1. Some of these myths and legends will be discussed in detail later in this paper.

2. Law, R.C.C., “The Oyo Empire: The History of a Yoruba State, Principally in the Period c. 1600 to c. 1836,’ Ph.D. thesis, University of Birmingham, 1971.Google Scholar

3. Johnson, Samuel, The History of the Yorubas (Lagos, 1921).Google Scholar The original manuscript seems to have been completed about twenty-five years previously. For more on Johnson see Law, , “The Heritage of Oduduwa: Traditional History and Political Propaganda among the Yoruba,” JAH, 14 (1973), pp. 207–21.CrossRefGoogle Scholar The present discussion is intended to be only a preliminary analysis of Johnson's influence on later Yoruba historiography. In order more fully to assess his role, recourse must be had to local official archives and to the records of the Church Missionary Society, with the intent of learning, if possible, why Johnson undertook the task, what effect, if any, it had on British attitudes toward Oyo, and in what ways it served both as a stimulus and a deterrent to further attempts by Yoruba traditional historians to recount their past. It is hoped that in due course the present writer may be able to embark on this task.

4. C.A. Sapara Williams, speaking to the Lagos Institute. Quoted in Herskovits, J., “The Siena Leoneans of Yorubaland,” in Curtin, P.D. (ed.), Africa and the West (Madison, 1972), p. 82n.Google Scholar

5. For these see especially Atanda, J.A., The New Oyo Empire: Indirect Rule and Change in Western Nigeria, 1894–1934 (London, 1973), pp. 99–127.Google Scholar

6. Chief S.O. Ojo of Sake belongs to this second group. His publications on Oyo history were meant to “correct” Johnson.

7. Field notes of Babayemi, S.O., Institute of African Studies, University of Lagos.Google Scholar

8. Johnson, , History, p. ix.Google Scholar

9. Ibid., pp. vii–viii.

10. Akinjogbin, I.A., Dahomey and Its Neighbours, 1708–1818 (Cambridge, 1967), pp. 81–96, 125, 220Google Scholar; Law, , “Oyo Empire,” pp. 47–51.Google Scholar For the date of the death of Abiodun see next note.

11. Johnson, , History, p. vii.Google Scholar To some extent this argument depends on the date accepted for the death of Abiodun. On the basis of a somewhat ambiguous French reference, Akinjogbin, (Dahomey and Its Neighbors, p. 175n.)Google Scholar assigned his death to 1789. Although this presents several interpretative problems for the period from 1789 to ca. 1810, most scholars have accepted this date. A few argue, however, that Abiodun probably died ca. 1810. Johnson, (History, p. 186)Google Scholar spoke of Abiodun's “long and prosperous reign” without, unfortunately, being more specific. For our purposes the date of Abiodun's death is important only insofar as it affects Johnson's statement about Kukomi.

12. G3 A2/1888, Church Missionary Society Archives, London. Rev.Oyebode's, R.S.Journal, April 1886.Google Scholar

13. Johnson, , History, pp. 270, 373.Google Scholar

14. Personal communication, Dr. B. Awe, Institute of African Studies, University of Ibadan.

15. Johnson, , History, p. viii.Google Scholar

16. Ibid., p. 156.

17. Chief Olunlade, the Otun Seriki of Ede, Ede, a Short History, tr. Akinjogbin, I.A. (Ibadan, 1961), pp. 24–27.Google Scholar

18. Johnson, , History, p. 311.Google Scholar

19. CMS, CA2/058, Letters and Journal Extracts of Rev. Samuel Johnson, Report for the half year ending 30 June 1879, sub June 12.

20. CMS, CA2/058, entry for 12 June 1879.

21. Ibid.

22. This occurred every Sunday during 1873 and 1874. See ibid., Reports for half years ending 30 June and 31 December 1874, especially sub 8 March and 5 April.

23. For example, Johnson derived much information on the religious activities of the Oyo that he did not include in his History. It has recently been argued that his evaluation of the role of the Ogboni in the administration of Oyo towns as “a consultative and advisory body [with] the King or Bale being supreme” (Johnson, , History, p. 78Google Scholar) is substantially correct. See Agiri, B.A., “The Ogboni among the Oyo Yoruba,” Lagos Notes and Records, 3 (1972), pp. 50–59.Google Scholar

24. There were a number of these works, of greater or lesser value. See, for instance, Burton, R.F., Abeokuta and the Cameroons Mountains: An Exploration (2 vols.: London, 1863)Google Scholar, and Dalzel, A., A History of Dahomy (London, 1793).Google Scholar

25. Johnson, , History, p. 5.Google Scholar

26. Information on the various groups among the arokin comes from the research notes of S.A. Babayemi. I am grateful for his allowing me to consult them. Cf. Johnson, , History, pp. 54, 125–26.Google Scholar

27. For the oriki as historical sources see Ayorinde, J.A., “Oriki” in Biobaku, S.O. (ed.), Sources of Yoruba History (Oxford, 1973), pp. 63–76.Google Scholar

28. Talbot, P.A., The Peoples of Southern Nigeria (4 vols.: Oxford, 1926), 1:282–96Google Scholar; Smith, R., “List of the Alafin of Oyo,” African Historian 1/3 (1965), pp. 52–55Google Scholar; S.A. Babayemi, interviews with Raji Amoo and Sauni Ayegbe, Oyo. Cf. Johnson, , History, pp. 669–70.Google Scholar

29. Smith, , “List of the Alafin,” p. 54Google Scholar Smith's work demonstrates the need to cross-check Oyo traditions by considering the traditions of those places that once were part of the Oyo empire.

30. Law, , “Oyo Empire,” pp. 56–57.Google Scholar

31. Smith, , “List of the Alafin,” p. 54.Google Scholar

32. See, for example, Priestley, M. and Wilks, I., “The Ashanti Kings of the Eighteenth Century: A Revised Chronology,” JAH, 1 (1960), pp. 83–96.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

33. Johnson, , History, pp. 158, 168.Google Scholar

34. Talbot, , Peoples of Southern Nigeria, 1:282.Google Scholar

35. Dennett, R.E., Nigerian Studies: Or, the Political and Religious System of the Yoruba (London, 1910), pp. 130–39.Google Scholar

36. Johnson, , History, p. 158.Google Scholar

37. Ibid.

38. Ibid.

39. Ibid., pp. 168–69.

40. Ogbomoso traditions record one such occasion when an Oyo army was defeated. Sohun, the ancestor of the Ogbomoso ruling dynasty, allegedly saved the Oyo army from extinction. Oyerinde, N.D., Iwe Itan Ogbomoso (Jos, 1934).Google Scholar

41. Johnson, , History, pp. 143–54Google Scholar; Law, , “Oyo Empire,” p. 35.Google Scholar See also Dennett, , Nigerian Studies, pp. 97, 101–2, 189Google Scholar, for comments on the names of some Yoruba gods. Johnson, , History, p. 161Google Scholar, called Orompoto the brother of Eguguoju. According to Smith, R.S., “The Alafin in Exile: A Study of the Igboho Period in Oyo History,” JAH, 6 (1965), p. 68CrossRefGoogle Scholar, Oyo traditionalists now grudgingly admit that Orompoto was a woman.

42. Johnson, , History, pp. 155–61.Google Scholar

43. Ibid., p. 174.

44. Ibid., pp. 169–77.

45. This point is discussed fully in Forde, C.D. (ed.), African Worlds (London, 1954), pp. vii–xvii.Google Scholar

46. For the Yoruba account see Johnson, , History, pp. 1–6.Google Scholar For the Borgu version see Hermon-Hodge, H.B., Gazetteer of Ilorin Province (London, 1929), pp. 40–41,115–21.Google Scholar

47. For the Kisra legend generally see Stevens, P. Jr, “ ‘The Kisra Effect’: A Problem in the Interpretation of African Ethnohistorical Data,” paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the African Studies Association, Philadelphia, 8–11 November 1972Google Scholar, and Mathew, A.B., “Kisra Legend.” African Studies, 9 (1950), pp. 144–47.CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

48. Biobaku, S.O., The Origin of the Yorubas (London, 1955)Google Scholar; Lucas, J.O., The Religion of the Yoruba (Lagos, 1948).Google Scholar For a critique of Lucas' work see Wescott, R.W., “Ancient Egypt and Modern Africa,” JAH, 2 (1961), pp. 311–15.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

49. Goody, J., “Islamic Writing and Oral Culture,” Cahiers d'études africaines, 11 (1971), pp. 445–66.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

50. Adetugbo, A., “The Nature of Yoruba Dialects,” Staff Seminar paper, School of African and Asian Studies, University of Lagos, 26 October 1967.Google Scholar

51. Beier, H.U., “Before Oduduwa,” Odu, o.s. 3 (1956), pp. 25–32Google Scholar; Willett, F., Ife in the History of West African Sculpture (London, 1967), pp. 122–24.Google Scholar

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53. Some of the variants of these myths are discussed in Law, , “Heritage of Oduduwa,” pp. 209–10.Google Scholar

54. R and Lander, J., Journal of an Expedition to Explore the Course and Termination of the Niger (2 vols.: London, 1832), 1:180Google Scholar; Johnson, , History, p. 143.Google Scholar.

55. Law, , “Heritage of Oduduwa,” p. 210.Google Scholar

56. Parratt, D.K., “An Approach to Ife Festivals,” Nigeria Magazine, no. 100 (April 1969), p. 343n.Google Scholar

57. Collections of the oriki of Oranyan and Oduduwa from Chief Samuel Ojo, Bada of Saki, 1970. The palace of the Ooni of Ife is known as He Igbo (House of the Igbo).

58. Beier, , “Before Oduduwa,” pp. 25–32Google Scholar; Willett, , Ife, pp. 122–25.Google Scholar

59. Beier, , “Before Oduduwa,” pp. 30–32Google Scholar; Obayemi, M.A., “Yoruba Genesis: A 1972 Review,” paper read at the 18th Annual Congress of the Historical Society of Nigeria, 1972.Google Scholar

60. Esan, O., “Correspondence, ‘Before Oduduwa’,” Odu, no. 8 (October 1960), pp. 75–76.Google Scholar

61. For details of this festival see Stevens, P., “Orisa Nla Festival,” Nigeria Magazine, no. 90 (Sept. 1966), pp. 184–88Google Scholar, and Parratt, , “Approach,” pp. 340–48.Google Scholar

62. Stevens, , “Orisa Nla Festival,” p. 187.Google Scholar

63. Discussions with Chief M.A. Fabunmi, Ogbon Oya, Ife, August 1970. Contradicting this theory of external conquest is a variant of the traditional myth which makes Oduduwa a female goddess and wife of Obatala. Oduduwa became a male after defeating Obatala. It has been suggested that this variant shows that Yoruba society had once been matriarchal but changed as a result of internal factors. See Beier, H.U., “The Historical and Psychological Significance of Yoruba Myths,” Odu, no. 1 (January 1955), p. 21.Google Scholar This event no doubt represented a major revolution, but there is yet no known instance where such a change occurred spontaneously, although there are plenty of oral traditions from many places that allege this to have been the case.

64. Wheatley, P., “The Significance of Traditional Yoruba Urbanism,” Comparative Studies in Society and History, 12 (1970), pp. 393–423.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

65. The oriki of the Oba people suggest that they used iron implements in farming. Esan, , “Correspondence,” p. 75.Google Scholar

66. Relics of this civilization seem to have been scattered throughout Yorubaland, for example, the Idoko people of Ondo and Ijebu.

67. Johnson, , History, pp. 7–8.Google Scholar Ife traditions say that Oduduwa had sixteen followers who later became rulers over kingdoms. This version is similar, at least in number, to the Ekiti version of sixteen Ekiti kings: Parratt, , “Approach,” pp. 343–44Google Scholar; Akintoye, S.A., Revolution and Power Politics in Yorubaland, 1840–1893 (London, 1971), p. 6.Google Scholar

68. Law, , “Heritage of Oduduwa,” p. 215.Google Scholar

69. Johnson, , History, pp. 8, 23–24Google Scholar; Dennett, , Nigerian Studies, pp. 31, 91.Google Scholar One of the Alafin's traditional titles is Onile, “owner of the land.”

70. Law, , “Heritage of Oduduwa,” pp. 207–21Google Scholar; Ryder, A.F.C., “A Reconsideration of the Benin-Ife Relationship,” JAH, 7 (1965), pp. 25–37.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

71. Johnson, , History, pp. 10–12, 144.Google Scholar

72. Ibid.; Willett, , Ife, p. 124.Google Scholar

73. The title of this ruler was probably Olofun. See the Ijesa version of the creation of Ife in Johnson, , History, p. 23Google Scholar, and Oke, M.O., Iwe Itan Ijesa (Ibadan, n.d.), pp. 45–60.Google Scholar The Oyo variant mentions Adimu as the person put in Ife by Oranyan (Willett, , Ife, p. 124Google Scholar).

74. For details see Bradbury, R.E., “The Historical Uses of Comparative Ethnography with Special Reference to Benin and Yoruba” in Vansina, J.et al (eds.), Historian in Tropical Africa (London, 1964), pp. 151–52.Google Scholar.

75. Ryder, “Reconsideration.”

76. For example, Oje, whose ruler, Ompatu, is thought to be of the original Ife stock.

77. Collections of oriki of past Alaafin by S.O. Babayemi.

78. Johnson, , History, pp. 149–50.Google Scholar

79. Beier, , “Before Oduduwa,” p. 28Google Scholar, citing Ojo, S., The Origin of the Yorubas, p. 11.Google Scholar

80. See Asiwaju, A.I., “A Note on the History of Sabe,” Lagos Notes and Records, 4 (1973), pp. 23–25.Google Scholar

81. Johnson, , History, pp. 70–1.Google Scholar

82. Ibid., p. 48.

83. This is the Jelepa ceremony, a concluding part of the Bere festival. See Johnson, , History, pp. 49–51.Google Scholar

84. Meyerowitz, E.L.R., “Notes on the King-God Shango and his Temple at Ibadan, Southern Nigeria,” Man, 47 (1946), pp. 25–26.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

85. Johnson, , History, p. 149.Google Scholar

86. Meyerowitz, , “Notes,” pp. 26–28Google Scholar; Ellis, A.B., The Yoruba-Speaking Peoples of the Slave Coast of West Africa (London, 1894), pp. 50–52Google Scholar; Johnson, , History, pp. 34, 151–52.Google Scholar While Meyerowitz uncritically accepts the traditional account that Sango was the product of a union between Oranyan and a Nupe woman, Ellis, in accounting for Sango's death, combines two variants, viz., that Sango hanged himself and later descended into the earth through a chain. Ellis argued that the chain element in the tradition represented new ideas that had been added to the concept of a thunder god.

87. Nadel, S.F., A Black Byzantium (London, 1942), pp. 72–76.Google Scholar Cf. Ellis, , Yoruba-Speaking Peoples, p. 50.Google Scholar

88. Ellis recorded that Sango disappeared at a place called Kuso and took the title Oba Kuso, i.e., king of Kuso (ibid., p. 52). For the meaning of Kuso see Nadel, , Nupe Religion (London, 1954), p. 229n.Google Scholar Nadel describes the Nupe god of lightning, Sogba, as having been introduced by the Gwari or Yagba, a southern section of the Yoruba (ibid., pp. 82, 210n, 211–13). He also records that “a Nupe king called Shago occurs in a myth describing the origin of the anti-witchcraft cult ndako gboya. Shago is probably identical with the mythical hero and deity of the Yoruba religion, Shango, who in Yoruba mythology is described as a man or king” (ibid., p. 17n).

89. Dennett, , Nigerian Studies, pp. 65–68.Google Scholar

90. Stevens, , “Orisa Nla Festival,” p. 196.Google Scholar

91. Johnson, , History, p. 160.Google Scholar

92. Collections of the oriki of Egungun lineages by S.O. Babayemi.

93. Johnson, , History, p. 160Google Scholar; Smith, , “Alafin in Exile,” pp. 57–77.Google Scholar

94. Johnson does record that Sango's followers learned how to attract lightning in “Bariba country,” i.e., Borgu, (History, p. 34Google Scholar). It seems not unreasonable to accept Frobenius' suggestion (The Voice of Africa (2 vols.: London, 1913, 1:177, 219–23Google Scholar) that a Borgu dynasty replaced the ‘Tapa’ dynasty and that both dynasties worshipped a god of lightning as a patron god.

95. Levtzion, N., Muslims and Chiefs in West Africa (Oxford, 1968), pp. 173–74.Google Scholar

96. Ibid.

97. Johnson, , History, pp. 159–60.Google Scholar

98. Babayemi, S.O., “Upper Ogun: An Historical Sketch,” African Notes [Ibadan], 6, 2 (1971), pp. 74–77.Google Scholar See also Akinyenri, G.K., “Igboho and Its Neighbors in the Nineteenth Century,” B.A. essay in history, University of Ibadan, June 1971.Google Scholar

99. Babayemi, “Upper Ogun”; Oyerinde, , Iwe Itan Ogbomoso, pp. 9–11.Google Scholar

100. For a discussion of the traditions of Borgawa origins see Crowder, M., Revolt in Bussa (London, 1973), pp. 26–38.Google Scholar Extensive fieldwork in Borgu was carried out by the late Mallam Musa Baba Idris to be submitted as a dissertation to the University of Birmingham. Fortunately, before his tragic death, his work had proceeded far enough so that parts of it are to be edited and published by some of his former colleagues.

101. Thus I would argue that the arithmetical exercises by Smith, , The Kingdoms of the Yoruba (London, 1969), pp. 102–4Google Scholar, and by Law, , “Oyo Empire,” pp. 51–55Google Scholar, are fruitless for this early period. They are extrapolated from data for nineteenth and twentieth-century Alaafin for whom we know reign lengths and sequence. More importantly, we know there are no names missing for this period. For the earlier period we can know none of these things.