History of Nigeria city-states. A state council (the "Oyo Mesi") named the "Alaafin" (king) and acted as a check on his authority. Their capital city was situated about 100 km north of present-day Oyo. Unlike the forest-bound Yoruba kingdoms, Oyo was in the savanna and drew its military strength from its cavalry forces, which established hegemony over the adjacent Nupe and the Borgu kingdoms and thereby developed trade routes farther to the north. The Benin Empire (1440–1897; called "Bini" by locals) was a pre-colonial African state in what is now modern Nigeria. It should not be confused with the modern-day country called Benin,
Old Oyo National Park ancient political capital of Oyo Empire of the Yoruba people, and contains the ruins of this city. Oyo Ile was destroyed in the late 18th century by Ilorin and Hausa/Fulani warriors at the culmination of the rebellion of Afonja, commander of Oyo Empire's provincial army for which he allied himself with Hausa/Fulani Muslim jihadists. The national park originated in two earlier native administrative forest reserves, Upper Ogun established in 1936 and Oyo-lle established in 1941. These were converted to game reserves in 1952, then combined and upgraded to the present status of a national park. The park covers 2,512 km,