Use pdf download to do whatever you like with pdf files on the web and regain control. The oyo kingdom is located in the south of the actual territory of nigeria. The nearby kingdom of benin was also a powerful force between 0 and 1850 ce. The precolonial political administration in yoruba land had a decentralized structure i.
Precolonial political administration in yoruba land. The doctrine of separation of powers as practiced by the then oyo empire was premised on the yoruba adage which say that. Metropolitan control was exercised through ilari or intendants. Empire was dismissed by modern historians as depressing and monotonous. Other works that might also be helpful are warfare in atlantic africa. Chapter 3 colonial america 1700 1750 1763 british tighten enforcement of navigation acts history chapter overview visit and click on chapter 3 chapter overviewsto pre. Between 1100 ce and 1700 ce, the yoruba kingdom of ife experienced a golden age. There are three earlier capitals near the niger river. Indiginous beliefs, from religion around the world the yoruba and the states of ife and oyo, from diffusion and other problems in the history of african states, by prof. The empire was divided into provinces, each of which embraced several chiefdoms. Information and translations of oyo empire in the most comprehensive dictionary definitions resource on the web.
Many products that you buy can be obtained using instruction manuals. Women in an era of economic and social transition in nineteenth century yorubaland southwestern nigeria. She goes to ajala only to get the quality of your head. History of nigeria, from infoplease and from library of congress, country studies. Africa info on the oyo empire military, archaeology. The political system centered around four powerful figures. The nearby benin kingdom was also an important kingdom. The nearby benin empire was also a powerful force between 0 and 1850 oyo developed in the 17th century and become one of the largest yoruba kingdoms, while ileife remained as a religiously significant rival to its power at the site of the divine creation of the. The ruler of the empire, was the alafin owner of the palace, and he established at old oyo, the. Despite its age, the oyo empire continues to be a keystone book for the study of oyo history. Oyo empire historical kingdom in western africa britannica. It succeeded ile ife as the dominant kingdom in the area after 1700.
The structure of the oyo military prior to its imperial period was simple and closer aligned to the central government in metropolitan oyo. Suffice to state that oyo empire was founded by oranmiyan, the direct. They were also most politically important state in the region from the mid 17th to late 18th century, holding sway not only over most of the other kingdoms in yoruba land but also in some other. At the height of oyos power in the 17th and 18th centuries, dahomey paid annual tribute to it, and yoruba influence probably extended as far as the ga of the gold coast now ghana as well. Established in the 15th century, the oyo empire grew to become one of the largest west african states. Material life and domestic economy in a frontier of the. Ife, however, remained and continues to be viewed as the spiritual homeland of the yoruba. It was then surpassed by the oyo empire as the dominant yoruba military and political power between 1600 ce and 1800 ce. Read online now oyo empire oluyole ebook pdf at our library. The following 12 files are in this category, out of 12 total. The oyo misi was headed by the bashorun, which was an administrative and spiritual designation. This paper is not concerned with the establishment of the empire, its growth, dwindling, and reconstruction. However, we will focus on the first three great empires. Its foundation myth draws upon yoruba religious beliefs and holds sacred the original settlement of ileife, which continues to be upheld as the creation site for the yoruba.
Kanembornu empire, the oyo empire, the benin empire, the asante kingdom, the hausa city states etc. The geographical location of the ancient ghana empire should not be confused with the modern nation state of ghana. Oyoile was razed by the fulani empire in 1835 and the oyo empire collapsed in 1836, once afonja had been killed by the fulani. Web to pdfconvert any web pages to highquality pdf.
He spends some time on the oyodahomey conflict, examining the tactics of each side, as well as its implications for the atlantic slave trade. With the eighteenth century came the conquest of the kingdom of dahomey when dahomey attempted to dispute oyos coastal outlets. It was the most important and authoritative of all the. It began in the 0s in the west african savannah north of the tropical forests where other yoruba peoples lived. These events weakened the southern yorubas in their. The bashorun communicated with the orun, the dual of the.
The great gibbon had branded the successors of justinian and heraclius as a series of vicious weaklings, and for several generations no one dared to contradict him. Oyo empire in nigeria 1702 england and france go to war pilgrims going to churchby george boughtongeorge boughton painted many scenes about american colonial life. The nupe sacked the capital, destroying oyo as a regional power until the early 17th century. We would like to show you a description here but the site wont allow us. The ancient oyo empire, established by the yoruba people, controlled a wide area between the volta and niger and rivers by the mid seventeen century. The empire succeeded llelfe as the dominant kingdom in the area after 1700. The oyo empire 14001830s was a powerful yoruba polity in what is today southwestern nigeria. From all these sources, scanty as they yet are, we can take a new look at the history of the oyo empire in the 18th century, and question the old view.
Iwajowa is a local government area in oyo state, nigeria. William allen, a narrative of the expedition sent by her majestys government to the river niger, in 1841 london, 1848, vol. Two books have served to undeceive the english reader, the monumental work of finlay, published in 1856, and. The oyo empire of the yoruba historywiz africa civilization. Yoruba precolonial political system nigerian history. The oyo misi was responsible for the day to day operation of the empire, running the capital city and local territories. The oyo empire weakened because there were political disputes. The oyo empire was the largest and the most powerful of the forest states of west africa. Before the advent of the british in yoruba land, yoruba kingdoms maintained an orderly and unified political system which is still in effect till today. It was during the seventeenth century that the oyo empire began to develop on a large scale, and under the warlike alafin, ajagbo, reached out toward the coast. Get oyo empire oluyole pdf file for free from our online library pdf file. Yoruba people regale in hundreds of philosophical aphorisms and lore, and they believe that any lore that widens peoples horizons and presents pabulum for thought is the beginning of philosophy. It was the most important and authoritative of all the early yoruba principalities. The city engaged extensively in trade and became wealthy.
Ife was surpassed by the oyo empire as the dominant yoruba military and political power between 1600 and 1800 ad. Introducing the yoruba precolonial political system. African americans descendants of black west african. The oyo empire, from the seventeenth century through its col lapse in the first quarter of the nineteenth century, fits the definition of an imperial state in the sense that it expanded beyond its core area in northwest yorubaland, controlled regions and peoples far beyond its heartland, took over other polities. The capital of the state was moved from old oyo katunga in 1930s and the alaafin lord of the palace of oyo kingdom still reside in the city. Enclosures of the old oyo empire, nigeria springerlink. The oyo empire grew to become the largest yoruba state.
Material life and domestic economy in a frontier of the oyo empire during the midatlantic age9 byakinwumi ogundiran introduction the mid atlantic age1 was a period of an integrated commercial system in the atlantic basin that linked most parts of western europe, the americas, the indian ocean littorals, and much of west and central africa. The other yoruba citystates broke free of oyo dominance, and subsequently became embroiled in a series of internecine conflicts that soon metamorphosed into a full scale civil war. The people moved to koso for security reasons and settled on koso hill and below the bara mountain. After the fall of oyo empire, and the yoruba intertribal wars, the 7 former kingdoms then broke down into 14 kingdoms. In response to this, oyo attacked dahomey and was defeated.
Up to this day, the illorin traditional ruler is an emir, whereas in the rest of yoruba towns the kings are called oba or baale baale or baba onile. Oyo was ruled by the alafin and the oyo misi, council of noblemen of oyo. On the eve of super tuesday hear about the peteamybiden alliance, ontheground view of bernie sanders chances, and more with status coup reporter jordan chariton and empire files abby martin. The good people there gave me permission to add it to the wiki commons. It expanded from the 16th to the 18th century to become the oyo empire, reaching its peak around 47570km2 in the middle of the 18th century. According to the oral tradition of oyo people, koso was a former capital city of the oyo empire. Onigbogiconducted evacuation of oyoile probably around 16th century there were 36 other kings after onigbogi. Iwereile was a former powerful war town in the old oyo empire, dreadful for many oyo indigenes, as well as the alaafin to attack. The oyo empire by prof george ayittey a new nigeria. The oyo empire, like many empires before it, used both local and tributary forces to expand its domains. The oyo empire was established by the yoruba people in the 15th century and was one of the largest west african states. However, the oyo hegemony had been dealt a mortal blow.
The oyo empire of the niger delta nigeria also developed an elaborate system of checks and balances to guard against despotism as may be recalled from the previous chapter. Situated in an ideal geographic location between the volta and niger river, the oyo empire became an important trade center. It was then surpassed by the yoruba oyo empire as the dominant yoruba military and political power between 1700 ad and 1900 ad,11 the oba or ruler of oyo is referred to as the alaafin of oyo. The oyo empire was a yoruba empire of what is today western and north central nigeria. We often read from the yoruba media about the oyo empire and how widespread and powerful this empire was, but no documents, finding or evidence any where in the world suggest these claims to be true only yoruba folklore by the yoruba revisionist elders and academicians, who have tried to rewrite their history by editing the feats of their conquerors to be that of yorubas, but simple research. It rose through the outstanding organizational and administrative skills of the yoruba people, wealth gained from trade and its powerful cavalry.
770 1159 1423 626 733 59 1016 1348 903 559 603 156 307 417 790 1364 74 630 1492 1140 676 1483 1534 1231 99 1125 880 1072 390 473 950 1065 806 1289 1282