Obalumo - Prince Oba'lumo

Prince Oba'lumo

Ọbalúmọ̀ or Ọba'lúmọ̀, (a contraction of Ọba Olúmọ̀), is the titular name of the founding king of the ancient Ìsèdó-Olúmọ̀ city-state, an ancient monarchy of the Igbomina-Yoruba. Translations of the title Ọba’lúmọ̀ as “The King" (Oba), "the Lord of Knowledge” (Olumo), or “King of the Lords of Knowledge” or “King and Lord of Knowledge”, all meaning wise king, suggests that this monarch, who is reputed in oral history to have been a veteran hunter and warrior, was also a highly skilled Babalawo (a diviner, healer and priest of the Ifá oracle). Ọba’lúmọ̀ was a prince of the ancient Ọ̀bà civilization in northeastern Yorubaland, and is one of the earliest founders of the ancient Yoruba kingdoms in southwestern Nigeria.

However, the reference to Ọba'lúmọ̀'s city state as Ìsèdó-Olúmọ̀ (or Isedo of Olúmọ̀ ), and the existence of an Olúmọ̀ royal clan in Oba-Igbomina (which is in the Isin Local Government Area of Kwara State, Nigeria) - one of the extant towns named Oba - suggests a different meaning and origin of the name and title of the Ọba'lúmọ̀ n'Ìsèdó. It seems that Ọba'lúmọ̀ founded a city-state dominated by people from the Olúmọ̀ clan of their Oba origin, and he therefore adopted the title (or was titled by his new subjects) Ọba'lúmọ̀ in his new kingdom - meaning "the king from the Olúmọ̀ clan". The other traditions of the name referring to the legendary knowledge of herbal remedies and the Ifá oracle seems to be a heritage that is shared with the entire Olúmọ̀ clan, and may not be peculiar to King Ọba'lúmọ̀.