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A Research Agenda on the Yoruba in the Nineteenth Century

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 May 2014

Toyin Falola
Toyin Falola*
Affiliation:
Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria
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Extract

The history of the Yoruba-speaking people in the nineteenth century has attracted considerable attention. The attempt to write on the era did not have to await the emergence of academic historians: some of the elites produced by the century took it upon themselves to be worthy chroniclers of their age. The most notable among these writers were Samuel Johnson, John Olawunmi George, E.M. Lijadu, Otunba Payne, and Mojola Agbebi all of whom wrote either in the English Language or in their mother tongue. A few others also wrote in Arabic, thus contributing to the Islamic historiography of the century. The contributions of all these authors are immense. Whereas the preceding centuries had virtually no chroniclers, the nineteenth century could boast of a handful whose writings have remained part of the sources for the era.

It was also a century of major activities by foreign explorers, missionaries, and officials of the British government. These were men with varying degrees of educational background, but with skill adequate enough to write letters, make entries in diaries, and report on their activities and experiences in Africa. The most talented among them wrote books and copious reports. A great deal of these writings have survived and have been widely used as primary sources to reconstruct the history of the period.

Type
Research Article
Information
History in Africa , Volume 15 , 1988 , pp. 211 - 227
Copyright
Copyright © African Studies Association 1988

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References

Notes

* I am grateful for the comments of R. Akinola, J.A. Atanda, G.O. Oguntomisin, Tunde Lawuyi, and Michel Doortment on an earlier draft of this paper. I also appreciate the comments made by the participants at a Seminar organized by the Ife Humanities Society in November of 1987.

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5. See Oguntomisin, G.O., “Yorubaland in the 19th Century” in Oguntomisin, and Falola, Toyin, eds., Nigeria in the 19th Century (Lagos, forthcoming).Google Scholar

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15. Ajayi Smith, 54-55.

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25. The available ones include A. Adetoyi, A Short History of Ila (self published, undated); Ogundeji, J.A., Iwe Itan Iwo (Kane; self published, undated)Google Scholar; Abegunrin, Oyin, Itan Ilu Omu-Aran (self published, 1978)Google Scholar, and Dada, P. O. A., Iwe Itan Ore Age (Oyan: self published, 1962)Google Scholar and his A Brief History of Igbomina (1982).

26. Johnson, Samuel, The History of the Yorubas (Lagos, 1967), 108.Google Scholar

27. Ibid., 107.

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29. Akintoye, Revolution.

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33. Ibid.

34. See Williams, P. Morton, “The Fulani Penetration Into Nupe and Yoruba in the 19th Century” in Lewis, I.M., ed., History and Social Anthropology (London, 1968)Google Scholar; and Falola, Toyin and Danmole, H.O., “Ibadan-Ilerin Relations in the Nineteenth Century: A Study in Imperial Struggles in Yorubaland,” Transafrican Journal of History 14(1985), 21–36.Google Scholar

35. His essays on this are yet to be published.

36. Peel, Ijeshas and Nigerians.

37. Akintoye, S.A, “The Economic Background of the Ekitiparapo, 1878-1893,” Odu, 4(1968), 30–52.Google Scholar

38. This of course would be misleading partly because Benin lost control of the lagoons to the Ijebu, Ijo, and Itsekiri during the century. See Ryder, A.F.C., Benin and the Europeans, 1485-1897 (London, 1969), 212–14.Google Scholar

39. Most of the discussion on this have actually excluded the small-scale societies. See, among others, Lloyd, P.C., “Sacred Kingship and Government Among the Yoruba,” Africa, 30 (1960)CrossRefGoogle Scholar; “Conflict Theory and Yoruba Kingdoms“ in Lewis, I.M., ed., History and Social Anthropology (London, 1971)Google Scholar; Munoz, L.J., “Principles of Representation in the Traditional Yoruba Kingdom,” JHSN, 9(1977)Google Scholar; and his “Political Representation in the Traditional Yoruba Kingdoms,” JHSN, 10(1981).Google Scholar

40. See for instance, Asiwaju, A.I., Western Yorubaland Under European Rule, 1889-1945 (London, 1976)Google Scholar and Parrinder, E.G., The Story of Ketu (Ibadan, 1956).Google Scholar

41. This remark is taken from the preface of Mabogunje, A.L. and Omer-Cooper, J.D., Owu in Yoruba History (Ibadan, 1971).Google Scholar

42. There is an exploratory study on this area: Folayan, Kola, “Egbado to 1832: The Birth of a Dilemma,” JHSN, 4 (1967), 15–34.Google Scholar

43. Toyin Falola, Political Economy, chapter 1; idem., “Socio-Economic Analysis in Yoruba Historiography,” Yoruba: Journal of the Yoruba Studies Association, 4(1982); idem., “On the Place of Social and Economic Studies in Pre-Colonial Nigerian History,” Journal of General Studies, 2 (December 1982), 67-73.

44. See Hopkins, A.G., “An Economic History of Lagos, 1880-1914“ (Ph.D., London, 1964)Google Scholar; Agiri, B.A., “Kola in Western Nigeria, 1890-1930: A History of the Cultivation of Cola Nitida in Egba-Owode, Ijebu-Remo, Iwo and Ota Areas (Ph.D., Wisconsin, 1972)Google Scholar; Akinjogbin, I.A. and Osoba, S.O., Topics on Nigerian Economic and Social History (Ile-Ife, 1980)Google Scholar; Awe, B.A., “Militarism and Economic Development in Nineteenth-Century Yoruba Country: The Ibadan Example,” JAH, 14 (1973), 65–77CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Toyin Falola, “Trade Relations in 19th C. Yorubaland: The Ijebu-Ibadan Example,” JHSN, forthcoming; idem., “Politics, Economy and Society in Early Ibadan,” JHSN, forthcoming; idem., “Brigandage and Piracy in 19th Century Yorubaland,” JHSN forthcoming; idem., Political Economy; Falola, Toyin and Olanrewaju, S.A., eds., Transport Systems in Nigeria (Syracuse, 1986), Chapter 2.Google Scholar

45. References to these in Berry, S.S., Cocoa, Custom and Socio-Econonic Chance in Rural Western Nigeria (Oxford, 1975).Google Scholar

46. Oroge, E.A., “The Institution of Slavery in Yorubaland with Particular Reference to the 19th Century“ (Ph.D., Birmingham, 1971)Google Scholar; Falola, Toyin, “Missionaries and Domestic Slavery in Yorubaland in the 19th Century,” Journal of Religious History, 14(1986), 181–92.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

47. A pioneering essay on poverty in Iliffe, John, “Poverty in Nineteenth Century Yorubaland,” JAH, 25(1984), 43–57.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

48. Awe, B., “The Iyalode in the Traditional Yoruba Political System“ in Schilegal, A., ed., Sexval Stratification; A Cross-Cultural View (New Haven, 1977).Google Scholar

49. Marshall, G., “Women, Trade and the Yoruba Family“ (Ph.D., Columbia, 1964).Google Scholar

50. Mba, N., Nigerian Women Mobilized (Berkeley, 1982).Google Scholar

51. Falola, Toyin, “Nigeria's Indigenous Science and Technology Over Time: An Exploratory Essay Into Its Components, Transformation and Abortion” in Folklore and National Development (Ile-Ife, 1985)Google Scholar; and Ihonvbere, J. and Falola, Toyin, “Technology Transfer to the Third World: Obscurantism, Myth, and Social Implications,” Journal of General Studies, 5/6(1984/1985), 86–99.Google Scholar

52. “Early Yoruba Historiography.” See also the exploratory essay by Atanda, J.A., “A Historical Perspective of Intellectual Life in Yoruba Society Up to c. 1900,” JHSN, 11(1982/1983), 49–65.Google Scholar

53. Incidentally some of the authors were aware of the use and abuse of oral traditions. See for instance, the Lagos Weekly Record, 3 July 1987; the Nigerian Chronicle, 5 February 1909; and the Lagos Observer, 7 August 1896.

54. Barber, Karin, “Documenting Social and Ideological Change Through Yoruba Oriki: A Stylistic Analysis,” JHSN, 10(1981).Google Scholar

55. Carr, E.H., What is History? (Harmondsworth, 1964), 66Google Scholar; Onwuejeogwu, M.A., The Social Anthropology of Africa: An Introduction (London, 1975).Google Scholar

56. See for instance, Peel, J.D.Y., “Sociology and the History of the Yoruba,” paper presented at the seminar on Sociology and History; Their Relationship in the Nigerian Context, University of Ife, Ile-Ife, March, 1975.Google Scholar See also the rejoinder by Smith, R., “Nigerian History Not Mysterious: An Eirenic Reply to Professors Horton and Peel,” JHSN, 8(1977), 49–59.Google Scholar

57. Peel, , Ijeshas and Nigerians, 12–13.Google Scholar