Ijebu-Ode

Who holds it

Title

Seat of the ruler of Ijebu (later Awujale)

Since

not pinned

Confidence

low

Lord in 1200

The ruler of Ijebu (name not known; see the lord record).

Council

In the later kingdom the Osugbo council of titled freeborn men, headed by the Oliwa, sat as the court, and the Olisa acted as a kind of mayor; not pinned for 1200.

Communities

Ijebu Yoruba.

Fairs and markets

Periodic markets (later famous Ijebu markets); not attested for 1200.

Militia

Not attested.

Walls and castle

Sungbo's Eredo round the whole kingdom (dating disputed); town walls not attested for 1200.

Trade and crafts

Farming, cloth, lagoon fish and salt through Epe and the Lekki lagoon.

What the year holds

What happened next, if nothing in play changes it. Each event carries what it depends on and what would stop it.

1. 1200No dated event.Depends on: Not applicable Stopped by: Not applicable

Places of note

• Oke-Eri, the grave of Bilikisu Sungbo: Pilgrimage shrine of the Eredo's legendary builder, near the town.

Where the sources disagree

• The Eredo is dated tenth-eleventh century by Darling and about 1400 by later excavations.

Evidence: Tradition and disputed archaeology.

On the map: The town and near land; the Eredo ring is drawn on the lord record.

Primary sources for Yoruba towns

Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.

• Ife, Benin, Nri, the Yoruba towns and the Akan: archaeology and recorded tradition (no contemporary text; traditions written down from the 1890s). No text of any kind exists for the forest belt in 1200.