Oyo

Oyo was the name of the capital of Oyo state until it was destroyed in the early 19th century. There is a new, near-by, city of the same name. Sometimes the original city is called Old Oyo, or Oyo-Ile, and the current one, New Oyo, or Oyo-Atiba. It was the largest city in what is now Nigeria in 1400, 1500 and 1800 with respectively 50 thousand, 60 thousand 80 thousand estimated residents. In 1600 it was tied for first within today's Nigeria with 60 thousand residents.¹ Most residents spoke Yoruba and practiced the traditional Yoruba religion. That religion has an esoteric brotherhood focused on Onile, a mother goddess associated with the original chaotic world state. Exoteric worship follows several active gods like Obatala, Orunmila, Esu, Ogun and Olodumare and recognizes a deus otiosus, Olorun.²

The city has been called Katunga.³

External References

Portrait of a king in the Royal Palace at Oyo

Footnotes

(1) Cities of Africa tables in Tertius Chandler, Four Thousand Years of Urban Growth, 2nd ed. (The Edwin Mellen Press, 1987). In 1400 it was the largest city in the Guinea Section, and the largest now-Nigerian city in the South Moslems Section was Turunku, which followed Kilwa, which had 30 thousand residents. In 1500, Oyo was again the largest city in the Guinea Section, and Kano was the largest now-Nigerian city in the South Moslems Section with 50 thousand. In 1600 it remained the largest city in the Guinea Section, and, equal-sized in the South Moslem Section, were Ngazargamu (Kazargamu), Zaria and Katsina. In 1800 it was still the largest city in the Guinea Section, whereas Katsina, the largest city in the South Moslem Section, had ten thousand less residents.
(2) See Mircea Eliade et al, The HarperCollins Concise Guide to World Religions (HarperCollins Publishers, 1991).
(3) Chandler, ibid., pp. 296 - 297, citing Richard Fisher, The Book of the World (1851), vol. II., pg. 662.