The Yoruba from Prehistory to the Present

Description

The Yoruba are one of the largest ethnic groups in West Africa, with significant populations in Nigeria, Benin and Togo, as well as a sizeable diasporic community around the world. By considering the art, religion, economics and political systems of the Yoruba, Aribidesi Usman and Toyin Falola chart the history of the Yoruba through the lens of the group's diverse and dynamic cultural and social practices. Using archaeological data, oral, and archival sources alongside rarely-discussed local histories Usman and Falola form a rich and detailed picture of the Yoruba from a period of early occupation and agriculture, the growth of complex societies and empires, the turbulent colonial period to the present day, constructing a comprehensive account of Yoruba history brought together in a single volume.

Aribidesi Usman is Associate Professor of Anthropology in the School of Social Transformation at Arizona State University. He is co-editor of Movements, Borders, and Identities in Africa (2009) and the author of The Yoruba Frontier (2012). Toyin Falola is University Distinguished Teaching Professor and Jacob and Frances Sanger Mossiker Chair in the Humanities at the University of Texas, Austin. A Yoruba chief, he has received numerous awards and twelve honorary doctorates. His most recent edited volumes include Yoruba Culture and Customs (2001), The Yoruba Diaspora in the Atlantic World (2005) and The Encyclopaedia of the Yoruba (2016).

'This volume should serve as a foundational reference work for historians of West Africa, and for anyone seeking to understand world history as more than the accumulation of the histories of contemporary nation-states ... Essential.' M. M. Heaton, Choice '... the book is a timely contribution to the literature on Yoruba studies. It should be a worthy reference material for historians, political scientists, sociologist, and non-academicians interested in Yoruba history, culture, society, and politics.' Adeniyi S. Basiru, African Studies Quarterly