History of Yorubaland
The History of Yorubaland is comprised of a diverse population that has a shared linguistic and cultural background. Yoruba is their traditional language (there are dialectal variations from one group to another). The Ife, Oyo, Ijebu, Remo, Awori, Egba, Ijesa, Ekiti, Ilaje, and Ondo people are included in this group. Western Nigeria is considered to be the ancestral home of the Yoruba people.
In comparison to many other areas of Africa, the Yoruba-speaking people of Sub-Saharan Africa appear to have adapted to a sedentary way of life at a far earlier stage than other populations on the continent. The Yoruba appear to have developed a political system that got more complex over the course of time and bore comparable traits across the territory of western Nigeria.
This system may have been in place as early as the tenth century. The fact that virtually all of the states and kingdoms formed by the Yoruba people claim shared lineage and heritage from Ile-Ife has been largely cited as the cause of the similarities in the political structure (Ife for short). According to the Yoruba, Ile-Ife is the beginning of the universe and the place from whence people migrated to all corners of the globe.
It is believed, both in ancient and modern Yoruba cultures, that a successful linking of genealogy to Ife immediately confers legitimacy on any Yoruba traditional monarch. This belief holds true in both ancient and modern Yoruba civilizations. It is believed that Ife was the place where Yoruba culture began. With its auxiliaries, which comprised a great number of sociopolitical and economic chieftaincies, it was instrumental in the genesis and development of political centralization, playing a major part in both processes.
It would appear that the idea and principle of governmental centralization originated relatively early on in Ife and then spread to other regions of Yorubaland in the years that followed. In essence, the significant advancements that have been made in the field of centralized administration can be traced back to a famous historical figure named Oduduwa. Oduduwa is known in modern times as the person who was responsible for the development of Yoruba civilisation.
Ife is where kingship and the institution of monarchy as it exists today in some parts of Yorubaland can be traced back to their beginnings. However, scholars agree that to find the real growth of the monarchy and the addition of checks and balances to keep it from becoming too powerful, one must look to a later kingdom. This later kingdom was set up far to the northwest of the cradle by people who had moved there from Ife.
If the real growth of a monarchy were to be located, the search would have to focus on this later kingdom. This was the kingdom of Oyo, which seems to have attained its highest level of governmental centralization sometime around the twelfth or thirteenth centuries. Oyo is significant not just because it is an offshoot of Ife, but also because it is the place where the concept of checks and balances as an essential element of any political organization was first developed.
Although the alaafin was the ultimate source of political authority in the Oyo kingdom, the institution of the oyomesi served to limit the alaafin’s ability to utilize the ostensibly absolute powers that were at his disposal. The oyomesi was the cabinet, but it also served as the legislative body, and it had the authority to dispute a decree issued by an alaafin.
The oyomesi was a political oligarchy consisting of seven or eight members, and it was led by a bashorun. This group had the power to push an alaafin into exile or even urge him to end his own life, and they did so on several occasions. The military, which was led by the kingdom’s military chief, the are-ona-kakanfo, had the ability to temper the powers of the oyomesi. The are-ona-kakanfo may lead his men to confront any unwarranted disrespect or disobedience to the person and office of the alaafin.
There is evidence to suggest that such a moderating effect was exerted during the time of the Oyo kingdom. In a similar manner, the Oyo empire formed the institution of ogboni, which was a quasijudicial body of elites who reserved the ability to pronounce judgment on those who had been accused of committing crimes. Therefore, in a sense, Oyo emerged as a civilization with many of the accoutrements of contemporary political administration, with the division of powers serving as the primary focus of attention.
These concepts were quickly adopted by a great number of communities that had either been created by individuals who had previously been a part of the Oyo community or were subjugated by Oyo’s armies. Oyo fell into disrepair as a result of the diminishing importance that was put on the division of powers. At this time, influential people had begun to have an undue influence on the system that had kept the kingdom afloat for ages.
It is essential to keep in mind that the emergence of a political civilization brought with it significant advances in socioeconomic conditions and cultural development over the entirety of Yorubaland, including in Ife and Oyo. The formation of creative traditions was an essential component of this process and was an important aspect of it. Yorubaland still has a plethora of African works of art that date back many centuries; the sheer volume of these works is enormous, and they come in a variety of shapes and materials.
Many areas of Yorubaland have been excavated, and the results have produced a significant amount of archaeological evidence attesting to the long age of Yoruba artistic traditions. In particular, the cities of Ife and Oyo have left behind a significant amount of evidence of their great creative history. Figurines made out of clay or bronze were a specialty of the art industry that sprung up in places like Ife, which led to the development of that sector of the economy.
Ife artisans became skilled very early on in the production of works made of bronze and terracotta, in addition to becoming skilled in the carving of wood and stone and the beading of glass. Because the Yoruba are likely the most skilled woodcarvers in all of West Africa, the art of Ife has benefited greatly from this fact. It appears that the majority of pre-colonial traditional Yoruba woodcrafts consisted of the many wood objects that were uncovered in Ife. Many of these artifacts are related to religious ritual.
Stone carvings that were uncovered at Ife provide further evidence that these objects fulfilled the same historical and religious functions as the bronze and terra cotta works that were discussed before. There is no doubt that stonework occurred in Ife before metalwork. Figures of humans, fish, animals, reptiles, and birds, as well as other types of animals and reptiles, were carved out of stone and unearthed.
Glass beads of a transparent blue-green tint were discovered during excavations at Ife. These beads stood in stark contrast to coral beads, which are of more recent and current development. The great arts of Ife have been examined not only in relation to later Yoruba sculptures but also to other sculptural traditions of West Africa, particularly seemingly older ones from areas such as the Nok area to the north of Ife.
This has been done in order to better understand the origins of the great arts of Ife (Central Nigeria). Since the excavation that took place in 1910 by the German anthropologist Leo Frobenius, the antiquity of Ife art has been brought to the notice of people all over the world. This has been a significant contributor to both the widespread understanding of Ife art and the notoriety of the Yoruba race.
In a similar manner, Oyo produced comparable art and expanded upon the traditions that seemed to have been inherited from Ife, despite the fact that there is evidence that both Oyo and Ife art were developing at the same time. However, in addition to working with stone and metal, which are usually accepted as being the heritage of the Yoruba, the Oyo also established a recognised competence in carving calabash, which still exists today. This calabash carving expertise is still in existence.
Also Read: Who are the Yoruba People? A Complete History Of the Yoruba Other Than Ife and Oyo
