African History

History of Giant Warrior Prince of Benin Who Could Uproot Palm Trees With His Bare Hands (Idudor)

The truth about the giant race of Africa and how they disappeared remains a mystery to the modern world. It seems the more we search for their origin and disappearance, the more we meet close doors. But the few remnants of history tell us that Africa had giants in their numbers.

One of such giants of African descent was Idubor from the ancient kingdom of Benin, which is today situated in Southern Nigera.

He was also known as Arhuanran, and was born in the 1500s. He was meant to become the Oba of Benin, but he was denied that right because he didn’t cry at birth. The right of the Oba was given to his younger brother, Esigie, who was born a few hours after he was born.

As they grew up, the knowledge of losing the throne to his younger brother made Idubor angry and this led him to go to war on several occasions with his younger brother.

In a bid to quench the rivalry, their father carved out dukedoms, for both brothers, before he died. Their father made Idudor, the Duke of Udo, a town which was not that far from Benin. But that did not satisfy Idudor, as he continued the war against his brother and also made plans to assassinate him.

At this point, Idudor, had grown up to be a giant, and was a conqueror, defeating many in battle. As tales of his legend goes, he was known to uproot palm trees with his bare hands, and swept the ground with the palm fronds.

Edo Historical Traditional Cultural Heritage, reports that Idudor was a great warrior, and was overwhelming in size and stamina, giving him great advantage in battle.

After the death of their father, Esigie ascended the throne, and many thought that that would be the end of the rivalry between the brothers, but they were wrong.

Idudor refused to accept his brother as king, and moved back to Udo. From there he started to attack the capital, Benin, with his army and his newly acquired magical prowess.

An oral account of the war between both brothers, states that Idudor even placed spells on the coronation beads of his brother, which drove Esigie mad for a few days before he was cured.

The war between both brothers is said to be one of the bloodiest wars in the history of Benin.

The war ended with Idudor and his army being defeated in battle, and afterwards he drowned himself in a lake called Odighi N’Udo.

Historians report that Esigie’s victory was during the planting season, and it was possible because many members of Idudor’s army, were farmers, and that they had gone to their farms.

Esigie went ahead to become one of the best Obas of Benin. He also maintained a strong relationship with Portugal and was the first leader in the West-African Sub-Region to set up diplomatic ties with a European country. But he did this with absolute independence of Portugal’s control.

All he achieved, he owed to the support of his mother, Queen Idia, whom he created a special administrative post for, as “Iyoba”. He also commissioned a ‘highly improved metal art” that has since been the pride of Benin.