Rise of the Yoruba in the Ife Kingdom

Name: Rise of the Yoruba in the Ife Kingdom
Start: 1200
End: 1210

Type Event Region West Africa Time 1200–1210

Around 1205 the Ife Kingdom in southwestern Nigeria rose as the recognized spiritual and cultural ancestor of the Yoruba, providing political myths a…

Timeline

1200–1205Ife · NigeriaThe oni (sacred king) of Ife ruled over the Yoruba city-states through creation myths and sacrificial authority; Ife was regarded as the birthplace of Yoruba civilization and enjoyed a political-religious status beyond that of an ordinary city-state.
1205–1210Yorubaland · NigeriaIfe's bronze heads, pottery, and court rituals spread to neighboring city-states, while trade and marriage ties linked the Yoruba peoples into a loose political-cultural community, laying the social foundation for the rise of regional powers.

Sources

Kingdoms of the Yoruba — Robert S. Smith (1988)
Ife in the History of West African Sculpture — Frank Willett (1967)