The Ile-Ife Empire: 7 Important Facets of the Cradle of Yoruba Civilization

How much do you know about the Ile-Ife Empire, the very first civilisation of Yoruba people? Ile-Ife is known as “The Cradle of Yoruba Civilization”. This title is well deserved, as Ile-Ife is the first civilization of the Yoruba People and the foundation of the Yoruba language, culture, tradition, and beliefs. The Ile-Ife empire was rich in artistry and surprising technological advancement for its time that is sadly not talked about or acknowledged as it should be.

In this article, we will delve into the majestic Ile-Ife Empire, exploring it from a historical point of view and appreciating its cultural influence and legacy that has spanned centuries and influenced Yoruba tradition to the present day.

Origins and Mythological Significance of the Ile-Ife Empire

From Yoruba mythology, we learn that Ile-Ife is where the gods descended when they decided to create the earth and everything on it. The creation of land on earth starts in Ile-Ife and with the divine deity Obatala. After receiving the mandate from the supreme god, Olodumare, Obatala descended from the heavens bearing only a chain, a calabash containing sand, and a rooster.

You may be wondering why he decided to come with these tools. Obatala began his grand design by spreading the sand on the waters and letting the rooster scatter it to create land. This first-ever land that was made is the place where the great empire of Ile-Ife began. Ile-Ife became the first habitable place on earth and is now remembered as the spiritual centre of the Yoruba people.

Evolution of Ile-Ife: Yoruba Largest Metropolis 1000-4000 AD

If you don’t know where you’re coming from, how would you know where you’re going?

Ile-Ife is not just a place where the ideology, politics, or origin of Yoruba begins. It’s a beneficiary of political innovations that were already taking place in the present-day Ekiti and Igbomina areas.

It All Begins…

Ile-Ife is the last of the first-generation Yoruba, and it was able to take advantage of the knowledge of the past and combine it into what we have today as Yoruba civilization.

Between 700 and 1000 AD, the Ile-Ife area was occupied by scattered villages, about 13 of which are remembered in oral tradition. These villages were surrounded by hills.

Ife was a swampy area, so it wasn’t conducive for the agricultural Yoruba communities that migrated there in 700 AD. They decided to settle on the lower slopes of the hills, as they were dryer.

An aboriginal group inhabited the swampy area, the descendants of the later “Storage People.” They had no issue with the Yoruba people; they engaged in trade with them as they traded with each other—the aboriginal group were fishermen, and the Yorubas were farmers.

In 1000 AD, there was a widespread period of dryness, the Big Dry. During this period, the rainfall became smaller, the swamps became dryer, and the hillsides became too dry for the Yorubas to grow crops on. The Yorubas had a larger population, so the food demand became increasingly unbearable. They needed more and better farming grounds.

This started a conflict between the Yorubas and the Aboriginal group.

During this conflict, the man known as Oduduwa began to lay claim to the swampy area that the aboriginal group had been occupying for centuries. He built a wall about 2 km in length that marked the beginning of the Ile-Ife city-state.

This wasn’t the type of settlement style the people had experienced before, but with the wall’s construction came a new political system similar to that of Ekiti and Igbomina. So, if Oduduwa was a native of Ile-Ife, he would have come from present-day Ekiti or Igbomina.

He and his associates later liquidated the older settlements on the scopes of Ife Hills and moved them into this new town. Some of them refused to move, but they couldn’t escape this new political system—the Divine system. This became the modality of the Yoruba political system.

Oduduwa wasn’t by any means the first one to initiate this system; he only modified it and improved it.

The place grew quickly within a century. They kept building more walls, and by 1300 AD, Ile-Ife had become the largest metropolis in the rainforest belt of West Africa. Based on a historical estimate, its population was between 70,000 and 105,000, making it the largest urban centre south of the Sudan. This made it the magnet of religious, political, social, economic, and intellectual life across what we now refer to as Yoruba land.

What Ile-Ife did was fascinating; it began to rearrange the Orisa pantheon. Everyone in the Yoruba region, especially in present-day Ekiti and Igbomina, knew about Orisa’nla, which was synonymous with Orisa Oke. That was not a problem. They knew about Ifa origin, but Ile-Ife put them in a systemized framework of belief system and began to say of themselves that they were the origin of those.

In the 1st century, Ile-Ife claimed to be the centre of innovation and the evolution of the deities, which is what every empire in history has always done. They always tried to universalize their local religion.

Ile-Ife is considered one of the most materialistic cultures, with vast crafts and innovations that weren’t seen anywhere else, including terracotta, bronze, and glass.

Name of Ile-Ife

Ile-Ife means house of abundance. Ifẹ̀– expansion, not ifẹ – love. The name was derived based on “strength in numbers” because the empire had a formidable population.

Ile-Ife in Yoruba epistemology is the ground zero of human origins, not just the beginning of only the Yoruba people. This in itself is an evidence of pride and identity. A mark of imperial thinking is that your place must be the centre of the universe. It shows confidence and regard.

From the 11th to the 13th century, Ife was a privileged site that people, even pilgrims, travelled across West Africa to visit.

Ile-Ife and the Divine Kingship

They domesticated and materialised the instrument of divine kingship, although the idea already existed before the establishment of the empire.

Divine kingship was a way of unifying the kings and showing they had attained immortality even while living on earth through their sartorial splendour. As such, they wore special beads obtained from the upper Niger (present-day Lafia)

But then, after a while, Ile-Ife began to make its own glass, which was unparalleled by any glass in Africa.

Ile-Ife Glass Production – A Mark of Higher Civilisation

Historians use glass production as a marker of a higher civilization during the timeframe of the existence of the Ile-Ife empire.

It can be said that Ile-Ife used their glass to create ‘technological nationalism’.

They believed that if you’re the king, then by implication, you bear divine powers and should be adorned in ṣegí (Ile-Ife’s blue glass beads) or íyùn (red glass beads)

Historians found Ile-Ife glass beads as far as present-day Mali, Ghana, Niger Republic, Mauritania, and Igbohuku in eastern Nigeria.

Other achievements and markers of Ile-Ife’s remarkable economy:

Many people do not realize that the people of Ife produced titanium-enriched iron as early as the 12th and 13th centuries.

It was also the only place outside the Nile River to produce glass.

Copper alloy: Figures of pure copper

It was a centre for pilgrimage and learning of the religious teachings of the Orisa, attracting pilgrims from across Africa.

The fame of Ile-Ife reached the Mediterranean coast. Because of this, a 1375 trade map—“Catalan Atlas”—referred to the Ooni of Ile-Ife as Rey de Organa. The elephant on this map represents the ivory from the rainforest of Africa, all the way from Ile-Ife to the Mediterranean.

Ile-Ife’s ancient artistry comprised its renowned terracotta and bronze head sculptures with remarkable lifelike features. It also includes pottery, textile weaving, as well as its glass bead making. These held profound religious significance and were markers of social status.

Political Influence

Ile-Ife exerted political power over the other Yoruba city-states and kingdoms at its peak of power. Its political rule was a combination of monarchy and council government, with the Ooni being the ruling head and being advised by a council of chiefs and priests.

However, in the 16th century, Ile-Ife’s political might began to decline. It became overshadowed by other city-states, most notably the Oyo Empire. This decline was facilitated by several factors, including internal strife, competition for resources, and the shifting dynamics of the region’s trade network.

The Colonial Era and Modern Times

In the late 19th century, the arrival of the European colonists brought foundational changes to Yorubaland, including Ile-Ile. British rule disrobed traditional governance structures and imposed new political and economic systems. Nevertheless, Ile-Ife preserved much of its cultural heritage and played a central role in the Yoruba identity.

Ile-Ife is a city of immense historical and cultural importance in modern times. It is home to Obafemi Awolowo University, one of Nigeria’s premier institutions of higher learning. The university has become a centre for Yoruba studies, research, and study across various fields and industries. The city also hosts numerous cultural festivals, such as the Olojo Festival, which celebrates the Ooni and the gods of creation.

Conclusion

Ile-Ife wasn’t an empire based on military conquest but on ideology. It was the first Yoruba empire, followed by the Oyo empire in the 16th century. The great Ile-Ife empire formed the basis for Yoruba life and was mighty—a proud people—until its inevitable decline. All that’s left of the Ile-Ife empire is a city in SouthWestern Nigeria and a formidable people known all over the globe.

We believe you have learned more about the Ile-Ife empire and the foundation of Yorubas as a people. After being more enlightened, we hope you can take more pride in your roots and break free from the shackles of colonisation of the mind. We’d love to know your thoughts!