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Oyo Empire(1600-1836) was
a Yoruba empire, located in present day Nigeria and Benin.
Oyo rose to become the most important city state, surpassing Ife during the
1300s. Unlike other Yoruba states, which were located in the forest area, Oyo
was situated in woodland savannah.
Oyo according to tradition
was founded by a descendant of Oduduwa. According to tradition, Nupe conquered Oyo. Oyo arose
after 1550 by acquiring horses and organising a strong military cavalry.
Eventually Oyo conquered Nupe and started a campaign of
conquest of other Yoruba states and neighboring Egba, Egbado, and Dahomey. By
1600, Oyo had emerged a major empire. At her height, Oyo stretched from the
woodland grassland in Nigeria to eastern Ghana, going far south to the coast,
which was mostly woodland savannah. Oyo achieved her peak in 1650.
Alafin of Oyo
Oyo was ruled by
the alafin and the Oyo Misi, council of noblemen of Oyo. The
council had the authority to elect the alafin. The Oyo Misi was
responsible for the day to day operation of the empire, running the capital
city and local territories. The Oyo Misi was headed by the bashorun,
which was an administrative and spiritual designation. The bashorun
communicated with the orun, the dual of the alafin. It could be
determined by the bashorun that the alafin was unfit to rule
and have him deposed.
The Oyo Misi
held sway in largely Yoruba territory but in non-Yoruba conquered territory,
representatives were appointed by the alafin. Slaves called Illari
would usually occupy these position. Illaris would collect taxes,
settle disputes, and thwart intrigues that threatened the power of the alafin.
With the spread of the worship of Shango, the power of the alafin
grew. Shango was viewed as a protector god of the alafin.
Yoruba Ida Sword
Oyo's army was
comprised of cavalry (elesin), archers (olofa), and foot
soldiers (elese). Soldiers in the cavalry would be armed with spears,
sword, and axes. They would be surrounded by archers. Bows would have a 60
yard range. Arrows would be laced with poison at the tip. Guns would not be
used until 1730, after the defeat of Dahomey. Dahomey had to pay Oyo tribute
in muskets. Muskets never really took hold in Oyo's army. It was not a
deciding factor in Oyo's military victories, as can be seen by Dahomey's defeat.
The military was
divided into the capital army and provincial army. The capital army had 70 eso
or titled war leaders. Sixteen senior title and fifty four junior titles.
Each eso had his own troops, which he raised himself. Title seem to
reflect function. The gbonka title for example meant 'leader of the
van.' Thirty five eso was always stationed at the capital. Thirty five
would engage in battle outside the capital. The alafin also had his
own palace slave army. Palace officials, Sarunmi, Are Ago, Osi
Iwefa served war functions. In New Oyo, the Osi Iwefa lead
the army into battle. Initially, it was the alafin, who lead the
troops into battle. During her imperial phase, it switched to the basorun
and later the Osi Iwefa.
The Queen Mother
also had her own all female army.
Initially, the
provincial army was lead by obas and bales of conquered
territories. They were expected to raise troops for warfare and defense.
Eventually, the obas and bales were replaced by the Are Ona
Kakamfo as leader of the provincial army. He was assisted by the Otun
Kakamfo and Osi Kakamfo. The empire proscribed severe
penalities for loss battles. The Ona Kakamfo was expected to commit
suicide after any loss.
The wealth of
Oyo depended on slaves captured during warfare, used on royal farmlands.
Overtime, an overflow of slaves from conquest would be sold to Europeans for
goods--firearms, cloth, cowries. European goods would also be traded north in
Hausaland. Trade running through the empire from the coast to Hausaland would also be
taxed.
Yoruba
Architecture
Alafin Palace
The palace or afin
of Old Oyo's Alafin, was a 640 acre or 1 square mile compound.
The Yoruba
surrounded their settlements with massive mud walls. Their buildings had a
similar plan to the Ashanti shrines, but with verandahs around the court. The
walls were of puddled mud and palm oil. The most famous of Yoruba
fortifications and the 2nd largest wall edifice in Africa is Sungbo's Eredo.
It is made up of sprawling mud walls and the valleys that surrounded the town
of Ijebu-Ode in Ogun state. Sungbo's Eredo is the second largest pre-colonial
monument in Africa, larger than the Great Pyramid or Great Zimbabwe.
By 1750, Oyo was
on the decline. Disputes arose between the alafin and Oyo Misi.
Keeping the trade routes became more difficult. Vassal states took sides
depending on their interest. The lack of unity weakened Oyo's authority in
the territories with already weak control, especially in the forest zones
where the cavalry could not adequately tread. Dahomey kept suing for
independence and was able to invade Yorubaland in the 19th century. The
Fulani Sokoto Caliphate in Hausaland arose bringing Nupe and Yoruba Illorin in its
fold. By the early 1800s, Oyo became a diminished state tied within the
boundaries of Yorubaland.
OLD CALABAR KINGDOM
Calabar,
formerly Old Calabar, town and port,
capital of Cross River state, southeastern Nigeria. It lies along the Calabar
River, 5 miles (8 km) upstream from that river’s entrance into the Cross
River estuary. Settled in the early 17th century by the Efik branch of the
Ibibio people, the town became a centre for trade between white traders on
the coast and natives farther inland. Fish, cassava, bananas, palm oil, and
palm kernels were traded at Calabar for European manufactured goods, and the
town also served as a major slave-trading depot. Duke Town and the other Efik
settlements near Calabar—Creek Town, Henshaw Town, and Obutong (Old
Town)—were forcibly united into the loosely knit state of Old Calabar by the
Ekpe secret society, which was controlled by the towns’ merchant houses.
By the mid-19th
century, after the waning of the slave trade, Old Calabar’s economy had
become based on the export of palm oil and palm kernels. After the chiefs of
Duke Town accepted British protection in 1884, the town, which was called Old
Calabar until 1904, served as capital of the Oil Rivers Protectorate
(1885–93), the Niger Coast Protectorate (1893–1900), and Southern Nigeria
(1900–06) until the British administrative headquarters were moved to Lagos.
It remained an important port (shipping ivory, timber, and beeswax, as well
as palm produce) until it was eclipsed by Port Harcourt, terminus (1916) of
the railroad, 90 miles (145 km) west.
The name Old
Calabar (as distinguished from the port and river named New Calabar, 120
miles [193 km] west) was originally given by 15th-century Portuguese
navigators to the African inhabitants of that part of the Gulf of Guinea
coast. This region was the main source of the Calabar bean, a poisonous bean
that, when ingested, markedly affects the nervous system.
The completion
of roads from Calabar to Arochukwu, Ikom, and Mamfe (in Cameroon) and the
Calabar–Itu–Expene highway (which provides easy access to the rest of
Nigeria) has contributed to Calabar’s importance as a port. Its natural
harbour, which can accommodate vessels of 19.5-foot (6-metre) draft, exports
palm produce, timber (mostly obeche), rubber, cocoa, copra, and piassava
fibre. The town has a sawmill; rubber-, food-, and oil-palm-processing
plants; a cement factory; and a boatbuilding industry. Wood carving is a
traditional art of the Efik, and the town’s artisans sculpt ebony artifacts
for the tourist market in Lagos.
Calabar has long
been an educational centre. Its first church school, established by the
Reverend Hope Waddell of the Free Church of Scotland in 1846, helped
influence the Ekpe secret society to pass a law (1850) prohibiting human
sacrifice. Calabar now is the site of the University of Calabar (1975), a
college of technology, a teacher-training college, and numerous secondary
schools. Pop. (2006) local government area, 184,415.
Reference
Davidson, Basil,
Buah, F. K. ,and Ajayi, J.F. Ade(1966). A History of West Africa.
Doubleday:New York, pp. Library of Congress Card #66-24317
Shillington,
Kevin (2005). History of Africa. Revised 2nd ed. New York:
Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 191,192. ISBN 0-333-59957-8
Law, Robin(1977).
The Oyo Empire (1600-1836) A West African Imperialism In the Era of the
Atlantic Slave Trade. pp. 183-201 ISBN 0-19-822709-4.
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