Yoruba

Yoruba People

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The Yorùbá people (name spelled also: Ioruba or Joruba; Yoruba: Ìran Yorùbá) are an African ethnic group that inhabits western Africa. The majority of this population is from Nigeria. Significant Yoruba populations in other West African countries can be found in Ghana, Benin, Ivory Coast, Gambia and Sierra Leone. Most Yoruba people speak the Yoruba language, which is the Niger-Congo language with the largest number of native, L1 or first language speakers.

The people who lived in Yorubaland, at least by the seventh century BC, were not initially known as the Yoruba, although they shared a common ethnicity and language group. The historical Yoruba develop in situ, out of earlier (Mesolithic) Volta-Niger populations, by the 1st millennium BC.

By the 8th century, a powerful Yoruba kingdom already existed in Ile-Ife. Oral history recorded under the Oyo Empire derives the Yoruba as an ethnic group from the population of the older kingdom of Ile-Ife. The Yoruba people believe their civilization began at Ile-Ife where the gods descended to earth.

Archaeologically, the settlement at Ile-Ife can be dated to the 4th century BC, with urban structures appearing in the 12th century (the urban phase of Ile-Ife before the rise of Oyo, ca. 1100-1600, is sometimes described as a "golden age" of Ile-Ife). Ife was surpassed by the Oyo Empire as the dominant Yoruba military and political power between 1600 and 1800 AD. The nearby Benin Empire was also a powerful force between 1300 and 1850.

Ifẹ

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Ifẹ (Yoruba: Ifè, also Ilé-Ifẹ̀) is an ancient Yoruba city in south-western Nigeria. The city is located in present day Osun State.

The Oòni (or king) of Ife is a descendant of the godking Oduduwa, and is counted first among the Yoruba kings. The royal dynasty of Ife traces its origin back to the founding of the city more than ten thousand years before the birth of Jesus Christ.

Traditional Yoruba architecture is in the Sudano-Sahelian architecture style which consists of 'adobe walls, domes and overhanging hipped roofs'. Traditionally, building materials included earth, palm fronds, gbodogi leaves (sarcophrynium) and hardy timber (e.g. from the oil-palm and coconut trees).

In former times, the palace of the Ooni of Ife was a structure built of authentic enameled bricks, decorated with artistic porcelain tiles and all sorts of ornaments. At present, it is a more modern series of buildings.

Courtyards serve an important function in traditional Yoruba culture and are put together for sharing places of worship, living and socio-interactive spaces within an enclosure, with the view to creating impressive and aesthetically appealing architectural and symbolic piece(s) [5].


Gugler and Flanagan (1978) identified that the compounds were the most important elements in the traditional Yoruba town. These traditional domestic buildings have thick mud walls (cob structures between 6-12 inches), bamboo rafters or other termiteresistant timber with thatched roof construction, and room sizes based on a standard module of 10 feet (ese bata mewa) (Osasona, 2007). Some modifications were found in most of the traditional houses sampled; mainly in the use of corrugated roofing sheets instead of thatch, and occasionally, cement: sand plaster to mud walls. The traditional multi-generational family compound (agbo’le) comprises of a group of Courtyard-type or Orowa-type houses or both. The courtyard house with its inward focus of small rooms around a large courtyard/impluvium or a series of interconnected small courtyards/impluvia was more common among the chiefly ranks and often developed in an agglomerative way, while the Orowa house is usually without courtyards... Ile-Ife is in a hot and humid forest region, and the effect of the weather is that open shaded spaces are more comfortable, particularly in the daytime. As such, thick adobe walls, coupled with small windows, the sloping roofs with eave overhangs, are commonly found in response to the weather. This architectural form of small rooms around a communal space is common in West Africa, as seen in Bini architecture (South-West Nigeria) and further afield in Ashante architecture (Ghana).

Oyo

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In 1826 British explorer Hugh Clapperton visited Oyo-Ile in 1825 during the reign of Alaafin Majotu, at the time the empire was already in a state of decline. His writings offer some glimpse into aspects of Yoruba cluture. He writes:

The people of Katunga [the Hausa term for Oyo-Ile] are fond of ornamenting their doors, and the posts which support their verandahs, with carvings; and they ave also statues or figures of men and women standing in their court yards. The figures carved on their posts and doors are various, but principally of the boa snake, with a hog or antelope in his mouth; frequently men taking slaves, and sometimes a man on horseback leading slaves...[6]

The King's houses, and those of his women occupy about a square mile, and are on the south side of the hills, having two large parks, one in the front, and another facing the north. They are built of clay, and have thatched roofs, similar to those near the coast. The posts supporting the verandahs and the doors of the king's and caboceers' [chief's] houses are generally carved in bas relief, with figures representing the boa killing the antelope or a hog, or with processions of warriors attended by drummers.[6]