The Idaasha also spelt Idaaca, Idaaṣa and Idaaitsa are a group of the
Yoruba people
The Yoruba people ( ; , , ) are a West African ethnic group who inhabit parts of Nigeria, Benin, and Togo, which are collectively referred to as Yorubaland. The Yoruba constitute more than 50 million people in Africa, are over a million outsid ...
, situated in the central portions of the
Collines Department
Collines (, "hills") is one of the twelve departments of Benin, located in the centre of the country. The department of Collines was created in 1999 when it was split off from Zou Department. In 2016, the city of Dassa-Zoumé (also called Igbo ...
of
Benin
Benin, officially the Republic of Benin, is a country in West Africa. It was formerly known as Dahomey. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the north-west, and Niger to the north-east. The majority of its po ...
, West Africa. They are based in and around the communities of
Glazoué (Igbo Omina/Gbomina) and
Dassa (Igbo Idaasha) both situated west of the
Oueme River. Every year, the Idaasha organize a festival of arts and culture known as FACI (''Festival des Arts et Cultures Idaasha'') to celebrate their culture and heritage, themed '' Àshà Ìbílẹ̀ ''.
Geography
Geographically, Idaashaland is situated in middle Benin, with major link and access roads passing through the major towns and villages, with many located along or close to highway RNIE 2 (Route Nationale Inter-Etats). The Idaasha are bordered by the Shabe-Yoruba to the north and northeast. To the northwest, west and south are the Mahi, a
Gbe language speaking group similar to the Fon, and who originate from the
Zou Department in the south, while to the Southeast are the southern Anago communities of Ketu and Ewé.
The climate is a tropical wet and dry one, while the predominant vegetation is tropical savannah. The topography of the surrounding region is characterized by plateaus ranging from 20 to 200 m (66 to 656 ft) above the mean sea level, with about 1,200mm of rainfall annually.
History and origin
The Idaasha according to their own oral account coalesced into a centralized Kingdom at around the year 1600 when Jagun Olofin, the founder of the current reigning dynasty of Obas migrated into the area from the
Egba country in mid-western
Yorubaland
Yorubaland () is the homeland and cultural region of the Yoruba people in West Africa. It spans the modern-day countries of Nigeria, Togo and Benin, and covers a total land area of . Of this land area, 106,016 km2 (74.6%) lies within Niger ...
in an expedition led by Ṣàgbóná.
[ ]
Mystic History of Idaatcha Land
' Erika Kraus, Felicie Reid Egbaland at the time was still a provincial region of the
Oyo empire
The Oyo Empire was a Yoruba people, Yoruba empire in West Africa. It was located in present-day western Nigeria (including the South West (Nigeria), South West zone, Benin Republic, and the western half of the North Central (Nigeria), North Cent ...
, very much earlier than the translocation of the Egbas to their present location along the mid course of the
Ogun river and the coalescing of the Egbas under Lisabi Agbongbo Akala which was soon followed by the formation of
Abeokuta
Abeokuta is the capital city of Ogun State located at the south western part of Nigeria. It is situated on the east bank of the Ogun River, near a group of rocky outcrops in a wooded savanna; north of Lagos by railway, or by water. , Abeokut ...
a few years later. Consequently, even though the Idaasha reigning dynasty originated from the Egbas, Igbo Idaasha town is a much older settlement than Abeokuta, the chief settlement of the Egbas today by more than 200 years.
Idaasha developed into a federation by absorbing the earlier pre-dynastic autochthonous populations based in the hilly outcrops of the area. They were the ''Epo'', ''Ifita'', and the ''Yaka''. The Epos were originally Yorubas from a district of the Oyo empire bearing the same name. The Ifita on the other hand were from
Ile-Ife, ultimate cradle of the Yorubas.
John Duncan, a scots member of the
Niger expedition of 1841 is recorded to have traversed the area, he subsequently described the inhabitant of the country as ''Anagoos''.
Settlement and community structure
The presently reigning King (Oba) of Igbo Idaasha is
Egba Kotan II who ascended the throne on Mar 3 2002. Igbo Idaasha is the larger of the two major Idaasha towns and is a major crossroad town at the node of roads that link the North of Benin to the south of the country. It is situated south of Gbomina (Glazoue).
The Glazoue arrondissement encompasses more than 46 villages while the Dassa-Zoume arrondissement comprises more than 66.
Each community/village/town is a commune. Some of these are not composed predominantly of speakers of ''Ede Idaasha but rather majority ''Maxi-Gbe'', a dialect of Fon. In Dassa, these include the villages of
Gbaffo, Paouignan and
Soclogbo, while in Gbomina they are;
Aklankpa,
Thio, Sante and
Ouèdèmè. All the other communes are Idaasha.
Dialect
The Idaasha speak Ede Idaasha, a Yoruba dialect which contains loan words from the neighboring Fon. There are no major variations within the Idaasha dialects, except for the distinction between the phonemes
/
CHor
Sas in ''Idàáchà'' (The people), ''Acha'' (Culture), ''Ichu'' (Yam), and ''Ochu'' (Month); more common among some more remote segments of the population as against
Hlike in ''Idaasha'', ''Asha'', ''Ishu'' and ''Oshu'' more common in the major urban centres. Besides ''Ede Idaasha'',
Standard Yoruba (SY) is used as a form of 'High Speech' in a form of
dialectal diglossia where Ede Idaasha occupies the familiar/nuclear arrangement and SY occupies more formal functions such as Churches (communion, bible studies, prayers, sermons Etc), Mosques, Training programmes and Formal education. Most people understand SY but it isn't the preferred dialectal form spoken or employed in everyday interaction.
References
{{Reflist
Yoruba subgroups
Collines Department