Reading the Named Commanders Together

Seven names dey always show for any tori about nineteenth-century Yoruba war: Àfọ̀njá, Ṣódẹkẹ́, Kúrunmí, Ìbíkúnlé, Ògúnmọ́lá, Látòóṣà and Ògèdèńgbé. Five of dem already get dedicated biography file with full source for inside dis corpus: [[people-afonja-alimi-and-the-ilorin-turn]] for Àfọ̀njá, [[people-kurunmi-and-sodeke]] for Kúrunmí and Ṣódẹkẹ́, [[people-ibadan-and-its-war-chiefs]] for Ìbíkúnlé, Ògúnmọ́lá and Látòóṣà, and [[people-ogedengbe-and-the-kiriji-war]] for Ògèdèńgbé. Dis file no dey repeat dose biography dem. Wetin dey here narrow pass dat: wetin comparison across all the seven dey show about how military command take work differently inside Ọ̀yọ́-descended states compared to Ìbàdàn, and the frontline commanders wey dey under dat top rank wey no get their own file.

Two models of command, wen we look dem side by side

The seven commanders divide enter two group based on how dem take get and hold power, and dis difference na the clearest structural fact wey dis comparison bring out.

Àfọ̀njá and Kúrunmí hold the Ọ̀yọ́ imperial title of Ààrẹ Ọ̀nà Kakanfò, position wey get fixed constitutional shape: dem no dey allow dem enter capital city, dem must win every war, and dem dey answer to king throne wey dem dey serve even as the position structure still dey threaten dat same throne. The career of the two men end in the exact way wey dat office logic predict. Àfọ̀njá use the border independence of the title take rebel against Ọ̀yọ́, and the same Muslim mercenary forces wey e recruit to support the rebellion come kill am, one collapse of control wey dem document fully inside [[people-afonja-alimi-and-the-ilorin-turn]]. Kúrunmí hold the same title for Ìjàyè and go war, no be to drag power for himself, but to defend constitutional interpretation of Ọ̀yọ́ succession law against change wey e believe say no correct; his defeat end with his own death and permanent destruction of his town, as dem explain inside [[people-kurunmi-and-sodeke]]. In other words, both men fight and die over legitimacy of inherited order, one attack am and the other defend am.

Ìbíkúnlé, Ògúnmọ́lá and Látòóṣà represent complete different logic, Ìbàdàn system of achieved-title, where title depend on clear military success and how many private followers person get, instead of any inherited claim. [[people-ibadan-and-its-war-chiefs]] show how dat system different well-well from the Ọ̀yọ́ model: person fit enter as farmer or, like Ògúnmọ́lá do, as Ifá priest on top different mata entirely, and come grow reach to command the biggest army for Yorubaland. Látòóṣà's own choice to take the old Ọ̀yọ́ Kakanfò title as head of Ìbàdàn, wey dem discuss for dat file, show say the two system no dey completely separate: Ìbàdàn chiefs fit and indeed use Ọ̀yọ́'s legitimacy language wen e favor dem, even as dem dey run state wey fundamentally different underneath.

Ògèdèńgbé dey outside the two model. E command the Ẹ̀kìtìparapọ̀ confederacy, coalition of eastern kingdom dem wey hardly or never join together politically before the Kiriji war force dem to do so, and his authority no depend on Ọ̀yọ́'s inherited constitutional office or on Ìbàdàn internal promotion ladder, but na on confederate command wey dem create just for the war itself. [[people-ogedengbe-and-the-kiriji-war]] document the direct institutional link between the second and third model: Ògèdèńgbé train as young man inside Ògúnmọ́lá's own private army for Ìbàdàn during the 1850s, learn the method of the achieved-title system from inside before e turn am against the town wey teach am.

Wetin the source dem no allow dis file talk

Two text for earlier draft of the corpus material on top dis commanders quote Yoruba oríkì with complete three-layer translation and scholar name attributions. Dem check both of dem directly against the cited source dem and none fit dey confirmed.

One four-line poem (quatrain) wey start with "Kúrunmí! A b'óògùn bí orógbó" dem attribute am to "Karin Barber" dey cite her 1991 book I Could Speak Until Tomorrow: Oriki, Women and the Past in a Yoruba Town. Dat book na real, well-respected ethnographic study, but wetin e focus on na the oríkì tradition of Òkukù town, study wey dem build around specific women performers and their household praise poetry for there. E no be study of Ìjàyè, of Kúrunmí, or of political oríkì for nineteenth-century war leaders, and no evidence dey show say dis particular text appear anywhere inside am. Dem no reproduce the quatrain here.

Second quatrain wey start with "Ògèdèńgbé Àgbògúngbọ̀rọ̀! Àkànkàn tí ń gb'ogun w'ìlú" dem attribute am to "Akinwumi Ogundiran" dey cite his 2020 book The Yoruba: A New History. Ogundiran book na real book and dem cite am elsewhere inside dis corpus for other claims, but no independent source, including searches for the oríkì Yoruba text on its own, show any sign of dis specific poem or its attribution to dat book. Dem no reproduce am here too. Ògèdèńgbé praise name (byname), Àgbògúngbọ̀rọ̀, na real name wey get proper record (dem explain am inside [[people-ogedengbe-and-the-kiriji-war]]), but the full praise text wey dem build around am for the earlier draft no fit dey verified, and dem treat am as unconfirmed instead of keeping am with soft attribution, following how dis warfare section take handle every other quoted text wey dem no fit confirm.

Frontline commanders wey no get dedicated file

Under the seven names wey dey above, another second level of field commanders dey wey matter for specific military campaigns without leading whole state or confederacy. Four of dem dey always show for accounts of the century fighting.

Fabunmi of Òkè-Ìmẹ̀sì. The prince wey behead one wicked Ìbàdàn ajẹlẹ̀ for 1878, after the agent guard dem attack his wife, na wetin tradition talk say be the immediate trigger for the Kiriji war. E serve as the Ẹ̀kìtìparapọ̀'s first field commander before the confederacy choose Ògèdèńgbé as overall commander-in-chief for 1879. His full role for how the war take start dey documented inside [[people-ogedengbe-and-the-kiriji-war]] and dem no repeat am here.

Balógun Ajayi Ògbóríẹ̀fọ̀n. One Ìbàdàn Balógun, person from Ẹjìgbò inside Akala compound, wey lead Ìbàdàn sojas for di Battle of Ìkirun, wey dem also dey call di Jalumi war, wey dem fight for northeast of wetin be Ọ̀ṣun State today around 1 November 1878. Ìbàdàn sojas under im command beat di confederate sojas well-well for dat fight, push Ìlọrin's sojas enter inside Otin river, where plenty of dem drown; Jalumi roughly mean to fall inside water. Im die on 7 April 1879, and command of Ìbàdàn sojas come pass go meet Ọ̀ṣúngbẹkun, wey later sign di 1886 peace treaty join with Ògèdèńgbé.

Àdùlójú of Adó-Èkìtì. Balógun of Adó from 1874 and, as most tori talk, na person wey dey di same time with Ògèdèńgbé and rival am sometimes, no be say na im boy im be. Sources wey talk about im stand on di Kiriji war itself no agree with each oda: some tori put am among di commanders wey dem name for di confederacy, while at least one detailed tori talk say im refuse all di appeals wey Ògèdèńgbé and Fabunmi dey beg am make im join di fight directly, and instead im send one lieutenant make im stand for am. Dis document no try to judge dat disagreement, and e put di two positions down instead of to pick one. Wetin everybody agree on na im level as big independent power on im own: wen British officer Robert Lister Bower write list of Yorùbá war chiefs wey dem feel say dey cause wahala enough to arrest for 1894, Àdùlójú name dey inside with Fabunmi and Ògèdèńgbé own.

"Balógun Alí." Dis name na real wahala for secondary literature, because e refer to two different men for two different wars wey almost forty years dey between dem, and sources no dey always separate dem. One Balógun Alí na Hausa commander wey lead around five thousand sojas, mostly cavalry, for Ilọrin during di 1840 Battle of Òsogbo, di fight wey set di boundary limit of Sokoto-aligned expansion go inside Yorùbáland and wey dem cover from Ìbàdàn side inside [[the-yoruba-military-system]] and [[history-nineteenth-century-wars]]. Dem name another different Balógun Alí among Ìwó commanders for di Ìbàdàn coalition side during di later Kiriji war. Weda na di same person, or two men wey just get di same title and name, or na mistake of joining dem togeda wey spread pass secondary sources, dis file no fit settle am from wetin dem check, and because of dat, no claim about Ìwó cavalry doctrine or say na one continuous career dey here.