10 parts · 12 chapters
Yoruba History
The history of one of Africa's largest peoples, from the sacred city of Ile-Ife to tens of millions of speakers today, told with maps and timelines. Every chapter names its sources, marks oral tradition as oral tradition, and sets contested accounts side by side rather than choosing one silently.
Ten parts: origins and the creation accounts; Ife art and the early city-states; the Oyo Empire; Ifa, the orisa and their spread; the wider Yoruba world (Ijebu, Egba, Ekiti, Ijesa, Ondo and more); the fall of Old Oyo and the 19th-century wars; the arrival of Islam and Christianity; Lagos, the British and colonial rule; the diaspora in Brazil, Cuba, Haiti and beyond; and the Yoruba in modern Nigeria.
originsIle-Ife, Oduduwa and competing creation accounts.
artIfe's naturalistic heads in copper alloy and terracotta.
empireOyo: Alaafin, Oyo Mesi, cavalry and tribute.
religionIfa divination and the orisa, at home and abroad.
war and changeThe 19th-century wars, missions, Islam and Lagos.
todayDiaspora religions and Yoruba in modern Nigeria.
00
Origins: Ile-Ife, Oduduwa and the Creation Accounts
Where the story begins · The early Yoruba world on a map
2 ch · ~12 min01Ife Art and the Early City-States
Ife's classic period
1 ch · ~8 min02The Oyo Empire: Rise, the Alaafin, the Oyo Mesi, the Cavalry
Rise and reach
1 ch · ~8 min03Religion: Ifa, the Orisa and Their Spread
A religion held in memory
1 ch · ~8 min04Ijebu, Egba, Ekiti, Ijesa, Ondo and the Wider Yoruba World
Many kingdoms, one later name
1 ch · ~8 min05The Fall of Old Oyo and the 19th-Century Wars
A century of war · The map of the wars
2 ch · ~12 min06Islam and Christianity Arrive
Three faiths in one family
1 ch · ~8 min07Lagos, the British and Colonial Rule
From colony to capital
1 ch · ~8 min08The Diaspora: Brazil, Cuba, Haiti and the Americas
Across the Atlantic
1 ch · ~8 min09Yoruba in Modern Nigeria
From region to states
1 ch · ~8 minSources and methodBuilt on Samuel Johnson's The History of the Yorubas (1921), Robin Law, J.F. Ade Ajayi, S.A. Akintoye, Toyin Falola, J.D.Y. Peel, Suzanne Preston Blier, Wande Abimbola and Kristin Mann, cited per chapter.