History: Section Index
Guide to the eleven files in the history section, what each covers, and the order to read them in.
Dis section dey rebuild Yoruba history from di archaeological record, oral tradition, linguistic evidence and documentary sources, and e keep all di four registers separate from start to finish. E no dey present tradition as established fact, and e no dey dismiss tradition as ordinary legend. Where scholars no agree, e mention di positions and bring di evidence wey dey for each one.
Read file 01 first no matter wetin you dey find. E dey explain how dem take know any of dis things, and without am, di confidence markers inside di other files no go mean anything.
Di files
01. How Dem Actually Take Know Yoruba History. Di four bodies of evidence and wetin each one fit prove and wetin e no fit prove; ìtàn and oríkì as Yoruba genres wey get institutional stakes; Samuel Johnson 1921 book, im Ọ̀yọ́ and Anglican frame, and di three ways wey dem don take correct am since dat time.
02. Origins and Ilé-Ifẹ̀. Di Odùduwà and Ọbàtálá traditions wey dey drag with each other, di migration versus autochthony argument for both di form wey dem don discard and di serious form, and wetin excavation for Ilé-Ifẹ̀ actually date.
03. Di Ifẹ̀ Classical Age. Di sculpture inside copper alloy and terracotta and how dem take find am, di disagreement on dates between Blier and di more conservative reading, di glass and copper industries behind am, and Ifẹ̀'s relationships with Benin, Ọ̀wọ̀ and di Niger.
04. Di Ọ̀yọ́ Empire. Di Aláàfin, di Ọ̀yọ́ Mesì and di Bàṣọ̀run, di Ògbóni counterweight, di constitutional sanction wey fit force king to die and how dem take hijack am, di cavalry basis of power and di hidden costs wey follow am, tribute and provincial administration, Dahomey, and di collapse.
05. Di Other Yoruba States. Ijẹ̀bú, Ẹ̀gbá and Abẹ́òkúta, Ìbàdàn, Ìjẹ̀ṣà, Èkìtì, Ondó, Ọ̀wọ̀, Kétu and Sábẹ̀, and Lagos and di Àwórì, each with im own institutions instead of just being a branch of Ọ̀yọ́.
06. Economy, Craft and Trade. Farming, iron, aṣọ òkè and àdìrẹ, glass; di market cycle and di Ìyálóde and Ìyálọ́jà wey control am; cowrie money and di inflation wey destroy am; and di routes wey go north reach Sahara and south reach Atlantic.
07. Di Atlantic Slave Trade and di Yoruba. Why Yoruba enter di trade late and come commot heavy inside am, di confirmed figures for 1817 reach 1836, why Cuba and Brazil specifically, di inside effects wey include how domestic slavery take spread, and di Sàró and Agùdà returnee communities.
08. Di Nineteenth Century Wars. Di fall of Ọ̀yọ́ and di Ilọrin and Sokoto dimension as dem state am accurately, di Ọ̀wu war and di founding of Ìbàdàn and Abẹ́òkúta, di rise of Ìbàdàn, di Sixteen Years War for Kiriji, and wetin di wars leave behind.
09. Christianity, Islam and Colonial Conquest. Di earlier and peaceful spread of Islam, di CMS mission and Crowther, di translation decisions wey match Èṣù with Satan and di consequences wey follow, Peel account of why people convert, di British annexation, wetin indirect rule do to kingship and to Ògbóni and to women authority, and how "Yoruba" take become one identity.
10. Di Twentieth Century Reach Now. Agbébi and di African church movement, di Abẹ́òkúta women revolt and Fúnmiláyọ̀ Ransome-Kuti, di Ibadan history school and di cultural movement, Awólọ́wọ̀ and di Western Region wey cocoa fund, di Yoruba position inside di federation, urbanisation, and di things wey dey drive di current revival.
11. A Yoruba Chronology, with Confidence Levels. Timeline with dates where dem mark every entry as High, Archaeological, Reconstructed, Traditional or Contested, so dat person no go ever mistake radiocarbon range for reconstructed reign date.
Reading paths
If you want di shortest honest route: 01, then 11, then any period wey concern you.
If you dey here for di deep past: 01, 02, 03, 11.
If you dey here to know how di modern situation take happen: 01, 04, 08, 09, 10.
If you dey here because dem teach you say dis heritage na dark thing: 01, then 09, wey contain di specific textual history of dat teaching, then 02 and 03.
Wetin dis section no cover
Religious and philosophical matter belong to di cosmology, Ifá and òrìṣà sections. Language, tone and orthography belong to di language section. Sculpture and textiles dey treated here only as historical evidence; na di arts section dey treat dem as art. Dem bring di diaspora enter here for di point wey di slave trade create am, and e dey treated properly inside di diaspora section.