Togbe Agorkoli

Torgbui Agorkoli was a ruler of Notsie, a town in southeast Togo.^[1] During his rule, the Ewes of Ghana escaped from Notsie to their present land.^[2] He ruled the Ewes 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 Torgbui 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 Torgbui 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 Ewes were led by the wise man called Torgbui Ewenya. The word Ewe was taken from their formal leader Torgbui Ewenya.

References

1. "Notsie". www.wikimapia.org. Retrieved 31 December 2011.
2. "Notsie Narratives: History, Memory and Meaning in West Africa". www.muse.jhu.edu. Retrieved 31 December 2011.