Togbe Agorkoli (Eʋegbe: Togbe Agɔ Akɔli) was a legendary ruler of Notsie, a town in modern Togo.[1] During his rule, the Ewe people in what are now Ghana and Togo escaped from Notsie to their present lands.[2] He ruled the Ewe, then known as Dogbo, with an iron fist and had any person who spoke against him put on trial and inevitably found guilty, which meant a death sentence. When the Ewe people decided they did not want to suffer under his rule, they sought a very famous and powerful hunter known as Togbe Tsali. Tsali agreed to hear their pleas. During a festive holiday, it is said that he enchanted the drums to put all the royals and Togbe Agorkoli to sleep. He then mobilized the citizens to pass through a crevice made in a thick mud wall, resulting in the Ewe people's freedom from Notsie. While escaping, Tsali convinced the citizens to walk backwards, confusing their pursuers.

After the exodus, the Ewe were led by Kponoe, nephew of Amega Wenya, the former Dogbo leader at Notsie under Agorkoli. According to tradition, Kponoe became the first Awoamefia of the Anlo Ewe, with the throne name Togbui Sri I.[3]

References

  1. ↑ Meyer, Birgit (2002). "Christianity and the Ewe Nation: German Pietist Missionaries, Ewe Converts and the Politics of Culture". Journal of Religion in Africa. 32 (2): 167–199. doi:10.1163/157006602320292906. JSTOR 1581760.
  2. ↑ Greene, S. E. (1 October 2002). "Notsie Narratives: History, Memory, and Meaning in West Africa". South Atlantic Quarterly. 101 (4): 1015–1041. doi:10.1215/00382876-101-4-1015. S2CID 143913786. Project MUSE 39110.
  3. ↑ Anlo State Hogbetsotso Za 2023, p. 18.
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