Oba (ruler)

Oba ('King' in the Yoruba^[1]^[2] language) is a pre-nominal honorific for kings in Yorubaland. Traditional rulers in Yorubaland, a region across the modern republics of Benin, Nigeria, and Togo, frequently make use of it.

Examples of Yoruba kings that do this include Oba Ogunwusi of Ile-Ife, Oba Aladelusi of Akure and Oba Akiolu of Lagos. An example of a non-Yoruba bearer is Oba Ewuare II of Benin.^[3] Although the Benin Kingdom is not located within Yorubaland, its Oba ruling dynasty traces its origin to Ile-Ife, the spiritual and historical center of the Yoruba culture.^[4]

The title is distinct from that of Oloye in Yorubaland, which is itself used in like fashion by subordinate titleholders in the contemporary Yoruba chieftaincy system.^[5]

^ Samuel Crowther (1843). Vocabulary of the Yoruba Language: Part I. English and Yoruba. p. 206. ỌBA, s. king, monarch, lord, prince, liege, master.
^ Society, Church Missionary; Staff, Church Missionary Society (March 2009). Dictionary Of The Yoruba Language: English-Yoruba, Yoruba-English (1913). Kessinger Publishing. p. 202. ISBN 978-1-104-17000-4. Ọba, n. king; monarch; lord; prince; liege; master; sovereign.
^ Melzian, Hans (1937). A Concise Dictionary of the Bini Language of Southern Nigeria. Lecturer in African Phonetics and Linguistics at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. p. 156.
^ Johnson, Samuel (1921). History of the Yorubas: From the Earliest Times to the Beginning of the British Protectorate. CMS (Church Missionary Society) Bookshop, Lagos. p. 576.
^ Blair, Major J.H., Intelligence Report on Abeokuta: 65 year anniversary reprint edition (2002), p. 3.

[1] Samuel Crowther (1843). Vocabulary of the Yoruba Language: Part I. English and Yoruba. p. 206. ỌBA, s. king, monarch, lord, prince, liege, master.

[2] Society, Church Missionary; Staff, Church Missionary Society (March 2009). Dictionary Of The Yoruba Language: English-Yoruba, Yoruba-English (1913). Kessinger Publishing. p. 202. ISBN 978-1-104-17000-4. Ọba, n. king; monarch; lord; prince; liege; master; sovereign.

[3] Melzian, Hans (1937). A Concise Dictionary of the Bini Language of Southern Nigeria. Lecturer in African Phonetics and Linguistics at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. p. 156.

[4] Johnson, Samuel (1921). History of the Yorubas: From the Earliest Times to the Beginning of the British Protectorate. CMS (Church Missionary Society) Bookshop, Lagos. p. 576.

[5] Blair, Major J.H., Intelligence Report on Abeokuta: 65 year anniversary reprint edition (2002), p. 3.

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