Old Oyo (Oyo-Ile)
Katunga · Oyo-Ile · Old Oyo Empire Capital
Yoruba Oyo Empire (14th–1835 CE; capital 16th–1835)·Yoruba (Oyo)·🇳🇬 Oyo State (Old Oyo National Park), Nigeria
About
About Old Oyo (Oyo-Ile)
Old Oyo (Oyo-Ile, Katunga) is the 16th–19th c. capital of Oyo Empire, 10 km triple earthen walls enclosing 6,000 ha savanna plain with 17 palace compounds (Kobi), council houses and reservoirs. Cavalry empire capital controlling Yoruba–Nupe frontier and Atlantic slave trade. Double ditch and bank with hollow ways linked to Oyo Mesi council system. Abandoned 1835 after Fulani–Dahomey pressures. Willett and Agbaje-Williams surveys 1960s, UNESCO tentative.
Why it mattersOyo Empire capital; earthwork state formation model (Willett).
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Wall triple vs double chronology
- 02Kobi palace layout vs Alaafin court ritual
Theories
- 01Cavalry state formation via walls (Law)
- 02Dahomey–Fulani collapse 1835 (Akinjogbin)
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- 14th c. village; imperial capital 16th c.; walls 17th c.
- Period
- Yoruba Oyo Empire (14th–1835 CE; capital 16th–1835)
- Culture
- Yoruba (Oyo)
- Builders
- Alaafin Oranmiyan line
- Purpose
- Oyo Empire capital and savanna cavalry base
- Excavation
- Partially excavated
14th c.
Oyo village founded
16th c.
Imperial capital at Oyo-Ile
1835
Sacked by Fulani
1960
Willett survey of Kobi
On the ground
Structures & features
8.4850° N · 3.9560° E · 320 m · 2 mapped features
Kobi Palace Compound
palace200×150 m alaafin palace mound complex
8.4860° N · 3.9570° EOuter Walls and Ditch
earthwork10 km triple earthwork with ditch
8.4840° N · 3.9550° E