Oyo
See also Oyo, Republic of Congo.Oyo (Ọyọ in Yoruba orthography, pronounced ) is the name of a
Yoruba city in modern-day
Nigeria and also of the loose empire which that city controlled in the
17th and
18th centuries.
What was to become the
Oyo empire began as the state of Oyo, founded sometime before
1400, with its capital at
Oyo-Ile, (also known as
Katunga or
Old Oyo). Rising to preeminence through wealth gained from trade and through the possession of a powerful cavalry, the Oyo Empire was the most politically important
Yoruba state from the mid-17th to the late 18th century, holding sway not only over the lesser Yoruba states, but also over the Fon kingdom of
Dahomey (located in the state now known as the
Republic of Benin.)
In 1796, an
Ilorin-centred revolt against
Awole, the then-reigning
Alaafin, or chief-ruler of Oyo, was initiated by
Afonja, the
Aare Ona Kakanfo, or chief military commander of the provincial army. The internal power had been weakened since the beginning of the 18th century by a struggle for power between the
Alaafin and the
Oyo Mesi, a council of the seven principal non-royal chiefs. The revolt, which led to the secession of Ilorin, marked the beginning of the disintegration of the Oyo empire, as other vassal states soon began to follow Ilorin's example. In the hope of securing the support of Yoruba muslims (mainly slaves taking care of the Empire's horses, the main military strength of Oyo) and volunteers from the Hausa-Fulani north, Afonja had enlisted an itinerant
Fulani scholar of Islam called
Alim al-Salih to his cause, but this eventually led to the razing of Oyo-Ile by the islamic
Fulani Empire in
1835, once Afonja had himself been killed by Fulani.
After the destruction of Oyo-Ile, the capital was moved further south, to Ago d'Oyo, and the center of Yoruba power moved further south to Ibadan, a war-camp settlement of war commanders. Oyo never regained its prominence in the region. It became a protectorate of Great Britain in 1888.
*Oranyan............................................fl. c. 1400
*Ajaka
*Sango
*Ajaka (restored)
*Aganju
*Kori
*Oluaso
*Onigbogi...........................................fl. c. 1500 ?
*Ofiran
*Eguguojo
*Orompoto
*Ajiboyede
*Abipa..............................................fl. c. 1600
*Obalokun
*Oluodo
*Ajagbo
*Odarawu
*Kanran
*Jayin
*Ayibi
*Osiyago
*Ojigi..............................................fl. c. 1720/8
*Gberu..............................................fl. c. 1730
*Amuniwaiye......................................... ? -1746
*Onisile...........................................1746-1754
*Labisi.................................................1754
*Awonbioju..............................................1754
*Agboluaje.........................................1754- ?
*Majeogbe
*Abiodun........................................c. 1770-1789
*Awole Arogangan...................................1789-1796
*Adebo.............................................1796-1797
*Maku...................................................1797
*vacant
*Majotu............................................1802-1830
*Amodo.............................................1830-1833
*Oluewu............................................1833-1835
*Atiba Atobatele (at new capital)..................1837-1859
*Adelu.............................................1859-1875
*Adeyemi I Alowolodu...............................1876-1888
*Adeyemi I Alowolodu as British Vassal.............1888-1905
*"
Facial Marks - Nigeria's Fading 'Identity Card'", from
Awake! magazine
