Matters Around Sokoto Jihad

Historical Society of Nigeria
THE SOKOTO JIHAD AND THE 'O-KUN' YORUBA: A REVIEW

Author(s): Ade. Obayemi
Source: Journal of the Historical Society of Nigeria, Vol. 9, No. 2 (June 1978), pp. 61-87
Published by: Historical Society of Nigeria
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THE SOKOTO JIHAD AND THE 'O-KUN' YORUBA:

A REVIEW
Ade. Obayemi
DepartmentofHistory
Division)
{Archaeology
AhmaduBello University
,
Zaria, Nigeria
In 1970, Mason published an article entitled The Jihad in the
South: An Outline of the Nineteenth Century Nupe Hegemony in
North-EasternYorubaland and Afenmai.1 This was an outgrowth
to his major study titled The Nupe Kingdom in the Nineteenth
Century: A Political History.2 In this paper, I discuss the same
nineteenthcenturyevents but with specific referenceto the northeastern Yoruba, namely Oworo, Ijumu, Abinu (Bunu), Ikiri,
Igbede, and Iyagba. For ease of reference,I followKrapf-Askariby
calling thesegroups the 'O-kun' aftera mode of salutation common,
though not exclusive to them.3 In a sense, this paper is also an
outgrowthto a more general study of the culture historyof these
groups for which my referencesare the oral and literarysources
material culture and archaeology.4
By 1800, it is clear that the Ijumu, Iyagba, Oworo, Abinu, Ikiri,
Igbede and Owe had occupied theirpresentgeographical positions,
south of the Nupe and Igbira Igu, west of the Igala, north of the
northernEdo, Akoko and Ekiti and east of the Igbomina (see map).
1. Mason, M. 1970- TheJihad in the South: An Outlineof the NineteenthCenturyNupe Hegemonyin North-EasternYorubalandand
AfenmaiQour. of the HistoricalSocietyof Nigeria,Vol. V, No. 2,
pp. 193-209.
r
2. Mason, M. 1969- The Nupe Kingdomsin the NineteenthCentury
A PoliticalHistory(Ph.D. thesis,Univ. of Birmingham,Centrefor
West AfricanStudies,541 pp., 8 maps.) A revisededition of this
workis in press.
3. Krapf-Askari,E. 1965- The Social Organization of the Owe
(AfricanNotes,Int. ofAfr.Studies,Ibadan, Vol. II, No. 3, pp. 9-12).
4. Obayemi, A. The North-EastYoruba:*A CultureHistory(forthcoming).
61

62
Journal of the Historical Society of Nigeria
Quite contrary to modern map-makers' conquests for ancient

imperialists, neither Oyo, Benin, Idah, nor the Nupe had any
manifest hold over any of these groups which then otganised

Sokoto Jihad and the 'O-kun9 Yoruba
63
into about one hundred independent 'mini-states'5. Typical of this

culture were the absence of dominant dynasties, of large urban
centres. Typical too was the independence of the collective settlementswithineach mini-state. During the nineteenthcentury,these
groups came to be affectedby events whose genesis lay elsewhere.
The new leadership in Nupeland in Ilorin and in Ibadan were the
initiatorsof those events- the Sokoto jihad-and its aftermathin the
lands of the Nupe and the Yoruba.
The earliestphase of a jihad led by Usman dan Fodio overlapped
with an unresolved succession dispute in Nupeland following the
reign of the Etsu (King) Mu'azu and the secession of Zugurma,
under his son Kolo.6 Neither of the two rivals, Jimada and Majia
had enough power to annihilate the other. Each led a faction of a
divided Nupe kingdom. Such a crisiswas probably not unknown in
the historyof that kingdom but the presence of mallam Dendo with
a followingof fellow Fulani saw the establishmentof a third force
and which reservedthe ultimatelydecisive balance of power. Representing as it did, an outpost for the militant Fulani -led movement
furthernorth, and allying itself with local Muslim elements, the
Dendo-Musa-Abdurrahman party could, and did receive the
supportof the main Caliphate army- an aid which theyhad used as
early as 1810. 7 Between this date and the year 1833 when Dendo
died, the judicious use of the balance of power on the side of either
of the rival Nupe princes had enhanced the power of the Fulani.
From their base at Rabba on the north bank of the river they
eclipsed the Nupe princes and could throw in their weight to aid
their counterparts at Ilorin. The combination of the yields from
raids, war booty, tribute and trade had made them the de facto
rulersof Nupeland by 1833 .
Afterthe death of Dendo in 1833, the pattern of alliances and
counter-alliances and the correspondingpower tussle became more
complicated as his sons, notably Usman Zaki and Masaba or
Dasaba, and the descendants of the rival Nupe princestogetherwith
5. Obayemi,A. The North-EastYoruba . . . (Chapterentitled"The
O-kun and Their NeighboursBefore1800"); Obayemi, A. 1977History;Cultureand Group Identity:The Case of the North-East
or O-kun Yoruba in Vol. I HistoryResearch at A.B.U. 1976-77,
Ahmadu Bello University,
Zaria, PostgraduateSeminars,Dept. of
History,mimeo.,27 + pp., 2 figs.For some discussionof the term
'mini-state'see Obayemi,A. 1976- The Yoruba and Edo-Speaking
Peoples and theirNeighboursBefore 1600 in Ajayi, J.F.A. & M.
Crowder,Historyof West Africa, Vol. I, 2nd ed. (Longman),
pp. 196-263.
6. Mason, 1969 The Nupe Kingdoms. . pp. 53-55.
7. ibid., pp. 56-58,67.

64
newlyestablished Fulani rulersat Lafiagi and Shonga in south-bank

Nupeland vied forthe leadership and for a new political order. The
seriesof civil wars, the rise and fall of many capitals and war-camps
and a sizeable number of political aspirants were terminatedby the
military and political settlement of 1856-7 when the successful
mediation by Gwandu led to a durable and regularised systemof
succession by Dendo's descendants. From this time too, Bida was to
remain the fixed seat of the new political order which controlled
most, but not all, of Nupeland. With this unified structurethe new
kingdom sought for expansion and exploited the surrounding
peoples in its drive for economic prosperity and local military
supremacy. The history of the reigns of Usman Zaki (1857-9,
Masaba (1859-73), Umaru Majigi (1873-82), Maliki (1882-94) and
Abubakar (1894-7) was the historyof one powerfulkingdom which
though not free from occasional internal strifebecame the prime
mover of events concerning the surrounding peoples of whom the
O-kun is a part. The British conquest of 1897 and its follow-up
marked the end of thisstate of affairs.
West of the O-kun, the collapse of the systemupon Old Oyo was
complete by 1837. After decades of constitutional crises, armed
revolts,secessionsand raids all of which had eroded the power of the
Alafin, Old Oyo lay in ruins. A Fulani-led group at llorn had
eclipsed and destroyedAfonja the local leader, a rebel against the
Alafin and who had earlier made the town his stronghold.8
Alafin's flightand the establishmentof a new Oyo furthersouth, as
well as a number of successor centres of military importance of
which Ijaye, Ibadan and Abeokuta were most famous, there was a
new alignment in the struggle for power in Yorubaland.9 The
struggleby llorn to follow-upits successes by extending its territory
southwardswas effectivelyhalted with their defeat by the Ibadan
0
armyat Oshogbo about 18381 . However, in the military,economic
8. Johnson,S. 1921- The Historyof the Yorubasfrom Earliest Times
to theBeginningoftheBritishProtectorate
(C.M.S. Lagos), pp. 188205; Law, R.C.C. 1977-The OyoEmpire(O.U.P.)
9. Ajayi,J.F.A. & R. Smith1964- Yoruba Warfarein the Nineteenth
Century(I.U.P. & C.U.P.); Biobaku, S.O. 1957- The Egb and
TheirNeighbours,1842-1872(O.U.P.)
10. Manywriterson thissubjecthave givenan 1840 date forthisevent;
Ajayi & Smith, 1964 Yoruba Warfare. .
pp. 33-36, 64. Others
followingS.A. Crowther(1841) etc. have upheld the 1838 date. See
Smith,A. 1977-A LittleNew Lighton the Collapseof theAlafinate
of Yoruba in Vol. I HistoryResearchat Ahmadu Bello University,
1976-77Session.Law, R.C.C. 1970- The Chronology
of the Yoruba
WarsoftheEarlyNineteenthCentury:A Reconsideration(J.H.S.N..
Vol. I, No. 2) also upholdthe1838date (p. 218).

Sokoto Jihad and the 'O-kun' Yoruba
65
and political sense, Ilorin remained the de facto successor to Old

Oyo in northernYorubaland. The effectivecheck on the southern
advance of Ilorin at Osogbo meant that easy expansion could only
be eastward. The Bariba and Nupe held the northern areas. An
eastward advaiice across Igbomina and northern Ekiti territories
was to bring the Ilorins as far as the Western districtsof O-kun
territory.
South of the O-kun, the halt of the Ilorin advance did not put an
end to the rivalries between the Yoruba states. The Ibadan
continued to extend their power through conquest into the Ekiti,
Igbomina, Akoko and Ijesa countries. Ibadan became the leading
Yoruba power especially after the destruction and annihilation of
Ijaye followingthe 1860-65 Ijaye war in which both Ijebu and Egba
(Abeokuta) had played important roles.11 The exploits of the
Ibadan were to bring them occasionally into the O-kun region.
These usually took indirect form: being the operations of
adventurerswith their private armies. In the scheme of things, the
part of Ekiti kingdoms was an ambivalent one. Though like the
O-kun the Ekiti were at a receiving end of Ibadan and Ilorin
offensive,some of their kingdoms, notably Ado operating through
individual adventurersserved as agents harryingthe south-western
flanksof O-kun territory.
In what ways did these background events affectthe O-kun and
what was their response? It has been much easier to give
impressionisticanswers to these questions largely because pf the
chronological problems which confrontsthe prospectivestudent of
this subject. In offering answers to the questions I divide the
episodes into threephases.
Before ca. 1845
The times before about 1845 are the most obscure with regards to
the involvementof the O-kun in the revolutionaryprocesses of the
nineteer#hcentury. But there is no doubt that they had already
found themselvesin the dilemma from which they could not free
themselvesbeforethe close of the century.Internal evidence bearing
on this specific period in any precise form is scanty. A general
pattern may be inferredfrom the stereotypeaccounts of presentday informants. Here and there, written records of European
travellersshed some light on the events of this phase, it is beyond
doubt, that neither Ibadan nor Ilorin had any part to play in the
11. Ajayi,J..F.A.& R. Smith1964- Yoruba Warfare. . Akintoye,
S.A.
1971- Revolutionand Power Politics in Yorubaland, 1840-1893:
Ibadan Expansion and the Rise of the Ekitiparapo (Longman),
pp. 33-75.

66
affairsof the O -kun in these earlier decades - the prime movers

being the Fulani, the new rulersof Nupeland.
It is known that the internal upheavals in Nupeland featured the
rise and decline of many centres of power. Such centres were not
only established fordefence but as bases fromwhence attacks were
launched. It is of no small importance that some of these centres
and battlefields were located on the south or right bank of the
Niger. Thus, apart from Lafiagi, and Shonga in the west,
Adamalelu (Adam agi), Ragada (Lagada), Kpada and Lade all at
shortdistances fromthe O -kun, featured as sites of battle, places of
refugeor as temporarycapitals.1 2 Within those decadesnofirregular
or sporadic 'warfare' characterised by surprise raids and a lack of
any genuine attemptsat "conquest" and regular administration,the
existence of the Nupe-Fulani capitals close to the O-kun could not
have been insignificant.
It remains a serious problem to tryand identifythe actual dates
when the offensiveagainst the O-kun was commenced. A most
useful source is Koelle's recordings from his informants. Yagba
informants,one each from Eri, Lasa (Ilasa) and Irele were all
enslaved about 183813 . The Eri informantwas captured and sold by
Nupe: the Irele one was 'taken in war by Fulani'. An Oworo
informantfromIka enslaved about 1823, told Koelle that he was the
victim of a friend's treachery.14 Two Ikiri informantsfrom Ebila
Taki were kidnapped about 1827 and 1835 respectively. The
'Dzumu' (Ijumu) now Abinu, informantfrom Igori stated that 'the
Nupes and Agoi, i.e. Phula invaded and conquered Dzumu
destroyingall its towns'. In spite of these specific accounts it is a
fatal blow that no hints were given by Koelle fromwhich we could
12. Perhapsforno otherNigerianpolityare so manycentresknownto

have functionedas seats of rulers,etc. as forthe Nupe Kingdom.
In timesearlierthan the nineteenthcentury,Nupeko,Jima,Gbara,
Mokwa,Rabba, Etsu,Kutigi,etc. are knownto have been seatsand,
or burial places of the etsuzhi (kings). See kinglistsin Dupigny,
E.G.M. 1920- Gazetteerof Nupe Province (Waterlow & Sons,
London), pp. 7-8. On the close connectionbetweenthe Nupe Kingdom^?) and theRiverNiger,see Nadel, S. F. 1935- The King'sHangmen: A Judicial Organisationin CentralNigeria (Man, I.A. Inst.,
London, XXXV: 143); Nadel, S. F. 1935- Nupe State and Community(Africa,I.A.I. , VIII:3, pp. 257-303).
13. This date has been arrivedat fromsimple calculationsfrominformationgivenin Koelle, S.G. 1854- PolyglottaAfricana(London),
pp. 5-6.
14. Koelle,ibid., p. 6.

67
inferthe dates of such an 'invasion'.16 All other contemporaryor

near contemporarysources do not give more than impressions of
Nupe-O-kun relationships at this time. The general insecurity
reportedby Clapperton in 1826 in the Oyo area may well have been
real for the O-kun as the agents were the ubiquitous Fulani.1 6 An
idea that the raids on the O-kun could have begun much earlier
than the third,or even the second decade of the nineteenthcentury
is to be formed from traditions recorded by Sciortino that:
"Instigated by Mallam Dendo, Jimada commenced raiding the
Yagba and Yoruba countryinland".1 7
The resume of O-kun oral traditionsrelating to this period is that
on their own, the O-kun did not wage war on each other nor on
theirneighbours. The disturbersof the peace were the Gon-ni-gon,
identified as armed raiders and career kidnappers from Yorubaland. The greatestenemy and the leading invaders were the Ibon,
the local name forthe Takpa or Anupe (Nupe). The firstphase, in
O-kun view, was when the Ibon came and asked the O-kun to serve
them by paying tribute. Payment was then in cowries, the common
currencyof the times. Aftersome time, cowries were said to be no
longer there, local refusals and showdowns brought Nupe armies.
There are vivid stories of Ibon sieges against walled O-kun settlementsbut one easy reaction by otherswas to evacuate theirexposed
homes formore defensibleand inaccessible locations.
It appears unrealistic to imagine that this summary of the local
accounts of the revolution was the whole story,but contemporary
documentation by European visitorsand by those of African descent
substantiate the general theme. When the local traditions speak
about 'war' it is not the pitched battle involvingthousands or even
hundreds. Before the coming of the Fulani-Nupe in the nineteenth
15. Oral traditions
recordedbythewritersince 1969 and thosecontained
in DistrictNote-booksand AssessmentReports especiallybetween
1913 and 1920 are not usefulhere. A suggestionof an 1827 date for
the onsetof the dominationof Okaba-Owe (Kabba) mightwell be
correctbut the authorityforthis date cannot now be determined.
Davies, P. T. 1959- Notes on Kabba Division (Divisional Office,
of Obaro (Kings)of Owe (Kabba).
Kabba), typewrittenChronology
16. Clapperton, H./1829 Journal of a Second Expedition into the
InteriorofAfricafromtheBightofBenin to Soccatoo (JohnMurray,
and references
to therequestsofthe
London). In Clappertons writings
chiefsit is impliedthat even such presumablyformidableand large
settlements
as Shaki, Kusu, and even Oyo lie itselfhad accepted the
threat of the 'Fulani' and allied raiders as being beyond their
control.See pp. 24-28,39, 44-45.
17. Sciortino,J.C.: Historyof the Nupe Kings and the Founding of
Pateji in Burdon,J.A. 1909-Northern Nigeria: HistoricalNotes on
CertainEmiratesand Tribes(London), p. 18.

68
century,the local 'wars' of the oral traditions were no more than

skirmishes sometimes leading to a few deaths among the
combatants. These were occasional assaults to avenge wrongdoings. They had no territorial,economic or political ambitions.
That these territoriallysmall agricultural polities were raided by
theirneighbourswho belonged to larger political units is recalled in
traditionsabout the Gon-nigon18 and indeed, four out of Koelle s
seven O -kuninformantswho were enslaved in thisearlier phase were
victimsof kidnapping.
It is more difficultto give a picture of a systematicpayment of
tribute in this early phase as this implies the establishment of a
regular administrative network. The frequent changes in the
relative fortunesof the Nupe princes during this period and the
absence of any one stable governmentin Nupeland argue against
such a development. Here, the contemporary documents have
greater credibility.Koelle's informants,like Laird and Oldfield in
theirjournal (1 832-4) emphasize surpriseraids whose purpose was to
catch slaves and to keep alive a feeling of insecurityfor the O -kun
through sporadic harassment. As eye witness of such raids,
especially in February 1834, Laird noted:
"I learnt at this time, that Felatahs were still about Egga and
on the terrifiednatives ...
In
Kacundah, levyingcontributions
a
the
Felatahs
the
inflict
most
cruel
town,
comingsuddenlyupon
torturesupon the more wealthyinhabitantsto compel them to
discovertheirproperty.This horde of barbariansset fireto almost
everycity, town, or village which they visit in their predatory
excursions".19
The responseof the O -kunand of theirneighbours are noted here
and therein these European accounts. For the dwellersof the river18. Present-day
informants
identifythe Gon-ni-gon(wordwhoseetymology I cannot determine) as Yoruba including 'Ibadan' and
presumablybands of adventurersand kidnappers,made up of
personsfromthe Oyo lie area especiallythosedisplaced duringthe
secondand thirddecades of the nineteenthcentury.ThctGon-ni-gon
phase (Ogun Gon-ni-gon= Gon-ni-gonWar) is placed beforethe
'Bida War* by informants.Nupe sources describe a Ganega war
like Agonnigonin the Yoruba novel
(ca.1884) but thusidentification
byChiefFagunwacannotbe harmonisedwiththeO-kunusage of the
term. For a confusedcontemporary
referenceto Agoniga which it
see C.M.S./CA33038, The Journalskept
claims to be a settlement,
bymeJamesThomas,citedbyMason, 1970- TheJihad. . ., p. 197.
19. Laird, M. & R.A. K. Oldfield,1837-Narrative of an Exploration
into the Interiorof Africaby the RiverNiger, in the Steam-Vessels
Quorra and Alburkah,in 1832, 1833 and 1834 (Richard Bentley,
London),Vol. II, pp. 280-281.

69
bank, the pattern was simple. As in 1832, so in the 1840's and

1850*8:
"... thewholeof the inhabitantson that (western)side of the river
gavenoticeoftheirapproachbyflyingin dismayto theoppositebank
which for many miles was covered with their barracoons, or
hutshastilyerectedofmats . . . puttingthe riverbetween
temporary
themand the Felatahswho beingdestituteof boats could not follow
them."20
With the withdrawal of the Nupe-Fulani invaders, the villagers
usually returnedto rebuild or re-rooftheir dwelling. An increasing
frequency of the attacks led to the permanent abandonment of
many riverinesettlementsand the permanence of left-banksettlements intended initially to be no more than temporary refugee
camps.
For the inhabitantsof the hinterlandabout whom we lack specific
documentation, th options in the face of mounted raids are fairly
clear. Withdrawals were in the direction of inaccessible places-on
hill-tops,caves and rock-sheltersas well as in the patches of rain and
gallery forestwhere visibilitywas limited and cavalry movements
difficult.It appears too that as early as the 1840*5or even earlier,
the O-kun were adopting the strategy of artificial defences by
building walls with ditches around their dwellings. The walls and
ditchesstillvisible today do not followa consistentpattern and since
no archaelogical excavations have been conducted along any of
them, the dates of constructionare not offeredhere. That many of
themdate back to thisearlier phase of the Nupe offensiveis however
clear. Such probably were the walls (odi) around the three Owe
settlements- Ikatu, Odolu and Okaba (the present-day Kabba),
of the Abinu townsof Ole (Olle), Ohura, and Akpaa, of Akutukpa
1
(Ikiri) and others.2 A wall had also been built around Addakudu
(Odokodo or Adankolo) to protectit on three sides while the Niger
secured it on the fourthside.2 2
The sociological implications of the construction of defensive
walls around some settlementsare discussed later but it is important
to note that while refugeesettlementswere therebycreated, it made
no substantial changes to the overall political or military organisation of the people. Any forcesof cohesion among distinct O-kun
polities were too ephemeral to combat the military might and
sustained inroads of the Fulani-led forcesespecially after1856. This
saw a remarkably different pattern from the features of the
20. Laird & Oldfield,1837-Narrative . . ., Vol. I, pp. 246-247.
- The North-EastYoruba. . ., Chapter
21. Obayemi,A. (forthcoming)
and a Crisis".
titled"The O-kunSettlements
22. Schon,J.F. & S. Crowther,1842- Journalsof the Rev. J.F. Schon
and Mr. Samuel Crowther
(Hatchard,London),pp. 295-7.

70
preceding decades when Majiya, Dendo and finally Masaba wer

the sponsorsof sporadic raids. By the early 1840 s, the O -kun groups
had been severallyshaken but the old socio-political order was not
yetchanged.
A Second Phase ca. 1845-1882
Some eventsof 1845 seems to mark the beginning of a new systemin
the area involving llorn, Ibadan and Dendo s descendants. The
date 1845 is specificallysuggestedas the time when:
"... thefamousBalogunAli of llornwithIbadan aid attackedlye.
Aftereleven defeats in the field, the lye people scattered and
eventuallythe main bodyof the fugitivessettledon the presentsit
of Itaji, to whomthe land belongs".23
of Aiyedewiththepermission
The year 1845 also apparently marked the date when the intervention of Gwandu in Nupe politics effected a peace settlement
which confirmed Masaba in office as Etsu Nupe. His seat was at
Lade.24 From Lade it is stated in some accounts that Masaba sent
out militaryexpeditions against the Oworo and as far to the southeast in the territoryof the Kukuruku (Afenmai or northernEdo). It
is to be noted howeverthat the post-1845 attacks were not the firstin
these parts. The records of members of the 1832-4 and 1841
expeditions give copious coverage of the sporadic raids which they
witnessed or heard of in those years. Masaba Y incessant intrigues
and the militaryadventureswhich made him the key figurein Nupe
politics in these decades were to back-fireon him thus terminating
this phase of his paramountcy. His operations among the northbank Nupe succeeded in unitingall his enemies against him and in a
rising against him about 1852, he fled south into Yagba taking
23. Swane, A.C.C. 1935- IntelligenceReport on the Aiyede District

(NigerianNational Archives,Ibadan, C. S. 0. 26/31014), p. 5. Also
Briscoe,V.F., 1919- Assessment
Report(NationalArchives,Raduna,
141P/1919).
24. Dupigny,1921- Gazetteer. . ., pp. 10, 13; Mason, 1^69- The Nupe
Kingdoms. . ., pp. 89-90, 92, 98-99. The Lade phase in O-kun
experienceis fixedin song. A dance musiccalled ikpayeat fe (but
close to adon at Adde both in Ijumu), is said t& have
stylistically
as
originated a wardance. AtUfe-Ijumuwhereikpayeis stilla regular
one hears:
partofsecondburialritesfornon-Christians
Arikukul'etiOya;
Ero Lede (Lade) e mo tubereOhinlowogha ero Lede."
(Arikuku(literallypigeons)on the bank of the Niger,Lade folkstop
demandingtributefromus).

71
refuge within Egbe town.25 The final phase of the succession

strugglein Nupeland was broughtto an end by the wars of 1855-7 in
which the combined forcesof royalists(Umaru Majigi, Usman Zaki,
Masaba and some of the supportersof the old dynasty)fought and
defeated the rebel commander Umaru Bahaushe. A peace
settlementfollowed. Usman Zaki was installed as king. Masaba was
tipped as his successor. Bida became capital. With a unified
programme, the kingdom began its career as the stable core of a
new system- politically,militarilyand economically.26
Between 1845 and 1857, it is difficultto delimit the areas of
converged
operations of one power vis-a-visthe others whose thrust
or overlapped in the lands of the O-kun. One complicating factor in
the military politics of these times was the role of individual
adventurerswiththeirprivate armies who operated fromNupeland,
Ibadan, Ekiti and probably llorn. Of this, Aduloju of Ado,
Latosa of Ibadan, Aje or Ayorinde (also an Ibadan) feature in the
traditionsof the O-kun, although it was with the adjacent Akoko
7
countrythat these are more positivelyassociated.2 The operations
of these adventures, notably Aje's did provoke counter-invasions
thus becoming a factor in the diplomacy ofxthe three principal
parties- Bida, Ilorin and Ibadan.
Individual Ekiti towns also had their own designs but of these,
Aiyede had the most important role in O-kun politics. This new
polity, under the Balogun (later Ata) Esubiyi was to flourish as a
semi independent agency, largely subservient to Ibadan and
carryingwithit the settlementsof Omu Ijelu, Itakpaji (Itapaji), Oke
Ako, Irele and Ogbe as well as the parent settlement of lye.28
25. Mason, M., 1969- The Nupe Kingdoms. . pp. The Jihad . .
referto theresidenceof Masaba
pp. 196-7.At Egbe, local informants
in the town- sometimesin legendarytermsas Idachaba, a Muslim
divinewhoseprayersworkedwonders.Miracle and prophecyapart,he is associatedin some accountswithIsaba, one of thecompoundsof
Egbe. Forone renderingof thesetraditionssee Dada, J.A. A History
ofEgbe (in manuscript),p. 15. I am gratefulto Mr. Dada foraccess
to thiswork.
26. The desireto shiftthebase of thekingsfromBida back to Rabba was
cherishedforthe firstfewyearsafterthe defeatof Umaru.
strongly
The movenevertookplace and Bida has sinceremainedthe base of
operationsof theDendo dynasty.Mason, 1969- The Kingdoms. .
pp. 178-181.
documentationand the contextof the adventures
27. The contemporary
are discussedin Mason, 1969-The Nupe Kingdoms
, pp. 190-192;
S.A. 1971- RevoMason 1970- TheJihad . . pp. 197-8;Akintoye,
lution. . pp. 9-10.
28. Swayne,M., 1935- IntelligenceReport. . pp. 6-7; Akintoye,
S.A.,
1971- Revolution. . pp. 9-10.

72
Aiyede as a local 'power became a centre for raids against

surroundingpeoples. It was also an ally that could be called upon to
interveneiii O -kuninter-settlement
squabbles and a place of refuge
fordisplaced or threatenedO -kunpeople.
Viewing eventsof the times in the O-kun districtsretrospectively,
we can see that apart fromthese peripheral involvementsof Ibadan
and llorn and theiragents as allies, Bida under its Fulani rulerswas
the dominant partner in the militarypolitics. It appears clear that
the reignsof Masaba (1859-73) and f Umari Majigi (1873-82) saw
the integration of the O-kun into some systematictribute-paying
relationship with Bida. If the O-kun could be described as
belonging to an 'empire' it was in the period covered by these two
reigns. One source notes forthis reign of Masaba that "the Yagbas
appear to have had quite an affectionforhim".2 9
In the eastern or Oworo sector, it was during this period that an
all-embracing or pan-Oworo kingship institutionemerged around
the personalityfirstof Okpoto of Ika who is regarded as the firstOlu
of all the Oworo.3 0 The recognitionby the Bida Fulani of one of the
host of olus ruling the multi-settlementmini-states of the Oworo
area must have been a measure of great administrative convenience for the former as it would have eased the task of tribute
collection. The inherentweakness of introducing the concept of a
paramount chieftaincyamong a people who never possessed such
beforeand who at any rate had no traditionof regular dynastieswas
howeverimmediatelyapparent afterthe death of Olu Okpoto. Both
Agbosi, Olu of Jakura (5km from Ika) and Aba, Olu of Agbaja
assumed the leadership of the Oworo. In the clashes which ensued,
Olu Aba of Agbaja came off better.31 The issue of a centralised
Olu-ship of Oworo had been, ever since, a controversial one.32
29. Nigeria National Archives, Raduna - Anonymous MS, Yagba
, KABDIST.
History
recordedbytheauthorat Agbaja fromthe late Olu
30. Oworotraditions
Mundi and the elders,on 13 Aug. 1970. Two manuscriptsin the
custodyof the late Olu, titled Oworo Historical Summary(4pp.)
and The BriefBiographyon Chieftaincyin Aworo District(3pp)
are both undated. The firstof the two compositions,signedby one
Salihu and marked FBO/Morito,gives account of Okpoto of Ika
in the textbut excludeshim fromhis kingliston p. 4. I was allowed
to copybothdocumentsintomyownnotebook.
31. The Agbaja MSS in footnote30 contain accountsof the struggles.
32. Agreementby the Oworo on a successorto the Olu Mundi was not
reached until the Government
of%KwaraState intervenedin 1975.
A panel was set up by the MilitaryGovernorand the candidatethey
recommendedwas installed,ending a disputethat lasted formore
thanthreeyears.

Sokoto Jihad and the 'O-knn' Yoruba
73
In the central sector (Ikiri and Abinu and the 'Bunu' of the
Nupe), the pattern was also one which gave recognition to a local
coordinator fortributeintended for Bida. Thus the oral traditions
are unanimous that the firstof such a coordinator was the Olu
Gbelege of Taki on the northernfrontierof the O-kun Yoruba with
the Nupe-speaking Kupa-Abuji-Eggan populations. Afterthe death
of Olu Gbelege, the Eleso Akiimo of Ohura stepped into his shoes.
This Eleso was killed in war and he was succeeded in his role as the
principal agent for Bida for Olu Maaki (Mayaki) with his base at
Akpaa (Oke Ajo). The Obaro Alemeru of Odo Ape (Oke Meta) is
representedin the traditions as the successor to Olu Maaki. The
formerwas reigningat the time of the Britishconquest.3 3
As was the case in Oworo, the appointment of individuals as
over-all "heads" had no precedents. Indeed, Gbelege of Taki,
Akiimo of Ohura and Maaki of Akpaa were upstartswho owed their
power solely to their personal standing with the Fulani in Bida.
None of them was Olu in any proper constitutionalsense. They were
usurpers who eclipsed or suppressed the legitimate Olu at Ohura
and Akpaa. Indeed a 1914 recording noted that Gbeleke was:
. . an alien whom Masaba appointedover the Bunu District.He
stationedhimselfat Taki".34
and of 'Mai-aiki' that:
"He was a Bunu who was bornin the Wawa (Iwoa) sub-district
and
hisreal name is forgotten
or concealed . . . He allied himselfto the
invadersand ultimatelyrose to the positionof lieutenantto Belege
overthe South Bunu, withheadquarters
(Gbelege) and tax-collector
'
at Akpara(Akpaa) whomhe deposed".35
The southernfrontierof the authorityof the 'Bunu' tax supervisors
is now unknown, though present-day informants say that this
extended as far south with Bida influence in Akoko and northern
Edo countries. Indeed, the Elese Akiimo was killed at Arigidi
(Akoko) wherehe was fightingforthe Fulani of Bida.3 6
In the westernor Iyagba sector, things are equally hazy as far as
this phase is concerned. One complicating factor is that for the
western Iyagba mini-states at least, Iyagbaland had been a
partitioned territorywith claims and counter-claims typical of an
area where claims overlap. Another factor is the personal relation-
33. Odo-Ape(Abinu) traditions

recordedbythewriterin 1970.
34. James, H.B., 1914- Bunu District (National Archives,Raduna,
12P/1914).
35. ibid.
36. Ohura traditions
(Abini;)recordedbywriterfromChiefMofa Bakewo
ofOhura in 1971.

74
ships of Masaba with individual towns. Egbe 'Pou' and 'Isanlu'

(PSanlu Esa Plhonlu) had sheltered Masaba (Dasaba) as a refugee
during the years of his political adventures(1852-6). 3 7 He had also
raised armed support from these parts and thus one could expect
some political favoursforthese people with the improvementin his
fortuneswhen he became secure as king in Bida from 1859 to 1873.
The onlycontemporaryeye witnessrecord, the account by D.J. May
who was in these parts in June and July 1858, throwssome light on
the complex situation:
"The town (Egbe) I found enjoyinga most unusual amount of
politicalfreedom;it had no Ajele in it, and was entirely
subjectto no
power, for which privilegesthe price was, tributeto its strong
neighboursat Eshon(Aiyede),to llorn,and to the kingof Nupe".38
Admittedly,this was only a year after the restoration of political
stabilityin Nupeland with the establishmentof Bida but Egbe, and
Ikoro (Koro) nearby were enjoying some 'unusual' peace as late as
January1895 when Lugard passed throughboth places.3 9
That this'peace' was not available to all Iyagba polities is obvious
from May's journal. As he noted for Ejiba, only a few kilometres
away to the north-east:
"... thenexttownon myrouteI foundentirelysubjectto, and with
an Ajeleofthelatter(Nupe) in it".40
Also, he arrivedin time to record a kidnapping raid on Agboro by 'a
partyof llorn people'.41 The involvementof the Iyagba with the
politics of Nupe, llorn, Ibadan, Aiyede and Ekiti in general has
repercussions to the present time. Indeed before the end of the
nineteenth century, Eri had been ceded to llorn by Bida in
exchange forShare.4 2 Also, at some stage, the leadership at Ejuku
37. The identification
of'Pou' is problematic.Isanluis thename borneby
(a) an Igbomina town (Isanlu-Isin) (b) a north-west
Yagba state
furtherdefined as Sanlu-Esa whose settlementsincluded Okaara,
Okunron, Okoloke, Ijodo, (c) another north-centralYagba state
called Ihonlu in the local speech but now writtenalso as Isanlu. Of
thesethreeSanlu Esa wouldappear to be themoreprobableone as a
place ofrefugeby Masaba. Her townswerelocated 15 to 50kmfrom
Lade and betweenLade and Egbe.
38. May, DJ., 1860-Journeyin the Yoruba and Nupe countriesin
1858 (Jour,oftheRoyalGeographicalSociety,Vol. 30, p. 225).
39. Perham,M. (ed.), 1963- The DiariesofLord Lugard, 1895 (Faber &
Faber, London), Vol. IV, p. 267. Lugard's Ikiru in the entryfor
3 Jan. 1895 is evidentlyIkoro or Koro "the most easterntown of
llorn".
40. May,1860- Journey. . p. 225.
41. ibid., p. 226-7.
42. Lugard 1895 tn rerham (ed.), lhe Viennes. .
entrytor 10 Jan.
1895.

75
had emerged as the collectors of tribute for Bida - no doubt along

the lines of the arrangementsin 'Bunu' and Oworo furthereast.4 3
Not fittingeasily into the Oworo, 'Bunu' i.e. the Owe, Ighara,
Ogidi, Ufe, Ikoyi, Adde, Eega, Ojo and Iya. In the Bida reckoning,
parts of these were regarded as Iyagba and parts as 'Bunu'. It
appears that some time during this,phase, the Owe settlementof
Okaba (Kabba) had emerged as collaborators with the*Nupe. It
appears as if certain Owe settlementshad been target for invasion
by Bida in what is referredto as the Gberi (Berri) war.44 The Owe
chiefs(Obaro) seem to have been a faithfulfollowerof the Nupe - a
role theyplayed until 1897 when residentBida agents were forced to
make theirfinal withdrawal.45
This new pattern of the attachment of the O-kun to Bida had
seen a modification, though a superficial one, of the political and
economic systemof the O-kun. The presence of Nupe ogba or ajele
(= tax overseers) enforced the flow of local produce and skills
towards Nupeland. Apart from the loss of peoples in the enforced
migrationinto Nupeland, therewere no radical changes in the local
products or the means of production. Raids for slaves and
kidnappings especially on the non-official basis continued as one
townor the other tried to meet its quota of tributepayable to Bida.
Survivingoral traditions and contemporary writtenrecords agree
that besides thisregular tribute,the wealth of the rich became liable
to confiscation after the deceased of local notables and when such
wealth with other fixed propertyshould have gone to brothersand
children as heirs of the dead. The case of Olu Aba of Agbaja,
reputably the richest man in Oworo of his time is on record. His
death, recorded on 17 January1864 was followed by the observation
that all his propertywent to Masaba in Bida.4 6 Another witnessfor
the events following the death of Ajeto (PAejoto) of Agbaja also
notes that verylittleof his enormous amount of wealth ever reached
his heirs "... for the Benu of Bida hastened down to Patiagwaja
43. James, H.B., 1914- Yagba District AssessmentReport (N.A.K.
218/1914)statesthat ". . . the headmen of Juku[Ejuku] collected
tributeforthe emir of Bida. The contemptand hatredwithwhich
that town is regardedseems to uphold this assertion."An Ejuku
man, Idaloke, was sentback fromBida to act as collectorof taxes
in Masaba's time.
44. Traditions about Ogun Gberi is well-knownto Owe elders- and
accordingto earlierarchivalmaterialGberi headed a revoltof all
Owe settlements
fromwhichOkaba (Kabba) excludeditself.
45. Vandeleur,Lt. S., 1898- Campaigningin the UpperNile and Niger
(Methuen, London), p. 170; Mason, 1969- The Kingdom . .
pp. 373-4,464-5.
46. ChurchMissionarySocietyPapers- marked CA.3/038. Confluence
1864-5.

76
7
[Egbaja] to take charge of things".4 Thus the Fulani aristocracyin
Bida became the inheritorsof the property(Ogun) of deceased. It
appears also that skilled craftsmen and women were carried to
Nupeland and the cloth-weaversfromthe O -kun area were famous.
The appointment of overall tax-supervisors each based in a
principal settlement(Taki, Ohura, Akpaa, Okaba, Ejuku Ika and
Agbaja) must have boosted the population of such settlements
temporarilywith the human "commission" held back by the tax
agents. In a sense, the appointment of individuals to exercise responsibility beyond their own immediate mini-state was an
innovation in the political historyof the O -kun. The underlying
political structureshoweverdid not sufferdirect changes especially
because the new system had no other motive but the economic
exploitation of the O -kun. Religion, the ostensible reason for the
jihad' which was thus waged on the O -kun, was never an issue.
Conversionsor non-conversionto Islam played no part whatsoever
in O -kun Bida relationships.48
One directionalong which the O-kun-Bida relationswas to have a
most revolutionaryimpact was the military. On the one hand the
pressures continued to call for increasing resourcefulnessin the
defence of settlements,the protectionof farms and markets. Thus,
settlementswalls withditches (as at Egbe), hill-toplocation of settlements (as at Agboro) and the provision of armed escorts for local
travelwere all documented forthis period.4 9 One may perhaps not
make too much of such reactionsbecause people, like those of Ejiba,
had not had reason to change the locations of their settlementsnor
to build town-walls.
The O-kun attachment to Bida had also made it compulsoryfor
them to contributedirectlyto the war effortof Bida in addition to
47. Mai Maina, 1858- La barin Mat Maina Na Jega, Sarkin Askira
(NORLA, Zaria), translatedand re-isuedas Part II of Kirk-Greene,
A.H. M. & P. Newman,1971- WestAfricanTravelsand Adventures:
Two Autobiographical
Narratives
fromNorthernNigeria(Yale Univ.
Kirk-Greene
translates
Mai
Maina's Patiagwaja as Patiagoja
Press).
(135). Pati Agbaja refersto Agbaja: hill- pati beingthe Nupe word
forhill or highland.Ajeto is shownas the last of the pre-1897 Olus
ofAgbaja in theAgbaja MSS citedin footnote30 above.
48. The entryof Islam intothe O-kundistrictsdate effectively
fromthe
firstand seconddecades of the twentieth
century.It came into most
of the O-kunsettlements
withChristianity;
an effectively
side-by-side
twentieth
feature.
century
49. May, 1860- Journey. . ., p.
; and Lugard in Perham(ed.), 1963,
of Egbe townwalls and ditches.Flegel,
p. 268 giveclear descriptions
R., 1882- Die Flegelsche Expedition (Mitteilungen der Afr.
in Deutschland,3, 1882, pp. 137-145). I am gratefulto
Gesselschaft
Wilhelm& Gisela Seidensticker
for a translationof this document.

4
'
Sokoto Jihad and the O-kun Yoruba
77
the usual tribute payments. According to O-kun informantsthey

had to raise levies of men. They had to provide food and other
provisionsfor themselvesand for their masters services for which
theygot verylittleif anything.Oral traditions,some in song which
referto events of the 1845-73 events highlightlocal feelings about
the O-kun participation in offensivesby Bida of which that at
Arigidi (a.1863-18) is outstanding.50 Thus were the O-kun
introduced to regular warfare with sieges and assaults and for a
people without regular armies or regular militaryinstitutions,this
was revolutionary.Successful warriorsemerged to undertake raids
forslaves forwhich theybuilt up theirown followings.The exposure
of O-kun to regular warfaremust have prepared them forthe revolts
that were a featureof the next phase.
A Third Phase: about 1882-1897
Violence, mass movementsof peoples and attendant sufferingare
emphasized in the sources as being more characteristicof this final
phase than forthe preceding. This was the time of war' proper. A
great number of settlementswere to disappear fromthe map due to
militaryconfrontationduring this phase. As was shown by eventsof
the preceding phases, the local happenings were the response to the
'international'relationsof the timesof which those in Nupeland and
Yorubaland (Ibadan and llorn) were significant.
By the seventies, and even before Masabas death in 1873, the
stabilityof the political order in Bida had meant the accumulation
of an increasinglylarge group of 'royalists'and theirdependants. To
50. At Ufe-Ijumuthe etu {Jeku)dance still performedat wake-keeping
partiesin the funeralfortitledones has a song based on the Ogun
Arigidior ArigidiWar. The song leader's wordscould be abridged
thus:
Egbe, . . . omode . . . ijoye, obinrinetc. hun m'a a r'ogunArigidi
Ogun Arigidimo n'ewu,Ogun Arigidi
Ijo mo yunogunArigidi. . . 1'ijomo yun-ogunArigidi
Oko i dun bun-bun-bunOgun Arigidi!
O le mi,le mi,mo bo gha'leo mo mo kp ewuyo
Kun me un mu kpe'wuyo?
O no rone e gbe l'oguno, mi ma kp'ewuyo.
The youth,thejuveniles,the titledones, the womenetc. all nominatedme fortheArigidiwar.
Yet theArigidiwaris mostperilous.
The day I wentto thewarat Arigidi
Bulletstheywhizzedand whizzedat theArigidiwar.
I was hotlypursuedbutgotback homesafely.
Buthowcould I nothaveescapedthedanger?
A levy(conscript
doesnotperishin war . . . thusI survived.

78
run and maintain such a huge establishment, it was necessary to

keep a steady flow of tribute and to extend the area over which
tribute could be levied.51 Revolts were therefore speedily
suppressed. Expediences had come to include the establishmentof
slave farmsaround Bida and elsewherein Nupeland.5 2 To meet the
increasing need of free (slave) labour and in order to pay for the
wars levied by Bida, the military and other operations which
procured slaves were prosecuted in areas where none of the
emergentstateshad claimed as its own. Thus, followingthe Arigidi
war, efforthad been made by Bida to cross into the Igala area.
There, the Bussa Nge halted the Bida forces before Shintaku in
1868.53 AfterMasabas death, Umaru Majigi his successor waged
war on the Igbira Tao.54 There were engagements at Ogidi and
Aduge and finallyin the hills of the present-dayOkene area. A sort
of Pyrrhic victory was won by Bida. This was in the 1874-75
season.55 In 1878-9 Umaru Majigi also besieged Oka in the Akoko
area but he had to withdrawto deal withother mattersin Nupeland
and without subduing Oka.56 The failure at Oka may well have
shown the O -kun that the forces of Bida were, after all, not
invincible.
Eventsin Yorubaland were also taking a new shape in the 1878-9
period. The Ekiti, Ijesa, Igbomina and some Akoko had resolved to
free themselvesfrom Ibadan rule. With a rallying point at Otun
theyhad resortedto an alliance - the Ekiti Parapo, with the aims of
defeating and destroyingfor ever the power of Ibadan.57 The
Ibadan-Ekitiparapo war broke out in 1879 and although the
sporadic fightingat the Kiriji camps was to cease in 1886, the war
did not end till 1893. florinfeatured more as an ally of the Ekiti51. Mason, 1969- The Nupe Kingdom. . pp. 300-303.
52. Mason, M., 1973- Capttveand CitentLabour and the Economyoj
the Bida Emirate, 1857-1901 (Jour.Afr. Hist., Vol. XIV, No. 3,
pp. 453-471.
53. Sourcesrelatingto thiseventare examinedm Abaniwo,J.A., 1973A Historyof Bassa-Nge up to 1920 (B.A. Dissertation,Dept. of
AhmaduBello University).
History,
54. Mason, 1970-The, Jihad. . pp. 198-199.*or a moredetailedstuay
of the Igbira sourcesrelatingto this = the Ajinomo War = see
Ibrahim, Y.A., 1968- The Search for Leadership in a Nigerian
Community:The Igbirra-Tao, c. 1865-1954(unpubl. M.A. thesis,
AhmaduBello University).
55. Though victorious,the Igbira did not wishforanotherattack:they
decided to pay tributeto Bida. Mason, 1969- The Kingdom . .
pp. 265-270.
56. Mason, 1970- TheJihad. . pp. 199-200;1959- The Kingdom
pp. 277-83.
57. Akintoye,
1971- Revolution. . pp. 76 et seqq.

9
'
Sokoto Jihad and the O-kun Yoruba
79
parapo during these engagements- especially because its own

interestsoverlapped withthose of the Ekitiparapo.5 8
If Umaru Majigi had managed the increasing demands and
responsibilitiesof the systemcentred upon Bida, his successor Maliki
resorted to more desperate measures to keep the system going.
During Maliki's reign the O-kun area was divided among royalist
fief-holders.The increasinglyburdensome demands for tributehuman tributefroman already-taxed people, with its consequences
of declining populations, declining economic productivity and
increasing social insecurityagainst raids for slave drove the 0:kun
into open revolt. Regular or co-ordinated administration had
become more difficultas the O-kun had to attempt to throwoffthe
Nupe yoke in the O-kun region. These revoltsfollowed no consistent
pattern.
An alliance, forged by the central Iyagba towns of Ife, Ilae,
Ogbe, Eri, Ejiba Takete, Isao, Ejuku, Ikpon-on, Oke Agi, Ogbom
and probably others was defeated in a single engagement near
Ijagbe in which the poor generalship (if any) of these towns was the
most decisive factor.59 Then followed the attack and piecemeal
destructionof the settlementsof the Iyagba areas and the annual
harassmentsof those that remained.60 Individual towns,sometimes
made formidable resistance. Thus, at Ewuta (life territory)Audu
Yama, brotherof Muhammadu (subsequently emir) was killed by
the Iyagba in an engagement.61
One outstandingfeaturein the historyof the O-kun in this period
was the movementsof people followingthe imminentor completed
attacks of existing settlements. Thus, whole towns, notably in
Aginmi, Ohun, life, Isao, Imela, Iya, etc. were completely
58. Akintoye,
op. cit.,pp. ,107-8,111-4.
59. Information
about this Ijagbe encounterrecordedwithinthirty
years
afterit happened leaves the impressionthat this was "the largest
gathering of Yagbas formed to fight their common enemy.
Detachmentscame fromIfe, Ejuku, Takile [Takete], Isawo, Ikinrin
and Ogboru [Ogbom] and Ogbe, Eri and Ejiba . . . with
[PEkinrin],
severalchiefsamongthem,but theyhad no leader . . . They concentratednear Takite . . . The Fulani-Nupeunder Abubakar moved
fromIsanluand formeda camp atJagbe[Ijagbe] . . . WhentheYagba
forceswereout on theeast bank [ofthe Oyi river], the enemysprang
out . . . completelysurroundingthem. It is said that not a man
"
escaped death or slavery. National Archives,Raduna, KABDIST
Yagba History(no number).
60. This is the impressiongiven by present
-day informantsand the
evacuationof manyof the settlements
forless accessibleplaces was
morewidespreadin thedecade after1885-6.
61. H.B. James,op. cit. ChiefEleta of Ife-Olukotun,the leader of the
Ewuta compoundof the townrecalls these names duringan interviewin April1974.

80
evacuated. Refugees trickledinto inaccessible places like Ufe, Ikoyi,

Ogidi, etc. and others fled into Igbira, Aiyede, Omuo, etc.62
A notable departure was the establishment at Igunka (Igbagun) of
refugees from almost all the Iyagba states in the forest at the
southernfringeof Yagbaland.6 3 This settlementsurvives.
Drawing its inspiration fromhe results of the Ekitiparapo war
and no doubt helped by connections with ex-slaves domiciled in
Lagos, the southern Ijumu and Akoko formed an alliance and one
which challenged Bida in the 1894-5 period.64 The theatre of the
war was around the Ayere-Qgidi hills. The Bida army had to
withdrawbecause it could not break the allied forces.65 Returning
the followingyear, they pitched their camp at Udo, near Egunbe
6 The hostilitieswere terminatedby the
but stillon Ogidi territory.6
62. This explanationofthetotalevacuationof settlements

mustbe understoodagainstthebackgroundof thenineteenthcentury.Withineach
of the above 'states*therewere many settlements
of variousnames
and sizes. The evacuation of settlementsis not co-terminouswith
the evacuation of the 'states' or that name. By moving on to
singlesites,the old multi-settlement
politieshave become composite
nucleated townsand villagesalong the motorroad usually under
the old names. Each of the older settlementsare quarters or
in name. See Obayemi,A.,
itsindividuality
compounds-preserving
1978- SettlementEvolution: The Case of the North-EastYoruba.
Paper read at the Seminarsof the ArchaeologyDivision,Dept. of
History,Ahmadu Bello University,June 1978 (mimeo, 14pp);
in West Yagba After
Dada, D.O. 1969- Settlement
Re-organisation
the Nineteenth Century (impubi. B.A. dissertation,Dept. of
Geography,AhmaduBello University).
63. For some referenceto the historicalexperiencewhich produced
Igbagun, see Medugbon, A., 1969-The Implication of Cash
Cropping in Alu-Igbagun (unpubl. B.A. dissertation,Dept. of
Geography,AhmaduBello University).
64. Aspectsof the organizationand tactics of this alliance are still
obscure. Leadership was exercised by Agan-un or Aganhun of
Esuku- an Akokovillage.The signalforwarwas apparentlygivenat
Ikeramwiththe executionof one Kolo, said to be a princeof Bida
and the displayof his head in the marketplace. Akomolafewho
recordedthisinformation
places the eventsin 1888, thussuggesting
the Ogidi war as occurringfrom 1888-1897. Akomolafe,C.O.,
1970-Akoko and the Nupe Wars in the Nineteenth Century
Univ.ofIfe,Dept. ofHistory).
(unpubl.B.A. dissertation,
65. Oba Ogunleye,Alaere of Ogidi and elders: Ogidi-Ijumu traditions
recordedin August1970.
66. Thoughplaced by writersas the Nupe camp near Kabba, the siteof
of thecamp and battlesis farmedby Ogidi-Ijumupeople. The siteis
accuratelyplaced on Vandeleurs map.

Sokoto Jihad and the '0-kunf Yoruba
81
interverttionof the Royal Niger Company whose forces marched

from Lokoja via Emu, Jakura Ohura and Okaba to attack the
invading army which fled on the approach of the former.67 The
confusedpolitical scene when the Britishcame to expel the agents of
Bida was thus largelydue to the upheavals which the O -kun systems
had sufferedin the preceding decades.
Overall Impact of the Upheavals
For a chain of events which affected every area of the lives of a
people like the 'wars' of the nineteenth century on the O -kun;
we may expect to see the overall impact in everydepartment of life.
We here select the more conspicuous fordiscussion.
In political terms, the Bida and Ilorin exploits in the O -kun
districtsrepresentattemptsto incorporate these people into a more
extensive political systemwith at least some formal adhesion to a
religious ideology. The chief characteristicof the systemhowever
was the economic exploitation of the O -kun districts by the
metropoliswith no reciprocal services being apparent. The process
of the exploitation of the economic and human resources which
degenerated into naked hunts for slaves had left visible impact in
the numerous settlementswhich lie totallyor partially in ruins, the
survivals of defensive settlement walls and existing refugee
settlements.
The retirementof people into inaccessible places - usually to
hill-tops- explains a notable feature of the earliest maps of the
area.68 The re-settlementof people since the second decade of
Britishrule at the foot of, or close to these hills, are direct products
of the nineteenthcenturyfolkmovements. Thus, the settlementsat
life, Ejuku, Ihonlu (Isanlu), Imopa (Mopa), Okaba (Kabba), Egbe,
Eri among the bigger villages and of Ogidi, Ufe, Ikoyi, Ilae,
Akutukpa, Iluke, Osokosoko, Akpaa, etc. were either located
substantiallyon hill-topsby 1900 or are today located at the foot of
hills. Of the refugee settlements,Igunka or Igbagun and Ekinrin
have continued to be inhabited. People who fled to Aiyede, Egbira
(Okene), Omuwo or who returned from Nupeland where theyhad
lived as slaves, returned to their respectivesettlements.But not all
were to return. Those who had long been residentjn other centres,
who had been born there or whose contacts with their original
67. Vandeleur,Lt. S., 1898- Campaigningin the UpperNile and Niger
(Methuen,London),pp. 176-254.
68. Mopa, Akpaa, Egga, Akutukpa, Ufe, Ikoyi, Ogidi, Ejuku, Ilae,
substantially
Agboro,Iluke, Ohura etc. are examplesof settlements
sitedon hillsin thefirsttwodecades of Britishrule. Movementon to
theplains- (but firstto thefootof the hills)was in manysettlements
made compulsory
in 1918.
bytheBritishadministrators

82
homes had weakened faced little pressures to return. Thus, substantial numbers of people of Ijumu, Iyagba, Abinu, Oworo and
Igbede descent are known at Aiyede, Bida, Ado -Ekiti, Ijelu, Lagos
and also Lokoja, although in the case of Lokoja the twentieth
centuryadditions to the original peoples are considerable.
The processes of political partition of the O -kun had its roots in
the nineteenth century power-politics. llorn, Bida, Ibadan (and
Ekiti) had assumed overlordshipsover parts of the O-kun region.
This largely accounts for the fact that today, O-kun territoryis
vcarved up into separately administered divisions or Local Government areas of Oyi (formerlyKabba), Kogi, Akoko, Edu (formerly
Pategi), Irepodun (formerlyllorn and Igbomina-Ekiti), Ikole and
Omuo.6 9
Closely linked with the question of the disappearance of settlements, raids for slaves, increased cases of kidnappings and
insecurityof life and propertyis the question of actual decline in
population. The debate has thrown up a number of points and
although these cannot be adequately discussed here we can
comment from the O-kun experience.70 Mason perhaps was
basically correct in the assumption that 'slave raiding and depopulation might not be as mechanically related as is represented in
some quarters.71 Indeed, the point had been made that O-kun
captives did not findescape too difficultwith constant crossingsand
re-crossingsof the Niger. To assume as he does however that the
Britishadministrators picture of depopulation etc. is propaganda is
to over-rationalize the issue: to prefer latter-day suspicion to
contemporary facts and realities. We certainly do not know the
actual numbers of peoples in the various settlementsin the early
decades of the nineteenthcentury- but three lines of the internal
evidence demonstrate the reality of depopulation of the O-kun
districts.
forcedtheBritishadminis69. The politicalagitationsoftheearlythirties
trationto detachWestYagba fromPategi Division(leavingAgboro),
and mergeit with East Yagba. Koro and Eruku, townsof Yagba
speech but assertingEkiti identitiesfor themselvesremainedin the
"llorn" sector. Itapaji, Irele, Oke-Ako, Ikpao (Ipao) and others
remainin Ondo State.
70. Mason, M., 1969b- PopulationDensityana laveHatdtng: I he Lose
of the Middle Belt of Nigeria (Jour. Afr. Hist., Vol. X, No. 4,
pp. 551-564);Gleave,M.B. &M. Prodiero,1971- PopulationDensity
and 'SlaveRaiding9-A Comment(Jour.Afr.Hist., Vol. XII, No. 2,
pp. 319-327); Agboola, G.A., 1968- Some Factors of Population
Distributionin the Middle Belt of Nigeria: The Examples of
NorthernIlorin and Kabba in Caldwell,J.C. & C. Okonjo (eds.),
Thepopulationof TropicalAfrica(Longman).
71. Mason,1969b,PopulationDensity. . ., pp. 555, 560-563.

83
First, the narratives relating to the middle and later decades of

the nineteenth century emphasize that tribute in human beings,
paid to Bida could not be met by the number of slaves locally owned
nor by natural increase - even if the grounds on which people could
be enslaved (offences,violations, social deviation, theft,etc.) were
multiplied. Indeed the reasons given for rebellion, armed revolt or
flightinto refugee settlementsis that 'there would be no-one leftover' (from the demands by Bida). A second line of evidence that
there had been depopulations is in the fact of an uneven distribution of population in the area today. Such centres as Egbe,
Ihonlu, Imopa, Ejuku and Okaba are larger than others. The
reasons for this is that these settlementsacted as agents or willing
collaborators with the Nupe and were thus spared the extremes to
which less cooperative or clearly hostile settlements- like Aginmi,
Imela, Ohun, Euta (Ohi) - life, Ogbom, etc. were subjected. One
could infer that these bigger settlementsare closer to what could
have been the 'normal' demographic pattern in the area - although
each of them also sufferedto some extent. The third category of
internal evidence is made up of the list of ebi (lineages) and sublineages which are now extinct even if the names are still remembered. These could be as many as six out of the original nine at
2
Aginmi which did not survivethe 'war'7 or as many as 31 out of 33
'towns' of Ohi-Iife73 and a greater proportion at Ohun. The
present-dayBassa Nge districtinclude O-kun folk.74
It is true that oral traditions relating to former densities of
population - as many stories, allusions and songs indicate are not
freefromexaggerationsforeffectsuch as the stereotypestoryof Etie
in Ohi-Iife.75 Given the number of lineages and sub-lineages that
72. Aginmi (Iyagba) informantsinterviewedon 30 March 1974 gave
as Odaagbo, Oke Takete,
me the listof extinctlineages/settlements
others- Ilopa, Odogbo,
Four
Ayingbagu, Ayingbede, Ok'Ego.
Okedigba,and Oke Ga havesurvivors.
73. My informant(Chief Eleta) admits that he cannot now recollect
the names of the 35 towns- and givesa list of fifteen.The density
- the
ofpopulationin Ohi-Iifeof earlierdayshave becomeproverbial
subjectofmanystories.
74. Some Bassa-Ngenamesare indisputably
Abinu-IjumuOral traditions
recordedat Akpata(1975) speakof Abinu folkcrossingthe riverand
becoming"Baha" ( = Bassa-Nge).
75. Etiewas said to have been so populousthattheirfoot-soldierspassing
overa cow-hidein singlefileworea hole throughit beforeeveryone
could pass. For similar claims for Oyo armies, see Norris, R.,
1789- Memoirsof the Reign of Bossa Ahadee, King of Dahomy
(London), 1966 repr.,pp. 11-12.For therecurrenceof certainmyths
to explaingreaterpopulationsof earliertimesin a studyof another
Nigerianpeople, see Erim, E.O., 1974- StereotypeThemes in Yala
Oral Traditions(Oduma, Vol. II, No. 1, August,pp. 11-15).

84
are today known not to have survived the Bida 'wars' and the
paralell list of settlements- some of them 'towns' in some senses of
the word, we cannot reject Lugard's observation in the Annual
Report of 1906 that in the O-kun area, 'hundreds of ruins attestto a
population and prosperitynow gone'.7 6
Depopulation of the O-kun districtsis only one' of the keys to the
twentiethcenturyhistory.There were the effectsof a psychologyof
helplessnessand one which had been documented since the earliest
entries of the O-kun into literary records. But such professed
helplessnessand one which had been documented since the earliest
entries of the O-kun into literary records. But such professed
helplessness was not confined to the O-kun.77 The O-kun openly
solicited forthe interventionof the white man and indeed there are
records relating to deputations from these districtsto Lagos and
elsewhereand there are local confirmationthat some O-kun leaders
actually asked for the British to come and shield them from the
Nupe.7 8
For a generation that is so used to -hearing about 'resistance' to
colonial rule the O-kun case might sound as an antithesis. Theirs
was a response dictated by the local historical situation. Unlike the
Idoma, Tiv, gbo, northern Edo and Jos Plateau peoples, groups
who like the O-kun are not Islamised, and which operated the ministate formof political organisation the O-kun were easily coerced
and incorporated into the foreign colonial system.79 It was an
exchange of masters- and people were convinced at the time that
they were exercising the right of choice. By detaching the O-kun
as 'southern Nupe' from Bida, after a single operation the British
were spared the trouble of subjugating the O-kun mini-states
one by one.80
All thingsconsidered, the O-kun area by 1897 was not a regularly
administered part of an empire. The Ogidi war in
76. Lugard, F.J.D., Annual Reports for Northern. Nigeria (Kabba
Province):ColonialOffice,1901-1911.
77. Laird & Oldfield,1837,Vols. I & II.
78. BishopTugwellto Capt. R.L. Bower,24 Dec. 1894, in FO. 83/1376,
refersto deputationsof chiefsfromthisarea both to the Royal Niger
Companyagentsand to Bower.
79. For a summaryof these,see Ikime, O., 1977- The Fall of Nigeria:
The BritishConquest (Heinemann, London), pp. 48-53, 161-177.
80. Vandeleurused the term'SouthernNupe' when he referredto the
districts
of theNorth-EastYoruba. The Britishinvasionand conquest
ofNigeria,groupswhichacknowledgeno paramountrulershad to be
conqueredon a village-byvillagebasis. For an example,see Gonyok,
C., 1978- Colonial Violence- The Case of the Plateau Minesfield,
1902-1912(PostgraduateSeminarPaper, Ahmadu Bello University,
Zaria,mimeo,18pp).

85
south, the emptied settlements elsewhere were symptoms of

the disaffectionwith a power which though feared was hated.
These were pointers too to the dismal failure of an indigenous
political order the mini-statetypein the face of external threat. The
British, through the agency of the Royal Niger Company were
responsibleforbringingthe systemto an end: they.had also helped
to fosterit by the monopoly theygave the emirs of Bida over firearms. In spite of the Bida domination however, all the evidence
points to its inability to make any lasting fundamental changes to
the political, economic, technological and belief systems of the
O-kun. We can now stress the elements of cultural continuity
displayed by the O-kun during and afterthe Nupe presence.
The ebi (lineage) remained the basic landowning and landdisposing unit. The ebi in the O-kun had been essentially an
economic, social and religious unit the distinct sub-unit of the
differentstates living the individual citizen his social identityand
determining his political standing, his religious expression and
economic opportunity. Thus, even during the crisis, while
demographic displacements, permanent or temporary, had given
rise to withdrawalsby certain lineages fromtheirown lands and the
consequent abandonment of their resources, host populations
accommodated refugees on the basis of hosts and resident guests.
The dual citizenshipwithinsuch communitiesand the conflictsover
economic resources, religious observances, are today narrated as
between 'hosts' and unassimilated guests. The emergency which
produced this latter state of affairsdid not last long enough (less
than one decade in certain parts of Ijumu) to make forpermanence
of the co-existence of such 'parasite* relationships for the hitherto
distinct ebi "to fuse together.81 Thus, the identification of the
individual with his ebi, the acknowledgementof his economic and
social standing withinthe old system,survivedintact.
The fact that in spite of the afflictionsof the people, their basic
worldview had not been altered is reflected in their inability to
change their relationships with their patron deities and the
ancestors who in some other context could be said to have failed
them by not preventing their sufferings.These are the concrete
symptomsthat the old order had not been overthrown.So powerful
was the attachment to the old order that even at the end of the
turmoil and indeed while it lasted, the returned 'slaves' were not
only wholly rehabilitated within their respectiveebi where known,
but old shrineswere re-activated. In places where lineages had died
81. One examplein the area is vividlyrecalledby eldersof Ekafelineage
in Ufe-Ijumuwith whom some sectionsof Ighara (Araromi) took
refugeand did not returnhome until the pax brittanicawas weil
established.

86
out or had almost become extinct,known descendants (even on the

female line) were persuaded to returnand resettlesuch in order that
the old systemand its relativitiesof the component ebi might be
restoredand maintained. This process has continued till our tim.
The persistenceof the old order is shown by the maintenance of
boundaries of ebi lineage and ilu or ulu Ostate') lands, the
observance of lineage eriwo (taboos) and the persistenceof its oriki
(greetings), the observance of old festivals and the patronage of
lineage cults and professions.These, with the retentionof the old
calendars and of the market cycles, the attachment to or ratherthe
continuityof the old systemof production (agricultural, industrial,
etc.), the observances of mortuary and funeral rites in the old
context, the retention of the initiation rites of the ancient title
systemand thus of all the basic institutionsof the ancient polities
give us the cultural reference basic to a discussion of the social
changes that go with the processes of twentiethcenturymodernisation. The social pressures that was brought to bear upon early
Christian and Muslim converts, the persistent dilemma of the
society over the issue of people of slave descent, the British and
independent Nigerian administratorstill the present day are some
of the reactions of the old order to forcesof modernisation. Those
communities such as life, Ejuku and Iya (Iyamoye) which today
contain substantial Muslim populations made the options only after
the arrival of the British as administrators.Political considerations
were apparently uppermost in cases of lineages, settlementsand
individuals adopting Islam or the various Christian denominations
now co-existingin the area.
These illustrationsshow the essentially, indeed overwhelmingly
negative impact of the so-called jihad on O-kun society. Its
'revolutionary'effectlies in the fact of the demographic dislocations
and relocationsmore than in anythingelse. Where, as in the Oworo
area we do have the adoption of some Nupe institutions and
attitudes, these are the resultsof direct copying (as of titles, and
personal names) during the twentieth century. The underlying
culture remains substantially indigenous. The oral literatureespecially the songs and non-musical allusions to the 'Ibon' (Nupe)
represent extremist views on the pattern of nineteenth century
relations. The political ties to the Nupe, though not to Bida, in on
formor the other persistedtill about 1936 when what is now West
Yagba District was severed from Pategi Division after violent
agitations, locally known as Mokobon ( = I rejct Nupe) crisis.
Agboro remains a sole Iyagba 'state' stillwithin Pategi Area Council
to date.
It is in the face of these realities that one questions the use of the
word JIHAD in any sense as far as these groups are concerned.

9
Sokoto Jihad and the 'O-kun Yoruba
87
Indeed, the use of Islamic concepts- jihad, amana, etc.- however

applicable to the core area of the Sokoto Caliphate cannot be
universallyapplied to all parts which were affectedin one formor
the other by the chain of events which were set in motion by the
forces which it unleashed. Neither the contents of our historical
sources,nor the orientationof the Bida regimehad much to do with
ideological issues. When the O-kun took the field against the forces
of Bida, theywere not resistinga religion, theywere fightingforlife
and property, for the survival of a heritage, against political,
military and economic domination. If the O-kun were fighting
against the Islamic creed, it would not have been possible for
individuals, whole families and settlementsto adopt the faith when
their presumed agents were gone. As far as the O-kun are
concerned, there was warfare in the nineteenthcentury: theywere
partiallyincorporated into a new political order; it could not have
been jihad, not even as an after-thought.


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Historical Society of Nigeria

THE SOKOTO JIHAD AND THE 'O-KUN' YORUBA: A REVIEW

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THE SOKOTO JIHAD AND THE 'O-KUN' YORUBA:

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Journal of the Historical Society of Nigeria

Quite contrary to modern map-makers' conquests for ancient

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Sokoto Jihad and the 'O-kun9 Yoruba

into about one hundred independent 'mini-states'5. Typical of this

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Journal of the Historical Society of Nigeria

newlyestablished Fulani rulersat Lafiagi and Shonga in south-bank

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Sokoto Jihad and the 'O-kun' Yoruba

and political sense, Ilorin remained the de facto successor to Old

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Journal of the Historical Society of Nigeria

affairsof the O -kun in these earlier decades - the prime movers

12. Perhapsforno otherNigerianpolityare so manycentresknownto

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Sokoto Jihad and the 'O-kun9 Yoruba

inferthe dates of such an 'invasion'.16 All other contemporaryor

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Journal of the Historical Society of Nigeria

century,the local 'wars' of the oral traditions were no more than

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Sokoto Jihad and the 'O-kun' Yoruba

bank, the pattern was simple. As in 1832, so in the 1840's and

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Journal of the Historical Society of Nigeria

preceding decades when Majiya, Dendo and finally Masaba wer

23. Swane, A.C.C. 1935- IntelligenceReport on the Aiyede District

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Sokoto Jihad and the 'O-kun' Yoruba

refuge within Egbe town.25 The final phase of the succession

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Journal of the Historical Society of Nigeria

Aiyede as a local 'power became a centre for raids against

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Sokoto Jihad and the 'O-knn' Yoruba

33. Odo-Ape(Abinu) traditions

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Journal of the Historical Society of Nigeria

ships of Masaba with individual towns. Egbe 'Pou' and 'Isanlu'

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Sokoto Jihad and the 'O-kun9 Yoruba

had emerged as the collectors of tribute for Bida - no doubt along

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Journal of the Historical Society of Nigeria

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the usual tribute payments. According to O-kun informantsthey

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Journal of the Historical Society of Nigeria

run and maintain such a huge establishment, it was necessary to

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parapo during these engagements- especially because its own

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Journal of the Historical Society of Nigeria

evacuated. Refugees trickledinto inaccessible places like Ufe, Ikoyi,

62. This explanationofthetotalevacuationof settlements

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Sokoto Jihad and the '0-kunf Yoruba

interverttionof the Royal Niger Company whose forces marched