University of Nigeria Research Publications EMEZUE, Sydney Author PG/MA/81/1153 Warfare in Pre-Colonial Ohuhu Title Arts Faculty History Department November, 1983 Date Signature Signature WARFARE IN PRE-COLONIAL OHUHU BY SYDNEY EMEZUE ~~/~~/81/1153 NOVEMBER 1983 APPROVAL PAGE PROFESSOR CHIEKA IFEMESIA HEAD OF DEPARTMENT. WARFARE IN PRE-COLONIAL OHUHU SYDNEY EMEZUE PG/M~/81/1153 A PROJECT REPORT SUBMITTED TO THE DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY, UNIVERSITY OF NIGERIA, NSUKKA, IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE AWARD OF A MASTER OF ARTS DEGREE. NOVEMBER, 1983. -. - -- DEDICATION This work is dedicated to the memory of my grandmother, Ezenwanyi Ihudiya Onuoha, who departed this world on June 13 1980 as I was \ doing my final examination for the Bachelor of Arts Degree. TABLE OF CONTENT -PAGE ABSTRACT .. .. i ACKNOWLEDGEMENT .. .. iii PREFACE .. CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION CHAPTER TWO: CAUSES OF WARS IN PRE-COLONIAL OHUHU .. .. CHAPTER THREE: SYSTEMS OF WARFARE IN PRE-COLONIAL OHUHU .. CHAPTER FOUR: IQJDING OF HOSTILITIES AND THE CONSEQUENCES OF WARS .. CHAPTER FIVE: SOME PRE-COLONIAL OHUHU WARS CHAPTER SIX: CONCLUSION . BIBLIOGRAPHY APPENDIX A PARTICULARS OF INFORMANTS .. LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS MAP I: Facing page 2 - Map of Ohuhu PLATE I: Facing page 20 - ofo, the Igbo staff of authority and jus-e. PI,ATE 2: Facing page 21, Ihu nla Umuajameze, shrine of the earth deity of Umuajameze. PLATE 3: Facing page 62, a Dane gun manufactured by an Nkwerre smith. PLATE 4: Facing page 63 - a pistol manufactured by an Nkwerre smith early in the twentieth century PLI'LTE 5: Facing page 66 - a gun made by an Awka smith PL,ITE 6: Facing page 69 - a locally made spear. PLATE 7: Facing page 73 - Akparaja (obejili) MAP 2: Facing page 106 - Hap showing dispereal of Isingwu people. i& -ABSTRACT There were two kind8 of military engagements in pre-colonial Ohuhu. One of them - - was the type between groups that ehared one form of blood relationship or the other. In this type of encounter, the use of lethal weapons, especially gum i waa prohibited. because the spilliflg of blood among natally related groups war conaidered oifetilive to the earth deity - -ala -. Agha which was full-scale war involved gfoups that did not have any form of blood relationdRipr The &pilling of blood was tolerated during this type of engagements.though a soldier who killed during a war had to perform some rites to clean~ehimself of the blood of his victim. By far the single most important caube of ware in pre-colonial Ohuhu was land. This was due mainly to the great importance which the people attached to farming and also the type of agriculture - rotational burh fallow syatea * practised in the area which required an almost limitless supply of land to be effective. Dispute8 arising from control of markets, maltreatment of married daughters, and careless talk by people, were other common causer of wars. Mo~tof the weapon8 used during wars were manufactured locally within Ohuhu by resident Awka and Nkwerre snithe using locally smelted iron. Communities and individuals ii. .. usually fortified themselveb with charme. Some of the charms were believed to co~hterthe effects of those being used by opponents. Others were believed to render their $ 8- - ueare iqrxlaerable to enemy weapons. Most wars ended throbgh mediation dnd negotiatioh rather than the total conquest of one side bg another. Two groups, married daughters a umu,.o& - and neighbours of I / belligerents were usually inbtrbrnental to bringing warring communities to the conference table. Peace settlements were, in most cases, solemnieed by the institution of an intepcommunity convenant - igba orikoro. Some settlements also led to the establi~hmentof deities jointly owned by the communities involved in the war. Many people offered me invaluable help in the prepdation of thia work - for which I am very grateful. My greateat debt of gratitude goes to my supervisor Professor A.E. Afigbo who not only suggested the topic but also through his advice,. suggestions but above all prompt attention saw this work through. Dr. P.O. Esedebe rendered me highly valuable advice and encouragement not only in the preparation of this project but also in other aspects of my academic work. I can not with words adequately express the depth of my gratitude to Mr. & Mrs. J.0 Ahazuem for their kindness to me all through the preparation of thia work. I also owe a &f, of gratitude to Mr. Ndubisi Azubike who accompanied me during most of my fieldwork - sometimes at financial cost and great inconvenience to himself. Miss ~ugustinaChukwu also proved a very reliable companion not only during the search for materials on which this work Is baaed but also in its final preparation, My uncle Captain Okwukaire Onuoha stood by me offering both moral and financial assistance for- which I will for ever remain grateful. I owe my parents Mr. & Mrs. Gab. Emezue and my brothers - Onwuka and Uche and my sister Lucky - a debt of gratitude for their forebearance and understanding all these long years of my education, iv. Finally, I wish to express my deepest gratitude to my informants for their patience in supplying me with the information on which this work is based. I have to mention particularly Eze Chima Ndom - the Iboto of Itumbuzo for his hospitality and generosity. Eze Lawrence D.O. Nwankwo - the Ikpo I11 of Bende (now late) proved very helpful to me, May his magnanimous SGQC rest in peace. Sydney Erne zue . v. Preface This work seeks to contribute to the study of one aspect of pre-colonial Igho history - warfare. Though it does not claim to have answered all questions relating to the topic, it presents an alternative to some earlier views relating to war and peace among the Igbo. One of the views which was built up hy colonial writers maintains that the Igbo man and indeed the /',f rican, prior to the coming of Europeans, lived not only in a state of permanent strife to the extent that life was morz or less unsafe but also brutish and short, The proponents of these views advanced various reasons to explain the so-called high incidence of wars in pre-colonial Igboland, One of the most favourable explanations is that the Igbo people took to warring constantly to fight-off the burden of idleness into which they usually fell after the planting season. Rut as ,,f igbo has correctly pointed out,. Warfare is usually a continuation of politics by other means, This implies that warnwere usually not fought for the fun of it but only when they could not be avoided. The first of the six chapters of this work, thcreforc, takes a look at the land (0huh;) and its people. It examines the political system of khc area since it is often the inability or inadequacy of political systems to respond to and deal decisively with vonf lict situations that resulted into wars. Chapter two investigates the common causes of ~3. wals in pre-colonial Ohuhu, This was done mainly to see if the claim made by some authors regarding the so-called high incidence of wars and insecurity in the Igbo area can be sustained in the light of examples drawn from the Ohuhu area. The third chapter takes a look at the systems of warfare in Ohuhu, Some of the important areas covered in this chapter include the various kinds of wars fought in pre-colonial Ohuhu, methods of recruitment of soldiers,, the command structure of armies and the weapons used and their sources of procurement, In this regard, some attention is paid to the role and importance of Awka and Nkwerrc blacksmiths in the manufacture of weapons used during wars in pre-colonial Ohuhu, This chapter also paid some attention to the role of medicines and medicine men in wars. In chapter four, attention is paid to the ways in which Ohuhu people ended their wars. The role of two groups of people who of ten intervened to make peace between warring communities - married daughters (umu okpu) and neighbours of belligerents also received due attention. Also covered in this chspter is the ccmmon motivation of the two groups mentioned earlier as intervening in wars. The common consequences of wars is another important area covered in chapter four. The fifth chapter is a recostruction, thouah on the basis of limited information, of some of the wars vii. fought in prc-colonial Ohuhu. Four examples in all wcr\- taken, Two of the wars described in this chapter rcsul-t..:' from the inv~.sic~nof parts of Ohuhu by the famed but dreaded jibam warriors and head hunters. The othcr two involved ccmmunitii;.~belonging to the same clan but wh did not share my close natal relationshipi Chapter six is a SUMMWJ~f the major finding~i of the work. CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION As shall be used in this work, Ohuhu refers to the area delimited and called so by Daryl Forde and G.1. Jones in their ethnographical survey of the Igbo-speaking area. 1 The group of villages or clan presently known as Ohuh~! shall, in this work, be referred to as Umuhu-na-Okaiuga. Thus, Ohuhu will represent the entire area listed by the authors 2.s constituting (along with Ngwaland) the Ohuhu-Ngwa group of peoples. Z Ohuh. presently, is carved into the following local government areas of Imo State - Bende, Ikwuano, Odida Anyanwu, and IJmuahia urban. During the colonial period the area constituted the bulk of what was for sometime known as the Bende Division of Owerri Province. The only part of the defunct Bende Division that ir not Ohuhu is the area that Forde and Jones called Isu-Item group.