Tag: alaafin
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In ancient times, the Yoruba had not developed writing. History was kept by certain historians, kept at Oyo under the king. These historians handed down history through generations via their family lineage until the collapse of the Oyo Empire. Early medieval explorers of central and northern Africa made contact with the Yoruba at the height…
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Atiba Atobatele was the 36th king of the Oyo empire, succeeding Oluewu. He grew up at a time of decline and great upheaval in the empire after the old capital had been destroyed. He moved the capital from Oyo to Ago Oja(present Oyo). During his reign, the remnant of the Yoruba army moved South and…
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Alaafin is the title for the traditional ruler, or Oba of Oyo town, whose authority from the fifteenth to the seventeenth century extended to great parts of the western Yoruba territory of old. For over a hundred years, starting from the early 18th Century, the Alaafins employed their great names and aura in upholding order…
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Obalokun Agana Erin was the Alaafin of Oyo in the times when salt was first introduced to the empire. Obalokun was the first Alaafin after Oduduwa, reported to have made friends from beyond the continent of Africa. There is a story of how his messengers numbering hundreds were missing, never to be found again, after embarking…
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Kori was a son of Aganju who was the Alafin after Ajaka, a great-grandson of Oduduwa. Kori became the Alafin as a young man. His mother, Iyanyu had ruled in his stead until he was of considerable age. It was during his reign that the legendary story of Timi the kinglet at Ede, occurred. Kori’s inaptitude…
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Oyo in pre-annexation times, have had its people organized into a complex, highly structured society, having rules and unwritten constitutions. Had the British met them in this state, they would have marveled on how this people, considered to have lived in the Dark Continent could have evolved a system so pragmatic. The truth lives one…