Ìlọrin: The Yoruba Town That Became an Emirate

Ìlọrin na city wey pass one million people wey dey speak Yoruba, wey emirate wey its ruling house be Fulani dey govern, inside one Nigerian state wey dem put under North-Central geopolitical zone. Somebody dey argue every part of that sentence, and the argument no be book matter alone: na him dey determine political representation, land claims, and who fit hold office. Dis file set out wetin the sources establish, mark clearly where dem no agree, and present the different positions wey people hold instead of to choose between dem.

Two warnings before the main matter. First, plenty of the standard narrative come from Samuel Johnson book The History of the Yorubas, wey him complete for the 1890s and publish for 1921, wey be partisan Ọ̀yọ́-Christian source about events where Ọ̀yọ́ be the party wey lose, and how him handle Ìlọrin na so make dem read am. Standing scholarly literature dey wey dey question how traditional Johnson traditional history be 1. Second, the dates wey dey the sources wey dey accessible dey clash with each other for several important points, and where dem clash dis file talk am instead of to choose.

Before Àfọ̀njá

Yoruba people establish Ìlọrin for the late eighteenth century as military settlement inside the Ọ̀yọ́ empire 2. The tradition name four Yoruba baálẹ̀ one after the other: Laderin, wey found the city; him son Pasin, wey dem chase go exile and Bàṣọ̀run Gáà kill because him influence dey rise; Pasin son Alugbin; and as Alugbin die, Àfọ̀njá 3.

Na that one be the Yoruba foundation and nobody dey seriously argue am. Ìlọrin na Yoruba town before him become emirate, and Àfọ̀njá's family hold am for four generations.

Àfọ̀njá

Àfọ̀njá hold the rank of Aàrẹ Ọ̀nà Kakanfò, the supreme military commander of the Ọ̀yọ́ empire, wey him get after the death of Oyabi and wey the sources describe say him take by force 3. Him use Ìlọrin as him military outpost 4.

The quarrel with Aláàfin Àwólé

Aláàfin Àwólé Arógangan reign from 1789 to 1796 5. The sources judge him reign as disaster: him scatter relationship with him ministers, and him desecrate Ifẹ̀ for 1793 5.

The order wey cause the palava na to attack Ìwéré-Ilé, the fortified maternal home of the late Aláàfin Abíọ́dún, wey people understand say Àwólé give hoping say the Kakanfò go fail there and lose him standing 5. Àfọ̀njá refuse, because oath hold am and him no want incur one earlier Aláàfin curse say any Aàrẹ Ọ̀nà Kakanfò wey attack Ìwéré-Ilé go die bad death 4.

As him recognise the trap, Àfọ̀njá join body with Bàṣọ̀run Asamu Agba-o-lekan and the Ọwọ́ta of Ọ̀yọ́, surround Ọ̀yọ́-Ilé, and send the Aláàfin empty covered calabash, the formal signal of rejection wey mean say make him commit ritual suicide 3. Àwólé take him own life for 1796, though some sources talk say na 1797 5.

Take note of wetin dis one mean for constitution matter. The way wey Àfọ̀njá use na the legitimate way, as dem describe inside the file on Ọ̀yọ́: the calabash na the Ọ̀yọ́ constitution wey work as dem design am. Wetin no follow normal way na say na Kakanfò, and no be the Bàṣọ̀run alone, push the matter, and say him do am with army outside the walls.

Àwólé curse

The tradition hold say from the palace forecourt Àwólé shoot three arrows, north, south and west, and drop curse. As Samuel Johnson record am and as people don dey copy am plenty times since then, the words be:

My curse be on you for your disloyalty and disobedience, so let your children disobey you. If you send them on an errand, let them never return to bring you word again. To all the points I shot my arrows will you be carried as slaves. My curse will carry you to the sea and beyond the seas, slaves will rule over you, and you their masters will become slaves. 6

Three qualifications on top dis text. Dem present am here for the English of Johnson published version, no be in Yoruba original, because no transcribed Yoruba text of the curse dey wey dem fit verify from accessible source; three-layer treatment therefore no dey possible and make nobody fake am. The page number wey people usually give, page 192 of the 1921 edition, come from opinion columns wey copy the passage, no be from the primary text itself, wey nobody fit open to verify 6. And the curse na literary and interpretive tradition about the Yoruba nineteenth century, wey modern Yoruba political commentary dey bring up every time to explain disunity, so the way e dey circulate dey tell you how Yoruba people understand theirself whether Àwólé talk am or him no talk am.

The Jàmá'a and Alimi

Around 1817 Àfọ̀njá offer freedom and protection to Muslims and to enslaved people wey dey face persecution. Those wey come form the Jàmá'a, wey mostly be Hausa, Nupe, Bariba, Aja and Fulani, wey get special tribal marks wey dem dey call Kende 3.

Dis na the main action and e good make dem state am as e be instead of to look am from wetin happen later. Àfọ̀njá, wey dey rebel against Ọ̀yọ́, need force wey owe loyalty to him and no be to the Aláàfin. To free Muslim slaves and offer dem sanctuary produce exactly that: group of fighting men wey no get any Ọ̀yọ́ loyalty and get every reason to dey loyal to him. E also produce group of men wey get their own religious and social identity, and leadership wey dey independent of him.

Alimi, wey him full name be Sàlih, na Fulani Muslim cleric, wey Ìlọrin invite come Àfọ̀njá and him bring Hausa slaves wey dem recruit enter the army; the sources record say him incite revolt of the Hausa slaves wey dey care for the horses and wey the strength of the cavalry depend on 37.

One named scholar dispute the chronology. Professor J. F. Ade Ajayi hold say Alimi never reach Ìlọrin until the 1820s 3, wey if e correct go remove am from the events of 1817 and change who get hand for wetin happen. The Ìlọrin reference put the rebellion for 1817 with support from Alimi 2; the emirate reference put the Àfọ̀njá-Alimi alliance against Ọ̀yọ́ around 1810 8. Three sources, three dates. Person no fit resolve dis one from the materials wey dey accessible.

Àfọ̀njá's death

Àfọ̀njá lose control of the Jàmá'a and try to disband dem. The sources wey dey available no agree on when he die.

One tok say na around 1813, wey the Jàmá'a under Alimi leadership burn Àfọ̀njá to ashes afta he try to disband dem, call him former ally Solagberu, and no receive any help 3. Another one tok say na Jàmá'a revolt for early 1824, wey crowd surround him compound and kill am wit arrows and spears 4.

The circa 1813 date no match wetin the same source tok say the Jàmá'a form for 1817, bikos the group no fit form afta the man wey dem kill don die. Most records put the death for 1823 or 1824, and na dat range suppose dey reported, while dem note the 1813 date as outlier.

The emirate

Afta the deaths of Àfọ̀njá and Alimi, Alimi pikin Abd al-Salam, Abdulsalami, come out as ruler and pledge allegiance to the Sokoto Caliphate for 1823 2. The start of him reign dey given differently as 1820, 1823 and 1824, wey end for 1842 89; the pledge to Sokoto for 1823 na the one wey appear consistently pass.

The change complete well well. Islam become the state religion and the Emir and him cabinet must follow sharia 10. Ìlọrin na major center for slave trade, and accounts describe say na there get the largest slave market for dat part of Africa 8.

For military side the emirate push go south and dem block dem. Him southward expansion end by 1838 wit defeats for Ògbómọ̀ṣọ́ and Òṣogbo, where the fact say Ìbàdàn get better access to European firearms decide the matter 8. Òṣogbo for 1838 na the battle wey set boundary between the caliphate and the Yoruba forest states, and na why the jihad stop where e stop.

The line of Emirs

The sequence wey dey documented for available sources no complete and e suppose dey presented like dat:

	Emir	Reign
1	Abdulsalami bin Shehu Alimi	1820/1823/1824–1842
2	Muhammad Shitta bin Shehu Alimi	1842–1860
3	Zubair bin Abdulsalami	1860–1868
4	Aliyu bin Muhammad Shitta	1868–1891
5	Abdulsalami Mamaloso bin Zubair	1891–1895
6	Sulaiman bin Aliyu	1895–1915
…	(emirs 7 to 10 not enumerated in the accessible sources)
11	Ibrahim Sulu-Gambari	from 28 August 1995

The structure, and the Àfọ̀njá seat in it

Succession involve four Baloguns, district chiefs wey dey represent the Hausa, Yoruba and Fulani quarters, together wit representatives of the Àfọ̀njá family 8.

Dis detail deserve more weight pass wetin e dey get normally. The emirate succession machinery get place for the descendants of the man wey the emirate replace, and e include district chiefs wey dey represent Yoruba quarter. Whatever the emirate be, e no be structure wey wipe out the Yoruba town wey dey under am, and the internal arrangement na negotiated one from the start.

The 1897 defeat

Sir George Taubman Goldie order punitive expeditions against Bida, Nupe and Ìlọrin for 1897. Within five weeks dem defeat two emirates wit just over five hundred Hausa constabulary, wit help from modern machine guns and light artillery 12.

For Ìlọrin the Royal Niger Company occupy the city wit heavy casualties. For the big market square, in front of the Emir palace wey dey burn, dem announce the end of slavery and the Emir rule, and dem receive the surrender of two thousand soldiers. Two days later Emir Sulaiman, wey run wit eight thousand men, return and surrender 12. Dem join Ìlọrin into the Northern Nigeria Protectorate by 1900 2.

The treaties wey Goldie make wit Bida, Nupe and Ìlọrin, dem describe am say na theater to show other European powers effective occupation, since no real control dey ground even afta the expeditions 13. Dat reading make sense to keep, bikos e explain why the paper record of the conquest look more decisive pass wetin happen for ground.

The consequence for Ìlọrin's identity na administrative matter and na im be the root of the modern dispute. Britain put Ìlọrin under Northern Nigeria, dey govern am through the emirate under indirect rule, instead of putting am under the Yoruba-speaking south. Every argument wey come afta about where Ìlọrin belong pass through dat decision.

The identity question today

Four positions dey circulation and dem no be variants of each other. Dem set out each one here in the terms wey the people wey hold am dey use.

Position one: Ìlọrin is Yoruba. Modern Ìlọrin na mainly Yoruba people dey live there, Yoruba na the lingua franca of the city, and Yoruba na the primary ethnic group of Kwara State; the language of the city na Yoruba, just like the culture wey emerge there, and the city maintain him Yoruba cultural identity despite him North-Central classification 214.

Position two: Ìlọrin is a Fulani emirate. The traditional ruler na of Fulani heritage, emirs wey follow each other na Fulani descendants of Alimi wey dey rule Yoruba-majority city, and the emirate belong to the Sokoto Caliphate 28.

Position three: Ìlọrin is a distinct synthesis and neither of the above. Scholarship hold say Ìlọrin dey far from typical Fulani emirate and e better make dem understand am as Yoruba Islamic emirate, wit culture wey get root for ethnic amalgamation, multiethnic town of Hausa, Yoruba, Malian, Gobir, Nupe and Fulani settlers 10. Ìlọrin na the southernmost point of Fulani expansion and e carry characteristics of both north and south; one named essay argue say the identity no be Yoruba, Nupe or Fulani 15.

Position four: the suppression thesis. The history don produce narrative of non-Yoruba identity join body wit deliberate suppression of Yoruba tribal identity, wey dem promote Islam for him place as the rallying point for the people 16.

The four no carry the same weight for everywhere. Position two na institutional, say e dey describe the constitutional arrangement wey dey on ground. Position one na demographic and language, say e dey describe who dey live there and wetin dem dey speak. Position three na the position wey scholar-dem dey use pass now. Position four na political claim about how the other three take arrange the way dem dey.

The organisations

The dispute get institutional form. Dem describe the Ilorin Emirate Descendants Progressive Union, IEDPU, as the mother of associations for Ìlọrin Emirate, with branches across the five local government areas: Asa, Ilorin East, Ilorin South, Ilorin West and Moro, and scholars don study am academically as hometown and development association 17. Dem form the Àfọ̀njá Descendants Union, ADU, for 1978 to push the interest of Yoruba people for the town 16.

One separate name, Ilorin Descendants Progressive Union, wey dem say dey protect indigenes of Fulani origin, appear for one source, and the connection between am and IEDPU no clear 16. Make person no assume say na the same body dem be.

Language

Ìlọrin people dey speak Yoruba as first language, but na distinct dialect wey get features wey follow the town geo-ethnic makeup 16. One socio-onomastic study document special Ọ̀-ní prefix surname markers among Ìlọrin Yoruba 18. Ìlọrin Yoruba carry heavy Arabic and Hausa vocabulary join body through Islamic scholarship and long time settlement, wey be wetin person go normally expect and na part of the evidence on its own.

Kwara State and current status

Dem create Kwara State on 27 May 1967 from the former Ìlọrin and Kabba provinces of Northern Region, and dem first call am West Central State before dem change the name to Kwara, wey be Hausa name for River Niger 19. Ìlọrin na the capital, and dem classify the state under North-Central geopolitical zone. The four main ethnic groups na Yoruba, Fulani, Nupe and Bariba, with Yoruba, Nupe, Bokobaru and Fulfulde as the main languages 19.

The population of Ìlọrin's na 777,667 during the 2006 census, wey make am Nigeria seventh-largest city, with estimates around 1.17 million for 2022 2. University of Ìlọrin dey inside the town, and e be major administrative and commercial centre.

The town get long-standing reputation for Islamic scholarship. Ìlọrin na one of the main centres for Arabic learning for the region from the nineteenth century, and their ulama produce plenty Arabic writings wey be important archive for that period wey people never use well.

Further reading

The academic works wey make sense to check beyond the web sources wey dey cited here include H. O. Danmole work on Ìlọrin (1997), Safi Jimba own Iwe Itan Ilorin, and studies on the role of non-Yoruba groups for the transformation of Ìlọrin from 1790s to 1820s 20. For Johnson as source, check the standing methodological critique inside History in Africa 1.