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Periodical article | Leiden University catalogue | WorldCat |
Title: | The State, ecology and domestic economy of Oyo |
Author: | Adediran, Biodun |
Year: | 1995 |
Periodical: | Frankfurter afrikanistische Blätter |
Issue: | 7 |
Pages: | 79-97 |
Language: | English |
Geographic term: | Nigeria |
Subjects: | Yoruba Oyo polity environment history ethnic groups |
Abstract: | Unlike most of the other Yorùbá subgroups who inhabited the forest region of present-day Nigeria, the Oyo were a savanna-dwelling people. An adequate understanding of the development of Oyo requires a clear understanding of the ecological conditions in which the people operated. Based primarily on Yorùbá oral traditions - direct narratives collected during fieldwork in various parts of Yorùbáland since 1977 and particularly in the Oyo area between 1987 and 1991, as well as praise poems of selected lineages - the author describes the main environmental features of pre-19th century Oyo, the practice of agriculture and industrial crafts, noting the role of the Aláàfin (king) in the exploitation of natural resources, and the role of trade in the domestic economy. He indicates that the grassland nature of the vegetation made Oyo attractive for external traders and encouraged a spirit of imperialism and mercantilism on the part of the nobility. At the same time, the favourable agrarian conditions kept most of the commoners in farming and craftswork, expanding domestic production in response to the demands of the commercial economy, in the hands of the Aláàfin and the trading magnates. Notes, ref. |