History of the Yoruba people

These works, renowned for their naturalism and technical mastery, were not only objects of aesthetic appreciation but also likely held religious significance, potentially reflecting the cosmology and belief systems of the Ife people.

Archaeological evidence points to a well-planned city with impressive infrastructure, including paved roads and sophisticated drainage systems, a distinctive feature of Ife urban planning was the use of potsherd pavements.

The scale and sophistication of Ile-Ife's urban landscape highlight the empire's economic prosperity and the complex social organization needed to support a large, concentrated population.

This state of affairs continued until Oba Abiodun, Oyo's last great ruler, engaged his opponents in a bitter civil war that had a ruinous effect on economic development and the trade with the European merchants.

[5] Like Oyo itself, most of the surrounding city states were controlled by Obas, elected priestly monarchs, and councils made up of Oloyes, recognised leaders of royal, noble, and often even common descent, who joined them in ruling over the kingdoms through a series of guilds and cults.

In all cases, however, Yoruba monarchs were subject to the continuing approval of their constituents as a matter of policy, and could be easily compelled to abdicate for demonstrating dictatorial tendencies or incompetence.

The order to vacate the throne was usually communicated through an àrokò or symbolic message, which usually took the form of parrots' eggs delivered in a covered calabash bowl by the Oloyes.

The Yoruba eventually established a federation of city-states under the political ascendancy of the city state of Oyo, located on the Northern fringes of Yorubaland in the savanna plains between the forests of present Southwest Nigeria and the Niger River.

Following a Jihad led by Uthman Dan Fodio and a rapid consolidation of the Hausa city states of contemporary northern Nigeria, the Fulani Sokoto Caliphate invaded and annexed the buffer Nupe Kingdom.

Further attempts by the Sokoto Caliphate to expand southwards were checked by the Yoruba who had rallied in defense under the military leadership of the ascendant Ibadan clan, which rose from the old Oyo Empire, and of the Ijebu city-states.

The other Yoruba city-states broke free of Oyo dominance, and subsequently became embroiled in a series of internecine conflicts that soon metamorphosed into a full scale civil war.