Ancient history of idanre hill: Idanre hill

He reported that he had found a secure location up in the hills, where enemies could not easily attack. Agboogun led his followers to Oke Idanre, where they first settled the Oba at a place named Usalu up in the hills. However, this region was thought to be too exposed, so another location was chosen, close to Egunren, “the hunter’s cave”, where the people would mobilise; presumable under the lead of Egunren who was the leading warrior.Agboogun settled at Odeja. The building of the palace took over 30 years to construct. As he was getting old, he decided to relinquish the palace on to his son, Baganju, on the condition that he would perform rites at Odeja for his father after the former’s death. Baganju was thus the first Owa to occupy the old palace at Oke Idanre. However, the traditional accounts are generally in agreement in considering Agboogun the first Owa of Idanre up in Idanre Hills, with Baganju as the second.Oke Idanre hill consists of high plain with spectacular valleys interspersed with inselbergs of about 3,000 ft above sea level. Its physical attributes include Owa’s Palace, Shrines, Old Court, Belfry, Agbooogun foot print, thunder water (Omi Apaara) and burial mounds and grounds. It also has diverse and variegated eco-systems of flora and fauna. Oke Idanre contains very important bio-physical and land form features whose interaction with the physical features created an enduring cultural landscape within the setting.The names of the past Obas in Idanre and some of their outstanding achievements are as follows:1. Owa AgboogunFollowing Olofin’s decease, his most able lieutenant, Agboogun became the leader of the people and their eventual first King. Agboogun was the armourbearer of Olofin and his name indeed makes reference to this; “Agberu Ogun” means he who carries his master’s tools of war. Agboogun sought to protect his people from invasion by surrounding enemies and decided to relocate his community from the foot of the hills to Oke-idanre, the top of the hills. In those days, the new settlement was called, “Ufe Oke,” which loosely translates to ‘Ife atop the hills’, thus providing some connection to ancient Ile-Ife. One of Agboogun’s lieutenants was an explorer and hunter named Egunren and it was he who sought out the ideal location for the Idanre people to reside at Idanre Hills. Agboogun established and ruled over seven quarters and family groups for ease of administration. The quarters were named: Irowo, Isalu, Idale, Ijomu, Isurin, Okedo and Odeja. As Agboogun became increasingly old and frail, it became more difficult for him to handle the responsibilities of kingship and tensions between the seven heads of families began to emerge. The community decided it would be prudent to have a new King to replace Agboogun, a proposal with which he agreed. Read more