Yoruba

The Yoruba are concentrated in south western Nigeria, across Lagos, Ogun, Oyo, Osun, Ondo and Ekiti, with large populations in Kwara and Kogi and related communities in Benin Republic and Togo. They are one of the most urbanised peoples in Africa, with towns such as Ibadan, Abeokuta, Ile-Ife, Oyo and Ogbomoso that were already large and densely built long before colonial rule. Yoruba political tradition is monarchical: each town has an oba supported by a council of chiefs, and Ile-Ife holds the place of origin in Yoruba thought, while the Alaafin of Oyo once headed an empire that stretched west into present-day Benin.

Yoruba religion, philosophy and art have travelled further than the people themselves. The òrìṣà tradition, the Ifá divination corpus and the drumming and dance that accompany them survive in Cuba, Brazil and Trinidad through the Atlantic slave trade, where they shaped Santería and Candomblé. Today most Yoruba are Muslim or Christian, often within families that hold both, and older practice persists alongside them. The language is tonal, written in a Latin alphabet with diacritics, and carries a proverb-heavy register in which indirect speech and respect for age are woven into ordinary conversation.

Oral tradition holds that Odùduwà descended at Ilé-Ifẹ̀ and founded the Yoruba royal line, from which the ruling houses of the other Yoruba kingdoms trace their sceptres (aṣẹ) by dispersal of his sons and grandsons. Ilé-Ifẹ̀ is regarded by Yoruba tradition as the cradle of the world and of humankind. Historians and archaeologists treat this as a foundation myth expressing real historical processes — the consolidation of Ifẹ̀ as a religious and artistic centre by around the eleventh to fifteenth centuries, evidenced by its celebrated bronze and terracotta heads — while noting that Yoruba-speaking communities and their political structures likely developed over a longer and more gradual period than the Odùduwà narrative suggests. From Ifẹ̀, the Ọ̀yọ́ Empire grew from the fifteenth century into the most powerful Yoruba state, built partly on cavalry and control of northern trade routes, and dominated much of Yorubaland and beyond until its collapse in the early nineteenth century amid civil wars, Fulani pressure from the north and the rise of new towns such as Ibadan and Abeokuta founded by refugees from that collapse.

Yoruba society is organised around the ìdílé (extended family/lineage), the ìlú (town) and the oba's palace. Each town is headed by an oba, a hereditary or selected monarch drawn from a ruling ruling house and installed with the backing of kingmaker chiefs; some obas, such as the Ọọ̀ni of Ifẹ̀ and the Aláàfin of Ọ̀yọ́, carry historic seniority recognised across Yorubaland without any one of them ruling the others. Below the oba sit title-holding chiefs, guild heads and, in many towns, powerful women's associations led by the Ìyálóde. Yoruba subgroups are distinct and often proud of local identity: Ọ̀yọ́, Ẹ̀gbá, Ìjẹ̀bú, Ifẹ̀, Ìjẹ̀ṣà, Èkìtì, Òǹdó, Àwórì, Ìgbómìnà and Òkun among them, each with its own dialect and historical kingdom.

Yoruba traditional religion centres on Olódùmarè, the supreme being, and a large pantheon of òrìṣà such as Ṣàngó, Ògún, Ọya, Ọ̀ṣun and Ọbàtálá, each linked to natural forces, towns and lineages. Ifá divination, interpreted by trained babaláwo priests through the Odù corpus of verses, remains widely consulted for guidance even by many who are otherwise practising Muslims or Christians. Annual festivals such as the Ọ̀ṣun-Òṣogbo and Ẹ̀yọ́ festivals continue to draw large crowds, and òrìṣà worship is actively practised today, not merely remembered, in Nigeria and among diaspora communities that maintain it in Cuban Santería and Brazilian Candomblé.

Marriage traditionally proceeds through formal introduction, payment of a bride price and an ẹ̀ìgbéyàwó ceremony marked by praise-singing, dance and lavish dress in aṣọ ẹbí (family uniform fabric). Naming ceremonies take place on the seventh, eighth or ninth day after birth, when the child is given several names reflecting family history and circumstances of birth. Ẹgúngún masquerades honour ancestors, gèlè head-ties and adire dyed cloth mark Yoruba dress, and pounded yam, àmàlà, and ẹ̀gúsí or ẹ̀fọ́ soups are everyday staples.