Bori

Bori may refer to:

Places

People

Other uses

Hausa animism

Hausa animism or Bori is an African traditional religion of the Hausa people of West Africa which involves spirit possession.

Terminology

Bòòríí is a Hausa noun, meaning the spiritual force which resides in physical things, and is related to the word for local distilled alcohol (borassa) as well the practice of medicine (boka). The Bori religion is both an institution to control these forces, and the performance of an "adoricism" (as opposed to exorcism) ritual, dance and music by which these spirits are controlled and by which illness is healed.

Pre-Islamic Hausaland

An aspect of the traditional Maguzawa Hausa religious traditions, Bori became a state religion led by ruling class priestesses amongst some of the late pre-colonial Hausa States. When Islam started making inroads into Hausa land in the 14th century, certain aspects of the religion like idol worship were driven underground. The cult of Tsumbubura in the then Sultanate of Kano and many other similar Bori Cults were suppressed, but Bori survived in 'spirit-possession' cults by integrating some aspects of Islam. The Bori spirit possession priestesses maintained nominal influence over the Sultanates that replaced the earlier Animist Kingdoms. Priestesses communed with spirits through ecstatic dance ritual, hoping to guide and maintain the state's ruling houses. A corps of Bori priestesses and their helpers was led by royal priestess, titled the "Inna", or "Mother of us all". The Inna oversaw this network, which was not only responsible for protecting society from malevolent forces through possession dances, but which provided healing and divination throughout the kingdom.

Bori, Nagpur

Bori is a town located at Nagpur, Maharashtra, India. It is famous for recently found ancient human artifacts. The recent reported artefacts from Bori suggest the appearance of human beings in India around 600,000 years ago.

References