Yoruba land history you may not know

Ife̩ bronze casting of Oduduwa, dated around 12th century, is in the British Museum.

Historically, the Yoruba people have been the dominant group on the west bank of the Niger. Their nearest linguistic relatives are the Igala who live on the opposite side of the Niger’s divergence from the Benue, and from whom are believed to have split about 2,000 years ago.

The Yoruba were organized in mostly patrilineal groups that occupied village communities and subsisted on agriculture. From approximately the 8th century, adjacent village compounds called ile coalesced into numerous territorial city-states in which clan loyalties became subordinate to dynastic chieftains.

Urbanization was accompanied by high levels of artistic achievement, particularly in terracotta and ivory sculpture and in the sophisticated metal casting produced at Ile Ife̩.

The Yoruba paid tribute to a pantheon composed of an impersonal Supreme Deity, O̩lo̩run. The O̩lo̩run is now called God in the Yoruba language. There are 400 lesser deities who performed various tasks.

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According to the Yoruba, Oduduwa is regarded as both the creator of the earth and the ancestor of the Yoruba kings.

According to one of the various myths about him, he founded Ile Ifę and dispatched his sons and daughters to establish similar kingdoms in other parts of what is today known as Yorubaland.

The Yorubaland now consists of different tribes from different states which are located in the Southwestern part of the country, states like O̩yo̩ State, Ondo State, Ekiti State, Ogun State, Lagos State, O̩s̩un State. Kwara State and part of Kogi State, among others..

Source: Yoruba Heritage