Orompoto

Ajiun Orompotoniyun, better known as Orompoto (also spelled Oronpoto) was the first female Alaafin of the Oyo Empire in West Africa. The empire of which she ruled is located in what is modern day western and north-central Nigeria and part of the Benin Republic. She became the first woman to become King of Oyo She helped drive the Nupe from Oyo in 1555.

Orompto was the second Oyo monarch to reign in the new capital of Igboho. Some oral traditions hold that she was miraculously transformed into a man before assuming the throne there. She was reportedly masterfully skilled on horseback, and created a specialized order of cavalry officers within her army that were subject to the Eso Ikoyi. The first of its kind, the cavalry was a force to be reckoned with in the various wars with Oyo's enemies. They abandoned the battlefield thereafter, and the Oyo later claimed victory.

She was succeeded by Ajiboyede after her death in the Battle of Ilayi, making her the first Alaafin to die in battle.