Idia

Idia was a royal woman of the Kingdom of Benin and the first to hold the title of Iyoba, the Edo title of the mother of the reigning oba (Wikipedia). A wife of Oba Ozolua and the mother of Oba Esigie, she held ritual, military and political authority during the disputes over her son's succession and the early decades of his reign, in the first half of the sixteenth century. Her birth and death cannot be dated precisely; tradition says she came from Ugieghudu in the Isi district.

Edo accounts credit Esigie's victory over his half-brother Aruanran partly to Idia's counsel, forces, ritual protection and knowledge of medicine. An Edo proverb calls her the only woman who went to war, though traditions differ on whether she led troops herself. Her contingent took part in the Igala–Benin War of 1515–1516. Esigie created the office of Iyoba for her, with her own palace at Lower Uselu.

Unlike most titled chiefs, an Iyoba could commission works in ivory and copper alloy for devotional and personal use, including ikegobo (altars to the hand) and rectangular altarpieces. Idia's role is still remembered in Benin ritual: the Emobo ceremony, in which the oba performs with an ivory gong, is interpreted as commemorating both Esigie's return and the protection given by Idia's followers (Wikipedia). In the Igala–Benin war of 1515–1516, her head slave and his men were credited with killing the commander of the Igala forces.

After her death Idia became a subject of Benin court art, on cast-metal memorial heads, carved ivory pendants and other royal objects. An ivory pendant identified with her became the emblem of FESTAC '77 in 1977 and has since been reproduced as a symbol of Nigerian and African cultural heritage (Wikipedia).