Towards a Canonical History
Rev. Samuel Johnson’s 1921 history — “that the history of our fatherland might not be lost in oblivion” — as a living text: read it chapter by chapter, and wherever the sources disagree, the competing accounts are one tap away, ranked by evidence and labelled by provenance.
The Yoruba kept professional national historians: hereditary families retained by the King at Ọ̀yọ́ who also served as the royal bards, drummers and cymbalists — living archives on whom all reliable early history depends.
Choose your interests on the facts page — the suggestion rotates through your chosen categories.
Ethnography, religion, language, government, manners and customs
Embracing four periods, from the mythological kings to the British Protectorate
First Period — Mythological Kings and Deified Heroes (Oduduwa to Ajaka)
Second Period — Growth, Prosperity and Oppression (Aganju to Abiodun)
Third Period — Revolutionary Wars and Disruption (Aole to Oluewu)
Fourth Period — Arrest of Disintegration, Inter-tribal Wars, the British Protectorate (Atiba to Adeyemi)
Front matter: Author’s preface · Editor’s preface · Introduction
Where did the Yoruba people come from?
4 accounts
Did Ṣàngó abdicate freely, or was he forced from the throne?
2 accounts
Who introduced the Ifá oracle into the Yoruba country?
2 accounts
Where was Prince Atiba — founder of the new Ọyọ — born?
2 accounts