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 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.
Kiriji war, wey dem also dey call Ẹkìtì-Parapọ̀ war and Ogun Kírìjí, hapun from 30 or 31 July 1877 reach di final time wey dem scatter di camp dem for 14 March 1893: sixteen years, di longest war for Yoruba history and one of di longest for any place for nineteenth-century Africa. Dem fight di war between Ìbàdàn and coalition of eastern Yoruba kingdoms, and e end with agreement after nobody fit win, wey scatter Ìbàdàn empire. Di commander for di eastern side na Ògèdèńgbé Agbógungbórò of Ìlẹ̀ṣà, wey learn soldier work inside Ìbàdàn military system as trainee and two times as person wey dem capture.
Di main thing wey decide di war no be commander skill. Na say di eastern confederacy get breech-loading rifle dem from Europe through diaspora business network for Lagos, while Ìbàdàn fight with muzzle-loader gun dem.
Ìbàdàn rule di states under am through ajẹlẹ̀, agent dem wey stay there dey collect tax and dey use big personal power for di town dem wey dem post dem go. Di story wey dey always come out from di eastern kingdoms, and wetin scholar dem assess, be say dem dey rule with wicked power and dey misbehave, and say eastern town dem endure this thing for about three decades before dem rebel . Correct way to understand Kiriji war na say e be uprising against empire rule, no be border quarrel.
Di quick thing wey start di matter wey dey recorded for tradition na say one ajẹlẹ̀ for Òkè-Ìmẹ̀sì rape one woman wey dey come back from farm; she be wife of Fabunmi, prince for di town. Fabunmi cut off di head of di ajẹlẹ̀ and im guard dem. Àrẹ̀ Látòóṣà of Ìbàdàn take this one as disrespect to im authority and declare war, without knowing say every town wey get ajẹlẹ̀ get di same vexing matter and go join . Di story of wetin start di war rest on tradition and dem mark am like that; di deeper cause wey e show na wetin get proper document.
Around 1858, Ìjẹ̀ṣà and Ekiti returnee dem from Sierra Leone and the Americas form one Ìjẹ̀ṣà association for Lagos. For 1876 e turn to Ekiti-Parapo Society, wey dem start first as Christian union . When di war start, e turn to di body wey dey buy weapon for di confederacy, and na this fact matter pass for di whole conflict.
Di Society buy Snider rifle dem, Martini-Henry rifle dem, Winchester repeater dem and cannon, wey dem import through Hamburg, and dem set up depot for Aiyesan for Ikale make dem fit carry dem enter inside land . Breech-loading rifle against muzzle-loader give serious technical advantage for how fast gun dey shoot, and na why confederacy of smaller kingdom dem fit stand for battleground for sixteen years against di strongest army for Yorubaland.
Di name Kiriji come from di sound wey cannon dey make . Dem name di war after di noise wey di new weapon dem make.
Di way this thing work good make person talk am plain because e turn di normal picture upside down. Yoruba people wey dem carry enter Atlantic system and return back with book knowledge and business connection use dat position buy weapon give their home kingdom dem against one Yoruba imperial power. Diaspora no be just passive result of nineteenth century for this story; dem be active player inside am.
Dem born am Òrìṣàráyíbí Ògúndàmọ́lá for Atorin near Ìlẹ̀ṣà, to Apasan Borijiwa and Juola Orisatomi; tradition talk say im birth match di yearly Ògún festival . Dem know am as Sàráíbí Agbógungbórò and Ògèdèńgbé Agbógungbórò, di praise name mean roughly say "person wey fight war reach to protect di town."
For di 1850s e train as soldier for Ìbàdàn inside Bàṣọ̀run Ògúnmọ́lá's private army . E learn Ìbàdàn methods from inside before e turn am against Ìbàdàn, and di passing of knowledge straight: Ògúnmọ́lá to Ògèdèńgbé, teacher to di man wey scatter im town empire.
For 1864 dem capture am while e dey defend Ìlárá-Mọ́kìn against Ìbàdàn, e train under one Ìbàdàn warrior wey im name na Bada Aki-Iko, and e escape. For 1867 dem capture am again for Igbajo war and e escape again . Both capture and escape dem rest on tradition, though di accounts match across different story dem. E return go Ìjẹ̀ṣàland and gather im own army.
For late 1879 e become Seriki, commander-in-chief of Ekitiparapo confederate army, and e hold dat command reach di end of di war . Akintoye treat im coming to power as di turning point wey give di confederacy di unified command wey dem need to match Ìbàdàn own .
Di Ìbàdàn coalition na Ìbàdàn with Ìwó, Igbajo, Offa, Modakeke and di former Ọ̀yọ́ territory dem. Di Ekitiparapo coalition na di Ìjẹ̀ṣà, di Ekiti confederacy including Akure, and di Akoko, Yagba, Ila and Igbomina, with Ẹ̀gbá, Ìjẹ̀bú, Ìlọrin and Ifẹ̀ involvement .
Ìbàdàn commanders na Látòóṣà, Balógun Ajayi Ògbóríẹ̀fọ̀n wey die on 7 April 1879, and Ajayi Ọ̀ṣúngbẹkun wey succeed am as Balógun. Ekitiparapo commanders na Ògèdèńgbé as commander-in-chief from late 1879, Fabunmi of Òkè-Ìmẹ̀sì wey be di first Balógun, and Odu of Ogbagi-Akoko, Ogunmodede, Adeyale of Ila and Olugbosun of Oye .
Di biggest single battle na di battle of Ìkirun, wey be Jalumi war, between August and December 1878, wey Ìbàdàn defeat di confederate army dem well well and pursue di Ìlọrin soldiers enter River Otin where plenty people drown. Jalumi mean say to fall inside water . For 1882 second front open between Ìbàdàn and Ifẹ̀ with Modakeke. For 13 July 1885 dem wound Alfred Labinjo, wey lead di confederate Rifle Corps, reach point of death, and for August 1885 Látòóṣà die for Ìbàdàn. Spirit drop for both sides and di war start to move towards settlement .
Gofnor Cornelius Alfred Moloney of Lagos appoint Reverend Samuel Johnson, wey be historian, and Reverend Charles Phillips, wey later become Bishop, make dem be envoy to go negotiate for 1886 . Dis na somtin wey person suppose pause look well. Di main book wey tell di story of di Kiriji war na Johnson History of the Yorubas, and Johnson na agent for di peace process wey im dey write about, na Ọ̀yọ́ supporter and Christian pastor wey dey work for British colonial gofnor. For dis whole section, na dis one be di clearest example of person wey dey write history and still participate for wetin happen, and e no mean say im tori useless, but e mean say di way im take explain who want peace and di terms wey dem want am no fit dey free from im own interest.
Dem sign di treaty on 23 September 1886 for Imesi-Ile, na military stalemate wey give di eastern union freedom from Ìbàdàn. Di pipo wey sign na Ògèdèńgbé and Ọ̀ṣúngbẹkun, dem swear say dem go be friend forever, and British Special Commissioners H. Higgins and Oliver Smith declare am .
Di camp dem no scatter until anoda seven years pass. Di final dispersal happen on 14 March 1893, wen di Ìlọrin camp for Offa, di Ìbàdàn camp for Ìkirun and di confederates for Imesi-Ile break up afta dem meet Captain Robert Lister Bower, while Gofnor Gilbert Carter travel go inside di hinterland for 1893 to force di settlement .
Dat last detail na di real end of Yoruba political independence. Di war dem stop bikos British pawa force dem to stop, and dat same pawa come stay.
For 1894 Captain Robert Lister Bower arrest Ògèdèńgbé, lock am for Ìbàdàn and transfer am go Ìwó, afta warning dem about im warriors wey dey do raid. Dem release am afta Gofnor Sir Gilbert Carter negotiate terms, wit payment wey dem report say na six thousand pounds wey di Ọwá of Ìlẹ̀ṣà pay . Dat amount big well well and dis work get am only through summary instead of directly from Akintoye; dem suppose check am well bifor dem rely on am.
For 1898 dem give am di chieftaincy title Obanla to recognize di role wey im play for di war . Im die on 29 July 1910, wen im dey eighty-eight years old.
Ògèdèńgbé sef na war captive two times. Di main reason for di Ekitiparapo fight na revolt against di way Ìbàdàn dey collect tribute and pipo, and di confederate forces sef catch captives. Na dis same structure wey dem describe for di Ìbàdàn file, and e happen for di two sides.
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 pastor at Ọ̀yọ́ who wrote the book that made Yoruba history, the manuscript's loss and reconstruction, and the generation of Lagos men who first wrote Yoruba people into the record themselves.
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 CMS mission and Crowther, how and why Yoruba people converted to two world religions, the British annexation, indirect rule and what it did to kingship, and the making of "Yoruba" as one identity.
Biography, military campaigns, and historiographical debates surrounding Ògèdèńgbé Agbógungbóró, the commander-in-chief of the Ẹ̀kìtìparapọ̀ confederacy during the Kiriji War.
The hill kingdom Ọ̀yọ́ never took, the seawater story behind its ruler's title, its subjection to Ìbàdàn, and Ògèdèngbé, who commanded the alliance that ended Ìbàdàn's expansion.