Kingdoms of the Yoruba [Hardcover]

Robert Smith (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 174 pages
• Publisher: University of Wisconsin Press; 3 Sub edition (December 1987)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 029911600X
• ISBN-13: 978-0299116002
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.3 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.7 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,469,711 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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3.0 out of 5 stars it helps to be Nigerian, May 6, 2011

By 

Robert S. Newman "Bob Newman" (Marblehead, Massachusetts USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Kingdoms Of The Yoruba (Paperback)

It's true that I had only the sketchiest idea of Yoruba history. I knew that they were a people living in the southwestern section of Nigeria, that they had produced some great art and a number of talented writers of whom Wole Soyinka, the Nobel Prize winner, is the most famous. Nigerian music does not have to be explained ! The Yoruba have a good part in that too. But what were the antecedents ? I bought this book many years ago, in Australia, to help get a picture, but never read it till now. I must say that my knowledge, though increased, is still rather confused. It could be due to the fact that the Yoruba never lived in one, sole kingdom, but always in a welter of competing states and towns, rising and falling according to leadership or opportunity. That means that there are an enormous number of names (not exactly familiar to denizens of New England !) to remember. Names not only of the kingdoms, but of towns, regions, rivers, rulers, and warriors, names of peoples beyond the Yoruba world as well. The Nupe, Bini, Fon (Dahomeyan), Hausa and Fulani were the most formidable of these latter peoples. Mind-boggling confusion ensued for me as I tried to acquire an overall picture of what happened between say 1200 A.D. and the early 19th century when the first real reports were written. (The Portuguese had mentioned people who could have been Yoruba some time earlier.) The rulers of each kingdom took a different title, i.e. the Alafin of Oyo, the Ijoko of Kesi, the Ore of Otun, and so on. Try to remember all of them ! Comings and goings, battles, changes of town sites, betrayals and retreats--it was tough going. There are three maps which, under usual circumstances, I would say were pretty good, but the outside reader needs far more. "Help !" I cried, but no one came to the rescue.

The major problem in Yoruba history seems to have been that they didn't write. Smith, the author here, had to rely on oral histories, the recitals of tradition. He openly admits that this has its weaknesses. Mainly, nobody knows when events happened, when certain rulers ruled or if they even existed, when battles were fought or cities founded. It's all dependent on the memories of tradition-tellers. Well, fair enough, that's the material we have to deal with and Nigeria is hardly unique here. But as I look back on what I learned, I'm not sure whether such and such happened in the late 18th century or in the mid-16th. This is quite a discrepancy. That's the second reason I'm still rather confused. The 19th century wars, slave raids, and missionary activities are covered rather briefly, though more material would have been available. I concluded that Smith wrote primarily for Nigerian university students, who needed a textbook that would sum up what was known at the time. Perhaps you can find a more up-to-date volume. If you are Nigerian, or someone going to do detailed studies of West African history, this book could prove useful, if a bit lacking in a wide overview. Cultural or economic life, any hint of anthropology, are almost entirely absent.

4.0 out of 5 stars An essential, April 17, 2011

By 

Evelyn Sue Coon (COEUR D ALENE, ID, US) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Kingdoms Of The Yoruba (Paperback)

While I really want to know more about the Yourba culture, The is an excellent starting place. Mr Smith has his history down very well and as I mentioned it is an essential begining.