The Bariba people or the Bariba Tribe, also known as the Baatonu (plural: Baatombu), are the majority of people living in the Benin departments of Borgou and Alibori (1.285.000), and they were cofounders of the Borgu kingdom, which is now located in what is now northeastern Benin and west-central Nigeria (197,000). They are dispersed over western Kwara State and the Borgu region of Niger State in Nigeria. Seventy percent of the estimated one million Bariba live in Benin.
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Togo is home to small Bariba groups (25.0000).
The Bariba are concentrated primarily in the north-east of Benin, especially around the city of Nikki, which is considered the traditional Bariba capital.
At the end of the 18th century they became independent from the Yoruba of Oyo and formed several kingdoms in the Borgou region. The colonization of Benin (then Dahomey) by the French at the end of the 19th century, and the imposition of an Anglo-French artificial border, ended Bariba trade in the region.
One of their noted festivals is the annual Gani festival of which horse riding is a prominent element.
The Bariba people holds an important place in the history of the country. During the late 19th century, Bariba was known to constitute independent states and dominate with kingdoms in cities like Nikki and Kandi in the northeast of the country. In the town of Pehunko there are approximately 200,000 Bariba people out of 365,000 inhabitants.
The Bariba society consists of a higher-ranking official as chief of the town and their subordinates’ chiefs. Social status and titles are inherited in families, but the status of a person may be given by the families’ nature of work. Notable subdivisions of the Bariba include the ruling Wasangari nobles, Baatombu commoners, slaves of varying origin, Dendi merchants, Fulbe herders, and other divisional ethnic groups.
Agriculture is the dominant occupation for the Bariba. They grow corn, sorghum, rice, cotton, cassava (tapioca), yams, beans, palm oil, peanuts and some poultry and livestock. Religion plays an important role in Bariba tribes and they are primarily Islamic.However a number of Bariba communities have their own indigenous beliefs.
History Of The Bariba Tribe
Origins
According to some versions of their history, the Wasangari first settled in the region of Nikki-Wenu around 1480, it having been occupied from 1350 by the Baatonu natives. Coming from the East, they initially settled in Bussa in what is now Nigeria, where Kisra, the legendary Wasangari horseman from Persia had formed an alliance with Mansa Doro left Bussa for Nikki-Wenu with his groom Sero, the son of Kisra who entrusted Mansa Doro with the education of Sero. Before leaving the region again to join Kisra, Mansa Doro nominated his protégé Sero as the new chief. Decked out in hunting attire, the groom was established by the populations of Nikki-Wenu as Sounon Sero, King of Nikki.
Sime Dobidia, father of the dynasties
Sabi Sime, the youngest son of Sounon Sero, later became Sime Dobidia, and through marriages with the native clans Baatonu, Boko and Hausa, founded the dynasties of the Empire of Nikki. His sons, endowed with the royal emblems of trumpets ans white spurs, took control of villages of their respective mothers. Those parental ties were the basis of the political structure established by the Wasangari.
The royal dynasties are founded by:
- Sero Kora Bakarou, the ancestor of the dynasty of KorakouSero Baguiri, the ancestor of the dynasty of the Karawe
- Kpe Gounon Kaba Wouko, the ancestor of the dynasty of the Gbassi
- Sero Kpera I, the ancestor of the dynasty of the Makararou
- Kpe Lafia Gamabrou, the ancestor of the dynasty of Lafiarou
Culture – The origins of the Gaani
The yearly Gaani festival, presided over by the Emperor of Nikki, or in his absence the chiefs of the Bouay, Kika and Sandiro provinces, assembles all the provincial chiefs and their populations, who come to renew allegiance to the Emperor and receive his blessing.
More than 150,000 persons converge to Nikki from all over to participate in the spectacular ceremony where the vitality of the Baatonu culture is celebrated and parental and fraternal links between dynasties are nurtured. Everyone brings presents, however modest, to contribute to the magnificence of the festivities.
The Gaani is the second festival in the Baatonu calendar, following the fire festival or Donkonru, that takes place at the New Year. The Gaani is associated with the notion of nasara, evoking joy, victory and freedom and is a time for ecstasy and communion. By animating and perpetrating the memories that unite them, it nourishes and re-news solidarity and fraternity within the Baatonu people, endorsing their values of welcome and sharing.
An animistic tribal ceremony, it was later incorporated into the Muslim calendar and thus coincides with the Mawlid which is celebrated by Muslims to commemorate the birth of the Prophet. The festival is organized according to the lunar calendar and is always held on a Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday or Sunday; it cannot be held on any other day of the week.
