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“The Old Oyo Empire, located north of the modern-day town of Oyo in southwestern Nigeria, rose to prominence in the 17th century and reached its peak in the 18th century. When the empire finally collapsed in 1835, it was territorially the largest and the most politically powerful Yoruba kingdom ever. Scholars do not agree on the extent of the size of the Old Oyo Empire. However, what is certain is that at the height of its power in the 18th century, the eastern end of the empire extended from the coast near Badagry northward along the western boundary of Ijebu territories, covering such places as Apomu, Osogbo, and Ede. Oyo was bounded in the north by the Niger and Moshi Rivers. Oyo’s western and southern borders reached Dahomey in the present-day Republic of Benin, and its capital was approximately 40 miles northwest of Ilorin. The oval-shaped town wall built for the defense of the capital was about 15 miles in circumference and about 4 miles in diameter one way and 6 miles in diameter the other way. The palace of the empire itself was protected by a 1-square-mile wall.”
-An excerpt from Saheed Aderinto’s African Kingdoms
