The CMS mission and Crowther, how and why Yoruba people converted to two world religions, the British annexation, indirect rule and what it did to kingship, and the making of "Yoruba" as one identity.
The Yorùbá wey dem quote, the proverbs, oríkì, ẹsẹ Ifá, word list headwords, Odù names and citations dey exactly as the corpus record dem, for every language.
Within like one century, the Yoruba-speaking region change from area where almost everybody dey follow òrìṣà religion, plus small Muslim minority, come turn to place where majority of the people na Christian and Muslim in almost equal share, under British colonial rule, and dem come dey call themselves one single name wey dem no dey use for themselves before. These three changes happen together and dem connect, but dem no be the same process and na different things cause them. This document separate them.
The most important thing to make clear from the start, because e go against the story wey missionaries dey tell and the one wey anti-colonial people dey tell, na say the way Yoruba people take change religion na purely voluntary. The main question wey J. D. Y. Peel dey try answer inside Religious Encounter and the Making of the Yoruba na this exact thing: e set out to explain why majority of Yoruba people willingly leave the religion of their ancestors come follow Christianity . Force conversion no be the explanation, because dat one no happen for any serious scale. Colonial force self no be the reason, because mission work start fifty years before colonial government show, and the time wey people plenty pass wey change religion na after dem don conquer the place, no be during the fighting. Another thing be the real reason, and Peel book na the best account wey explain wetin happen.
Islam reach Yorubaland through the trade routes from the north long before Christianity reach the coast. Yoruba people dey call Yoruba Muslims ìmàle, and Muslim communities don already dey inside Ọ̀yọ́ towns, for Ìwó, Ẹdẹ, Ìkirun and other places by the eighteenth century. Islamic learning, writing and reading of Arabic, and Quranic schools na regular features of northern Yoruba towns.
The relationship between Islam and Yoruba political leaders no clear before the jihad, and e come hard well well after the jihad. The way tradition take remember how Shehu Àlímì move go Ilọrin from Ọ̀yọ́ area na say na pressure for that side make am move , wey show say dem dey tolerate the ìmàle but dem no dey always safe. After Ilọrin turn to emirate under Sokoto Caliphate around 1829 and after Ilọrin destroy Ọ̀yọ́-Ile, Islam come get political weight for southern Yoruba states wey e no get before.
Even with dat one, Islam continue to spread for Yorubaland throughout the nineteenth century, even inside states wey dey fight war with Ilọrin, and e do so without any war of conquest. E spread through trade, through Muslim scholars wey dey do the same work wey Ifá priests dey do, like divination, healing, protection charms and written amulets, and through the respect wey literacy get. Lagos, Ìbàdàn, Abẹ́òkúta and Ìwó all get plenty Muslim population through peaceful means. Na this one be the strongest single argument against looking at the century as religious war: the same religion wey people claim say war bring enter Ilọrin na the same religion wey people dey choose by themselves inside the states wey dey fight against Ilọrin.
Two things about Yoruba Islam dey important to mention. E stay together with òrìṣà practice for long time and inside many families instead of to wipe am comot one time. And e no break the family and lineage structure, because to marry plenty wives and to live inside family compound fit work with Islam, the way e no fit work with mission Christianity. That compatibility na part of the reason why the spread of Islam no scatter society reach that level and e no cause plenty drama wey dem write down, and na why record no plenty about am compared to Christianity: the missionaries dey write journals but the ìmàle no do so.
Church Missionary Society enter Yorubaland through Badagry for 1842 with Henry Townsend and Thomas Birch Freeman, and dem move go Abẹ́òkúta for 1846 . The beginning of the mission work no be European people start am. Sàró people wey return, Yoruba people wey dem free from slave ships come settle for Freetown, don dey travel go back to Abẹ́òkúta and Lagos from the 1830s, and na their presence and the request wey dem make na im pull the mission come . Yoruba Christianity start because Yoruba people ask for am.
The main person inside the matter na Samuel Àjàyí Crowther. Dem born am around 1807 for Ọ̀ṣogun inside Yorubaland, dem capture am around when e dey thirteen years when war reach im town, put am inside slave ship, and e get freedom for April 1822 when British patrol stop the ship come drop the people for Sierra Leone . E go school for there, study for CMS College for London, and dem ordain am as priest for 1843 . For 1864, dem ordain am as Bishop of the countries of Western Africa beyond the Queen's dominions, the first African bishop for Anglican Church .
The work wey Crowther do on language na the foundation for everything inside this corpus. E publish the first Yoruba grammar and vocabulary for 1843, translate four New Testament books for 1852, and the complete Yoruba Bible come out for 1884 . The written Yoruba language, the standard way to write am, and the literary style wey almost all later Yoruba writing dey use na mostly im work and the work of im colleagues.
Crowther face the same question wey every Bible translator dey face, and the answers wey e give get long-lasting effect.
E translate the God of the Bible as Ọlọ́run and Ọlọ́dùmarè, and e translate Satan as Èṣù . The first choice get good ground and e close to standard translation practice: Ọlọ́dùmarè inside Yoruba thought na the supreme being, wey dey far from everyday matter, the source of àṣẹ and destiny, and to join the biblical God with that figure get real justification. But the problem still dey. Ọlọ́dùmarè inside Yoruba thought no get gender the way the biblical God get inside English and Hebrew translation practice, and the way mission take use am come attach male identity and strict monotheistic meaning to a word wey get different meaning before .
Di second choice no dey defensible di same way, and na im be di origin of plenti damage wey happen afta. Èṣù inside Yoruba thought no be enemy to di supreme being. Èṣù na di messenger and enforcer of àṣẹ, di one wey dey carry sacrifice go give ọ̀run, wey dey test and scatter things, wey dey stand for crossroads and for door mouth, and wey very important for how Ifá divination dey work. Èṣù dey unpredictable, and Èṣù no be evil, and di two things na different categories. To equate Èṣù with Satan carry di whole Christian dualism of God against devil enter system wey no get am before, and e make every Yoruba household shrine look like devil worship to any Yoruba pesin wey just convert to Christianity and dey read Yoruba Bible.
Na dis specific textual origin bring di framing wey make dem teach plenti Yoruba Christians say dia heritage na demonic tin. Na translator decision, wey one Yoruba man wey dem enslave as pikin by pipo from im own region make for di 1840s and 1850s, and na so e remain for print since dat time. To talk dis tin no be attack on Crowther, wey im achievement dey extraordinary and im position dey impossible. Na statement of wetin di Yoruba text actually talk versus wetin di Yoruba words actually mean, wey be exactly wetin translation rule dey do to make things clear.
Peel account, wey im build from di journals of CMS African agents, wey demsef be Yoruba and be di first literate Yoruba generation, give several reasons wey connect together .
The wars. Conversion sharp well-well inside one century of catastrophic wahala. Di òrìṣà dey tied to place, lineage, and town, and when towns scatter and pipo run comot, di institutions wey dey carry òrìṣà practice disrupt in ways wey no affect religion wey pesin fit carry travel and wey dey inside book. Displaced pipo for Abẹ́òkúta and Ìbàdàn dey far from dia shrines, direct-direct.
Literacy. Di mission bring reading and writing, for Yoruba and English, and dis things get value immediately. Schooling na di main tin wey pull many families go mission long before belief join, and di pattern to send pikin go mission school while di household dey continue òrìṣà practice dey normal.
The ancestor problem inverted. Òrìṣà religion dey tied to lineage and to di ancestors of specific compound. For pipo wey war and enslavement don scatter dia lineage, dat tie na wetin dem no fit keep again. Christianity and Islam two of dem offer membership wey no need functioning lineage.
The returnees. Di Sàró and Agùdà arrive as Christians or Muslims already, with education, money, and connection, and dem clearly succeed. Conversion come dey associated with way to get dat kind success. Dis one no be cynicism about converts; na how religious change dey work generally.
Competition, not replacement. Wetin Peel emphasize na say Christianity and Islam dey compete with each other as much as dem dey compete with òrìṣà religion, and Yoruba pipo choose between dem with careful mind, sometimes household by household . Di way Christian and Muslim population nearly equal for Yorubaland today, wey scarce to see for anywhere, na di outcome of dat competition.
Wetin no happen: force mass conversion, colonial decree to destroy shrines, or to ban òrìṣà practice. Wetin happen: continuous cultural argument, backed by education, print, money, and later state prestige, wey di mission mostly win for west and south, and Islam mostly win for north and inside big-big urban areas.
British power arrive stage by stage, each one afta war.
Dem bomb Lagos for December 1851 inside succession dispute wey entangle with slave trade, and Ọba Dòsùnmú sign di Treaty of Cession on 6 August 1861 under threat of bombardment from HMS Prometheus, afta e don resist for eleven days . Lagos come turn colony and di base for everything wey follow afta.
Dem invade Ijẹ̀bú for 1892 to scatter dia trade monopoly, and di campaign na demonstration of wetin Maxim gun fit do, with several thousand pipo wey die . Dem annex Ijẹ̀bú join di Southern Nigeria Protectorate . Di effect on di oda states dey decisive: afta Ijẹ̀bú, everybody understand say military resistance no go work.
Governor Gilbert Carter tour Yorubaland for 1893, make treaties with Ọ̀yọ́ and di Ẹ̀gbá, and make sure say di Kiriji camps scatter on 14 March 1893 under Captain Bower . Dem present dis treaties as peacemaking, but dem function as protectorate agreements. Britain end war wey demsef help sustain through Lagos arms trade, and dem take over di region as di peacemaker.
Abẹ́òkúta keep recognised independence pass all of dem, through di Ẹ̀gbá United Government, until dem abolish am for 1914 and join Ẹ̀gbá enter. Dem create Nigeria self through di amalgamation of Northern and Southern Protectorates for di same year.
Di system wey Frederick Lugard develop for Northern Nigeria, where im be High Commissioner from 1899 to 1906, dem extend am go south . Im principle na say Britain go rule through existing rulers instead of to replace dem. Di effect on Yoruba political institutions heavy well-well, and di damage na structural one, no be just matter of humiliation.
E make di ọba get more power and at di same time e no dey answer to anybody again. Under indirect rule, di ruler wey dem recognise come turn di channel for colonial authority, with colonial force dey back am, and na im dey collect colonial tax. Traditional rulers wey get power for dia territory before come turn subordinate actors under colonial system, and di right to rule wey dem be dey get from history and communal agreement come dey pass through British officials . Toyin Falola assessment dey direct: Yoruba ọba use power as dem like under indirect rule and many of dem abuse dia office . Dis na di main point. Di way dem take dey control Yoruba ruler before na always from inside, through council wey fit remove am or group wey fit refuse to install di person wey im choose. Colonial recognition remove dat control, because ruler wey District Officer dey back, im chiefs no fit remove am. Di system wey produce Aláàfin wey dem fit give parrot egg come produce ọba wey nobody fit touch.
E spoil di power of di councils. Di Ọ̀yọ́ Mesì, di Òṣùgbó, di town councils and di Ògbóni na dem be di part of di system wey dey judge case and make decision. Colonial government deal directly with di ruler and treat di councils like advisory body at best. Di work to judge cases come move go Native Courts wey dem set up under colonial law.
E scatter di women side completely. Di Ìyálóde and Ìyálọ́jà hold real power over trade and dem represent women for council. Colonial government recognise male chiefs and deal with dem, and di hierarchy of women titles come lose dia channel to enter government. Dis na direct reason for di tax revolts of di 1940s.
E fix and simplify things. For places wey get different leaders before, like for Abẹ́òkúta wey get rulers for each Ẹ̀gbá section, di British need only one person to address, and di Aláké come turn paramount ruler for way wey im no be before. For places wey leader no dey before, like Ìbàdàn wey no get ọba, di British later create one. Places wey boundary no clear before and dey overlap, dem draw line fix am.
Dem pick Ògbóni out special. Ògbóni judicial and religious authority, dia oath-taking, and di power wey dem get to punish rulers make dem be rival authority, and colonial administration plus Christian missions treat am as obstacle. Dem put pressure on Christians make dem comot inside. Di answer wey come out na di Reformed Ogboni Fraternity, wey Anglican clergyman T. A. J. Ogunbiyi start for 1914 as Christian version wey fit church membership, and dis one show di level of pressure wey dey on di original institution and how people really want make e stay. Di original Ògbóni and Òṣùgbó survive, but as social societies instead of part of government.
Di word Yoruba na Hausa word originally for di people of Ọ̀yọ́, no be name wey di people call diasef and no be name wey cover di whole region. Before di nineteenth century, person main identity na Ijẹ̀bú, Ẹ̀gbá, Ìjẹ̀ṣà, Èkìtì, Ọ̀yọ́ or di name of dia town.
Peel argument na say na through di encounter with Christian missions for mid-nineteenth century make Yoruba people come know diasef as one distinct people . Di way e take hapun dey clear and person fit list am.
Crowther and di CMS put di language for writing and produce Bible, and one standard written form, wey base heavily on Ọ̀yọ́ speech, make all dis dialects turn to one language with one name.
Di Sàró for Freetown wey come from different Yoruba polities mix together, and dem discover say dem fit understand each other for exile, where di difference between Ẹ̀gbá and Ìjẹ̀ṣà no matter reach di difference between all of dem and every other person. Dem come back home with one category.
Yoruba-language print, newspapers, and di first history books wey Yoruba authors write, including di one wey Johnson write, write for Yoruba readers and through dat one dem create Yoruba readership.
Colonial administration come make ethnicity real for administration by arranging provinces, census categories and di Western Region around am.
And di wars demsef give negative lesson, with Èkìtìparapọ̀ being di proof say to join hand together dey work.
None of dis one mean say Yoruba identity na fake or artificial thing. Every ethnic identity na history build am; di question na only when and how. Wetin e mean na say "the Yoruba" as one single people with one name dey roughly as old as di Yoruba Bible, and say di deeper continuities, for language, for Ifá, for di òrìṣà, for kingship and for di oríkì tradition, dey real but dem no arrange dem under one single ethnic name before. To know dis one dey change how person suppose read di older history: as history of group of related peoples wey later turn one, instead of one people wey don always dey as one.
Cultural nationalism and the African church movement, the Abẹ́òkúta women's revolt, Awólọ́wọ̀ and the Western Region, the Yoruba in the Nigerian federation, and the present revival of interest in traditional knowledge.
How the collapse of Ọ̀yọ́ and the wars that followed fed the last decades of the Atlantic trade, why so many Yoruba ended up in Cuba and Brazil, and what returned.
Ijẹ̀bú, Ẹ̀gbá, Èkìtì, Ìjẹ̀ṣà, Ondó, Ọ̀wọ̀, Kétu, Sábẹ̀, Ìbàdàn, Abẹ́òkúta and Lagos, each with its own institutions rather than as branches of Ọ̀yọ́.
How missionary and colonial translation produced the English words now used for Yorùbá religion, what Crowther's Bible did to Yorùbá religious vocabulary, how Èṣù came to mean Satan, and how to read older sources critically.
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 fall of Ọ̀yọ́, the Ilọrin and Sokoto dimension, the Ọ̀wu war, the rise of Ìbàdàn, the Sixteen Years War at Kiriji, and the political map they left behind.