Dutor Torgbuiga Wenya I and the founding of the Anlo Kingdom. Pt. 5
Wednesday, May 4, 2022
JOURNEY AND SETTLEMENT
All the Ewe and their kindred who left Notsie on that fateful night travelled under the leadership of Torgbiga Wenya I assisted by Awadzigla Kpotsui( also recorded as Awaga Kpotsui), his nephew Fia Sri, Adedze Nyaki, Atsu Tso, Etse Gbedze, Dotse Setsi and other lineage heads. When they had gone some distance and had overcome the fear of pursuit from Notsie, they stopped to have a short rest. Here the elders discussed the course to take. They decided to break into three major groups to seek good lands for new settlements. On resumption of the journey, one group went north; the second went straight west; and the third went south. Some people named Gafe in the present Republic of Togo as the place where the groups separated.
The group that went South consisted of the main Dogbo families including the forefathers of the present day Anlo, Ewenume, Be, Togo, Abobo, Mafi, Avee, Tavie, Tokoe, Tefle, Tanyigbe and Agave. Led by Torgbiga Wenya I, their first stop was at Tsevie. Here they saw that their supply of Food was running out. They decided to grow beans, the harvest from which they could replenish their stock of food. They had a very good harvest and decided to wait for the crops to yield a little more. So the town that grew there received the name ‘Tsevie’ (yield a little more) which it bears till today. The present-day Anlo travelled from Tsevie as one unit, but later at the direction of Torgbiga Wenya I they were divided into two groups. The main group being led by Torgbiga Wenya I himself and the other group led by Fia Sri I. The group led by Torgbiga Wenya I went South and moved along the seashore Westwards founding Klikor and other settlements. Kli was one of the old men in Torgbiga Wenya's group. When he could no more catch-up with the travellers, his son Dordi Fuga and Havinoe, son of Torgbiga Wenya, were left behind to escort him, but he died on the way. Some of his followers therefore stopped at his grave in order to carry along his bones when ready. They called the settlement Glidzeanu. Later they moved to Kpevefe but when they drove away the Wli they spread over the land. It was said that their ancestor Kli became a deity hence the name Klikor. After many discoveries and settlements, on reaching Ewetorkor now Atsiteti, Torgbiga Wenya I led his group through a narrow creek and reached a sandbar which he called “ke dzi” which means the top of the sand. It is presently called Kedzi.
Subsequently the group crossed the sandbar and Torgbiga Wenya I informed his followers, “mieva do kea ta” meaning they had reached the ‘head’ or the tip of the sand; consequently, the settlement there was named Keta here he placed Atsu Gladza as a headman. The next lap of the journey took the Anlo to Tegbi where they lived for some time and made a big well at the instruction of Torgbiga Wenya I. This well they named Wenya’s well in honour of the leader. The well can still be seen today. Others followed right to Dudu, Alakple, Kodzi before catching up with Torgbiga at the foot of a dense forest at Avume.
From Tegbi, Torgbiga moved on once more and founded Woe before making a halt near a dense forest. Here the old man, Torgbiga Wenya I who by the time was being carried in a hammock as a result of old age by his nephews, Atsu Etso and Tse Gbedze, asked to be put down to rest a little. He had become very tired and told his followers that he could not go on any more. He was cramped. “Nyeamea Menlo, afidekeyiyi megale nunye o!” So whenever the young men asked the elders as to when the party would be moving on again, they were told the leader said he was cramped; i.e. his limbs were shrunken, he could not go on anymore. The name of this settlement was also taken after “Me nlo” and was contracted to “Anlo” Being the capital of the whole Anlo nation, the adjective “ga” meaning big was added and it became Anloga and the people Anloawo.
Fearing that their brethren left behind might lose the way, Torgbiga Wenya I, after finally settling at Anloga, sent people to go back and settle at the various places they had stopped and spent some time, in order that they might direct the other groups when they came along. His son, Agbana went to settle at the entrance to the low-lands of the Keta Lagoon and called the place Wheta (Valley’s end). Another son and grandson, Akaga and Awanyedo, went to settle at Keta. Kpormenyeabio, another son of Torgbiga Wenya I, went to settle near the big well at Tegbi.
He first called it by another name (Kpo matsor avegbor) but later changed it to Tegbi, because Kpormenyeabio brought a fetish (tro) from Notsie and people used to refer to the settlement as the place where ‘Tegbe’ (name of the fetish) dwells –Tegbefe!. Soon the groups left behind at various places came on. Seeing that their brethren were settled, they went to live with them or to found new settlements.
After “rolling up” near the forest in the present day Avume, Torgbiga Wenya I was carried in a hammock by his nephews Atsu Etso and Etse Gbedze further where Torgbiga Wenya I finally rested and planted his toli and established a home and administered the new kingdom he founded from there. Later Fia Sri crossed and joined his uncle in administering the new kingdom at the capital Anloga.
The administrative structure that was set up at the beginning of the kingdom was Torgbiga Wenya I as the head of the kingdom and then his brother Awadzigla Doe Kpotui as the first Awadada and his other brother Dotse Setsi as the State Linguist. When Torgbiga Wenya l joined the Ancestors, his nephew Fia Sri I took over the administration of the Kingdom.
The successor to Torgbiga Wenya I therefore became the DUTOR of Anlo. Other stools and chieftaincies came into being as settlements grew and the need for permanent heads arose.
From Tsevie, Fia Sri and his group comprising his half-brothers Adzoyi, Adzofia, Asem Adu Lo, Ege Amegayibor and Asuma went through the Ave region where they founded Khevee which became the capital of the area and other Ave towns and settlements like Dakpa, Xevi, Dzodze, Fenyi and later Mafi. They later arrived at Afife and Abolove, and passed through Anyako area to reach Alakple, Fiaxor and Kodzi.
The Ghana Ewe must have left Notsie about the year 1600 A.D., for the Anlo were known to have been at Keta for some time before 1680 when Ashangmo and his Accra men came to find a new home at Glidzi.