The Oyo Mesi is the privy council of Oyo, a Yoruba traditional state in Southwestern Nigeria. It dates to the medieval period, when it served as the government of a powerful pre-colonial state that was known as the Oyo empire. [1]
The Oyo Mesi is the privy council of Oyo, a Yoruba traditional state in Southwestern Nigeria. It dates to the medieval period, when it served as the government of a powerful pre-colonial state that was known as the Oyo empire. [1]
The Oyo Mesi was made up of the most powerful noblemen in imperial Oyo. No emperor, or Alaafin of Oyo , was capable of being enthroned in the capital without the prior consent of and performance of rituals by these seven titleholders. They were a ruler's principal advisors and sacred officiants, and also served a variety of judicial and administrative functions in his realm.
Led by the Bashorun (or hereditary "Prime Minister"), the Oyo Mesi were also expected to serve as a check on the despotic authority of each individual emperor that they crowned. In the event of any given reign having descended into tyranny, the Bashorun - after having put the matter to a vote in the Oyo Mesi previously - was expected to perform a traditional rite during which he would bring a calabash (which was to be either empty or laden with the eggs of a parrot) and present it to his monarch. On seeing that this had been done, the Alaafin was then obligated to essentially abdicate by way of ritual suicide shortly thereafter. After his burial, it was then left to the Oyo Mesi to begin the process all over again by replacing him with another member of the imperial family.
These wide powers that the Oyo Mesi had were checked in turn by the Ogboni, a subordinate council of noble elders that were sworn to the service of the Earth goddess. In matters of war, the Oyo Mesi were also supported by the Eso Ikoyi warrior caste, who they indirectly commanded on the battlefield by way of its field commander, the Are-Ona-Kakanfo .
This organizational structure survived the fall of the old empire during the Yoruba civil war in the 19th century, and exists now in the ceremonial monarchy of contemporary Oyo. [2]
The following are the titles of the Oyo Mesi chiefs. Each has his own inalienable functions in the realm (although many of these responsibilities - such as the Samu's needing to commit ritual suicide - are now dormant), and all are collectively the Oyo equivalent of the Iwarefa in other Yoruba kingdoms:
The Oyo Empire was a Yoruba empire in West Africa. It was located in present-day southern Benin and western Nigeria. The empire grew to become the largest Yoruba-speaking state through the organizational and administrative efforts of the Yoruba people, trade, as well as the military use of cavalry. The Oyo Empire was one of the most politically important states in Western Africa from the mid-17th to the late 18th century and held sway not only over most of the other kingdoms in Yorubaland, but also over nearby African states, notably the Fon Kingdom of Dahomey in the modern Republic of Benin on its west.
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Alaafin, or The custodian of the Palace in the Yoruba language, is the title of the king of the medieval Oyo empire and present-day Oyo town of West Africa. It is the particular title of the Oba (king) of the Oyo. It is sometimes translated as "emperor" in the context of ruler of empire. He ruled the old Oyo Empire, which extended from the present-day Benin republic to Nigeria, originating from states in the South East and West to the North. The people under him are called Yoruba people and spoke the Yoruba Language.
Chief Oluyole was a distinguished, dominating army commander from Oyo. He rose to fame as Bashorun, a title he subsequently made famous, and was one of the leaders who contributed immensely to the military and economic development of Ibadan during the city's formative years, a period which had its share of tumult and uncertainty.
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Kanran, or Karan, was an Alaafin of the Oyo Empire. He succeeded Oba Odarawu.
Aganju of Oyo was a Yoruba emperor of the Oyo state, in present-day Nigeria. He was said to have been the fourth Alaafin or old Oyo.
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Sango Festival is an annual festival held among the Yoruba people in honour of Sango, a thunder and fire deity who was a warrior and the third king of the Oyo Empire after succeeding Ajaka his elder brother. Renamed in 2013 to World Sango Festival by the government of Oyo State, the festival is usually held in August at the palace of the Alaafin of Oyo and also observed in over forty countries around the world.
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The Yoruba Revolutionary Wars, otherwise known as the Yoruba Civil Wars, were a series of conflicts that engulfed the Yoruba-speaking areas of West Africa in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Robin Law summarizes the causes of the wars as the disintegration of the old Oyo Empire after the death of Alaafin Abiodun in 1789 and a resurgence of long-standing quarrels between the provincial chiefs over various issues. The root of the first disagreements can be traced to the feud between two noble houses; Laderin, based in Ilorin, and Yamba, based in the capital at Oyo-Ile. The conflict was also exacerbated by a Muslim slave rebellion led by a Fulani Muslim cleric, Shehu Alimi, and sponsored by the Aare Ona Kakanfo, Afonja, a descendant of Laderin, the founder of Ilorin, in 1817.