Parcourir

How Ọ̀yọ́ rose to dominate the western Yoruba region and beyond, the constitutional machinery that constrained its king, the cavalry that made it work, and why both eventually failed.

The figure credited in tradition with founding both Ọ̀yọ́ and the second Benin dynasty, what the traditions say, where they conflict, and why the stone monolith bearing his name cannot date him.

Ṣàngó is worshipped as the òrìṣà of thunder and named in Ọ̀yọ́ king lists as the fourth Aláàfin, and this file sets out what each tradition says, why the two cannot simply be merged, and what scholars have argued.

The rulers of Ọ̀yọ́ from the height of the empire to its collapse and refounding, including Bàṣọ̀run Gàhá who ruled through them, the curse of Aláàfin Awólẹ̀, and the move to New Ọ̀yọ́ under Àtìbà.

The Ọ̀ọ̀ni lineage from Adéṣọjí Adérẹ̀mí to Adéyẹyè Ògúnwùsì, Aláàfin Lámídì Adéyẹmí III, the Aláké, the Awùjalẹ̀ Ṣikirú Adétọ́nà, the Ọba of Lagos, and how the office of ọba actually works in modern Nigeria.

The imperial capital in both its forms, the archaeology of the ruined city at Ọ̀yọ́-Ilé, the palace and wall systems, the Aláàfin institution and the constitutional check the Ọ̀yọ́ Mèsì exercised over it.

A comprehensive history of the Ọ̀yọ́ kingdom from its ancient origins at Ọ̀yọ́-Ilé and imperial consolidation to colonial bombardment and modern succession politics.

A comprehensive history of Ìgbòho, from its establishment as the sixteenth-century fortified exile capital of the Ọ̀yọ́ Empire through its institutional, military, and chieftaincy evolution to the modern era.

The historical Alaafin of Old Oyo and the orisa of thunder, lightning, and justice, examining the tension between imperial history and apotheosis.

The political reign, commercial policies, military decline, and constitutional conflicts of Aláàfin Abíọ́dún, the late eighteenth-century monarch of the Ọ̀yọ́ Empire.

A scholarly account of the annual ten-day Ṣàngó Festival in Ọ̀yọ́, examining its liturgical calendar, priestly offices, historical origins, theological schisms, and modern global heritage status.

An examination of the week-long festival commemorating the founder of the Oyo Empire, detailing its historical traditions, ritual officiants, performance genres, and modern institutionalization.

An analysis of pre-colonial Yoruba jurisprudence, detailing the classification of offences, the institutional preference for restitution, mechanisms of banishment, capital sanctions, and the colonial transformation of customary criminal law.