Case file · Folklore / legend
'The king did not hang': Shango at Koso
Yoruba tradition says Shango, a king of Oyo, hanged himself at Koso after losing his throne; his followers declared 'Oba ko so' ('the king did not hang') and that he had risen to become the orisha of thunder.
1897 CE · 8.95, 4.37 · status: legend
The account
Lightning strikes on his enemies' houses were taken as proof. The story was recorded by the Yoruba historian Samuel Johnson in his History of the Yorubas, completed in 1897. The plotted point is the site of Old Oyo (Oyo-Ile).
The sceptical view
Shango is a major orisha worshipped across Nigeria, Brazil and Cuba; the hanging story is one of several accounts and is told respectfully as sacred history.