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The History of the Yorubas
First published in 1921, and cited on the Africa's Best 100 Books List, this is a standard work on the history of theYorubas from the earliest times to the beginning of the British Protectorate. The first part of the book discusses the people, theircountry and language, religion, government, land law, manners and customs. The second part is divided into four periods, dealing first with mytheological kings and deified heroes; with the growth, prosperity and oppression of the Yoruba people; the time of revolutionary wars and disruption; and, finally, the arrest of disintegration, inter-tribal wars, and the coming of the British. There are two appendices, on dealing with treaties and agreements, the other giving tables of Yoruba kings, rulers, and chiefs. The book also includes an index and map of the Yoruba country.
740 pages, Paperback
First published December 29, 1921
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814 people want to read
About the author
Samuel Johnson
1 book3 followersThe Rev. Samuel Johnson (1846 – 1901) was an Anglican priest and historian of the Yoruba.
Johnson taught during the Yoruba civil war. Johnson and Charles Phillips, both of the Church Missionary Society, arranged a ceasefire in 1886 and then a treaty that guaranteed the independence of the Ekiti towns. In 1880, Johnson became a deacon and in 1888 a priest. He was based in Oyo from 1881 onward and completed a work on Yoruba history in 1897. This event is said to have been caused by him fearing that his people were losing their history, and that they were beginning to know European history better. Ironically, this work was misplaced by his British publishers.
After his death, his brother Dr. Obadiah Johnson re-compiled and rewrote the book, using the reverend's copious notes as a guide. In 1921, he released it as A History of the Yorubas from the Earliest Times to the Beginning of the British Protectorate. The book has since been likened to The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon.
Johnson taught during the Yoruba civil war. Johnson and Charles Phillips, both of the Church Missionary Society, arranged a ceasefire in 1886 and then a treaty that guaranteed the independence of the Ekiti towns. In 1880, Johnson became a deacon and in 1888 a priest. He was based in Oyo from 1881 onward and completed a work on Yoruba history in 1897. This event is said to have been caused by him fearing that his people were losing their history, and that they were beginning to know European history better. Ironically, this work was misplaced by his British publishers.
After his death, his brother Dr. Obadiah Johnson re-compiled and rewrote the book, using the reverend's copious notes as a guide. In 1921, he released it as A History of the Yorubas from the Earliest Times to the Beginning of the British Protectorate. The book has since been likened to The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
December 8, 2015
The simple truth is - no words suffice to describe the magnificence and radiance of this work; no praise is high enough for the extraordinary sacrifice, diligence and doggedness of the "Johnson brothers" that finally brought this masterpiece into fruition. This work is more than a labour of love, as it were. To put this into context, the world can not imagine Chinua Achebe's superb novel, Things fall apart, not ever being published; but literary history shows that it was a close-run thing! Achebe's original manuscript was more or less lost or discarded by the typists in England, and it was fortuitous indeed that the manuscript was retrieved. Tragically the original manuscript of History of the Yorubas - countless hundreds of pages - was actually lost, a harrowing, horrific fact; but the younger (Dr) Johnson embarked upon the more than daunting task of re-writing again, using copious notes left by his brother...and after many years this wonderfully detailed book was finally published. And what a book! This is more than comprehensive, tracing the history, anthropology, mores, customs, language etc of the Yoruba people who now run into tens of millions, and are spread all over the world. But of course when this book was written, the people were essentially confined to the western part of Nigeria... Yorubas were always noted for building towns and cities. And for the elaborate customs, and system of government with intricate, intelligent checks and balances. Wars alas took their toll on the society, wars which would exasperate the encroaching (British) colonisers. The Ijaiye war in particular was horrendous and embraced large parts of Yorubaland - and exceedingly tragic for Ijaiye town. All this is detailed in this work, including the rise of Ibadan in the process. And then the whites and the "maxim guns" which prodded lots of respect, and peace of sorts in Yorubaland... This work is a tour de force - written and published long before even more glories for Yorubaland under the legendary Obafemi Awolowo who presided over the first television station in Africa, the first skyscraper in west Africa at least (Cocoa House), the then iconic Liberty Stadium...but we are getting ahead of ourselves here...
September 17, 2016
Very detailed history of the Yorubas. However, I think the writer had a little religious bias considering the fact that the author is a clergyman. He was even tacitly in support of colonialism.
Regardless of this, the books is quite detailed and would make a good read.
Regardless of this, the books is quite detailed and would make a good read.
August 5, 2015
Awesome read! Being a Yoruba woman and having grown up in the culture, I fully appreciate and enjoyed this book. Its a treasure and a joy to read.
Want to read
January 18, 2024Only read about 150 pages, and no way I'll finish during term time. But this is totally phenomenal. Massive testament to the complexity of pre-colonial African society. Hurts that there weren't more chronicles like it written before it became impossible to do so.
January 10, 2019
History of The Yorubas: From The Earliest Times to the Beginning of The British Prectectorate
Introduction
A seminal work of 700 to 800 pages (this depends on the type setting of the version you have - older typeset versions were about 750+ pages while recently printed versions are 850+ pages), documenting the peoples and relationships between the various splinter ethnicities occupying the South Western part of today's Nigeria over possibly a 600 to 800 year period (considering the number of Alafins (about 28) exclusive of Oduduwa but inclusive of his seventh son, Oranyan or Oranmiyan) prior to the published date of the book in 1897, at once a reader will appreciate why this magnus opus is listed as one of the 100 Books of Africa for the 20th Century
The Author & Editor - How The Book Was Almost Never Printed
The author and his brother, the editor, missionaries for the Christian Missionary Society, not necessarily the earliest foreign sojourners in these parts, but perhaps the first to establish long term residences and keep their missions active up until the present day (their famous bookshop was established in 1869!), conducted reviews with peoples South of the River Niger and largely regarded as Yorubas or Oyos and relying on these oral accounts for years before the authors existed, wove together accounts that largely gives understanding to how the people occupying the South Western part of today's Nigeria lived, spread, created kingdoms and largely fought for territorial supremacy. Being of Oyo origin, the author and the editor focused largely on Oyo legends and this formed the mainstay of the narration of the book with Oyo and its loyal offshoots, the Ibadans, being portrayed as the focal aggressors & conquerors across Yoruba land until the coming of the British.
NB: The author, Rev Samuel Johnson after writing the manuscripts in 1897 sent it to Britain to be published however it got "missing" and his brother had to write it all over again from manuscripts since Rev passed on in 1901 and before the lost manuscript could be found. There are several stories about the challenges the brother (the editor) faced when he also tried getting the boom printed, a feat finally achieved in 1921.
The "Plot"
Earlier accounts of the book were extracted from oral accounts largely from the elderly and traditional historians and did not include dates. The lack of dates leads to some level of disorientation in the course of the book and might cause readers to oscillate between pages to fit the jigsaw puzzle and maze of legends and stories.
The book is divided into two main sections with the first section dwelling largely on Yoruba people, the country (nation) and the derivation of the language.
Section two is divided into four periods that acknowledges that the origins of mythological leadership, outlines a period of growth and prosperity of the nation state under several Alafins moving across several capitals with the cooperation of the nobility, lords and the war chiefs or Are Ona Kakanfo. The section identifies periods of class struggles where common men that rise to power as a result of winning wars become intoxicated by power thus leading to consequences forever to change the landscape of Yorubaland and the loss of its most frontier border, Ilorin. This section documents the several wars that this interregnum ignited for the next 150 to 200 years and how hard the disparate forces fought to remove the yoke of Oyo suzerainty or retain it.
Several wars are fought gallantly with several others resulting in kidnapping raids, impunity and recklessness. The book gives the rare insight into how precarious life across the land was during the interregnum, and how particularly, the Ijebus fought tooth and nail to secure access to the hinterland for those coming from Lagos routes and vice versa.
The trade routes, access given to Christian missionaries, arrival of Islam via Ilorin, communication between kingdoms, security systems, naming of areas are all given illumination by the author.
My humble take on such a great book
Perhaps, where updated copies could include maps of the old kingdom and indicate where these locations are today, such might interest the amateur historian or anthropologist or a tourist and motivate such persons to explore these historic places named in the book.
Highly recommended
8½/10
Introduction
A seminal work of 700 to 800 pages (this depends on the type setting of the version you have - older typeset versions were about 750+ pages while recently printed versions are 850+ pages), documenting the peoples and relationships between the various splinter ethnicities occupying the South Western part of today's Nigeria over possibly a 600 to 800 year period (considering the number of Alafins (about 28) exclusive of Oduduwa but inclusive of his seventh son, Oranyan or Oranmiyan) prior to the published date of the book in 1897, at once a reader will appreciate why this magnus opus is listed as one of the 100 Books of Africa for the 20th Century
The Author & Editor - How The Book Was Almost Never Printed
The author and his brother, the editor, missionaries for the Christian Missionary Society, not necessarily the earliest foreign sojourners in these parts, but perhaps the first to establish long term residences and keep their missions active up until the present day (their famous bookshop was established in 1869!), conducted reviews with peoples South of the River Niger and largely regarded as Yorubas or Oyos and relying on these oral accounts for years before the authors existed, wove together accounts that largely gives understanding to how the people occupying the South Western part of today's Nigeria lived, spread, created kingdoms and largely fought for territorial supremacy. Being of Oyo origin, the author and the editor focused largely on Oyo legends and this formed the mainstay of the narration of the book with Oyo and its loyal offshoots, the Ibadans, being portrayed as the focal aggressors & conquerors across Yoruba land until the coming of the British.
NB: The author, Rev Samuel Johnson after writing the manuscripts in 1897 sent it to Britain to be published however it got "missing" and his brother had to write it all over again from manuscripts since Rev passed on in 1901 and before the lost manuscript could be found. There are several stories about the challenges the brother (the editor) faced when he also tried getting the boom printed, a feat finally achieved in 1921.
The "Plot"
Earlier accounts of the book were extracted from oral accounts largely from the elderly and traditional historians and did not include dates. The lack of dates leads to some level of disorientation in the course of the book and might cause readers to oscillate between pages to fit the jigsaw puzzle and maze of legends and stories.
The book is divided into two main sections with the first section dwelling largely on Yoruba people, the country (nation) and the derivation of the language.
Section two is divided into four periods that acknowledges that the origins of mythological leadership, outlines a period of growth and prosperity of the nation state under several Alafins moving across several capitals with the cooperation of the nobility, lords and the war chiefs or Are Ona Kakanfo. The section identifies periods of class struggles where common men that rise to power as a result of winning wars become intoxicated by power thus leading to consequences forever to change the landscape of Yorubaland and the loss of its most frontier border, Ilorin. This section documents the several wars that this interregnum ignited for the next 150 to 200 years and how hard the disparate forces fought to remove the yoke of Oyo suzerainty or retain it.
Several wars are fought gallantly with several others resulting in kidnapping raids, impunity and recklessness. The book gives the rare insight into how precarious life across the land was during the interregnum, and how particularly, the Ijebus fought tooth and nail to secure access to the hinterland for those coming from Lagos routes and vice versa.
The trade routes, access given to Christian missionaries, arrival of Islam via Ilorin, communication between kingdoms, security systems, naming of areas are all given illumination by the author.
My humble take on such a great book
Perhaps, where updated copies could include maps of the old kingdom and indicate where these locations are today, such might interest the amateur historian or anthropologist or a tourist and motivate such persons to explore these historic places named in the book.
Highly recommended
8½/10
April 24, 2020
To be honest - I skipped a bit of the chapters, might go back to it one day but it’s mainly about war between the different peoples that are ‘Yoruba’
All in all, interesting and enlightening - it should be read by every Nigerian atleast in an effort to understand these people. I’m not Yoruba but some say we came from them (my people beg to differ) still there’s much to appreciate.
The book takes you through language, the different Yoruba people - Egbas, Jebus, Yoruba proper etc attire, kings, customs like marriage and loads about war and the British.
I particularly liked the admonishment on people who gave up their Yoruba names because they became Christian or where women and children have to take a man’s name.
All in all, interesting and enlightening - it should be read by every Nigerian atleast in an effort to understand these people. I’m not Yoruba but some say we came from them (my people beg to differ) still there’s much to appreciate.
The book takes you through language, the different Yoruba people - Egbas, Jebus, Yoruba proper etc attire, kings, customs like marriage and loads about war and the British.
I particularly liked the admonishment on people who gave up their Yoruba names because they became Christian or where women and children have to take a man’s name.
November 1, 2021
So far, intriguing. So much I did not know.
Read
December 9, 2022Wanna read
Read
January 13, 2024Prince in IGBOHO
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 1, 2010
Read this book a while ago and intend to read it again before I can confidently review it.
Though a seminal work no doubt.
Though a seminal work no doubt.
July 7, 2012
This book is a stand alone book in the history of the Yoruba tribe of West Africa.
February 14, 2015
Very detailed description of the Yoruba tribe, although I must admit that I only read the first half that seemed to be interesting to me.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews