people to the Nile Valley. One historian has writ-
ten that the precise origin of the Yoruba is ancient
Egypt. In many respects, the great body of customs
and rituals of the Yoruba reflects their religious
beliefs that are contained in a system calledIfa.
This system of Ifa is a philosophical corpus
related to the myths of origin, ethical ideas, and
cosmological understandings. Contained in 256
odus, the Ifa can be used by a babalawo to give
insight into the ethical decisions that one makes in
ordinary life. This system is responsible for keep-
ing moral, cultural, and political order among
Yoruba. No Alafin of Oyo rules without adher-
ence to the traditions of Ifa.
In the tradition of Yoruba people, two leaders
emerged as the principals of the society: the Oni of
Ifè and the Alafin of Oyo. Ifè became identified with
the spiritual and ethical life of the people and
reflected in many ways the Yoruba’s belief in the
presence of cosmological influences on the life of the
people. Thus, the Oni of Ifè is usually referred to as
the spiritual leader of the Yoruba nation. In con-
trast, the Alafin of Oyo was centered in the political
capital of the kingdom and enshrined the notion
that the nation could not exist on spirit alone.
Some Key LeadersIndeed, the Alafin of Oyo embodied the living power
of the ancestors and carried forth the idea of the
invulnerability of the people based on the political
will he inherited from ancestors. In fact, the Alafin
had to be a direct descendant of Oranyan, one of the
founders of the nation. In his capacity as Alafin,
directly descended from Oranyan, the political ruler
was divine, that is, he was an ever-living presence
who would never die so long as Alafin succeeded
him, took the same power, and made the same oaths
he had made to the ancestors and the people.
The Alafin may have used his power to create
innovations. For example, it is said that Alafin
Ajagbo, who reigned in the mid-17th century,
ordered a theatrical contest by masking the soci-
eties of Oyo for his entertainment. On the occa-
sion, a Nupe man nicknamed Gbarada made two
spectacular masks, a male and a female, that
danced, sang, and made comic remarks. When all
of the other performers had paraded before the
Alafin and gave their performance, the one that
the Alafin remembered most of all was that of the
Nupe man, Gbarada. His name was “he who stole
the show.” As a close friend of Oyo Aso, one of
the grandsons of Alafin Ajagbo, Gbarada went
with Oyo Aso when he went to settle at Egbado.
The tradition of Gelede was introduced among
other Yoruba people because of the actions of
Alafin Ajagbo and his grandson.
Another Alafin was responsible for changing a
custom among the Yoruba as well. He was the
Alafin Ajaka. At one time, the Yoruba practiced
twin infanticide. They believed that twins were signs
of a bad omen and consequently had to be put to
death or left in the forest to die. However, during the
16th century, the Alafin of Oyo, Alafin Ajaka, mar-
ried, and his wife gave birth to twins. He refused to
kill them or abandon them to the forest, but ordered
the mother to take her twins to another part of the
kingdom to raise them. The banished wife went
with her children to a remote part of the kingdom,
and the twins rose up to be rulers of the present
dynasty of the kingdom of Ondo.
During times of political or military stress in the
nation, it is the Alafin who unites the people by
appealing to the subkings of Yoruba to support the
mission of the nation. Should Yoruba go to war, it
is the Alafin who manages to harness the strength
and vitality of the Yoruba people. A history of
skilled Alafins added to the expansions of the
Yoruba population, but they were unable to pre-
vent many Yoruba from being enslaved by
Europeans during the 18th and 19th centuries. Yet
the vibrancy of the cultural and political roles of the
Alafin was not forgotten.
Thus, the Alafin of Oyo is a powerful title of
the political and military ruler of one of the great
peoples of Africa. As such, he reflects the popular
traditional African idea of the divinity of the king
who embodies the spirit of the first ancestors.Molefi Kete AsanteSee alsoKingsFurther Readings
Abimbola, W. (1977).Ifa. Oxford, UK: Oxford
University Press.
Karade, B. I. (1994).The Handbook of Yoruba Religious
Concepts. New York: Samuel Weiser.Alafin of Oyo 35