Oba Esigie defeats invasion from Idah (Igala)

Oba Esigie, son of Ozolua, is remembered for his defeat of the invading forces of Idah — a powerful state whose system of kingship resembled that of Benin in many ways and with whom Benin shared dynastic connections. Both Benin and Idah acknowledged a relationship between their ruling dynasties. The war may have arisen from the general disturbance of the pattern of power along the middle Niger in the second quarter of the sixteenth century — upheavals which established a great Nupe state and broke the power of Oyo for almost a century.