Oyo-Yoruba

Collaboration with HopelessPandora 


Queen Amina                     Yauri                  Zamfara             Kebbi and Gwari                    Gobir, Katsina and Zaria

Daura               Fulani-Wodaabe               Fulani-Fula          Hausa-Kano    Kanuri          Fulani-Kontagora

Nupe          Jukun       Ngas       Igala

SOUTHEAST NIGERIA
Fon           Hausa-Zinder      Futa-Jallon    Fulani-Toucouleur     Fulani-Massina    Futa-Toro

 Kanem     Bornu

Tribes side by side 

Blood of the Kingdoms story featuring all the characters

Government history

Sokoto Caliphate

Famous Individuals and Groups

Queen Amina 

Queen Nzinga

Religious Matters

Ekwensu

Anyanwu and Agbala

Ahia and Menri

Chukwu and the Alusi

Nimu Kwome

Maps

West Africa in 1050 CE by upvoteanthology

West Africa in 1100 CE by upvoteanthology



Name: Abimbola (glorious destiny)

Disclaimer: This character is based on the Oyo-Kingdom and its modern remnants and culture (which is still very significant today), I will get to the other Yoruba subgroups eventually but this is the most documented one of them, if you feel I have left any historical facts out, let me know. As this is based on the Hetalia concept all actions of the Empire would be regarded as the actions of an individual. The outfit is based on the Yoruba clothing often seen in the former capital city of Lagos.

Oyo is one of the children of the late Ife-Ife-Yoruba but would rise to become the most powerful of the six blood siblings but would often clash with the adopted sibling Edo-Benin. For most of the early years after Ife-Ife was killed and the old ancient kingdoms slowly began to decline in the 800s he and his siblings began to build a base of operations and they were all able to flourish being a coastal city. Then as he flourished, he developed a warlike attitude and began to take his siblings under his wing, firmly establishing a small kingdom by the early 1300s. This kingdom was very political and slightly expansive though tame in its attempts and Oyo did not have much of a taste for large scale warfare.

He was strong for a century or two, negating the odd clash with Edo-Benin here and there but he overstretched himself when he clashed with Nupe whom he called "bird man" (The Nupe sometimes adorn themselves with helmets in the shape of birds when hunting birds). In 1535 Nupe would sack his kingdom and force him to retreat to the Kingdom of Borgu (an Edo kingdom). In the 1600s with some assistance from Borgu and his own siblings he was able to reclaim his kingdom back and push Nupe back into his territory. From then onwards he would become even more expansive than before.

Oyo then built a massive infantry force and cavalry and swiftly attacked Nupe to ensure that Nupe would never be strong enough to defeat him ever again. After ensuring his victory he marched on Edo-Benin in 1608 but failed to siege Edo-Benin's massive 16,000 km wall. Unlike most of the other Kingdoms that were trading with the Portuguese (who called his capital city as Lagos), Dutch and British, he refused to adopt firearms into his conquests. He preferred to fight the traditional way and set out to prove that wars could still be won with the sword in the age of firearms.

He was able to prove this firsthand when he attacked the Kingdom of Dahomey (future republic of Benin, home to Fon) in 1728. Fon had no cavalry but a massive rifle infantry and early trench-style warfare, negating Oyo's massive cavalry. Eventually though, Oyo won in 1748, and Fon would end up paying tribute to Oyo. In 1764 Oyo and Fon worked together to defeat Asante and his massive army to prevent his influence which would help set up their borders efficiently and once Oyo managed to control some seafaring nations he was able to build a massive navy as well as larger trading ports to cope with the European demands especially in what would become known as the "slave coast". One medieval practice that his government kept from tales of old European governments was to have Eunuchs be advisors in their major government and religious affairs. His artistic style was slightly similar to China in that he employed a lot of terracotta art. As far as policies go, he had a habit of spying on all the various West African Kingdoms to know what moves h would have to make.

The Spartan-esque culture of Oyo and his people was helping by the fact that the places he conquered were very rich in agricultural resources, this allowed him to field large armies and continue warfare for decades because food supplies could be maintained for large periods of time. During a cool down period he would often engage in trade with Tuareg and Fula's siblings who would bring more powerful horses from Egypt. He would also tax Fon the equivalent of 683,000 dollars a year. Though by the time he was trading with France, compared to his siblings he had little Muslim influences.


At the height of his power Oyo was even able to stretch north and take some territory from Nupe and Hausa-Kano. Then things started to take a turn for the worst for him. First in the 1780s he launched failed campaigns against Borgu and Nupe. Then one of the kings made a mistake of desecrating Ife's gravesite, making the King commit suicide. There was a scramble for the throne, some kings lasting less than six months, and some making the mistake of attacking one of the Fulani siblings that were wandering by ending in bad defeats for Oyo. Fula's brother Ilorin then sacked Oyo's capital, then making Oyo predominantly Muslim in the process. Then the kingdoms that paid tribute to Oyo began to break off. Most notably in 1823 Fon tried to break away, with Oyo and his new partner Ilorin attacking him for his attempt. Fon defeated the both of them even though Ilorin had finally convinced Oyo to incorporate guns into his military strategies. His siblings also left him, and things finally took a turn for the worse when Oyo managed to evict Ilorin from his home in 1834. Ilorin, furious, asked his sister Fula for assistance, especially as she and her new husband Hausa ran the very powerful Hausa-Fulani empire. In 1835 the three attacked Oyo and he found himself to be no match for the three of them. His kingdom collapsed in 1836 and Oyo was severely weakened. To make matters worse, some of his siblings, such as Ketu were sold into slavery. Ketu would be transported to stay in Brazil, not returning until after independence.

Seeing this England swooped in and made Oyo a protectorate, making placing him under British rule. Oyo then watched the colonization and helped accelerate it by fighting for England even against his siblings. After the amalgamation of Nigeria Lagos was then appointed the capital of Nigeria and Oyo would fight in both world wars. He would detest Lugard's rule in Nigeria but his replacement Hugh Clifford he would greatly prefer as Clifford's policies involved economic expansion of the southern regions of Nigeria. In the 1950s whilst England was weak in its grip, he, Hausa and Fula were allowed government positions in the colonial government. Igbo, Edo, Ijaw and the others would later be incorporated into the government and by the independence of 1960 there was already a government structure.

Oyo was not fond of the northern dominance and when it came time to elect a new governing body Edo-Benin tried to make his own state party which took away significant votes that he would have needed. Then after Nri-Igbo's coup and the retaliation, Nri-Igbo approached him and Edo to suggest that they both secede for Hausa and Fula would lose against both of them. When it came time for the decision to be made, when Nri-Igbo and her allies announced their secession to create a new country called Biafra, Yoruba and Edo were silent, siding with Hausa and Fula as Nri-Igbo's coup had also killed Yoruba and Edo people. After 3 years of war Biafra was defeated and reparations were made and Nigeria flourished economically, though Ghana and Hong Kong would often visit for business purposes. The Netherlands was a big buyer of their products and he was one of the people who at one point considered allowing the McDonalds chain to set foot in Lagos but he declined and made his own major food chain of non-fast food called "Mr. Biggs."

After the various regime changes in Nigeria, once it entered its Fourth and Now Democratic republic, Oyo put forth his candidate, Olusegun Obasanjo to be the leader of Nigeria, and Obasanjo become the newly elected President. Under Oyo and Obasanjo's rule and then reelection, Nigeria was able to cover most of its debt and incorporate more western technology into the region. Oyo stepped down after it was Fula and Ijaw's turn to rule. Since then he turned to making films as his hobby, starting up his own version of Hollywood which he would call Nollywood.


Relationship with other nations: Fon: Rivalry
Edo-Benin: Brotherly rivalry
Igbo: Friendly when she opens up
Fula: Scared of her
Hausa: Mistrusts him
Europe: Wary trade relationship, especially with England
Asia: Likes their good business and sees Japan as a worthy foe
Brazil and Mexico: Loves their products that Ketu brought back and tries to make deals with them.


Likes: Film-making, pottery, warfare, making food, sailing, traveling and reading.