies which helped him during his reign as Oba. Before she died, she trained her son's wife in her ways so her departure would be met unnoticed.^[8]