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 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.
From about 1750, wetin dem write down about Ọ̀yọ́ turn to biography instead of just list of kings, because European documents from coast dey available now, and because Samuel Johnson, as e dey write for 1890s, get information from people wey dey alive when di things happen. E talk am clearly: im detailed history start from di time wey Abíọ́dún rule go down, from people wey see wetin happen with dia own eye . Dis na real strong proof, and na why dis file start where e start. Di three reigns wey we treat here cover di empire when e reach im biggest size, im constitutional crisis, how e collapse, and how dem form di new state for New Ọ̀yọ́.
Di arrangement of time for dis period depend well-well on Johnson work wey dem correct with European sources, and wetin Robin Law arrange again na di standard . Di dates wey dey here na di normal ones wey people agree on, and dem get di normal small doubt of few years wey dey history.
Person no fit jump Gàhá, because person no go fit understand di Abíọ́dún tori without am, and because e show how dem structure Ọ̀yọ́.
Di Aláàfin no be person wey get absolute power to do whatever e like. Di Ọ̀yọ́ Mèsì, wey be council of seven chiefs wey no be royal blood and wey di Bàṣọ̀run dey lead, get power to reject king. Dem dey show dis rejection by sending am empty calabash wey dem cover, and after dat, di king suppose kill imself. On di oda hand, di Aláàfin hold di ritual authority of di crown, and di legal power of di Ògbóni dey balance di two of dem. Na constitution wey make everybody dey check each oda, and e work as far as no side fit overpower di odas.
Gàhá, wey be Bàṣọ̀run from about 1754, break am. Johnson describe am as person wey grow to get big power and influence, dey put kings for throne and dey comot dem, till im and im sons hijack all di power of di government, while im sons dey different provinces dey show di same wicked mind and strong ambition like dia papa . E use di calabash method many times to comot different Aláàfin one after di oda, and wetin later accounts talk na say e comot many kings one by one . Dis na di clearest example for Yoruba political history wey constitutional check turn to tool for wickedness and tyranny.
Na Gàhá order and influence put Abíọ́dún for throne, and na by humbling imself e manage survive. Johnson describe am as tall, slim, dark-skin prince wey get respect, wey get sense and wisdom, wey no try drag power at all, and wey dey go greet di Bàṣọ̀run every morning with gifts . Johnson add di detail say di ten heads of cowries wey di king dey send no even pass six, because di servants dey chop di rest without Gàhá knowing. E also record say Gàhá start to tire for di respect and e dey find excuse to kill am, as e dey complain say di daily gifts dey cost am too much money .
Di plan to comot am, wey Johnson say happen when Abíọ́dún take bold step, dem arrange am for secret. Johnson explain say di Aláàfin disguise travel go meet one Bàálẹ̀ wey share di same name with am, open up to am, and explain say Gàhá and im sons dey rule and dominate all di towns and villages for Yoruba kingdom . From dere dem plan di matter well with Kakanfò Ọ̀yábí for Ajase, send fast messengers go meet main kings and chiefs, and fix one particular day wey everybody go stand up destroy all Gàhá children at di same time . Di plan work well. Dem burn Gàhá for wood wey dem comot from im own house post, and dem pour palm oil, nut oil and shea butter on top am . Johnson put di whole matter for year 1774 according to di normal timeline .
Di proverb wey come out from am still dey popular till today.
Bí o ní àyà òsìkà, bí o rí ikú Gàhá, o ó sọ òtítọ́
Literal gloss. Bí o ní àyà òsìkà, "if you get di chest of wicked person," àyà mean chest and also courage or mind; bí o rí ikú Gàhá, "if you see di death of Gàhá"; o ó sọ òtítọ́, "you go talk truth."
Idiomatic English, how Johnson translate am: "If you have the heart of a cruel man, take note of Gaha's death and be true"
Johnson write di Yoruba for im old spelling style as "Bi o l'aiya osika, bi o ri iku Gaha, o yio so otito," and di form wey dey up na di same text for modern spelling. Di word àyà mean chest, breast, and by extension e fit mean get mind or dare, so "the heart of a cruel man" for Johnson English closer to "mind to do wickedness." Di way dem build di sentence na condition wey dey serve as warning instead of ordinary advice, and dem dey use di proverb for Yoruba to mean say wetin happen to powerful wicked leader na di reason why person no suppose become like dat.
After di coup, Abíọ́dún make im power strong by crushing or executing people wey dem know or suspect say dem be Gàhá friends, since Gàhá get allies among di chiefs, and Johnson call di names of di Ẹsìẹlẹ, di Sakin and di Sahadowa among dem . Dat one na purge, and Johnson report am without adding comment.
Wetin follow na di reign wey give Yoruba proverb for peace. Tributes dey enter Ọ̀yọ́ from far places and from Dahomey, farming and business bloom well-well . Wetin Abíọ́dún's choose strategically na to change di foundation of di empire from military tribute go to business and commerce, dey face trade with European merchants for coast, against one group wey prefer make dem use Dahomey tribute fund more war . E win dat argument, and di price na wetin scholars dey usually judge im reign with: dem neglect di army, and di person wey take over after am inherit empire wey di military power don weak while plenty rebellions dey increase .
Johnson credit am with 660 pikin, wey be traditional way to tok say dem plenty pass to count, and im record how Arẹ̀mọ take follow demsef. Im still record say Abíọ́dún find out say one Muslim hide one of Gàhá pikin for like forty years, im spare di young man life, reward di man wey shelter am, and give am one daughter make im marry, and tok say im for do di same thing for di king imsef . Johnson no get reason to invent story wey dey praise Muslim, wey make di tori get credibility.
Im die around 1789. Johnson tok say di Arẹ̀mọ, as im dey impatient to take over, hurry im papa death with poison, and say none of Abíọ́dún's plenty pikin succeed am . Wetin Johnson decide na di standard way to divide Yoruba history into periods: say with di death of Abíọ́dún, di overall rule of di Aláàfin over di whole Yoruba land end, and di unity of di kingdom end with am .
Awólẹ̀, wey dem still write as Aolẹ, wey im praise name na Arògangan, na cousin of Abíọ́dún wey dem choose instead of im pikin dem . Na im be di person wey Yoruba tradition hold responsible for di collapse, and dem dey tell di tori through im curse.
Im drag di throne with Àfọ̀njá and win narrow-narrow, den im appoint Àfọ̀njá Àrẹ̀ Ọ̀nà Kakanfò, commander of di provincial army, wey come put im rival in charge of di military . Toris still record say as prince, Awólẹ̀ participate for slave trade and try to sell one friend illegally, wey make di Bàálẹ̀ of Apòmù punish am, and say as king im pursue dat grievance reach where di Bàálẹ̀ kill imsef instead of to cause war . Im den order Àfọ̀njá make im attack Apòmù, one market town under Ifẹ̀'s control, and later send di army against Ìwẹ̀rẹ̀, im own mama town or related town, for wetin di chiefs understand as order wey dem design to destroy dem .
Johnson record di mutiny wey follow with unusual detail. Di Oníkòyí and di Kakanfò lead di provincial contingents; di excuse wey dem give na say di king no for order dem against town wey dem no fit conquer if im no dey aim to destroy dem, and say Ìwẹ̀rẹ̀ na di mama town of former Aláàfin. Dem give di watchword, and di army turn against di royal party come kill dem . Di army come stand for front of Ọ̀yọ́ for forty-two days while di king dey ask dem to enter make dem talk and dem refuse. For di end, dem send empty covered calabash give di king, wey be di constitutional sign of rejection .
Di account wey Johnson give of wetin Awólẹ̀ do dat time na one of di most important passages inside Yoruba literature. Before im kill imsef, im come out enter di palace courtyard carry clay plate and three arrows, shoot one go north, one go south and one go west, den im place di curse .
As Johnson print am for English:
My curse be on ye for your disloyalty and disobedience, so let your children disobey you. If you send them on an errand, let them never return to bring you word again. To all the points I shot my arrows will ye be carried as slaves. My curse will carry you to the sea and beyond the seas, slaves will rule over you, and you their masters will become slaves.
Den im throw di clay plate smash for ground break am pieces.
Original, as Johnson print di Yoruba:
Igbá là ìsẹ́, a kì í ṣẹ́ awo, bẹ́ẹ̀ ni kí ọ̀rọ̀ mi ó ṣe tó, tó
Literal meaning. Igbá là ìsẹ́, "calabash na wetin person dey mend"; a kì í ṣẹ́ awo, "person no dey mend dish," awo here na di clay plate, e no be di same word as awo wey mean mystery or cult; bẹ́ẹ̀ ni kí ọ̀rọ̀ mi ó ṣe tó, tó, "so make my word be exactly so, so."
Idiomatic English, Johnson own translation: "a broken calabash can be mended, but not a broken dish; so let my words be, irrevocable!"
Notes on top di translation. Dem print Johnson Yoruba for im own pre-standard orthography and di transcription wey dey up dey regularise am; make di reader check di 1921 text direct for im exact letterforms. Di power of wetin im tok rest on material fact: cracked gourd calabash fit receive stitch or tie make dem use am again, but clay plate wey dem bake no fit. Di repeated tó for di end na intensifier of completion, wey dey closer to "make e be so, exactly so" pass Johnson single word "irrevocable," wey reduce doubled emphatic into legal term. Make una still note say di curse and di breaking na two different actions inside Johnson account, but people dey frequently join dem together for popular retellings.
Den im take poison come die . Johnson end di reign for about seven years, call Àṣàmú Àgbà-ọ̀lékan as di Bàṣọ̀run, and record say di army enter di city come loot di palace .
Di curse don get long afterlife. Dem dey call am inside modern Nigerian political commentary as explanation for Yoruba disunity, and plenty popular literature dey argue weda dem fit or dem suppose to "break" am. As history, wetin matter na say Johnson record am for di 1890s from Ọ̀yọ́ tradition, say na tradition about di collapse rather than document wey dem write dat time, and say wetin dey inside am, to scatter people into slavery across di sea, describe exactly wetin really happen to plenty Yoruba people for di decades after 1796. Weda dat na prophecy, or tradition wey dem arrange after di event make e for make sense, no be question wey evidence fit settle, and na di second one be wetin person normally expect for dis kind traditions.
Between Awólẹ̀ and di refounding, Ọ̀yọ́ pass through series of short reigns while di empire dey scatter: Àfọ̀njá's revolt for Ìlọrin, di loss of di northern provinces, di Fulani establishment for Ìlọrin, and di sack of Ọ̀yọ́-Ilé imsef for di 1830s. Olúewu na di last Aláàfin wey reign for di old capital . Dem treat Àfọ̀njá and di Ìlọrin sequence for dia own separate file.
Àtìbà na son of Aláàfin Abíọ́dún wey stay for Àgó Ọ̀jà, and na there, after dem leave Ọ̀yọ́-Ilé, im take found the new capital, New Ọ̀yọ́, wey be the Ọ̀yọ́ of today . Johnson identify am from the beginning as the son of King Abíọ́dún wey live for Àgó .
Im importance touch constitution as e touch personal matter. Àtìbà rule one state wey don lose im empire, and the agreement wey im make with the powers wey dey rise that time na try wey im try to set up Yoruba order where Ọ̀yọ́ no come dominate again. Im recognise Ìbàdàn as the military shield against Ìlọrin and the Fulani, and give the title of Bàṣọ̀run to Olúyọ̀lé for there, and recognise Kúrunmí for Ìjàyè as Àrẹ̀ Ọ̀nà Kakanfò . Wetin e mean be say, im divide the old imperial military authority between two rivals, and this one make im own reign balance, but e set ground for the war wey happen after im death.
Im still break the constitutional rule wey talk say the Arẹ̀mọ, wey be the crown prince, must die with im father. Im arrange make im son Adélù take over from am instead . Kúrunmí refuse to accept am, say tradition na the constitution, and that refusal na the direct cause of the Ìjàyè war of 1860 to 1862, wey Ìbàdàn take destroy Ìjàyè. Whether wetin Àtìbà change na modernisation or say na usurpation na the question wey make dem fight the war.
Àtìbà die for 1859. The dynasty wey im establish again for New Ọ̀yọ́ still dey continue.
The power of Ọ̀yọ́'s for the eighteenth century and im wealth under Abíọ́dún depend well well on how dem dey export slave people through coastal ports, and the way Abíọ́dún change direction go trade with European merchants na, for big part, change wey face that trade . Wetin dem record about Awólẹ̀'s own involvement don dey noted above. The wars wey happen after the collapse supply the trade on top level wey big pass before, and the people wey dem carry go Cuba, Brazil and Sierra Leone that period na dem be the origin of the Yoruba diaspora wey dem treat for another place for this work. None of all these things fit separate from the biographies wey dey this file, and dem no treat am here as moral verdict on individual people, but as the economic structure wey dem work inside and gain from.
The Ọ̀yọ́ war commander whose revolt broke the empire, the Fulani scholar whose community he armed, and how Ìlọrin passed from a Yoruba town under a Yoruba general to an emirate of the Sokoto Caliphate.
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.
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.
The town that replaced Ọ̀yọ́ as the dominant Yoruba power, the achieved-title constitution that let a farmer or an Ifá priest rise to command it, and the men who did.
The political reign, commercial policies, military decline, and constitutional conflicts of Aláàfin Abíọ́dún, the late eighteenth-century monarch of the Ọ̀yọ́ Empire.