Fuzziness of Autonomy and Vassality: Materiality of History in OrileKesi during the Oyo Imperial Age, ca. 1640-1827

Summary

To paraphrase, Akin Ogundiran has posed the question: How did the political contestations between the Oyo imperial power and the frontier communities affect the everyday life of the later, especially the villages and towns located in the frontier zones? An historical archaeological approach that melds oral traditions and ethnography with material culture is being utilized by a number of scholars, working independently at different sites in the Yoruba region (Nigeria), to find answers to this question. This presentation is part of these efforts but with a focus on the settlement of OrileKesi in the South-Central frontier (the Egba territory) of the Oyo Empire. The paper will shed light on the settlement’s economic, social, and cultural practices between the mid-seventeenth century and the early nineteenth centuries towards answering the question: how did this vassal community negotiate its identity and vassal status vis-a-vis the Oyo imperial power? 

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for Historical Archaeology 2013   •
• History, archaeology, and memory work in African contexts

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 721