# The Oyo Empire

> The Oyo Empire was a Yoruba state founded around the 14th century in the savannah of what is now southwestern Nigeria, whose cavalry-based military and trade networks made it the dominant Yoruba power between roughly 1650 and 1750. Governed by an alaafin checked by the Oyo Mesi council, it collapsed in the 1830s under internal revolt, Fulani jihad pressure, and the fallout of the Atlantic slave trade's decline.

**Category:** History · **Updated:** 2026-07-23 00:55:07 · **Canonical:** https://nigeriastuff.org/a/oyo-empire

## Key facts
- **Founded:** c. 14th century, credited to Oranmiyan of Ife
- **Capital:** Oyo-Ile (Old Oyo)
- **Ruler's title:** Alaafin
- **Peak period:** c. 1650–1750
- **Governing council:** Oyo Mesi, led by the Bashorun
- **Key military asset:** Cavalry, developed under Alaafin Orompoto
- **Collapse:** Civil war after 1817 Ilorin cavalry revolt; Yorubaland-wide wars by mid-1830s
- **Successor states:** Ibadan, Abeokuta, Owo and other Yoruba successor powers

## Sources
- Oyo Empire — World History Encyclopedia (https://www.worldhistory.org/Oyo_Empire/)
- Oyo Empire — Slavery and Remembrance (Colonial Williamsburg / National Museum of American History partnership project) (https://slaveryandremembrance.org/articles/article/?id=A0121)
- Bashorun Gaa: The "Wicked Prime Minister" of the Old Oyo Empire — HistoryVille (https://www.thehistoryville.com/bashorun-gaa/)
- Nigeria: The Sokoto Caliphate (Country Studies, Federal Research Division) — Library of Congress Country Studies (https://countrystudies.us/nigeria/9.htm)
- Nigeria: The Yoruba Wars (Country Studies, Federal Research Division) — Library of Congress Country Studies (https://countrystudies.us/nigeria/10.htm)

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