Olu317:
Laughing seriously. Why disturb my peace Eastwalk? Bini Kingdom that British ravaged in comparison with Yoruba kingdom that British colonialist used persuasion to adopt her sovereignty. Have you forgotten that the general governor who resided in Lagos went on foot to Ibadan /ILE IFE to mediate on the warring faction of Ekitiparapo and Ibadan warriors ? What happened to the Bini kingdom after this mediation and the rest of Nigeria's acclaimed self glorified kingdoms ? The op has no true knowledge of our(Yoruba) history and Bini People. Even in the Bini palace, their aristocrats used Yoruba as their Franca lingual for hundreds (100)of years. I am not interested in all these cork and bull story

Correction . Its Oyo empire and not kingdom. Benin was a kingdom while Oyo was an empire . Check the meaning and know the differences .
We are on the same lane ,just have to let you know that .

YonkijiSappo:
These people sef.
Even with half of Yoruba territory supposedly experiencing some form of Benin influence plus all the parts of Igboland and the Delta in Benin control, the empire was at its height (90,000 km²) still smaller than Oyo empire (150,000 km²)

Do't even talk about the Igbos.. cos those ones never had any civilization to talk about. Only to be creating "Devils's advocate threads" upandan, trying to pitch the Binis against the Yorubas.

Benin was not am empire but a kingdom .

ladiguy:


Correction . Its Oyo empire and not kingdom. Benin was a kingdom while Oyo was an empire . Check the meaning and know the differences .
We are on the same lane ,just have to let you know that .

Pardon my typography error . I intended to type kingdoms under OYO EMPIRE . There were smaller kingdoms in alliance with OYO EMPIRE while tributaries inform of brothers exchanging gifts were paid to OYO from nearly all ROYAL LINEAGE with exception of ILE IFE which is the home of all Yoruba directly or indirectly . The OYO military might secured invasion from different enemies of other Tribes.

Olu317:
Pardon my typography error . I intended to type kingdoms under OYO EMPIRE . There were smaller kingdoms in alliance with OYO EMPIRE while tributaries inform of brothers exchanging gifts were paid to OYO from nearly all ROYAL LINEAGE with exception of ILE IFE which is the home of all Yoruba directly or indirectly . The OYO military might secured invasion from different enemies of other Tribes.

Good. Take care .

ladiguy:

Good. Take care .

et toi

ladiguy:


Correction . Its Oyo empire and not kingdom. Benin was a kingdom while Oyo was an empire . Check the meaning and know the differences .
We are on the same lane ,just have to let you know that .

Benin was an empire, Oyo was a kingdom.
Who was under Oyo dominion that wasn't ethnically Oyo? and please provide evidence because such doesn't exist.

I'm reading several historic documents. Oyo was a kingdom. A strong one but it didn't rule it's neighbors despite their neighbors fearing them

Ofodirinwa:


Benin was an empire, Oyo was a kingdom.
Who was under Oyo dominion that wasn't ethnically Oyo? and please provide evidence because such doesn't exist.

I'm reading several historic documents. Oyo was a kingdom. A strong one but it didn't rule it's neighbors despite their neighbors fearing them

Did you read this one?

PRUNEAU de POMMEGORGE (lived on the West Coast of Africa in 1750 - 64)

"....the king of the Ayeots [Oyos]can put a hundred thousand men into the field, and to whom ten other kings also pay tribute..."


Or this one from 1776 which shows that the Mahi, an ethnic group in Benin was formerly tributary to Oyo before winning independence sometime before 1776; and also mentions the Kingdom of Dahomey as another kingdom that paid tribute to Oyo?

DE CHENEVERT and BULLET 1776:

"This Mahi people is very extensive, it is divided into small republics; they are a mountain people, warlike, bold and also wicked, as is seen by the slaves which come from there; they are enemies of the Dahomets and have thrown thrown off the yoke of the Ayaux [Oyos] to whom they were tributary; they live in the highlands between the kingdoms of Dahomet and that of the Ayaux.

These last (i.e, Oyo) are a brave, numerous and very extensive people; the Dahomets owe them tribute; their sway stretches as far as 20 leagues to the NE of Glegoi.

Etc. Etc. Etc.

An empire is a kingdom that, through military might is able to force tribute from neighbouring kingdoms/states as well as exercise some control on their external affairs. Oyo did that, as is attested in the sources. If it was not a empire tell us what is.

Ofodirinwa:


Benin was an empire, Oyo was a kingdom.
Who was under Oyo dominion that wasn't ethnically Oyo? and please provide evidence because such doesn't exist.

I'm reading several historic documents. Oyo was a kingdom. A strong one but it didn't rule it's neighbors despite their neighbors fearing them

Seek your unbiased elders and you shall know the truth.

ladiguy:



Seek your unbiased elders and you shall know the truth.

lol..is that who you're getting your info from?

Ofodirinwa:


lol..is that who you're getting your info from?

Sorry you dont have one .

RedboneSmith:



Did you read this one?

PRUNEAU de POMMEGORGE (lived on the West Coast of Africa in 1750 - 64)

"....the king of the Ayeots [Oyos]can put a hundred thousand men into the field, and to whom ten other kings also pay tribute..."


Or this one from 1776 which shows that the Mahi, an ethnic group in Benin was formerly tributary to Oyo before winning independence sometime before 1776; and also mentions the Kingdom of Dahomey as another kingdom that paid tribute to Oyo?

DE CHENEVERT and BULLET 1776:

"This Mahi people is very extensive, it is divided into small republics; they are a mountain people, warlike, bold and also wicked, as is seen by the slaves which come from there; they are enemies of the Dahomets and have thrown thrown off the yoke of the Ayaux [Oyos] to whom they were tributary; they live in the highlands between the kingdoms of Dahomet and that of the Ayaux.

These last (i.e, Oyo) are a brave, numerous and very extensive people; the Dahomets owe them tribute; their sway stretches as far as 20 leagues to the NE of Glegoi.

Etc. Etc. Etc.

An empire is a kingdom that, through military might is able to force tribute from neighbouring kingdoms/states as well as exercise some control on their external affairs. Oyo did that, as is attested in the sources. If it was not a empire tell us what is.

Lovely piece of info. Quite interesting.

My fellow Yoruba brothers, if these haters cannot provide any source contrary to the fact that Bini name was given to it by Oranmiyan, there is no need engaging in any discussion with them. They have no history, no heritage and no oral tradition. The last time I checked, they are still doubting if they fell from sky or trekked from Israel

Ofodirinwa:


Benin was an empire, Oyo was a kingdom.
Who was under Oyo dominion that wasn't ethnically Oyo? and please provide evidence because such doesn't exist.

I'm reading several historic documents. Oyo was a kingdom. A strong one but it didn't rule it's neighbors despite their neighbors fearing them

Please provide the source and safe us the usual bla bla bla. Guess what? You can't provide any source because it doesn't exist. Continue reading your several historic documents in your dreams

PapaBrowne:
The greatest mistake the Benin made at the time was to make the Edo language an elitist lingual spoken only by the Binis. If they acted like the English, they would have forced their subjects to speak Bini and the rest would have been historically. The entire SW would have been speaking Bini today.

I think you people have now accepted that the Benin empire was one of the many Yoruba empires in West Africa that spoke the same language and practiced the same culture?. The sister states were Ijebu, Ijesa, Oyo and some city states in Ekiti and Ondo. Benin bordered Ijesa directly and they spoke the same language. The capital of the empire was the Benin palace containing more than fifty thousand souls that spoke only Yoruba and established cities with Yoruba names. The present Benin language was spoken by Edoid people in the suburbs who are the original indigenes of the area. The Yoruba was used in the past to run the empurw throughout it's length and breadth up to Rivers state but those people have now become Igboid people. The Benin were not the only Yorubas with many non Yorubas in their empire. The Oyo empire contained Nupe, Bariba, Fon, Ebira, Hausa and many groups in Northern Nigeria that were tributary to it in the past. Benin however still contained many Yoruba citizens than any other language group. The people now claiming they own the empire did not get their language spoken in the palace in the past but they are the real indigenes of Igodomigodo before it was rechristened Benin. That is the right history but the Benin monarchy and the city today is owned by them