The town that replaced Ọ̀yọ́ as the dominant Yoruba power, the achieved-title constitution that let a farmer or an Ifá priest rise to command it, and the men who did.
The Yorùbá wey dem quote, the proverbs, oríkì, ẹsẹ Ifá, word list headwords, Odù names and citations dey exactly as the corpus record dem, for every language.
Ìbàdàn start as war camp around 1829, and within thirty years e don become di strongest military power for Yorubaland. E constitution no get king wey wear crown. Person dey earn chieftaincy title through effort instead of to inherit am, and any freeborn man wey dey live for di town fit get title if e show say e sabi fight war well well. Person fit reach di town as refugee, farmer, or Ifá priest, con end up as commander for di biggest army for di whole land, and several people do am. Dis na di sharpest institutional change for nineteenth-century Yoruba history, and na wetin make people conventionally dey call Ìbàdàn republic, even though dat word need better explanation.
Wetin di system produce for outside na empire wey resident agents dey govern and na war captives dey finance am. Bọ́lańlé Awẹ́'s analysis na di standard explanation of di economics: military demand boost trade, farming, and craft work, while war wey no dey stop prevent long-term development, and di labour system underneath na slavery .
Ọ̀yọ́ na sacred monarchy. Di Aláàfin na crowned king from royal lineage, wey ritual separate, wey di Ọ̀yọ́ Mèsì under di Bàṣọ̀run dey checkmate, and dia ultimate sanction na di covered calabash. Succession dey follow royal family line. Ìbàdàn no be like dat at all. E head get di title Baálẹ̀, wey be headman title for town instead of kingly title, and di real power dey for di hand of di war chiefs.
Di government run on four lines. Di civil line, na di Baálẹ̀ dey head am, wey later become Olúbadàn, with Ọ̀tún Baálẹ̀, Òsì Baálẹ̀, Àṣípa, Ẹ̀kẹrin, and Ẹ̀kàrún wey dey follow as ladder dey go down. Di senior military line, na di Balógun dey head am with di same kind ladder under am. Di junior military line, na di Ṣeríkí dey head am, wey be chief scout, wey dey command di younger warriors. Di fourth line na for women, wey di Ìyálóde dey head, wey dey sit for council and na kingmaker, but e line no fit produce di head of di town .
Ọ̀tún na right hand, Òsì na left, and Àṣípa, Ẹ̀kẹrin, and Ẹ̀kàrún na fourth and fifth in order: di ladder na battle arrangement wey dem change to promotion sequence. Promotion dey run by seniority up di steps, and dem no dey agree make person jump pass anoda person at all, so chief dey move up as people wey dey above am dey die. Office therefore depend on survival as e depend on merit, and na dis make di civil heads dey old well well while di war chiefs dey very active .
Di dual line get specific origin. Dem found Ìbàdàn inside non-stop war, so di war chiefs under di Balógun na dem be di leaders of di town; because dem dey always dey outside for war campaign and dem no get interest for civil administration, dem create di Baálẹ̀ line make e govern when dem no dey . Di system start firmly from 1851, when Ọ̀yẹ́ṣílẹ̀ Olúgbóde become Baálẹ̀ and Ìbíkúnlé become Balógun .
Di clearest evidence say no single title dey constitutionally fixed for di office na say heads wey follow each other choose different titles. Ògúnmọ́lá take Bàṣọ̀run, di old Ọ̀yọ́ prime-minister title. Látòóṣà take Àrẹ̀ Ọ̀nà Kakanfò, di Ọ̀yọ́ generalissimo title, with di reason say Baálẹ̀ and Bàṣọ̀run rank low pass wetin brave soldiers suppose take [S3]. Dat kind freedom no fit happen for monarchy.
Ruth Watson study na di necessary correction to di neat republican framing. E title, Civil Disorder is the Disease of Ibadan, na quote from di sources, and e argument na say people of dat time see di competitive title system as sickness and also as something wey dey productive, and say di way dem build Ìbàdàn as civic community shift over time from di battlefield go inside discursive field .
Warning on sources: di detailed ladders and kingmaker lists wey people dey frequently cite come from di 1959 Olubadan Chieftaincy Declaration, wey be colonial-era codification, and make person no project am back go nineteenth century, when di ladder still short and never formal reach dat level .
Pikin of Ọ̀yọ́ royal house, wey Aláàfin Àtìbà recognise as Bàṣọ̀run inside di settlement wey divide di old imperial military power between Ìbàdàn and Ìjàyè [S5]. Under am, Ìbàdàn stand strong as shield against Ìlọrin and begin di expansion wey turn am to empire.
Balógun of Ìbàdàn from 1851 to 1864, commander-in-chief throughout di peak of di town expansion. E fight for Ara, against di Ẹ̀gbá, and command inside di Ìjàyè war, wey e start on 10 April 1860 and fight with blockade instead of direct attack, as e cut Ìjàyè food supply from di Òkè-Ògùn side instead of to break through di walls [S5] [S6].
Missionary sources, especially Anna and David Hinderer of di CMS wey live for Ìbàdàn, present am as di one wey dey calm pass between di two senior Ìbàdàn commanders [S7]. Make person understand dat judgement for wetin e really be: na assessment from European neighbours and dependants about di man wey dey protect dem, wey no be neutral perspective at all.
E die for 1864 after dem return from di Kutuje campaign. Di exact sequence of Balógun and Baálẹ̀ dates around dat year no clear well well inside di available sources, and make person treat am as estimate [S5].
Ògúnmọ́lá na di strongest single example of wetin di Ìbàdàn system make possible. Dem born am for Ifesusu, inside Alawe compound near Ìwó for present Osun State, and e train as Ifá priest. E come Ìbàdàn for priest matter for mid-nineteenth century [S5]. E whole career later on na military.
E join bodi with di war chiefs, rise reach Ọ̀tún Balógun under Ìbíkúnlé, and become Bàṣọ̀run, as e hold di town leadership from 1865 to 1867 after Ìbíkúnlé die [S5]. E choice of di Bàṣọ̀run title instead of Baálẹ̀ na claim: Bàṣọ̀run na Ọ̀yọ́'s prime-ministerial office, and to take am for Ìbàdàn assert Ìbàdàn succession to Ọ̀yọ́ authority.
Na im be di commander wey drive di Ìjàyè campaign, and im aggressive pass Ìbíkúnlé. Oral tradition talk say im push di war partly make im take pay Kúrunmí back for how Kúrunmí treat am before when im be Kúrunmí prisoner, and dem credit am with twenty-one victory for twenty-three war wey include Kutuje, Arakonga and campaigns against di Ìjẹ̀bú, Ẹ̀gbá and Ekiti [S5]. Di reason wey im take fight and di count of victory both be oral tradition, no be written record, and na so we mark am here. Any source wey put am for Kiriji dey completely wrong: dat war start for 1877, ten years after im death.
Im die for 1867. Tradition talk say na conspiracy wey involve im bed kill am, wey no make sense medically as dem dey usually talk am, and na tradition dem report am as here, no be wetin cause di death [S5].
Im private army train Ògèdèńgbé of Ìlẹ̀ṣà for di 1850s, wey be direct link between Ìbàdàn military system and di man wey later command di confederacy wey break Ìbàdàn empire [S8].
Ọbadọ́kè Látòóṣà Ọyátòóṣà, wey im praise name na Ìyàndá Asúbíaró, and after im convert to Islam Mohammed or Momodu Obadoke Latoosa; inside literature dem still dey spell di name as Latosisa interchangeably. Im papa na Ore-òrìṣà Ọyátòóṣà and im mama na Ọyátòókí. Dem born am around di 1820s for Ìlọ́ra inside Ọ̀yọ́ territory, and im start as palm-tree farmer [S3].
For Ìbàdàn im join Ògúnmọ́lá's private army, grow reach captain of Ògúnmọ́lá's guards, command for di Ìjàyè war, and dem install am as head of Ìbàdàn on 3 October 1871, and im hold di office reach im death [S3]. Im take di title Àrẹ̀ Ọ̀nà Kakanfò, and dem count am as di twelfth person to hold am and di last person to hold am as active military command [S9].
Dat choice get big constitutional consequence. As im take purely military title as head of di town, im join di civil and military leadership put inside one office and break di dual-line convention wey don govern Ìbàdàn since 1851 [S3]. Again, according to Ọ̀yọ́ convention, Kakanfò na office wey no suppose dey stay for di capital, so as di ruler of Ìbàdàn take am, na statement about Ìbàdàn relation with Ọ̀yọ́ just as e be statement about di town internal order.
Im govern im empire through di ajẹlẹ̀ system: agents wey dey stay for tributary towns dey collect tribute and dey use wide personal power. Di consistent testimony from di eastern Yoruba kingdoms, plus wetin scholars assess, be say dem dey autocratic and abusive, and say di eastern towns endure dis thing for about three decades [S9]. Na dis be di structural cause of di Kiriji war, wey dem treat for im own file. Di republicanism wey Ìbàdàn get for home agree with, and get finance from, despotism for outside, and dat one no be paradox wey pesin go explain dismiss, na di real shape of di system itself.
Im death, wey normal dating put for 31 August 1885 with 1886 as variant, dey recorded for tradition like dis: Im favor one slave wey im allow make e get freedom like freeborn person. Di slave insult Balógun Ọ̀ṣúngbẹkun, wey make dem flog am. Látòóṣà summon di Balógun make im come explain imself. Ọ̀ṣúngbẹkun, wey vex say dem make general answer question because of slave matter, pull out im sword cut di slave head off for di spot, and di other generals support am. Látòóṣà, as im see say im don lose im chiefs, comot go take poison [S3] [S9].
Dat story na tradition and na so we mark am. E still make complete sense as constitutional story, and na why e stand till today: e show di limit of di Kakanfò power against di group of war chiefs, wey be di exact limit wey Látòóṣà spend im whole career dey try cancel.
Di Ìbàdàn war economy na slave economy. Captives na di main product of im campaigns and di workforce for di households and farms of im chiefs. Samuel Johnson record elite slaves for Ìbàdàn . Wetin Ẹfúnṣetán Aníwúrà hold, wey dem treat for im own file, and di slave wey dey centre of Látòóṣà's death, both belong to dis structure instead of to be exceptions to am. Di argument of Awẹ́'s say military expansion connect directly to di labour systems wey support economic activity na di analytical statement of am .
Di captives of Ìbàdàn enter domestic slavery for Yorubaland, and until dem stop di Atlantic trade for Lagos for di 1850s, dem enter export trade too. Peace come di region when British rule start for di end of di century, wey be fact about di timing and no be approval of di way dem take do am.
The Ìjẹ̀ṣà commander who was twice an Ìbàdàn captive and ended as commander-in-chief of the eastern confederacy that fought Ìbàdàn to a standstill for sixteen years, and the diaspora arms network that made it possible.
The life, political career, economic empire, and contested death of the nineteenth-century merchant who became the second Iyalode of Ibadan.
The fall of Ọ̀yọ́, the Ilọrin and Sokoto dimension, the Ọ̀wu war, the rise of Ìbàdàn, the Sixteen Years War at Kiriji, and the political map they left behind.
The Kakanfò who went to war over a constitutional principle and lost his town, and the hunter who led the Ẹ̀gbá refugees to the rock at Abẹ́òkúta and governed them without a king.
A structural and historical disambiguation of Yoruba royal, territorial, and collegiate titles, contrasting indigenous constitutional orders with the flattening umbrella term Chief.
The most powerful women in nineteenth-century Yorubaland, both of them large-scale slave traders, one killed by the ruler she had armed and the other exiled by a British consul, and the political office that made their power constitutional.