Women's Political Offices
The Ìyálóde, the Ìyálọ́jà, the Lóbùn of Ondó, the titled women inside the Ọ̀yọ́ palace, the documented cases of female ọba and regents, and what indirect rule did to all of it.
intermediatemedium·
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The Ìyálóde, the Ìyálọ́jà, the Lóbùn of Ondó, the titled women inside the Ọ̀yọ́ palace, the documented cases of female ọba and regents, and what indirect rule did to all of it.
The Yorùbá wey dem quote, the proverbs, oríkì, ẹsẹ Ifá, word list headwords, Odù names and citations dey exactly as the corpus record dem, for every language.
Yoruba towns give women formal political position. No be just influence, no be informal power behind throne, but named titles wey get clear power and boundaries, seats inside council wey dey make final decisions, and for some towns, chieftaincy system for women wey dey run side by side with the men own. The one wey pipo know pass na the Ìyálóde, but na just one office among many, and why the other ones no too popular na because wetin scholars write about dem small, no be say dem no dey important.
Two tins dey wey person must put together to read this record straight. The positions real, and sometimes the pipo wey hold dem use strong power wey change tins. But dem still be small number of positions for inside system wey men dey hold almost all the highest ranks for nearly every town wey dem record. This file dey explain wetin the record really show, as e dey separate wetin tradition talk about itself, wetin historians don document, and wetin colonial administrators record as dem dey scatter the same tins wey dem dey record.
The theoretical argument about whether "gender" na the correct word to use for any of this tin dey inside Gender, where dem explain the dispute between Oyěwùmí and Bakare-Yusuf well well. The individual life stories of Ẹfúnṣetán Aníwúrà and Ẹfúnróyè Tinúbú dey inside The Ìyálóde. This particular file focus on the institutions.
Ìyálóde join ìyá, mama, with òde, outside, open space, public place, and dem dey usually translate am as "mother in charge of external affairs" or "mother of the public domain" The difference wey dey inside the name na with inside house: the Ìyálóde work na wetin dey happen outside compound, for market, for trade roads, and for how town dey relate with other towns. One tradition dey call the position Ọba Obìnrin, king of women, and this style dey show for popular literature pass scholarly books .
Bọ́lańlé Awé 1977 essay inside Alice Schlegel Sexual Stratification na the main study wey start am, and na e still be the reference point for everything wey dem write since then . The work wey scholarly books always attach to the office na these ones:
Seat inside council of chiefs. The Ìyálóde dey sitdown with the town chiefs and dem dey listen to am during discussions wey dey bring decisions. Na this one be the constitutional foundation of the office and wetin separate am from ordinary honorary title.
To represent women as constituency. She dey carry wetin women agree together go meet the ọba and the chiefs, and she dey carry decisions come back. The office mean say women get their own interest wey separate, organized, and wey make sense to carry forward, which na big constitutional assumption for any society before colonial time.
Control over women trade and the markets. She get power over trade groups and market spaces, she dey settle palaver between traders, and she dey join set rules wey market dey use run . Dem treat this one in full inside Market Women and Economic Power.
Judicial work. Palaver between women, and palaver wey come up for market, na her dem dey bring am go. Dem record say the Abẹ́òkúta court for late nineteenth century include women leaders alongside Ògbóni VIPs, war leaders, traders' guilds, hunters, and the chief Ifá priest, wey put women representatives inside the body wey dey pass judgment instead of make dem dey outside dey beg for help .
Her own followers. For nineteenth century, pipo wey hold the office get big households, plenty wealth, and for the Ìbàdàn case, men with weapons. No be the office give am; na wealth give am, and the office make am legal for constitution.
Na this feature really separate the Ìyálóde from other chieftaincy titles around am, and na on top this point all the sources agree well well. How dem take dey choose person before colonial period no be say king just handpick am; na recognition of wetin the woman don achieve by herself for economic and political matters . The title dey go to woman wey don already show wealth, followers, good judgment, and power to mobilize pipo, and wetin the town do na to recognize wetin she don build.
Compare this one to the hereditary and ruling-house selection wey dey control most Yoruba titles, where say person fit contest na based on family wey dem born am put. The Ìyálóde, for the way things dey before colonial time, na title wey person earn through hard work inside system wey family birth mostly dey decide.
That tin don change. For modern times, the title don turn wetin dey inside the gift of the ọba, something wey dem dey dash instead of wetin person earn, which na real change inside the nature of the office and no be just change of who hold am . Title wey ruler dash person dey make the person owe loyalty to the ruler; title wey recognize independent power no dey do like dat. The present-day Ìyálóde na often rich or prominent woman wey palace give honor, which na different institution entirely wey just dey wear the same name.
The Ìyálóde no be the same everywhere for Yorubaland, and to treat am like say na one single pan-Yoruba institution dey wipe out the true evidence.
Ìbàdàn. Na this case get pass documentation. People wey dem record say hold the title na Ìyálóde Subuọla, 1850 reach 1867; Ẹfúnṣetán Aníwúrà, 1867 reach 1 May 1874; and Ìyálóde Iyaola, 1874 reach 1893 . The point wey Awé make about Ìbàdàn na the main thing to understand the whole institution: the way the position take get power well well for nineteenth century dey against wetin be custom before . Meaning say, the Ìyálóde no come get power because tradition already prepare strong position for women. E get power because the century of war expand the business and logistic work wey women dey do well well, especially to supply food to soldiers and trade for weapons, and na this position come be the constitutional way wey that new economic power take enter politics. E better make person look the institution as something wey change for nineteenth century pass to see am as something wey dey constant from ancient times.
For the modern Ìbàdàn chieftaincy constitution, the Ìyálóde dey head one separate female line, one of the four lines, dey sit down for Olúbadàn-in-Council and na kingmaker. The female line no fit produce Olúbadàn . The two sides of that sentence na the institution: real constitutional power, and limit.
Abẹ́òkúta. Dem make Ẹfúnróyè Tinúbú the Ìyálóde of the Ẹ̀gbá for 1864 . The Ẹ̀gbá case na the one wey dem document well well how dem take destroy the position later, because the Abẹ́òkúta Women's Union for the 1940s clearly present their demand say make dem bring back the representation wey the women title hierarchy been dey give before. Dem discuss this one for Colonial Encounter and Women's Resistance.
Ondó, Ìjẹ̀bú, Ifẹ̀. The literature mention people wey hold the title for these towns. This corpus no fit provide reliable names and dates for dem and e talk am straight instead of to just fill the space .
Ondó na the most important different case, and general literature no dey give am enough weight at all, as dem dey usually take the Ìyálóde as the main Yoruba women position and stop there.
For Ondó, the senior female chief na the Lóbùn, and the position no be say na woman seat inside men council. Na the head of another female chieftaincy hierarchy wey dey stand on its own with its own graded titles, the Opoji, wey dem arrange the way dem arrange the male chieftaincies [S6]. Ondó tradition still talk say the kingdom first ọba na woman, Pupupu, and say the Lóbùn stool come from that foundation [S6].
Jacob Olúpọ̀nà's fieldwork give the Lóbùn special ritual power wey make sense to explain clearly, because e dey show wetin the office dey do. The female chiefs for Ondó get responsibility for the ritual cleansing of new market and to pay respect to Ajé, the òrìṣà of market and of wealth, and each female chief dey prepare and dress her own Ajé items for public worship for open space in front of the palace [S7]. How Olúpọ̀nà's put am na say Ajé "symbolizes female power and authority over all the city's commerce, fertility, and reproduction" [S7]
So, the Ondó arrangement give women wetin the Ìyálóde arrangement no give dem: no be seat inside men institution, but institution of their own, with its own hierarchy, its own ritual monopoly, and control over the way market dey take start. Whether Ondó na exception or whether na the Ìbàdàn model be the exception, the literature never agree on am, and the honest position na say Yoruba women political institutions differ from town to town and make person no generalize any single model.
Erelú na women title wey dey several towns, and wetin e mean dey differ. For Lagos, na there get the most solid documented case. Dem believe say the Erelú Kútì title come from one eighteenth-century person, Erelú Kútì I, daughter of one Lagos ọba and sister to two rulers wey follow each other, wey marry Alagba, one priest from Ilesha, and her son Ológun Kutere come become ọba of Lagos for 1749 [S8]. Every ọba of Lagos after that one come from Ológun Kutere line, wey make Erelú Kútì I the ancestress of the ruling dynasty [S8].
The powers wey follow the modern title plenty well well for paper: the person wey hold am na queen mother of the realm, na number three for the kingdom ranking, dey serve as regent when one ọba die before dem choose another one, and dey bless the new ọba for public during coronation [S8]. Dem still describe am as the traditional head of Lagos women organisations, including market guilds [S9]. Oloye Abiọ́lá Dòsùnmú don hold the title as Erelú Kútì IV since 1980 [S8].
The Erelú title still show up for some accounts with connection to the Ògbóni, as the only woman wey dem allow enter group wey dem normally close against women. Onadeko reconstruction of the Ògbóni executive of six, the Ìwàrèfà, put Ìyá Abiye among the Olúwo, Lísa, Aro, Ọdọ́fin and Apènà . Make person handle the details of Ògbóni composition with care: na closed society, published accounts of how e dey inside na reconstructions from informants wey their reliability differ, and the composition differ from town to town.
The richest single body of evidence on Yoruba women formal office na Samuel Johnson account of the Ọ̀yọ́ palace, wey one Ọ̀yọ́ pastor write from the 1880s dey go and dem publish after e die for 1921. Person must read am as wetin e be: partisan, mission-formed, Ọ̀yọ́-centric reconstruction by man wey get thesis, and the normal carefulness apply, as dem set out for Method and the Evidence Problem. But on top the palace establishment, Johnson dey describe institution wey e get access to, and the details clear and strange pass wetin person fit just invent.
Johnson make am clear say di palace women no just be di king wives, and imsef correct how people dey take talk am anyhow: all of dem "are often spoken of loosely as 'the King's wives,' because they reside in the palace, but strictly speaking the titled ladies and the priestesses at least should not be included in the category" [S10] Dat sentence na di main point. Na people wey hold official position dem be.
Johnson list dem in order: Ìyá Ọba, Ìyá Kere, Ìyá Nàsó, Ìyámọnàrì, Ìyáfin Ikú, Ìyálagbọ̀n, Ọ̀rùn Kúmẹ̀fún, Àrẹ̀ Òrìté [S10]. Each of dem na head for small compound inside di palace walls.
Ìyá Ọba, di king official mama. Johnson record say di Aláàfin no suppose get natural mama: if di mama dey alive when im enter throne, dem dey tell am make she "go sleep" and dem go bury am for one relative house, and dem go come make one of di palace ladies Ìyá Ọba to act as im mama [S10]. Na she be di third person wey dey present when di king and di Baṣọ̀run dey worship di Òrun every year, and Johnson talk say she be the feudal head of the Baṣọ̀run [S10]. Di Baṣọ̀run na di chief wey get power pass for di kingdom and na di man wey fit demand say make di Aláàfin commit suicide. To put am under a woman feudal headship no be for show.
Ìyá Kere. Wetin Johnson write about am na di passage wey strike person pass for di whole record of Yoruba women office, and e make sense to quote am:
Next to the King's mother, the Iya kere holds the highest rank. Greater deference is paid to the Iya Oba indeed, but the Iya kere wields the greatest power in the palace. She has the charge of the King's treasures. The royal insignia are in her keeping, and all the paraphernalia used on state occasions, she has the power of withholding them, and thus preventing the holding of any state reception to mark her displeasure with the King when she is offended. [S10]
Na she dey put di crown for di king head during coronation. Na she be di "mama" of all di Ìlàrí, male and female, since na inside her apartment dem dey create dem, and she dey keep di sugudu wey carry each Ìlàrí marks. She fit make dem arrest di Olósì, one big officer, and put am for iron chains. She be feudal head of di Aṣẹyìn, di Olúìwo and di Baálẹ̀ of Ògbómọ̀ṣọ́. Once she enter office, she must stay celibate for life [S10].
Make una take am as constitutional rule instead of just normal story. Officer wey dey control di regalia fit stop di state from appearing in public. Dis na documented institutional check on di king, wey woman hold, wey she fit use by herself without asking anybody, and Johnson record am as normal routine.
Ìyá Nàsó dey in charge of Ṣàngó worship generally and di king private Ṣàngó chapel dey inside her apartment, together with di emoluments wey dey come from am [S10]. Ìyámọnàrì na her first lieutenant, and her work na to strangle any Ṣàngó worshipper wey dem condemn to death, since sword no must kill dem [S10]. Ìyáfin Ikú na di second lieutenant and she stand as di king adóṣù Ṣàngó, im devotee to di Ṣàngó mysteries [S10]. Ìyálagbọ̀n na di Crown Prince mama or she dey act like dat, and Johnson talk say she "enjoys great influence, and controls a portion of the city" [S10] Àrẹ̀ Òrìté na di king personal attendant and she dey hold di silk umbrella over am when dem enthrone am [S10].
She dey separate from di eight, and na her matter matter pass to understand wetin dis offices really be:
The Iyamode. This high official resides in one of the outhouses of the palace, but her duties are not specially in the palace. She is the superior of those celibates living in the Bara and is styled by them "Baba" i.e. father. [S10]
Her office na to worship di spirit of di king dem wey don die, dey call out dia egúngún inside one screened room for her apartments [S10]. And den Johnson sentence wey matter pass:
The King looks upon her as his father, and addresses her as such, being the worshipper of the spirits of his ancestors. He kneels in saluting her, and she also returns the salutation kneeling, never reclining on her elbow as is the custom of the women in saluting their superiors. The King kneels for no one else but her, and prostrates before the god Sango, and before those possessed with the deity, calling them "father." [S10]
Three different tins dey inside dat place. Di Aláàfin dey kneel down for only one living person and na woman. Dem dey call am father, no be mother, because di relational position wey she occupy na di paternal-ancestral one, and Yoruba relational terms dey attach to position instead of anatomy. And di way she dey take salute na men style, no be women style, wey dey show say she no dey salute as woman. Dis single passage na di strongest documentary support for di relational reading of Yoruba gender categories wey Insa Nolte formulate and wey di Gender file explain. Also, based on wetin Johnson write, e be office wey woman hold, wey swear say she go stay celibate for life, for di ritual apex of di kingdom.
Di Ìyámọdè still dey run di training of di akùnyùngbà, di king bards, inside her apartments, for three months or more of daily teaching [S10]. Di custody of di royal ancestors and di custody of di royal praise poetry dey inside di same hand.
Johnson list eight priestesses for di palace: Ìyá'lé Orí, Ìyá'lé Mọlẹ̀, Ìyá Òrìṣàǹlá, Ìyá Yemọja, Ìyá Olóòsùn, Ìyáfin Ọ̀ṣun, Ìyáfin Erí, Ìyáfin Ọ̀rúnfúnmi [S10]. Two of dem matter pass just dia own cults.
Ìyá'lé Orí na priestess of Orí and she dey keep di king Orí inside her apartment, dey propitiate am for am [S10]. Di king destiny-shrine dey for woman hand.
Ìyá'lé Mọlẹ̀ dey keep the king Ifá for hand, dey join body well well when the Ifá priest dem dey come every fifth day to consult am, and, as Johnson talk am, "na im be the head of all the Babalawos (Ifa priests) for the city" [S10] That claim touch the Ìyánífá matter directly wey dem treat for Women in Yoruba Religion, and person suppose look am with care: wetin Johnson describe na position of headship over Ifá priest dem for the city wey woman hold, wey no be the same thing as to talk say na initiated diviner wey dey cast Ifá by herself. E no talk say she do divination. Na this difference be wetin the modern argument stand on, and this corpus no mix dem together.
Another group dey wey Johnson call "other ladies of high rank": Ìyámọdè, Ìyá'lé Odùduwà, Ode, Ọbagúntẹ, Ẹni Ọjà, Ìyá'lé Agbo, Ìyá Òtún [S10]. Three of dem dey important well well for how the system work. Ode na head of all Ọ̀ṣọ́ọ̀sì worshippers and dey show for state events as hunter with bow for shoulder [S10]. Ọbagúntẹ dey stand for the king inside the Ògbóni house for normal times, dey enter the room, dey act for im name and dey give am report of everything wey happen for each day sitting [S10]: woman wey be the king regular proxy inside the group wey dey check im power. Ẹni Ọjà na head of the Èṣù worshippers, dey in charge of the king market and the benefits wey dey come from am, dey wear gown like man, and the king dey lean on her hand the day wey e go worship for the market [S10]. Under her na the Olósì, wey dey join hand control the market, and the Aróọ̀jà, the resident market keeper [S10].
Two warning dey for all this matter. Johnson dey describe Ọ̀yọ́, wey be the most centralised and different Yoruba state pass, and the palace arrangement of one big empire no be evidence for wetin dey happen for small Èkìtì town. And many of these women, according to Johnson own report for the same book, na people wey dem expect to die when the king die: e mention Ìyá Ọba, Ìyá Nàsó, Ìyálagbọ̀n, Ìyá'lé Mọlẹ̀, Ọlọ́run Kúmẹ̀fún, Ìyámọnàrì, Ìyá'lé Orí and the Àrẹ̀ Òrìté among the people wey must die when king die, and e explain the reason clear: the people wey fit reach the king body easily, dem make their life depend on im own so say poison or dagger no go touch am [S10]. High office and death sentence wey must happen na the same appointment. Any story wey just talk say these women get power, without adding that one, no really describe how the institution be.
Na this part of the history people dey over-exaggerate pass for popular writing and person need to handle am with care.
Ọ̀rọ̀mpọ̀tọ̀ show for the Ọ̀yọ́ king list, wey rule for Ọ̀yọ́ Ìgbòho for the sixteenth century, and plenty modern popular and academic writing dey describe am as the first and only female Aláàfin [S11]. This point say na female dey inside modern book dem like Falola and Genova The Yoruba in Transition and Olajubu Women in the Yoruba Religious Sphere [S11].
The k-leg be say Samuel Johnson, wey im king list na the source of the whole line, no talk this thing. Wetin dey inside im text na: "Prince Orompoto, brother of Eguguoju, and son of Ofinran succeeded to the throne," and na male pronoun e use throughout the passage, dey describe one commander wey get sense well well wey hide im army movement by tying ghaju leaf to each horse tail to sweep the tracks comot, and wey lose three Gbọ̀nkàà for the battle of Ìláyì [S12]. Johnson finish am say: "How long this King reigned is not known but he was the third buried at Igboho" [S12]
So how the matter stand na this. The tradition say na female Aláàfin dey real, plenty people hold am, and reputable modern scholarship report am. E no dey inside the original nineteenth-century text, wey report that same reign as man own. Some oral tradition hold say she change enter man before she take the throne, wey be the kind story wey dey make female claimant match male office and wey the two side of the gender argument dey interpret differently [S11]. The cavalry story dem wey people dey often attach to her, including say she travel go Timbuktu go import horses, no dey inside Johnson and this corpus no dey repeat dem as fact.
The straight talk: strong tradition hold say Ọ̀rọ̀mpọ̀tọ̀ na woman, the earliest written king list no talk so, and evidence wey dey ground no fit settle the matter. Any strong confidence on this particular point still dey under drag.
Ondó tradition talk say the kingdom first ọba na woman, Pupupu, and say the Lóbùn stool come from her [S6]. This one na ìtàn, how one town take describe im own founding, and we report am here as wetin Ondó talk about itself instead of confirmed date-and-reign fact.
Regency na the case wey get better document and make sense pass on how the system work, and people dey always mix am with kingship for popular writing. For many Yoruba towns, na woman dey hold the position of regent for the gap between when ọba's die and when dem install the person wey go take over. The Erelú Kútì of Lagos na the clearest documented example, wey reign as regent when monarch die until kingmakers choose another person [S8]. Regency na real use of the throne power for limited time. E no be proper accession to throne, and to call regent female ọba dey give wrong description of the institution.
Make woman occupy the highest office na rare thing, no be normal thing. That one support Bakare-Yusuf argument say individual women wey get power inside patriarchal structure na "miraculous exception" instead of evidence about how the structure really be . As e even possible at all, and as the government system get positions wey only women fit hold and one of dem even dey wey king dey kneel down for front of am, support Oyěwùmí point say body part no be total barrier and say the logic of the system no be simple male-over-female hierarchy. The two of dem na true. None dey cancel the other.
Ẹgbẹ́ na name for association: group wey people join by choice or by age grade, wey get members, leaders, dues, and wetin dem dey pursue. Yoruba towns run on top dem, and women ẹgbẹ́ na di organisational foundation under every political action wey women take wey dey documented for inside dis section.
Di types wey dey recorded include age-set, occupational or trade association, mutual-aid group, and rotating savings association, wey be èsùsù, wey dey treated for inside Market Women and Economic Power . Among di Ìjẹ̀bú, di age-group system, regberegbe, include women groups wey get documented roles for development .
Wetin make di ẹgbẹ́ get strong political weight na di combination of two things. Membership plenty well well: one woman fit belong to several at di same time, by age, by trade, by quarter, by cult. And dem already dey on ground: organiser wey wan reach di women for one town no need to build new structure, na only to activate di one wey already dey. Na exactly so di Abẹ́òkúta Women's Union take grow reach tens of thousands within few months, and na why di market, where di trade ẹgbẹ́ dey meet every day, be di political unit wey matter pass.
Di effect wey colonialism get on women formal authority na di part of dis whole topic wey people no dey argue about at all. Scholars wey dey argue on top everything else dey agree on dis one.
Di mechanism na recognition. Indirect rule govern through selected traditional authorities, give dem salary, court, power to collect tax, and backing from di colonial state, and define which office matter. Dem completely exclude women from Native Authority administration, so dem no get representation at all throughout di colonial period . Dem no abolish di women offices by decree. Dem just no recognise dem, and unrecognised office for system where recognition na wetin dey carry salary, court, and police na office wey dem don empty out even though di name still dey.
Di Ẹ̀gbá case na di documented sequence. Local councils for Abẹ́òkúta traditionally dey always include at least one female member. Di Ẹ̀gbá United Government, wey dem create after British demand reorganisation following di crisis of 1897, na only men dey inside . Dem introduce gendered tax law for Abẹ́òkúta for 1918 . By di 1940s, na di Aláké as Sole Native Authority dey govern di town, na office wey di British build, wey dey tax women wey no get any representation at all. So di demand of Abẹ́òkúta Women's Union no be for new right. Na to restore di channel wey colonial reorganisation don remove while dem still keep di tax.
Di generalisation across Yorubaland. Nina Mba book Nigerian Women Mobilized (1982) na di founding study for dis whole subject, and wetin she find out about di precolonial period na wetin dem dey quote well well for inside historiography: "women's world was not subordinate to that of men, but rather the two worlds were complementary" Her account of di colonial period be say dem replace dis complementary structure with another one wey exclude women from administration outright. Mba also dey careful about wetin she dey claim, as she differentiate Yoruba, Igbo, and Benin cases instead of to just generalise one single southern-Nigerian pattern .
Wetin survive and how e take survive. Di women offices no vanish. Dem continue to dey give Ìyálóde and Ìyálọ́jà titles, and dem still dey give dem today. Wetin change na di content: from office wey person work hard achieve wey depend on independent economic base and wey carry seat for where dem dey make decisions, to honour wey dem just dey dash person based on di goodwill of di ọba or, for di Ìyálọ́jà's case, on di goodwill of political party. Di title stay longer pass di power. Di way women take recover dia political voice for twentieth century follow new routes, like union, party, and ballot box, instead of di old offices, and na dat one be di subject of Colonial Encounter and Women's Resistance.
LaRay Denzer 1994 historiographical survey of di field still remain di best guide to wetin dem don establish and wetin dem never establish . Make reader know say di literature on Ìyálóde rely on small number of studies, mainly di one from Awé, and say dem often describe di office in general terms wey dem establish for Ìbàdàn for nineteenth century come generalise am across Yorubaland and across centuries. Di material on palace office rely heavily on Johnson. Di Ondó material rely on small ethnographic literature. Anywhere dis file give name and date, e get source; where e no give, di gap dey real and dem state am plainly instead of to just fill am.
Guide to the ten files on women, gender constructs, political titles, economic institutions, ritual authority, kinship, and historical resistance across Yorùbá history.
How market authority was structured, how trade wealth converted into political leverage and where that conversion was blocked, the credit system that financed women's trade, and the twentieth-century associations that turned market organisation into a political instrument.
What mission schooling and Christian marriage did to women's economic independence, how indirect rule removed their political channel while continuing to tax them, and the Abẹ́òkúta Women's Union revolt that brought down an Aláké.
Oyeronke Oyewumi's argument that gender was not the primary organizing category of Yoruba society, the serious criticisms of it, and the documented record of women's authority.
The oba and why Yoruba kingship was sacred and constrained at the same time, the chieftaincy title system, the palace, the town council, Ogboni as judiciary and check, and how a king was actually removed.
The most powerful women in nineteenth-century Yorubaland, both of them large-scale slave traders, one killed by the ruler she had armed and the other exiled by a British consul, and the political office that made their power constitutional.