ÃÂsèdó (also known as ÃÂsẹÃÂdó-Olúmá»ÂÃÂ) was an ancient Igbomina kingdom in northeastern Yorubaland of Nigeria. ÃÂsẹÃÂdó was founded as a new city-state several centuries ago (between 1250 and 1400) by Ọba'lumọ, a Prince of the ancient Oba civilization (whose name or appellation is contracted from "Ọba Olumọ" meaning "knowledgeable king", or "king of the lords of knowledge"). ÃÂsẹÃÂdó is fully known and called "ÃÂsẹ̀dó-Olúmọ̀" using its founder-king's name as an identifier suffix.
Obalumo, a prince of the Oba civilization, and a veteran hunter and warrior, founded ÃÂsẹÃÂdó, his new city-state in one of the areas of his frequent hunting expeditions.
Recent archaeological research results (and published works of oral history experts, anthropologists and archaeologists of the Arizona State University, USA and the University of Ibadan, Nigeria); of the region's contemporary and later settlements suggest that ÃÂsẹÃÂdó was founded between the 10th and the 12th centuries by ÃẬbàrefugees probably fleeing from both internal dissension in their ÃÂbàkingdom as well as the cyclic conflicts of their á»ÂÃÂbàkingdom with the neighbouring kingdoms, perhaps including the Nupe to the north.
At its zenith towards the end of the 15th century, ÃÂsèdó had grown into a city-state of 13 clans, some of which were later "consolidants" into the Obalumo's kingdom at ÃÂsèdó and were not of the ancient Oba origin.
Some oral-historians indicate that at the request of an arriving faction from Ila-Yara, the city-state founded by ÃÂràngún, Oduduwa's fourth son, the region's king, á»Âba'lúmá»Âàgave land-grants to the new arrivals at a location thought to be sufficiently distant from ÃÂsẹÃÂdó's location. Another version of the oral history, which seems more reliable, indicates that the land-grant occurred a few centuries later, when the faction of the younger of two quarreling princes arrived in the vicinity of the á»Âba'lúmá»ÂÃÂ's ÃÂsèdó kingdom, from the schism at their old kingdom at ÃÂlá Yàrà. Arutu Oluokun, the younger of the feuding princes, founded a settlement at the Ila-Magbon, but the new kingdom moved within a short time to found another city called Ila-Odo closer to Isedo, which subsists as the modern ÃÂlá ÃÂràngún.
An annual celebration called "ÃÂmárúgbó" (or "ÃÂkùnrìn") festival was instituted between the two city-states during which the King á»ÂÃÂràngún leaves his palace with his chiefs to pay a day-long homage to his primogenitor, the King á»Âba'lúmá»Âàin his (the á»Âba'lúmá»ÂÃÂ's) palace. This is in symbolic tribute to á»Âba'lúmá»ÂÃÂ's land grant and precedence of him in the region, in appreciation of á»Âba'lúmá»ÂÃÂ's hosting of the ÃÂràngún's elderly mother who could not continue with the immigrant party to the location of their allocated land. The á»ÂÃÂràngún's mother died in the palace of the á»Âba'lúmá»Âàand was buried at ÃÂsèdó. So the á»ÂÃÂràngún also visits her grave as part of this festival.
While it has maintained the royal title of Oba'lúmò, the kingdom of ÃÂsèdó has in modern times been virtually engulfed by the present-day Ila Orangun such that the old Isedo township now lies, in the southeast quadrant of Ila Orangun. In Oke-Ila, the oratures of the á»Âbaálá clan refer to their origin from ÃÂsèdó, indicating that they are actually a segment of the ÃÂsẹÃÂdó royalty which emigrated several centuries ago to an alliance with Apakiimo, the last Orangun at Ila Yara kingdom to found his (Orangun's) new kingdom now known as Oke-Ila.
In this five-centuries-old quasi-consolidation treaty to help found with the new Oke-Ila Orangun state, the ÃÂsẹÃÂdó immigrants "of the hilltop" (Isedo Oke or Isedo Ori Oke)were retained their royal title of á»Âba'lúmá»ÂÃÂ, and subsequently were accorded a new recognition (possibly for their foremost contribution to the establishment of the new kingdom), awarding their clan the title of Ọbaálá ("mighty king" or "senior king"), a title next in rank to the ÃẬràngún of Oke-Ila the paramount king. The á»Âbaálá is also designated as the automatic regent upon the demise of any reigning á»ÂÃÂràngún.
The ÃÂsèdó clans retain references in their oratures to their ancestry from ÃÂsẹÃÂdó and the ancient á»ÂÃÂbàkingdom, and citing their descent from King á»Âba'lúmá»Âàof ÃÂsẹÃÂdó and King Olunlakin of á»ÂÃÂbàas well as nostalgically referring to themselves as "children of the great wealth" of á»ÂÃÂbà.
Other examples of Igbomina and non-Igbomina towns (in Kwara and Ọṣun states of Nigeria) with large concentrations of á»ÂÃÂbàpeople, now commonly called 'The ÃẬbàDiaspora', include the following: Oke-Ila Ọrangun, Ila Ọrangun, Ọra-Igbomina, Ipoti-Ekiti, Isanlu-Isin, Oke-Onigbin, Omu-Aran, Rorẹ, á»Âyan, Inisha, Ipee, Oke-Ode, Babanla, Ajasẹ-Ipo, Omupo, Esiẹ, Oro, Ijomu-Oro, Iddo-Oro, Idofin, Ado-Eku, Oreke, Sanmora, and Pamo.
The ÃÂsèdó clans appear to be the earliest surviving [but perhaps not the only] group in 'The ÃẬbàDiaspora' that purposefully set out and founded a surviving kingdom ruled by the king Ọba'lumọ. Subsequent á»ÂÃÂbà-derivative kingdoms and diasporas appear to have resulted solely from refugee flights from wars and slave raids. ÃÂsèdó communities resulting from the diaspora of such wars exist in Ipoti-Ekiti, and other Igbomina and Ekiti towns as well as Omido (Kwara State) and other towns in Kwara State.
The legends of origin and of emigrations of the Isedo from Oba has been a major effort of His Royal Highness, Dr. OlúfẹÃÂmi á»Âládàpá»ÂàBabalá»Âlá. He has also been active since 2004 in promoting tourism (heritage tourism/cultural tourism and geo-tourism), and planning tourist expeditions to include the various Isedo and Oba heritage sites which he himself visited, and physiographic features and cultural performances/traditional occupations of the Igbomina-Yoruba and adjoining Yoruba areas. He has led various special tours to the various old sites, ruins and existing towns and historical places of Yorubaland, especially of the Igbomina-Yoruba region, verifying oral history and oral poetry of various clans and ancient kingdoms.