Women in Pre-colonial Yorubaland-gctid23299

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http://www.ccsu.edu/Afstudy/upd5-2.htm#521

Women in Pre-colonial Yorubaland, West Kmt

By Adesina Yusuf Raji, History Department, University of Ilorin, Nigeria

Yoruba women since ancient times have been central to Nigerian society, and their role during that period actually cut across politics, culture and economy. For instance, in several Yoruba towns there were women officials headed by the Iyalode1.They participated in the decision making process and settled disputes in their wards and compounds. Thus, women assisted in the maintenance of law and order, peace and harmony, in traditional Yoruba society. A few women officials even constituted part of the membership of secret societies mainly responsible for executive and judicial functions in several Yoruba settlements, especially among the Ijebu.2 In Ondo, the Lobun assisted in the appointment of a new Osemawe, settled quarrels among the male chiefs and officiated in the opening of new markets.3 The Oba's wives (Aya, Oba, or Olori) were also influential in state affairs and there were occasions when women were employed to monitor and influence foreign policy decisions in some Yoruba States.4

We should note that the participation of Yoruba women in the politics of the society through the women's council called the Obirin Ilu headed by the Iyalode necessitated the acquisition of wealth which in the traditional Yoruba setting could only be obtained through agriculture and trading.5 Wealth was perhaps a necessary pre-condition for one to win recognition in the traditional Yoruba society and with which a woman could gain status and prestige and thus be made a member of the women's council.

Yoruba women in pre-colonial economy: occupational guilds and women's role in agriculture

For various occupations in which most Yoruba women were involved, there were guilds. Such guilds known as Egbe had always engaged in proper coordination of women's economic activities. The two notable women's guilds in pre-colonial Yorubaland were Egbe Alajapa, which traded in inanimate objects, especially food items, fruits and medicinal herbs, and Egbe Alarobo, which traded in animate objects like fowls, sheep, goats, etc. Apart from these, there were other specialized guilds of women traders usually named after their profession. Such include Egbe Alata (guild of pepper traders), Egbe Alaso(guild of cloth traders), Egbe Elepe (guild of oil traders), and several others. Occupational guilds like Egbe Alagbede (guild of blacksmiths), Egbe Onisona (guild of carvers),etc., were dominated by men while both men and women belonged to the Egbe Agbe (guild of farmers). Another arm of the farmers' guild was the Onidaruke, an organization comprised of only women, which was responsible for collecting food crops from other farmers and distributing such to both local and long-distance traders.6 Each guild was headed by a chairperson (Ologi), the deputies (Otun and Osi), and other officials; every guild had affiliation with similar guilds in other estates or kingdoms.7 Members of each guild also organized the Esusu a periodic or fixed contribution by which they could increase their capital and facilitate their trade.8

From all indications, agriculture was central to all women's occupational guilds in pre-colonial Yorubaland. In fact, all the guilds depended on the farmers' products for their survival, and thus the guilds were all directly or indirectly connected to agriculture. As we should note, Yoruba women in the pre-colonial period took active part in agriculture as many of them owned farms, grew varieties of crops, and even belonged to the farmers guild in their respective settlements.

The farmers' guild, of which several Yoruba women were members, held its meetings every nine or twenty-one days in connection with traditional market cycles. The guild offered advice on methods of cultivation, how to improve the yields of agricultural produce, maintenance and harvesting, processing, and the storage and sale of products. Through the Esusu system, members of the farmers' guild, like other guilds in Yorubaland, helped themselves with loans which greatly enhanced their economic status in the traditional society.9 The members also assisted one another especially during periods of drought or bad harvest.

It should be stressed from the onset that the Yoruba women unlike the women among the Akan of Ghana or the Ijaw and Igbo of eastern Nigeria, were less involved in the rigorous aspects of farming especially curing, hoeing and weeding. While farming was by far the most important occupation of women among the Ijaw, the Yoruba women only took part at times in planting, and in most cases in the last stages of farm work especially harvesting, processing for final consumption and storage. Women and children were also involved in carrying farm produce on their heads when market centers were close to the farms or when the produce involved was perishable, e.g., banana, oranges, pepper, tomatoes, and vegetables. But in most cases, the Yoruba women usually carried their farm produce to towns and villages after harvest. The important equipment used for harvesting included sticks, hoes, cutlasses, knives, and axes. Both men and women with children participated in harvesting. There were occasions when some products from the farms could not be sold immediately; there were farm products that had to be preserved. The Yoruba women always kept such products inside calabashes, nets and baskets, while products like pepper of different types could be wrapped in clothes or leaves, and yams tied together with ropes and kept in bans. There were items that were fried, smoked or tied in the kitchens where they could be heated.10

Several agricultural products, usually reaped from the farms of both men and women in pre- colonial Yoruba society, were always sold at the various daily town and city markets or at the periodic markets. The periodic markets were held at fixed intervals of four days, eight days, or sixteen days, usually called, probably due to Yoruba system of counting, Oja Orun (5-day market), Oja Isan (9-day market), and Oja Itadogun (17-day market).11 Some of these important markets were in Ijana, Osogbo, Abomey-Calavi, Oyo Ile, Ajase (Porto Novo), Ba (east of Dahomey), Ilaro, Saki, Kisi, Wawa, Badagry, Apomu, Ikoyi, etc.12

These important trade centers/routes in the Yoruba country had become prominent by the beginning of the 18th century, and they were linked to the international routes of the Sahara and the Coast to facilitate commerce in the pre-colonial Nigeria region.

Apart from the fact that Yoruba women were directly involved in the production of food crops, they were wholly involved in the processing of such crops into finished goods and their sale. Thus, Yoruba women processed raw farm produce to their final form, whether it be chips, flour, liquid or paste.13 Most Yoruba women labored as weavers, traders or dyers, had their farmlands, and either cultivated on their own land or their husbands' family lands, to grow a variety of crops, especially grains, yams, and vegetables. Clapperton in 1826 noticed the existence of "fine and large plantations of corn, yams, and vegetables" from Badagry to Oyo Ile.14 It is most probable that some of these well-cultivated plantations were owned by Yoruba women.

As we have noted, the women directly sold their agricultural products of yams, beans, vegetables, cotton and fruits, or they turned them into manufactured articles before being sold. For instance, epo (palm oil), ikete (palm oil butter), and adin eyan (palm kernel oil) were manufactured from oil palm fruits.15 Ori (shea nut butter) was manufactured from shea nuts; iru from locust beans, ororo (vegetable oil) from melons, elubo (flour) from both yams and plantains, while eko and oti sekete (maize beer) were both manufactured from maize.16

We should also note that apart from the food crops and vegetables, the women, like their male counterparts, grew cotton, silk cotton trees, shea-nut trees, locust bean trees, oil palm and kola nut trees. The process of harvesting and selling of the produce from such trees was also largely undertaken by women with children in pre-colonial Yorubaland.

There were also products that women and men harvested together. Such products included coconut, kolanuts and palm produce all of which required climbing to harvest their fruits. Women also stored farm products so as to preserve them till they were needed to be sold, consumed or planted.17 In the same vein, there were Yoruba women who kept gardens, located very close to their homesteads where vegetables, pepper and fruits and other products were grown.

With regard to large-scale farming in pre- colonial Yorubaland, women were also of relevance. Some of A. Hinderer's letters clearly show that both men and women were much involved in farming in 19th century Ibadan. According to the letters, 'the principal occupation of the Ibadan people was farming in which everyone is engaged. . .'18 In fact, during the mid-19th century when some missionaries wanted to build a new church in Ibadan they could not procure labor "either for love or money-all because everybody is wanted in the farms."19 Most of the area outside the Ibadan city walls was described as heavily cultivated always, even at the height of the nineteenth-century wars.20 Practically everybody in Ibadan had a farm, male and female. This situation also obtained in other Yoruba states in the pre- colonial period - a development that made women rival their male counterparts in agriculture. In most cases, crops like yams, maize, cotton, beans and cassava were grown for home consumption and also exports. These women were also prominent at farmers' guild meetings held at regular intervals. Such efforts in farming no doubt contributed enormously towards making Ibadan an exporter of food to the Ijebu and Lagos during the 19th century. The level of food production was so high that even during Ibadan's greatest wars, the town did not suffer from lack of food. In fact, officials of the Lagos government in 1886 were surprised to see large plantations growing outside Ibadan in spite of nine years of war in which most of the people had been engaged.21

In north central Yorubaland, several Igbomina women, especially in the districts of Illa, Ajase and Omu-Isanlu were also fully involved in agriculture as they took active part in the operations of farmers' guilds in the pre-colonial period.

Animal husbandry was another sector of agriculture that was mainly dominated by women. No doubt, the Yoruba women were the main keepers of livestock. Unlike Fulani society where men were herders, women among the Yoruba reared domestic animals such as ducks, pigs, cattle, sheep, cats, and goats, all kept to provide meat for consumption or used as sacrifices; dogs used mainly by men for hunting and horses as means of transport or in war fare.22 The women had a shed attached to each compound to house at night these domestic animals which always thronged the courtyards by day. According to Johnson:
# Every woman, whatever her trade may be, is expected to keep a few chickens and a goat or two from which she desires small income for house keeping and general 'pin money'. The rearing of poultry then must be reckoned

among female occupations.23

Thus, all Yoruba women were involved in keeping domestic animals and poultry, which could have been a source of income for them in the pre- colonial period. It is also probable that through such role they could have contributed enormously to the improvement of the dietary pattern in the region.

The unique role of women in agriculture in pre-colonial Yorubaland perhaps informed Clarke during his visit to remark that:
# The males are the only class on whom the duty of soil cultivation devolves though the females very frequently aid in planting. . ."24

Clarke also remarked that among the Yoruba in the pre-colonial period the farmers - men, women, and children were always delighted with the idea of going to farm. These are clear indications that women through the farmers' guilds were important in agriculture, and together with men, provided the basic agricultural (food) needs of the society.25

Conclusion

Women in Yorubaland constituted a productive unit of the society. This role in society seemed to cut across all aspects of life- social, political, cultural, economic, etc. They took active part in the social uplifting of the society and training of children; they functioned in religious and cultural roles; and they also played significant role in politics, complementing the efforts of their male counterparts in the art of governance. The council of women chiefs headed by the Iyalode constituted the axis around which women's role in politics in pre-colonial Yorubaland revolved. Perhaps, it was in the economy through the farmers' guild and other related guilds that women's impact was most felt in pre-colonial Yorubaland.

Notes and References

1 See Johnson, S., History of the Yorubas (Lagos, C.M.S. Bookshops, 1921, Repr. 1956), p.125.

2 For details of the place of Yoruba women in secret societies, especially in Ijebu, see Ayantuga, 0. 0., "Jebu and its Neighbors: 1851-1914," (Ph.D. Thesis, ukkk, 1965)

3 See Falola, T., The Political Economy of a Pre- Colonial State (UIP, 1984).

4The case of Moremi who revealed the secret of Igbo power to Ife is a good example. For details, see Johnson, S. History of the Yorubas.

5 For details of this, see B. Awe, "The lyalode in the Traditional Yoruba Political System" in A. Schlegel (ed) Sexual Stratification, (New York, 1977), pp. 144-160.

6 The Onidanike was a particularly prominent guild in the Old Oyo Empire.

7 Such affiliation probably led to the establishment of general trade organization known as the Parakoyi in places like Egba and Ife.

8 W. Bascom, "The Esusu: The Credit System of the Yoruba," in Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, Vol. 92, No. 1 (1952), pp. 63-69.

9 Only regular members of the guild were offered such assistance. It was also on rotational basis and no one took beyond his/her contribution.

10 T. Falola, op.cit.

11 See Akinjogbin, I. A., "The Economic Foundations of the Oyo Empire," in Akinjogbin, I. A. and Osoba, S. 0., eds, Topics on Nigerian Economic and Social History (Unife Press Ltd., 1981), pp. 40-41.

12 See ibid., p. 42.

13 T. Falola, op.cit.

14 See Clapperton, H., Journal of a Second Expedition into the Interior of Kmt (ukkk, 1829), p.7.

15 I. A. Akinjogbin, "The Economic Foundations of the Oyo Empires," p. 51.

16 See M. Jean Hay and Sharon Stichter, Kmtyw Women South of the Sahara (Longman, 1995).

17 See Falola, T., op.cit.

18 A. Hinderer, Seventeen Years in the Yoruba Country (ukkk, 1872), pp. 59-62.

19 C.M.S. CA2/049, "Hinderer's Annual Letter for 1858," quoted in Akintoye, S. A., "The Economic Foundations of Ibadan's Power in the 19th Century," In Akinjogbin and Osaba (eds.) , Topics on Nigerian Economic and Social History.

20 CD 4957, ukkk, 1887, "Report of the Special Commissioners of he Lagos Government to the Interior States in 1886" quoted in Ibid.

21See ibid.

22 For details see Beier, U., "The Yoruba attitude to dogs," Odu, No. 7, (1959). Horses were important in warfare in Yorubaland, especially in Old Oyo. For details, see Law, R. C. C., "A West Kmtyw Cavalry State: The Kingdom of Oyo," Journal of Kmtyw History, Vol. XVI, No. 1, (1975) S. Johnson, History of the Yorubas, p.125.

23 W. H. Clarke, Travels and Explorations in Yorubaland 1854-1858, edited and with an introduction by J. A. Atanda (Ibandan University Press, 1972), p. 260.

24 See ibid, pg.261.

25 See C. Coquery-Vidrovitch, Kmtyw Women (Westview Press, 1997).

[Ɔbenfo Ọbádélé]

¿ «é for this resource. All contributions are greatly valued! Stay BlackNificent!

Æbádélé

[aziza]

Ase danyo(?) Æbádélé.

Michele Aziza

[olufemi_baina_ayo]

It's Blacktastic to know that women in Yorubaland were not submissive,but treated as equals in the Yoruba society. Being of Yoruba descent myself,I am very pleased to know this.

aziza wrote: http://www.ccsu.edu/Afstudy/upd5-2.htm#521

Women in Pre-colonial Yorubaland, West Kmt

By Adesina Yusuf Raji, History Department, University of Ilorin, Nigeria

Yoruba women since ancient times have been central to Nigerian society, and their role during that period actually cut across politics, culture and economy. For instance, in several Yoruba towns there were women officials headed by the Iyalode1.They participated in the decision making process and settled disputes in their wards and compounds. Thus, women assisted in the maintenance of law and order, peace and harmony, in traditional Yoruba society. A few women officials even constituted part of the membership of secret societies mainly responsible for executive and judicial functions in several Yoruba settlements, especially among the Ijebu.2 In Ondo, the Lobun assisted in the appointment of a new Osemawe, settled quarrels among the male chiefs and officiated in the opening of new markets.3 The Oba's wives (Aya, Oba, or Olori) were also influential in state affairs and there were occasions when women were employed to monitor and influence foreign policy decisions in some Yoruba States.4

We should note that the participation of Yoruba women in the politics of the society through the women's council called the Obirin Ilu headed by the Iyalode necessitated the acquisition of wealth which in the traditional Yoruba setting could only be obtained through agriculture and trading.5 Wealth was perhaps a necessary pre-condition for one to win recognition in the traditional Yoruba society and with which a woman could gain status and prestige and thus be made a member of the women's council.

Yoruba women in pre-colonial economy: occupational guilds and women's role in agriculture

For various occupations in which most Yoruba women were involved, there were guilds. Such guilds known as Egbe had always engaged in proper coordination of women's economic activities. The two notable women's guilds in pre-colonial Yorubaland were Egbe Alajapa, which traded in inanimate objects, especially food items, fruits and medicinal herbs, and Egbe Alarobo, which traded in animate objects like fowls, sheep, goats, etc. Apart from these, there were other specialized guilds of women traders usually named after their profession. Such include Egbe Alata (guild of pepper traders), Egbe Alaso(guild of cloth traders), Egbe Elepe (guild of oil traders), and several others. Occupational guilds like Egbe Alagbede (guild of blacksmiths), Egbe Onisona (guild of carvers),etc., were dominated by men while both men and women belonged to the Egbe Agbe (guild of farmers). Another arm of the farmers' guild was the Onidaruke, an organization comprised of only women, which was responsible for collecting food crops from other farmers and distributing such to both local and long-distance traders.6 Each guild was headed by a chairperson (Ologi), the deputies (Otun and Osi), and other officials; every guild had affiliation with similar guilds in other estates or kingdoms.7 Members of each guild also organized the Esusu a periodic or fixed contribution by which they could increase their capital and facilitate their trade.8

From all indications, agriculture was central to all women's occupational guilds in pre-colonial Yorubaland. In fact, all the guilds depended on the farmers' products for their survival, and thus the guilds were all directly or indirectly connected to agriculture. As we should note, Yoruba women in the pre-colonial period took active part in agriculture as many of them owned farms, grew varieties of crops, and even belonged to the farmers guild in their respective settlements.

The farmers' guild, of which several Yoruba women were members, held its meetings every nine or twenty-one days in connection with traditional market cycles. The guild offered advice on methods of cultivation, how to improve the yields of agricultural produce, maintenance and harvesting, processing, and the storage and sale of products. Through the Esusu system, members of the farmers' guild, like other guilds in Yorubaland, helped themselves with loans which greatly enhanced their economic status in the traditional society.9 The members also assisted one another especially during periods of drought or bad harvest.

It should be stressed from the onset that the Yoruba women unlike the women among the Akan of Ghana or the Ijaw and Igbo of eastern Nigeria, were less involved in the rigorous aspects of farming especially curing, hoeing and weeding. While farming was by far the most important occupation of women among the Ijaw, the Yoruba women only took part at times in planting, and in most cases in the last stages of farm work especially harvesting, processing for final consumption and storage. Women and children were also involved in carrying farm produce on their heads when market centers were close to the farms or when the produce involved was perishable, e.g., banana, oranges, pepper, tomatoes, and vegetables. But in most cases, the Yoruba women usually carried their farm produce to towns and villages after harvest. The important equipment used for harvesting included sticks, hoes, cutlasses, knives, and axes. Both men and women with children participated in harvesting. There were occasions when some products from the farms could not be sold immediately; there were farm products that had to be preserved. The Yoruba women always kept such products inside calabashes, nets and baskets, while products like pepper of different types could be wrapped in clothes or leaves, and yams tied together with ropes and kept in bans. There were items that were fried, smoked or tied in the kitchens where they could be heated.10

Several agricultural products, usually reaped from the farms of both men and women in pre- colonial Yoruba society, were always sold at the various daily town and city markets or at the periodic markets. The periodic markets were held at fixed intervals of four days, eight days, or sixteen days, usually called, probably due to Yoruba system of counting, Oja Orun (5-day market), Oja Isan (9-day market), and Oja Itadogun (17-day market).11 Some of these important markets were in Ijana, Osogbo, Abomey-Calavi, Oyo Ile, Ajase (Porto Novo), Ba (east of Dahomey), Ilaro, Saki, Kisi, Wawa, Badagry, Apomu, Ikoyi, etc.12

These important trade centers/routes in the Yoruba country had become prominent by the beginning of the 18th century, and they were linked to the international routes of the Sahara and the Coast to facilitate commerce in the pre-colonial Nigeria region.

Apart from the fact that Yoruba women were directly involved in the production of food crops, they were wholly involved in the processing of such crops into finished goods and their sale. Thus, Yoruba women processed raw farm produce to their final form, whether it be chips, flour, liquid or paste.13 Most Yoruba women labored as weavers, traders or dyers, had their farmlands, and either cultivated on their own land or their husbands' family lands, to grow a variety of crops, especially grains, yams, and vegetables. Clapperton in 1826 noticed the existence of "fine and large plantations of corn, yams, and vegetables" from Badagry to Oyo Ile.14 It is most probable that some of these well-cultivated plantations were owned by Yoruba women.

As we have noted, the women directly sold their agricultural products of yams, beans, vegetables, cotton and fruits, or they turned them into manufactured articles before being sold. For instance, epo (palm oil), ikete (palm oil butter), and adin eyan (palm kernel oil) were manufactured from oil palm fruits.15 Ori (shea nut butter) was manufactured from shea nuts; iru from locust beans, ororo (vegetable oil) from melons, elubo (flour) from both yams and plantains, while eko and oti sekete (maize beer) were both manufactured from maize.16

We should also note that apart from the food crops and vegetables, the women, like their male counterparts, grew cotton, silk cotton trees, shea-nut trees, locust bean trees, oil palm and kola nut trees. The process of harvesting and selling of the produce from such trees was also largely undertaken by women with children in pre-colonial Yorubaland.

There were also products that women and men harvested together. Such products included coconut, kolanuts and palm produce all of which required climbing to harvest their fruits. Women also stored farm products so as to preserve them till they were needed to be sold, consumed or planted.17 In the same vein, there were Yoruba women who kept gardens, located very close to their homesteads where vegetables, pepper and fruits and other products were grown.

With regard to large-scale farming in pre- colonial Yorubaland, women were also of relevance. Some of A. Hinderer's letters clearly show that both men and women were much involved in farming in 19th century Ibadan. According to the letters, 'the principal occupation of the Ibadan people was farming in which everyone is engaged. . .'18 In fact, during the mid-19th century when some missionaries wanted to build a new church in Ibadan they could not procure labor "either for love or money-all because everybody is wanted in the farms."19 Most of the area outside the Ibadan city walls was described as heavily cultivated always, even at the height of the nineteenth-century wars.20 Practically everybody in Ibadan had a farm, male and female. This situation also obtained in other Yoruba states in the pre- colonial period - a development that made women rival their male counterparts in agriculture. In most cases, crops like yams, maize, cotton, beans and cassava were grown for home consumption and also exports. These women were also prominent at farmers' guild meetings held at regular intervals. Such efforts in farming no doubt contributed enormously towards making Ibadan an exporter of food to the Ijebu and Lagos during the 19th century. The level of food production was so high that even during Ibadan's greatest wars, the town did not suffer from lack of food. In fact, officials of the Lagos government in 1886 were surprised to see large plantations growing outside Ibadan in spite of nine years of war in which most of the people had been engaged.21

In north central Yorubaland, several Igbomina women, especially in the districts of Illa, Ajase and Omu-Isanlu were also fully involved in agriculture as they took active part in the operations of farmers' guilds in the pre-colonial period.

Animal husbandry was another sector of agriculture that was mainly dominated by women. No doubt, the Yoruba women were the main keepers of livestock. Unlike Fulani society where men were herders, women among the Yoruba reared domestic animals such as ducks, pigs, cattle, sheep, cats, and goats, all kept to provide meat for consumption or used as sacrifices; dogs used mainly by men for hunting and horses as means of transport or in war fare.22 The women had a shed attached to each compound to house at night these domestic animals which always thronged the courtyards by day. According to Johnson:
# Every woman, whatever her trade may be, is expected to keep a few chickens and a goat or two from which she desires small income for house keeping and general 'pin money'. The rearing of poultry then must be reckoned

among female occupations.23

Thus, all Yoruba women were involved in keeping domestic animals and poultry, which could have been a source of income for them in the pre- colonial period. It is also probable that through such role they could have contributed enormously to the improvement of the dietary pattern in the region.

The unique role of women in agriculture in pre-colonial Yorubaland perhaps informed Clarke during his visit to remark that:
# The males are the only class on whom the duty of soil cultivation devolves though the females very frequently aid in planting. . ."24

Clarke also remarked that among the Yoruba in the pre-colonial period the farmers - men, women, and children were always delighted with the idea of going to farm. These are clear indications that women through the farmers' guilds were important in agriculture, and together with men, provided the basic agricultural (food) needs of the society.25

Conclusion

Women in Yorubaland constituted a productive unit of the society. This role in society seemed to cut across all aspects of life- social, political, cultural, economic, etc. They took active part in the social uplifting of the society and training of children; they functioned in religious and cultural roles; and they also played significant role in politics, complementing the efforts of their male counterparts in the art of governance. The council of women chiefs headed by the Iyalode constituted the axis around which women's role in politics in pre-colonial Yorubaland revolved. Perhaps, it was in the economy through the farmers' guild and other related guilds that women's impact was most felt in pre-colonial Yorubaland.

Notes and References

1 See Johnson, S., History of the Yorubas (Lagos, C.M.S. Bookshops, 1921, Repr. 1956), p.125.

2 For details of the place of Yoruba women in secret societies, especially in Ijebu, see Ayantuga, 0. 0., "Jebu and its Neighbors: 1851-1914," (Ph.D. Thesis, ukkk, 1965)

3 See Falola, T., The Political Economy of a Pre- Colonial State (UIP, 1984).

4The case of Moremi who revealed the secret of Igbo power to Ife is a good example. For details, see Johnson, S. History of the Yorubas.

5 For details of this, see B. Awe, "The lyalode in the Traditional Yoruba Political System" in A. Schlegel (ed) Sexual Stratification, (New York, 1977), pp. 144-160.

6 The Onidanike was a particularly prominent guild in the Old Oyo Empire.

7 Such affiliation probably led to the establishment of general trade organization known as the Parakoyi in places like Egba and Ife.

8 W. Bascom, "The Esusu: The Credit System of the Yoruba," in Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, Vol. 92, No. 1 (1952), pp. 63-69.

9 Only regular members of the guild were offered such assistance. It was also on rotational basis and no one took beyond his/her contribution.

10 T. Falola, op.cit.

11 See Akinjogbin, I. A., "The Economic Foundations of the Oyo Empire," in Akinjogbin, I. A. and Osoba, S. 0., eds, Topics on Nigerian Economic and Social History (Unife Press Ltd., 1981), pp. 40-41.

12 See ibid., p. 42.

13 T. Falola, op.cit.

14 See Clapperton, H., Journal of a Second Expedition into the Interior of Kmt (ukkk, 1829), p.7.

15 I. A. Akinjogbin, "The Economic Foundations of the Oyo Empires," p. 51.

16 See M. Jean Hay and Sharon Stichter, Kmtyw Women South of the Sahara (Longman, 1995).

17 See Falola, T., op.cit.

18 A. Hinderer, Seventeen Years in the Yoruba Country (ukkk, 1872), pp. 59-62.

19 C.M.S. CA2/049, "Hinderer's Annual Letter for 1858," quoted in Akintoye, S. A., "The Economic Foundations of Ibadan's Power in the 19th Century," In Akinjogbin and Osaba (eds.) , Topics on Nigerian Economic and Social History.

20 CD 4957, ukkk, 1887, "Report of the Special Commissioners of he Lagos Government to the Interior States in 1886" quoted in Ibid.

21See ibid.

22 For details see Beier, U., "The Yoruba attitude to dogs," Odu, No. 7, (1959). Horses were important in warfare in Yorubaland, especially in Old Oyo. For details, see Law, R. C. C., "A West Kmtyw Cavalry State: The Kingdom of Oyo," Journal of Kmtyw History, Vol. XVI, No. 1, (1975) S. Johnson, History of the Yorubas, p.125.

23 W. H. Clarke, Travels and Explorations in Yorubaland 1854-1858, edited and with an introduction by J. A. Atanda (Ibandan University Press, 1972), p. 260.

24 See ibid, pg.261.

25 See C. Coquery-Vidrovitch, Kmtyw Women (Westview Press, 1997).