Lunsi were also descendants from the royal home. Their roots thus can be traced to the era of Naa Nyagsi. When Naa Nyagsi was reigning as king of dagbong,one of his wife Napaɣa Fanliriba died living behind two orphans namely; Ӡima and Bizinŋ. These orphans were refused foods any time it was ready and that subjected them to malnourishment. Ӡima and Bizinŋ devised out a strategy by securing for themselves an empty bowl which they usually used to drum as a means of pleasing their brothers and sisters(who were quite fortunate having their mothers alive and kicking) to be able to get them some morsels for their tummy. This development continued till a particular day when Naa Nyagsi witnessed this as he was seated at his resting palace hall(Zɔnŋ Tuuni). Naa Nyagsi called for Ӡima & Bizinŋ and informed them to always make themselves available with their "Drumming bowl" any time Naa Nyagsi food was served. Ӡima and Bizinŋ heeded and begun regaining their feat to the surprise of many elders of Yendi who inquired from Naa Nyagsi,and they were told how the orphans were now metaphorically breastfeeding from Naa Nyagsi, their father and king of Dagbong.
When Naa Nyagsi embarked on his conquest to expand the territories and boundaries of Dagbong by toppling fetish priests otherwise known as "owners of the Land". (Tindan-nima) and replacing them with some of his princes,brothers,warriors etc.... Naa Nyagsi and his forces got to Diare where a certain group of people came out of a cave around that realm with snail shells in their hands. They definitely striked the snail shells against each other to make certain pleasant sounds and they coupled that with eulogizing the ascendants of Naa Nyagsi just so for Naa Nyagsi to grant them some mercy by not annihilating and wiping out their clan. The group was believed to have been led by one Lunŋ Tisuu. Naa Nyagsi haboured some mixed feelings at this juncture because on one hand,he had expected them to run for their lives but they didn't and on the other hand,they pleased him to the marrow with their snail shells and appellations. Naa Nyagsi asked why they never runned for their lives and they declared,"we've long heard the name of the son of Shitobu & his exploits cum bravery and we wanted to see for our own eyes who that was in order for us to plead for his mercy,have some historical accounts to narrate to posterity and save ourselves from his attacks". Naa Nyagsi granted them their wish but likened their art to his orphans display of seeking for food for whenever they had none to depend on.
Naa Nyagsi at this material moment gave Ӡima & Bizinŋ out to these people particularly their leader Lunŋ Tisuu to be taught how they did theirs. Lunŋ Tisuu taught Ӡima & Bizinŋ their art till the death of Ӡima which brought their practice to a halt because Lunŋ Tisuu feared for his life but his eldest son mustered the courage and said,regardless of what happens,Naa Nyagsi must hear the sad news of the demise of Ӡima. They followed it up the next day by going to Naa Nyagsi with their Snail shells. They initially praised Naa Nyagsi before giving a brief notice of Ӡima's death to Naa Nyagsi upon his request of their reason behind praising him with their snail shells. Naa Nyagsi took the news normal and even recounted how powerless he was when the orphans mother died,how much more when one of them(the child) also takes same path. Naa Nyagsi used same meeting to offer some words of prayers to Bizinŋ to be able to master the art very well. As times goes on,they had some reforms to their art by way of moving away from using the snail shells to the use of a cylindrical barrel of which an animal skin was sewed to as a way of beating with rapid succession of strokes to please the king.
Naa Nyagsi conquest continued which took him to Namɔɣu where he toppled the fetish priest (Namɔɣu Tindana) of Namɔɣu who superintended over that village. Bizinŋ was called to duty to replace the Namɔɣu Tindana. When Bizinŋ was called to take the Namɔɣu skins,he arrived and displayed his talent in appellations before his father,Naa Nyagsi the king. Bizinŋ displayed what we call in the local parlance as "Kpilbi". Kpilbi is when the drummer brings to bear the works of pass kings of dagbong after which the drummer talks about the works of commoners and then sum it up with the words of God. The Lunŋsi are very important because I remember during the live stay of the late Nanton Naa Alhassan Charles sulemana,some asked why he opted to continuously stay in Nanton at the expense of his" story building" located on the Tamale Teaching hospital road and he answered"I'm quite comfortable and takes so much delight whenever drummers have to sing praises of me,my ascendants and appellations of the skin". The Lunŋsi are also royals and that is the more reason why the Namo Naa also have his own pavilion erected within the premises of the Gbewaa palace. The Namo Naa pavilion at the Gbewaa palace is erected to the left aspect of the palace main hall. Whenever there is a gathering, the Namo Naa seats to the far left hand side of the king of dagbong at the Gbewaa palace with his subordinate chiefs such as:Sampaha Naa,Taha Naa,zohe Lunŋ Naa etc..
There's something that we call Biԑɣu Naayo in dagbong. It is a form of paying homage to chiefs in dagbong particularly chiefs who are under the jurisdiction of the king of dagbong (Yaa-Naa). It is usually carried out on Mondays and Fridays. The origin of Biԑɣu Naayo can be traced to the famous Sanŋ/Chirizanŋ battle and the battle of Nyingilingi(battle involving Naa Andani Girilonŋ and Kumbugu Naa Abdulai).The lines of Biԑɣu Naayo in the Sanŋ/Chirizanŋ battle went like; "Kundunŋ puɣisiri Gbuɣinli Napɔnŋ kpaa" and was actually drafted by the chief drummer of Zaɣili Dapala Andani Sigli in the person of Wablaa Kundari. The lines in the Biԑɣu Naayo that was drafted during the battle of Nyinglingi is quite different from its original version. The lines in the Biԑɣu Naayo that was drafted during the battle of Nyinglingi goes as follows; "Garinga biԑɣu nԑԑya, Garinga biԑɣu nԑԑya, Garinga biԑɣu nԑԑya".
The Namo Naa( Dakoli papuu baa dali dabuɣi Lana,Binbana Naa,Ashaa dabuɣi Lana,mahamaru dabuɣi Lana
,Kosurim bԑ jia ka konyurim bԑ jia dabuɣi Lana) serves as the Paramount of all the chief drummers in dagbong. Below is a short list of towns with their respective chief drummers:
Namo Naa- Yendi Lunŋ Naa.
Darkuɣaa- Gushegu/Gushԑɣu Lunŋ Naa.
Polo Naa- Savelugu Lunŋ Naa.
Zaɣa- Mion
Laɣim baligu- kariga Lunŋ Naa.
Maachԑndi- Nanton Lunŋ Naa.
Taonbihi-Gukpegu lung Lunŋ.
When it comes to famous drum chanters, the first renowned drum chanter(Baanga/Lunŋa) I recalled was a native of Nanung but his terrible unique voice made him famous. He was also with Naa Abarika Attah and anytime he visited Tamale,Jack N-moro,formerly of npp central organizer house was his lodging place.
History remembers the most renowned & famous drum chanters in dagbong and some of them are listed below. You can as well add in the comment feed famous drum chanters I couldn't mentioned.
Chԑi gbara lunŋ Dogbura
Zilindo lunŋ Naa Alhassani
Dakpԑm lunŋ Naa Alhaji Baba Bla.
Toon bihi wulana. One unprincipled student required to find out the home town of Naa luro's mother and he responded in equal measure by angrily saying Toochima(Techima). And when the student left, he soliloquied that we don't seek for "herbs" for free.
lunŋ Abukari Abede. He is the inventor of the famous; "Achim Dagban bia naa Buru yaanga" and this links president Nana addo to the Abudu royal gate. He is yet again seen in Gushԑɣu Naa Bawa's 1995 enskinment videos.
Nyoligu lunŋ Naa issahaku Moɣalo. Though blind,but he almost ruled dagbong drummers with his narrative dexterities. He proved to all and sundry in dagbong that,disability isn't inability. He died at Zakpalsi when he was invited by the chief of zakpalsi, Zakpalsi Lana Abdulai to be the guest drummer & chanter for his "Samban-Lunŋ" but its beauty was marred when issahaku Moɣalo died suddenly having suffered from a short stomach pains.
Isahaku Namɔɣu.
Current Chanshԑɣu lunŋ Naa. A very young dynamic drummer.
Lunŋ Adam Gbaɣu.
Lunŋ Naa Johira.
Lunŋ Naa Landaru/ Choɣu Lunŋ Naa Imoro who in turn gave birth to Yԑpalsi Lunŋ Naa Alhassan.
Shabo lunŋ Naa Abraman. He is the Royal Highness,Kampakuya Naa Abdulai Yakubu Andani's favourite because his Royal Majesty enjoys listening to Shabo lunŋ Naa Abraman lines of appellations and praises.
No comments:
Post a Comment