The “Hamitic Hypothesis” in Indigenous West African Historical Thought

Abstract

This paper explores the use of versions of the “Hamitic hypothesis” by West African historians, with principal reference to amateur scholars rather than to academic historiography. Although some reference is made to other areas, the main focus is on the Yoruba, of southwestern Nigeria, among whom an exceptionally prolific literature of local history developed from the 1880s onwards. The most important and influential work in this tradition, which is therefore central to the argument of this paper, is theHistory of the Yorubasof the Rev. Samuel Johnson, which was written in 1897 although not published until 1921.