-
Historical Society of Nigeria
THE SOKOTO JIHAD AND THE 'O-KUN' YORUBA: A REVIEWAuthor(s): Ade.
ObayemiSource: Journal of the Historical Society of Nigeria, Vol.
9, No. 2 (June 1978), pp. 61-87Published by: Historical Society of
NigeriaStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/41857062 .Accessed:
25/09/2014 10:36
Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the
Terms & Conditions of Use, available at
.http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp
.
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars,
researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide
range ofcontent in a trusted digital archive. We use information
technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new
formsof scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please
contact [email protected].
.
Historical Society of Nigeria is collaborating with JSTOR to
digitize, preserve and extend access to Journal ofthe Historical
Society of Nigeria.
http://www.jstor.org
This content downloaded from 197.253.6.248 on Thu, 25 Sep 2014
10:36:02 AMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
-
THE SOKOTO JIHAD AND THE 'O-KUN' YORUBA: A REVIEW
Ade. Obayemi Department of History {Archaeology Division)
Ahmadu Bello 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-Eastern Yorubaland 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 nineteenth
century events but with specific reference to the north- eastern
Yoruba, namely Oworo, Ijumu, Abinu (Bunu), Ikiri, Igbede, and
Iyagba. For ease of reference, I follow Krapf-Askari by calling
these groups the 'O-kun' after a mode of salutation common, though
not exclusive to them.3 In a sense, this paper is also an outgrowth
to a more general study of the culture history of these groups for
which my references are the oral and literary sources material
culture and archaeology.4
By 1800, it is clear that the Ijumu, Iyagba, Oworo, Abinu,
Ikiri, Igbede and Owe had occupied their present geographical
positions, south of the Nupe and Igbira Igu, west of the Igala,
north of the northern Edo, Akoko and Ekiti and east of the Igbomina
(see map).
1. Mason, M. 1970 - The Jihad in the South: An Outline of the
Nine- teenth Century Nupe Hegemony in North-Eastern Yorubaland and
Afenmai Qour. of the Historical Society of Nigeria, Vol. V, No. 2,
pp. 193-209.
2. Mason, M. 1969- The Nupe Kingdoms in the Nineteenth Century r
A Political History (Ph.D. thesis, Univ. of Birmingham, Centre for
West African Studies, 541 pp., 8 maps.) A revised edition of this
work is in press.
3. Krapf-Askari, E. 1965- The Social Organization of the Owe
(African Notes, Int. of Afr. Studies, Ibadan, Vol. II, No. 3, pp.
9-12).
4. Obayemi, A. The North-East Yoruba:* A Culture History (forth-
coming).
61
This content downloaded from 197.253.6.248 on Thu, 25 Sep 2014
10:36:02 AMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
-
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
This content downloaded from 197.253.6.248 on Thu, 25 Sep 2014
10:36:02 AMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
-
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 settle-
ments within each mini-state. During the nineteenth century, these
groups came to be affected by events whose genesis lay elsewhere.
The new leadership in Nupeland in Ilorin and in Ibadan were the
initiators of those events - the Sokoto jihad-and its aftermath in
the lands of the Nupe and the Yoruba.
The earliest phase 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 crisis was probably not unknown in the
history of that kingdom but the presence of mallam Dendo with a
following of fellow Fulani saw the establishment of a third force
and which reserved the ultimately decisive balance of power. Repre-
senting as it did, an outpost for the militant Fulani -led movement
further north, and allying itself with local Muslim elements, the
Dendo-Musa-Abdurrahman party could, and did receive the support of
the main Caliphate army - an aid which they had 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 rulers of Nupeland by
1 833 .
After the death of Dendo in 1833, the pattern of alliances and
counter- alliances and the corresponding power tussle became more
complicated as his sons, notably Usman Zaki and Masaba or Dasaba,
and the descendants of the rival Nupe princes together with
5. Obayemi, A. The North-East Yoruba . . . (Chapter entitled
"The O-kun and Their Neighbours Before 1800"); Obayemi, A. 1977 -
History; Culture and Group Identity: The Case of the North-East or
O-kun Yoruba in Vol. I History Research at A.B.U. 1976-77, Ahmadu
Bello University, Zaria, Postgraduate Seminars, Dept. of History,
mimeo., 27 + pp., 2 figs. For some discussion of the term
'mini-state' see Obayemi, A. 1976 - The Yoruba and Edo-Speaking
Peoples and their Neighbours Before 1600 in Ajayi, J.F.A. & M.
Crowder, History of 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.
This content downloaded from 197.253.6.248 on Thu, 25 Sep 2014
10:36:02 AMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
-
64 Journal of the Historical Society of Nigeria
newly established Fulani rulers at Lafiagi and Shonga in
south-bank Nupeland vied for the leadership and for a new political
order. The series of civil wars, the rise and fall of many capitals
and war-camps and a sizeable number of political aspirants were
terminated by the military and political settlement of 1856-7 when
the successful mediation by Gwandu led to a durable and regularised
system of 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
structure the 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 history of one powerful kingdom which
though not free from occasional internal strife became 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 this state of affairs.
West of the O-kun, the collapse of the system upon Old Oyo was
complete by 1837. After decades of constitutional crises, armed
revolts, secessions and 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 destroyed Afonja the local leader, a rebel against the
Alafin and who had earlier made the town his stronghold.8 Alafin 's
flight and the establishment of a new Oyo further south, 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 struggle by
llorn to follow-up its successes by extending its territory
southwards was effectively halted with their defeat by the Ibadan
army at Oshogbo about 18381 0 . However, in the military,
economic
8. Johnson, S. 1921 - The History of the Yorubas from Earliest
Times to the Beginning of the British Protectorate (C.M.S. Lagos),
pp. 188- 205; Law, R.C.C. 1977 -The Oyo Empire (O.U.P.)
9. Ajayi, J.F.A. & R. Smith 1964- Yoruba Warfare in the
Nineteenth Century (I.U.P. & C.U.P.); Biobaku, S.O. 1957 - The
Egb and Their Neighbours, 1842-1872 (O.U.P.)
10. Many writers on this subject have given an 1840 date for
this event; Ajayi & Smith, 1964 Yoruba Warfare . . pp. 33-36,
64. Others following S.A. Crowther (1841) etc. have upheld the 1838
date. See Smith, A. 1977 -A Little New Light on the Collapse of the
Alafinate of Yoruba in Vol. I History Research at Ahmadu Bello
University, 1976-77 Session. Law, R.C.C. 1970- The Chronology of
the Yoruba Wars of the Early Nineteenth Century: A Reconsideration
(J.H.S.N.. Vol. I, No. 2) also uphold the 1838 date (p. 218).
This content downloaded from 197.253.6.248 on Thu, 25 Sep 2014
10:36:02 AMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
-
Sokoto Jihad and the ' O-kun ' Yoruba 65
and political sense, Ilorin remained the de facto successor to
Old Oyo in northern Yorubaland. The effective check 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 districts of 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 following the 1860-65 Ijaye war in which both Ijebu and Egba
(Abeokuta) had played important roles.1 1 The exploits of the
Ibadan were to bring them occasionally into the O-kun region. These
usually took indirect form: being the operations of adventurers
with 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
adventurers served as agents harrying the south-western flanks of
O-kun territory.
In what ways did these background events affect the O-kun and
what was their response? It has been much easier to give
impressionistic answers to these questions largely because pf the
chronological problems which confronts the prospective student of
this subject. In offering answers to the questions I divide the
episodes into three phases.
Before ca. 1845 The times before about 1 845 are the most
obscure with regards to the involvement of the O-kun in the
revolutionary processes of the nineteer#h century. But there is no
doubt that they had already found themselves in the dilemma from
which they could not free themselves before the close of the
century. Internal evidence bearing on this specific period in any
precise form is scanty. A general pattern may be inferred from the
stereotype accounts of present- day informants. Here and there,
written records of European travellers shed 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. Smith 1964- Yoruba Warfare . .
Akintoye, S.A. 1971 - Revolution and Power Politics in Yorubaland ,
1840-1893: Ibadan Expansion and the Rise of the Ekitiparapo
(Longman), pp. 33-75.
This content downloaded from 197.253.6.248 on Thu, 25 Sep 2014
10:36:02 AMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
-
66 Journal of the Historical Society of Nigeria
affairs of the O -kun in these earlier decades - the prime
movers being the Fulani, the new rulers of 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 for defence but as bases from whence 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 short distances
from the O -kun, featured as sites of battle, places of refuge or
as temporary capitals.1 2 Within those decadesnof irregular or
sporadic 'warfare' characterised by surprise raids and a lack of
any genuine attempts at "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 try and identify the actual
dates when the offensive against 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 1 8381 3 . The Eri informant was captured and sold
by Nupe: the Irele one was 'taken in war by Fulani'. An Oworo
informant from Ika enslaved about 1823, told Koelle that he was the
victim of a friend's treachery.14 Two Ikiri informants from Ebila
Taki were kidnapped about 1827 and 1835 respectively. The 'Dzumu'
(Ijumu) now Abinu, informant from Igori stated that 'the Nupes and
Agoi, i.e. Phula invaded and conquered Dzumu destroying all its
towns'. In spite of these specific accounts it is a fatal blow that
no hints were given by Koelle from which we could
12. Perhaps for no other Nigerian polity are so many centres
known to have functioned as seats of rulers, etc. as for the Nupe
Kingdom. In times earlier than the nineteenth century, Nupeko,
Jima, Gbara, Mokwa, Rabba, Etsu, Kutigi, etc. are known to have
been seats and, or burial places of the etsuzhi (kings). See
kinglists in Dupigny, E.G.M. 1920 - Gazetteer of Nupe Province
(Waterlow & Sons, London), pp. 7-8. On the close connection
between the Nupe King- dom^?) and the River Niger, see Nadel, S. F.
1935 - The King's Hang- men: A Judicial Organisation in Central
Nigeria (Man, I.A. Inst., London, XXXV: 143); Nadel, S. F. 1935-
Nupe State and Com- munity (Africa, I.A.I. , VIII:3, pp.
257-303).
13. This date has been arrived at from simple calculations from
infor- mation given in Koelle, S.G. 1854 - Polyglotta Africana
(London), pp. 5-6.
14. Koelle, ibid., p. 6.
This content downloaded from 197.253.6.248 on Thu, 25 Sep 2014
10:36:02 AMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
-
Sokoto Jihad and the ' O-kun 9 Yoruba 67
infer the dates of such an 'invasion'.1 6 All other contemporary
or near contemporary sources do not give more than impressions of
Nupe-O-kun relationships at this time. The general insecurity
reported by 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 nineteenth century is
to be formed from traditions recorded by Sciortino that:
"Instigated by Mallam Dendo, Jimada commenced raiding the Yagba and
Yoruba country inland".1 7
The resume of O-kun oral traditions relating to this period is
that on their own, the O-kun did not wage war on each other nor on
their neighbours. The disturbers of the peace were the Gon-ni-gon,
identified as armed raiders and career kidnappers from Yoruba-
land. The greatest enemy and the leading invaders were the Ibon,
the local name for the Takpa or Anupe (Nupe). The first phase, 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
currency of the times. After some 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 settle-
ments but one easy reaction by others was to evacuate their exposed
homes for more defensible and 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 visitors and by those of African descent
substantiate the general theme. When the local traditions speak
about 'war' it is not the pitched battle involving thousands or
even hundreds. Before the coming of the Fulani-Nupe in the
nineteenth
15. Oral traditions recorded by the writer since 1969 and those
contained in District Note-books and Assessment Reports especially
between 1913 and 1920 are not useful here. A suggestion of an 1827
date for the onset of the domination of Okaba-Owe (Kabba) might
well be correct but the authority for this date cannot now be
determined. Davies, P. T. 1959- Notes on Kabba Division (Divisional
Office, Kabba), typewritten- Chronology of Obaro (Kings) of Owe
(Kabba).
16. Clapperton, H./1829 Journal of a Second Expedition into the
Interior of Africa from the Bight of Benin to Soccatoo (John
Murray, London). In Clapperton s writings and references to the
requests of the chiefs it is implied that even such presumably
formidable and large settlements as Shaki, Kusu, and even Oyo lie
itself had 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.: History of the Nupe Kings and the Founding
of Pateji in Burdon, J. A. 1909 -Northern Nigeria: Historical Notes
on Certain Emirates and Tribes (London), p. 18.
This content downloaded from 197.253.6.248 on Thu, 25 Sep 2014
10:36:02 AMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
-
68 Journal of the Historical Society of Nigeria
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 wrong- doings.
They had no territorial, economic or political ambitions. That
these territorially small agricultural polities were raided by
their neighbours who belonged to larger political units is recalled
in traditions about the Gon-nigon1 8 and indeed, four out of Koelle
s seven O -kun informants who were enslaved in this earlier phase
were victims of kidnapping.
It is more difficult to give a picture of a systematic payment
of tribute in this early phase as this implies the establishment of
a regular administrative network. The frequent changes in the
relative fortunes of the Nupe princes during this period and the
absence of any one stable government in Nupeland argue against such
a development. Here, the contemporary documents have greater
credibility. Koelle's informants, like Laird and Oldfield in their
journal (1 832-4) emphasize surprise raids whose purpose was to
catch slaves and to keep alive a feeling of insecurity for 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
Kacundah, levying contributions on the terrified natives ... In
coming suddenly upon a town, the Felatahs inflict the most cruel
tortures upon the more wealthy inhabitants to compel them to
discover their property. This horde of barbarians set fire to
almost every city, town, or village which they visit in their
predatory excursions".19
The response of the O -kun and of their neighbours are noted
here and there in these European accounts. For the dwellers of the
river-
18. Present-day informants identify the Gon-ni-gon (word whose
etymo- logy I cannot determine) as Yoruba including 'Ibadan' and
presumably bands of adventurers and kidnappers, made up of persons
from the Oyo lie area especially those displaced during the second
and third decades of the nineteenth century. Thct Gon-ni-gon phase
(Ogun Gon-ni-gon = Gon-ni-gon War) is placed before the 'Bida War*
by informants. Nupe sources describe a Ganega war (ca.1884) but
thus identification like Agonnigon in the Yoruba novel by Chief
Fagunwa cannot be harmonised with the O-kun usage of the term. For
a confused contemporary reference to Agoniga which it claims to be
a settlement, see C.M.S./CA33038, The Journals kept by me James
Thomas, cited by Mason, 1970- The Jihad . . ., p. 197.
19. Laird, M. & R.A. K. Oldfield, 1837 -Narrative of an
Exploration into the Interior of Africa by the River Niger , in the
Steam- Vessels Quorra and Alburkah, in 1832, 1833 and 1834 (Richard
Bentley, London), Vol. II, pp. 280-281.
This content downloaded from 197.253.6.248 on Thu, 25 Sep 2014
10:36:02 AMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
-
Sokoto Jihad and the 'O-kun' Yoruba 69
bank, the pattern was simple. As in 1832, so in the 1840's and
1850*8:
"... the whole of the inhabitants on that (western) side of the
river gave notice of their approach by flying in dismay to the
opposite bank which for many miles was covered with their
barracoons, or temporary huts hastily erected of mats . . . putting
the river between them and the Felatahs who being destitute of
boats could not follow them."20
With the withdrawal of the Nupe-Fulani invaders, the villagers
usually returned to rebuild or re-roof their dwelling. An
increasing frequency of the attacks led to the permanent
abandonment of many riverine settlements and the permanence of
left-bank settle- ments intended initially to be no more than
temporary refugee camps.
For the inhabitants of the hinterland about 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-shelters as well as in the
patches of rain and gallery forest where visibility was limited and
cavalry movements difficult. It appears too that as early as the
1840*5 or even earlier, the O-kun were adopting the strategy of
artificial defences by building walls with ditches around their
dwellings. The walls and ditches still visible today do not follow
a consistent pattern and since no archaelogical excavations have
been conducted along any of them, the dates of construction are not
offered here. That many of them date back to this earlier phase of
the Nupe offensive is however clear. Such probably were the walls
(odi) around the three Owe settlements- Ikatu, Odolu and Okaba (the
present-day Kabba), of the Abinu towns of Ole (Olle), Ohura, and
Akpaa, of Akutukpa (Ikiri) and others.2 1 A wall had also been
built around Addakudu (Odokodo or Adankolo) to protect it on three
sides while the Niger secured it on the fourth side.2 2
The sociological implications of the construction of defensive
walls around some settlements are discussed later but it is
important to note that while refugee settlements were thereby
created, it made no substantial changes to the overall political or
military organi- sation of the people. Any forces of cohesion among
distinct O-kun polities were too ephemeral to combat the military
might and sustained inroads of the Fulani-led forces especially
after 1856. This saw a remarkably different pattern from the
features of the
20. Laird & Oldfield, 1 837 -Narrative . . ., Vol. I, pp.
246-247. 21. Obayemi, A. (forthcoming) - The North-East Yoruba . .
., Chapter
titled "The O-kun Settlements and a Crisis". 22. Schon, J. F.
& S. Crowther, 1842- Journals of the Rev. J.F. Schon
and Mr. Samuel Crowther (Hatchard, London), pp. 295-7.
This content downloaded from 197.253.6.248 on Thu, 25 Sep 2014
10:36:02 AMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
-
70 Journal of the Historical Society of Nigeria
preceding decades when Majiya, Dendo and finally Masaba wer the
sponsors of sporadic raids. By the early 1840 s, the O -kun groups
had been severally shaken but the old socio-political order was not
yet changed.
A Second Phase ca. 1845-1882 Some events of 1 845 seems to mark
the beginning of a new system in the area involving llorn, Ibadan
and Dendo s descendants. The date 1 845 is specifically suggested
as the time when:
"... the famous Balogun Ali of llorn with Ibadan aid attacked
lye. After eleven defeats in the field, the lye people scattered
and eventually the main body of the fugitives settled on the
present sit of Aiyede with the permission of Itaji, to whom the
land belongs".23
The year 1845 also apparently marked the date when the inter-
vention 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 military expeditions against the Oworo and as far to the south-
east in the territory of the Kukuruku (Afenmai or northern Edo). It
is to be noted however that the post-1845 attacks were not the
first in 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 military adventures which made him the key figure in Nupe
politics in these decades were to back-fire on him thus terminating
this phase of his paramountcy. His operations among the north- bank
Nupe succeeded in uniting all his enemies against him and in a
rising against him about 1852, he fled south into Yagba taking
23. Swane, A.C.C. 1935- Intelligence Report on the Aiyede
District (Nigerian National Archives, Ibadan, C. S. 0. 26/31014),
p. 5. Also Briscoe, V.F., 1919 - Assessment Report (National
Archives, 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 experience is fixed in song. A dance music called ikpaye at
fe (but stylistically close to adon at Adde both in Ijumu), is said
t& have originated as a war dance. At Ufe- Ijumu where ikpaye
is still a regular part of second burial rites for non-Christians
one hears:
Arikuku l'eti Oy a; Ero Lede (Lade) e mo tu bere Ohin lowo gha
ero Lede."
(Arikuku (literally pigeons) on the bank of the Niger, Lade folk
stop demanding tribute from us).
This content downloaded from 197.253.6.248 on Thu, 25 Sep 2014
10:36:02 AMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
-
Sokoto Jihad and the ' O-kun ' Yoruba 71
refuge within Egbe town.25 The final phase of the succession
struggle in Nupeland was brought to an end by the wars of 1855-7 in
which the combined forces of royalists (Umaru Majigi, Usman Zaki,
Masaba and some of the supporters of the old dynasty) fought and
defeated the rebel commander Umaru Bahaushe. A peace settlement
followed. 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, militarily and economically.2 6
Between 1845 and 1857, it is difficult to delimit the areas of
operations of one power vis-a-vis the others whose thrust converged
or overlapped in the lands of the O-kun. One complicating factor in
the military politics of these times was the role of individual
adventurers with their private armies who operated from Nupeland,
Ibadan, Ekiti and probably llorn. Of this, Aduloju of Ado, Latosa
of Ibadan, Aje or Ayorinde (also an Ibadan) feature in the
traditions of the O-kun, although it was with the adjacent Akoko
country that these are more positively associated.2 7 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 carrying
with it the settlements of 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 . .
pp. 196-7. At Egbe, local informants refer to the residence of
Masaba in the town- sometimes in legendary terms as Idachaba, a
Muslim divine whose prayers worked wonders. Miracle and prophecy
apart,- he is associated in some accounts with Isaba, one of the
compounds of Egbe. For one rendering of these traditions see Dada,
J. A. A History of Egbe (in manuscript), p. 15. I am grateful to
Mr. Dada for access to this work.
26. The desire to shift the base of the kings from Bida back to
Rabba was strongly cherished for the first few years after the
defeat of Umaru. The move never took place and Bida has since
remained the base of operations of the Dendo dynasty. Mason, 1969 -
The Kingdoms . . pp. 178-181.
27. The contemporary documentation and the context of the
adventures are discussed in Mason, 1969 -The Nupe Kingdoms , pp.
190-192; Mason 1970- The Jihad . . pp. 197-8; Akintoye, S.A. 1971-
Revo- lution . . pp. 9-10.
28. Swayne, M., 1935 - Intelligence Report . . pp. 6-7;
Akintoye, S.A., 1971 - Revolution . . pp. 9-10.
This content downloaded from 197.253.6.248 on Thu, 25 Sep 2014
10:36:02 AMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
-
72 Journal of the Historical Society of Nigeria
Aiyede as a local 'power became a centre for raids against
surrounding peoples. It was also an ally that could be called upon
to intervene iii O -kun inter-settlement squabbles and a place of
refuge for displaced or threatened O -kun people.
Viewing events of the times in the O-kun districts
retrospectively, we can see that apart from these peripheral
involvements of Ibadan and llorn and their agents as allies, Bida
under its Fulani rulers was the dominant partner in the military
politics. It appears clear that the reigns of Masaba (1859-73) and
f Umari Majigi (1873-82) saw the integration of the O-kun into some
systematic tribute-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 for this reign of
Masaba that "the Yagbas appear to have had quite an affection for
him".2 9
In the eastern or Oworo sector, it was during this period that
an all-embracing or pan-Oworo kingship institution emerged around
the personality first of Okpoto of Ika who is regarded as the first
Olu of all the Oworo.3 0 The recognition by the Bida Fulani of one
of the host of olus ruling the multi-settlement mini-states of the
Oworo area must have been a measure of great administrative conve-
nience for the former as it would have eased the task of tribute
collection. The inherent weakness of introducing the concept of a
paramount chieftaincy among a people who never possessed such
before and who at any rate had no tradition of regular dynasties
was however immediately apparent after the 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.3 1 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
History , KABDIST.
30. Oworo traditions recorded by the author at Agbaja from the
late Olu Mundi and the elders, on 13 Aug. 1970. Two manuscripts in
the custody of the late Olu, titled Oworo Historical Summary (4pp.)
and The Brief Biography on Chieftaincy in Aworo District (3pp) are
both undated. The first of the two compositions, signed by one
Salihu and marked FBO/Morito, gives account of Okpoto of Ika in the
text but excludes him from his kinglist on p. 4. I was allowed to
copy both documents into my own notebook.
31. The Agbaja MSS in footnote 30 contain accounts of the
struggles. 32. Agreement by the Oworo on a successor to the Olu
Mundi was not
reached until the Government of%Kwara State intervened in 1975.
A panel was set up by the Military Governor and the candidate they
recommended was installed, ending a dispute that lasted for more
than three years.
This content downloaded from 197.253.6.248 on Thu, 25 Sep 2014
10:36:02 AMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
-
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 for tribute intended for Bida. Thus the oral traditions
are unanimous that the first of such a coordinator was the Olu
Gbelege of Taki on the northern frontier of the O-kun Yoruba with
the Nupe-speaking Kupa-Abuji-Eggan populations. After the 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
represented in the traditions as the successor to Olu Maaki. The
former was reigning at the time of the British conquest.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 upstarts who owed their
power solely to their personal standing with the Fulani in Bida.
None of them was Olu in any proper constitutional sense. 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 appointed over the Bunu District. He
stationed himself at Taki".34
and of 'Mai-aiki' that: "He was a Bunu who was born in the Wawa
(Iwoa) sub-district and his real name is forgotten or concealed . .
. He allied himself to the invaders and ultimately rose to the
position of lieutenant to Belege (Gbelege) and tax-collector over
the South Bunu, with headquarters at Akpara (Akpaa) whom he
deposed".35
'
The southern frontier of the authority of 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) where he was fighting for the Fulani of Bida.3
6
In the western or 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 territory with claims and counter-claims typical of an
area where claims overlap. Another factor is the personal
relation-
33. Odo-Ape (Abinu) traditions recorded by the writer in 1970.
34. James, H.B., 1914 - Bunu District (National Archives,
Raduna,
12P/1914). 35. ibid. 36. Ohura traditions (Abini;) recorded by
writer from Chief Mofa Bakewo
of Ohura in 1971.
This content downloaded from 197.253.6.248 on Thu, 25 Sep 2014
10:36:02 AMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
-
74 Journal of the Historical Society of Nigeria
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 favours for these people with the improvement
in his fortunes when he became secure as king in Bida from 1859 to
1873. The only contemporary eye witness record, the account by D.J.
May who was in these parts in June and July 1858, throws some light
on the complex situation:
"The town (Egbe) I found enjoying a most unusual amount of
political freedom; it had no Ajele in it, and was entirely subject
to no power, for which privileges the price was, tribute to its
strong neighbours at Eshon (Aiyede), to llorn, and to the king of
Nupe".38
Admittedly, this was only a year after the restoration of
political stability in Nupeland with the establishment of Bida but
Egbe, and Ikoro (Koro) nearby were enjoying some 'unusual' peace as
late as January 1895 when Lugard passed through both 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:
"... the next town on my route I found entirely subject to, and
with an Ajele of the latter (Nupe) in it".40
Also, he arrived in time to record a kidnapping raid on Agboro
by 'a party of llorn people'.41 The involvement of 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
for Share.4 2 Also, at some stage, the leadership at Ejuku
37. The identification of 'Pou' is problematic. Isanlu is the
name borne by (a) an Igbomina town (Isanlu-Isin) (b) a north-west
Yagba state further defined as Sanlu-Esa whose settlements included
Okaara, Okunron, Okoloke, Ijodo, (c) another north-central Yagba
state called Ihonlu in the local speech but now written also as
Isanlu. Of these three Sanlu Esa would appear to be the more
probable one as a place of refuge by Masaba. Her towns were located
15 to 50km from Lade and between Lade and Egbe.
38. May, DJ., 1860 -Journey in the Yoruba and Nupe countries in
1858 (Jour, of the Royal Geographical Society, Vol. 30, p.
225).
39. Perham, M. (ed.), 1963 - The Diaries of Lord Lugard , 1895
(Faber & Faber, London), Vol. IV, p. 267. Lugar d's Ikiru in
the entry for 3 Jan. 1895 is evidently Ikoro or Koro "the most
eastern town of llorn".
40. May, 1860- Journey . . p. 225. 41. ibid., p. 226-7. 42.
Lugard 1895 tn rerham (ed.), lhe Viennes . . entry tor 10 Jan.
1895.
This content downloaded from 197.253.6.248 on Thu, 25 Sep 2014
10:36:02 AMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
-
Sokoto Jihad and the ' O-kun 9 Yoruba 75
had emerged as the collectors of tribute for Bida - no doubt
along the lines of the arrangements in 'Bunu' and Oworo further
east.4 3
Not fitting easily 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 settlement of
Okaba (Kabba) had emerged as collaborators with the* Nupe. It
appears as if certain Owe settlements had been target for invasion
by Bida in what is referred to as the Gberi (Berri) war.44 The Owe
chiefs (Obaro) seem to have been a faithful follower of the Nupe -
a role they played until 1 897 when resident Bida agents were
forced to make their final withdrawal.4 5
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 system of 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
migration into Nupeland, there were 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
town or the other tried to meet its quota of tribute payable to
Bida. Surviving oral traditions and contemporary written records
agree that besides this regular tribute, the wealth of the rich
became liable to confiscation after the deceased of local notables
and when such wealth with other fixed property should have gone to
brothers and 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 January 1864 was followed by the
observation that all his property went to Masaba in Bida.4 6
Another witness for the events following the death of Ajeto
(PAejoto) of Agbaja also notes that very little of 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 Assessment Report (N.A.K.
218/1914) states that ". . . the headmen of Juku [Ejuku] collected
tribute for the emir of Bida. The contempt and hatred with which
that town is regarded seems to uphold this assertion." An Ejuku
man, Idaloke, was sent back from Bida to act as collector of taxes
in Masaba's time.
44. Traditions about Ogun Gberi is well-known to Owe elders -
and according to earlier archival material Gberi headed a revolt of
all Owe settlements from which Okaba (Kabba) excluded itself.
45. Vandeleur, Lt. S., 1 898 - Campaigning in the Upper Nile and
Niger (Methuen, London), p. 170; Mason, 1969 - The Kingdom . . pp.
373-4, 464-5.
46. Church Missionary Society Papers- marked CA.3/038.
Confluence 1864-5.
This content downloaded from 197.253.6.248 on Thu, 25 Sep 2014
10:36:02 AMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
-
76 Journal of the Historical Society of Nigeria
[Egbaja] to take charge of things".4 7 Thus the Fulani
aristocracy in Bida became the inheritors of the property (Ogun) of
deceased. It appears also that skilled craftsmen and women were
carried to Nupeland and the cloth -weavers from the 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
temporarily with the human "commission" held back by the tax
agents. In a sense, the appointment of individuals to exercise res-
ponsibility beyond their own immediate mini -state was an
innovation in the political history of the O -kun. The underlying
political structures however did not suffer direct 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. Conversions or non -conversion to Islam played no part
whatsoever in O -kun Bida relationships.4 8
One direction along which the O-kun-Bida relations was to have a
most revolutionary impact was the military. On the one hand the
pressures continued to call for increasing resourcefulness in the
defence of settlements, the protection of farms and markets. Thus,
settlements walls with ditches (as at Egbe), hill-top location of
settle- ments (as at Agboro) and the provision of armed escorts for
local travel were all documented for this period.4 9 One may
perhaps not make too much of such reactions because people, like
those of Ejiba, had not had reason to change the locations of their
settlements nor to build town- walls.
The O-kun attachment to Bida had also made it compulsory for
them to contribute directly to the war effort of Bida in addition
to
47. Mai Maina, 1858- La barin Mat Maina Na Jega, Sar kin Askira
(NORLA, Zaria), translated and re-isued as Part II of Kirk- Greene,
A. H. M. & P. Newman, 1971 - West African Travels and
Adventures: Two Autobiographical Narratives from Northern Nigeria
(Yale Univ. Press). Kirk-Greene translates Mai Maina's Patiagwaja
as Patiagoja (135). Pati Agbaja refers to Agbaja: hill- pati being
the Nupe word for hill or highland. Ajeto is shown as the last of
the pre- 1897 Olus of Agbaja in the Agbaja MSS cited in footnote 30
above.
48. The entry of Islam into the O-kun districts date effectively
from the first and second decades of the twentieth century. It came
into most of the O-kun settlements side-by-side with Christianity;
an effectively twentieth century feature.
49. May, 1860- Journey . . ., p. ; and Lugard in Perham (ed.),
1963, p. 268 give clear descriptions of Egbe town walls and
ditches. Flegel, R., 1 882 - Die Flegelsche Expedition
(Mitteilungen der Afr. Gesselschaft in Deutschland, 3, 1882, pp.
137-145). I am grateful to Wilhelm & Gisela Seidensticker for a
translation of this document.
This content downloaded from 197.253.6.248 on Thu, 25 Sep 2014
10:36:02 AMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
-
Sokoto Jihad and the 4 O-kun ' Yoruba 77
the usual tribute payments. According to O-kun informants they
had to raise levies of men. They had to provide food and other
provisions for themselves and for their masters services for which
they got very little if anything. Oral traditions, some in song
which refer to events of the 1845-73 events highlight local
feelings about the O-kun participation in offensives by 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 military
institutions, this was revolutionary. Successful warriors emerged
to undertake raids for slaves for which they built up their own
followings. The exposure of O-kun to regular warfare must have
prepared them for the revolts that were a feature of the next
phase.
A Third Phase: about 1882-1897 Violence, mass movements of
peoples and attendant suffering are emphasized in the sources as
being more characteristic of this final phase than for the
preceding. This was the time of war' proper. A great number of
settlements were to disappear from the map due to military
confrontation during this phase. As was shown by events of the
preceding phases, the local happenings were the response to the
'international' relations of the times of which those in Nupeland
and Yorubaland (Ibadan and llorn) were significant.
By the seventies, and even before Masabas death in 1873, the
stability of the political order in Bida had meant the accumulation
of an increasingly large group of 'royalists' and their dependants.
To
50. At Ufe-Ijumu the etu {Jeku) dance still performed at
wake-keeping parties in the funeral for titled ones has a song
based on the Ogun Arigidi or Arigidi War. The song leader's words
could be abridged thus: Egbe, . . . omode . . . ijoye, obinrin etc.
hun m'a a r'ogun Arigidi Ogun Arigidi mo n'ewu, Ogun Arigidi Ijo mo
yun ogun Arigidi . . . 1'ijo mo yun-ogun Arigidi Oko i dun
bun-bun-bun Ogun Arigidi! O le mi, le mi, mo bo gha'le o mo mo kp
ewuyo Kun me un mu kpe'wu yo? O no ron e e gbe l'ogun o, mi ma
kp'ewu yo.
The youth, the juveniles, the titled ones, the women etc. all
nomi- nated me for the Arigidi war.
Yet the Arigidi war is most perilous. The day I went to the war
at Arigidi Bullets they whizzed and whizzed at the Arigidi war. I
was hotly pursued but got back home safely. But how could I not
have escaped the danger? A levy (conscript does not perish in war .
. . thus I survived.
This content downloaded from 197.253.6.248 on Thu, 25 Sep 2014
10:36:02 AMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
-
78 Journal of the Historical Society of Nigeria
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 establishment of
slave farms around Bida and elsewhere in 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 emergent
states had claimed as its own. Thus, following the Arigidi war,
effort had been made by Bida to cross into the Igala area. There,
the Bussa Nge halted the Bida forces before Shintaku in 1868.53
After Masabas death, Umaru Majigi his successor waged war on the
Igbira Tao.54 There were engagements at Ogidi and Aduge and finally
in the hills of the present-day Okene 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 withdraw to deal with other matters in 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.
Events in Yorubaland were also taking a new shape in the 1878-9
period. The Ekiti, Ijesa, Igbomina and some Akoko had resolved to
free themselves from Ibadan rule. With a rallying point at Otun
they had resorted to an alliance - the Ekiti Parapo, with the aims
of defeating and destroying for ever the power of Ibadan.57 The
Ibadan-Ekitiparapo war broke out in 1879 and although the sporadic
fighting at the Kiriji camps was to cease in 1886, the war did not
end till 1893. florin featured more as an ally of the Ekiti-
51. Mason, 1969- The Nupe Kingdom . . pp. 300-303. 52. Mason,
M., 1973 - Capttve and Citent Labour and the Economy oj
the Bida Emirate , 1857-1901 (Jour. Afr. Hist., Vol. XIV, No. 3,
pp. 453-471.
53. Sources relating to this event are examined m Abaniwo, J.
A., 1973 - A History of Bassa-Nge up to 1920 (B.A. Dissertation,
Dept. of History, Ahmadu Bello University).
54. Mason, 1970 -The, Jihad . . pp. 198-199. *or a more detailed
stuay of the Igbira sources relating to 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,
Ahmadu Bello University).
55. Though victorious, the Igbira did not wish for another
attack: they decided to pay tribute to Bida. Mason, 1969- The
Kingdom . . pp. 265-270.
56. Mason, 197 0- The Jihad . . pp. 199-200; 1959- The Kingdom
pp. 277-83.
57. Akintoye, 1971 - Revolution . . pp. 76 et seqq.
This content downloaded from 197.253.6.248 on Thu, 25 Sep 2014
10:36:02 AMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
-
Sokoto Jihad and the ' O-kun 9 Yoruba 79
parapo during these engagements- especially because its own
interests overlapped with those of the Ekitiparapo.5 8
If Umaru Majigi had managed the increasing demands and
responsibilities of the system centred 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 increasingly burdensome demands for
tribute - human tribute from an already-taxed people, with its
consequences of declining populations, declining economic
productivity and increasing social insecurity against raids for
slave drove the 0:kun into open revolt. Regular or co-ordinated
administration had become more difficult as the O-kun had to
attempt to throw off the Nupe yoke in the O-kun region. These
revolts followed 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
destruction of the settlements of the Iyagba areas and the annual
harassments of those that remained.60 Individual towns, sometimes
made formidable resistance. Thus, at Ewuta (life territory) Audu
Yama, brother of Muhammadu (subsequently emir) was killed by the
Iyagba in an engagement.6 1
One outstanding feature in the history of the O-kun in this
period was the movements of people following the imminent or
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 encounter recorded within thirty
years
after it happened leaves the impression that this was "the
largest gathering of Yagbas formed to fight their common enemy.
Detachments came from Ife, Ejuku, Takile [Takete], Isawo, Ikinrin
[PEkinrin], and Ogboru [Ogbom] and Ogbe, Eri and Ejiba . . . with
several chiefs among them, but they had no leader . . . They
concen- trated near Takite . . . The Fulani-Nupe under Abubakar
moved from Isanlu and formed a camp at Jagbe [Ijagbe] . . . When
the Yagba forces were out on the east bank [of the Oyi river] , the
enemy sprang out . . . completely surrounding them. It is said that
not a man escaped death or slavery. " National Archives, Raduna,
KABDIST Yagba History (no number).
60. This is the impression given by present -day informants and
the evacuation of many of the settlements for less accessible
places was more widespread in the decade after 1885-6.
61. H.B. James, op. cit. Chief Eleta of Ife-Olukotun, the leader
of the Ewuta compound of the town recalls these names during an
inter- view in April 1974.
This content downloaded from 197.253.6.248 on Thu, 25 Sep 2014
10:36:02 AMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
-
80 Journal of the Historical Society of Nigeria
evacuated. Refugees trickled into 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 southern fringe of Yagbaland.6 3 This settlement
survives.
Drawing its inspiration from he 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 withdraw
because it could not break the allied forces.6 5 Returning the
following year, they pitched their camp at Udo, near Egunbe but
still on Ogidi territory.6 6 The hostilities were terminated by
the
62. This explanation of the total evacuation of settlements must
be under- stood against the background of the nineteenth century.
Within each of the above 'states* there were many settlements of
various names and sizes. The evacuation of settlements is not
co-terminous with the evacuation of the 'states' or that name. By
moving on to single sites, the old multi-settlement polities have
become composite nucleated towns and villages along the motor road
usually under the old names. Each of the older settlements are
quarters or compounds- preserving its individuality in name. See
Obayemi, A., 1978 - Settlement Evolution: The Case of the
North-East Yoruba. Paper read at the Seminars of the Archaeology
Division, Dept. of History, Ahmadu Bello University, June 1978
(mimeo, 14pp); Dada, D.O. 1969 - Settlement Re-organisation in West
Yagba After the Nineteenth Century (impubi. B.A. dissertation,
Dept. of Geography, Ahmadu Bello University).
63. For some reference to the historical experience which
produced Igbagun, see Medugbon, A., 1969 -The Implication of Cash
Cropping in A lu- Igbagun (unpubl. B.A. dissertation, Dept. of
Geography, Ahmadu Bello University).
64. Aspects of the organization and tactics of this alliance are
still obscure. Leadership was exercised by Agan-un or Aganhun of
Esuku- an Akoko village. The signal for war was apparently given at
Ikeram with the execution of one Kolo, said to be a prince of Bida
and the display of his head in the market place. Akomolafe who
recorded this information places the events in 1888, thus
suggesting the Ogidi war as occurring from 1888-1897. Akomolafe,
C.O., 1970 -Akoko and the Nupe Wars in the Nineteenth Century
(unpubl. B.A. dissertation, Univ. of Ife, Dept. of History).
65. Oba Ogunleye, Alaere of Ogidi and elders: Ogidi -Ijumu
traditions recorded in August 1970.
66. Though placed by writers as the Nupe camp near Kabba, the
site of of the camp and battles is farmed by Ogidi-Ijumu people.
The site is accurately placed on Vandeleur s map.
This content downloaded from 197.253.6.248 on Thu, 25 Sep 2014
10:36:02 AMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
-
Sokoto Jihad and the '0-kunf Yoruba 81
interverttion of 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 confused
political scene when the British came to expel the agents of Bida
was thus largely due to the upheavals which the O -kun systems had
suffered in 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 every department of life. We here select the more
conspicuous for discussion.
In political terms, the Bida and Ilorin exploits in the O -kun
districts represent attempts to incorporate these people into a
more extensive political system with at least some formal adhesion
to a religious ideology. The chief characteristic of the system
however was the economic exploitation of the O -kun districts by
the metropolis with 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 settlements which lie totally or partially
in ruins, the survivals of defensive settlement walls and existing
refugee settlements.
The retirement of people into inaccessible places - usually to
hill-tops - explains a notable feature of the earliest maps of the
area.68 The re-settlement of people since the second decade of
British rule at the foot of, or close to these hills, are direct
products of the nineteenth century folk movements. Thus, the
settlements at 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 substantially on hill-tops by 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
they had lived as slaves, returned to their respective settlements.
But not all were to return. Those who had long been resident jn
other centres, who had been born there or whose contacts with their
original
67. Vandeleur, Lt. S., 1898 - Campaigning in the Upper Nile and
Niger (Methuen, London), pp. 176-254.
68. Mopa, Akpaa, Egga, Akutukpa, Ufe, Ikoyi, Ogidi, Ejuku, Ilae,
Agboro, Iluke, Ohura etc. are examples of settlements substantially
sited on hills in the first two decades of British rule. Movement
on to the plains - (but first to the foot of the hills) was in many
settlements made compulsory by the British administrators in
1918.
This content downloaded from 197.253.6.248 on Thu, 25 Sep 2014
10:36:02 AMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
-
82 Journal of the Historical Society of Nigeria
homes had weakened faced little pressures to return. Thus, subs-
tantial 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 century
additions 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 overlordships over parts of the O-kun region.
This largely accounts for the fact that today, O-kun territory
is
v carved up into separately administered divisions or Local
Govern- ment areas of Oyi (formerly Kabba), Kogi, Akoko, Edu
(formerly Pategi), Irepodun (formerly llorn and Igbomina-Ekiti),
Ikole and Omuo.6 9
Closely linked with the question of the disappearance of settle-
ments, raids for slaves, increased cases of kidnappings and
insecurity of life and property is 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 depo- pulation 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 find
escape too difficult with constant crossings and re-crossings of
the Niger. To assume as he does however that the British
administrator s 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 settlements in the early
decades of the nineteenth century- but three lines of the internal
evidence demonstrate the reality of depopulation of the O-kun
districts.
69. The political agitations of the early thirties forced the
British adminis- tration to detach West Yagba from Pategi Division
(leaving Agboro), and merge it with East Yagba. Koro and Eruku,
towns of Yagba speech but asserting Ekiti identities for themselves
remained in the "llorn" sector. Itapaji, Irele, Oke-Ako, Ikpao
(Ipao) and others remain in Ondo State.
70. Mason, M., 1969b- Population Density ana lave Hatdtng : 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- Population
Density and 'Slave Raiding9- A Comment (Jour. Afr. Hist., Vol. XII,
No. 2, pp. 319-327); Agboola, G.A., 1968- Some Factors of
Population Distribution in the Middle Belt of Nigeria: The Examples
of Northern Ilorin and Kabba in Caldwell, J.C. & C. Okonjo
(eds.), The population of Tropical Africa (Longman).
71. Mason, 1969b, Population Density . . ., pp. 555,
560-563.
This content downloaded from 197.253.6.248 on Thu, 25 Sep 2014
10:36:02 AMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
-
Sokoto Jihad and the 'O-kun' Yoruba 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 flight into refugee settlements is that 'there would be
no-one left- over' (from the demands by Bida). A second line of
evidence that there had been depopulations is in the fact of an
uneven distri- bution 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 settlements acted 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 settlements are closer
to what could have been the 'normal' demographic pattern in the
area - although each of them also suffered to some extent. The
third category of internal evidence is made up of the list of ebi
(lineages) and sub- lineages which are now extinct even if the
names are still remem- bered. These could be as many as six out of
the original nine at Aginmi which did not survive the 'war'7 2 or
as many as 31 out of 33 'towns' of Ohi-Iife73 and a greater
proportion at Ohun. The present-day Bassa Nge district include
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
free from exaggerations for effect such as the stereotype story of
Etie in Ohi-Iife.75 Given the number of lineages and sub-lineages
that
72. Aginmi (Iyagba) informants interviewed on 30 March 1974 gave
me the list of extinct lineages/settlements as Odaagbo, Oke Takete,
Ayingbagu, Ayingbede, Ok'Ego. Four others - Ilopa, Odogbo,
Okedigba, and Oke Ga have survivors.
73. My informant (Chief Eleta) admits that he cannot now
recollect the names of the 35 towns - and gives a list of fifteen.
The density of population in Ohi-Iife of earlier days have become
proverbial - the subject of many stories.
74. Some Bassa -Nge names are indisputably Abinu-Ijumu Oral
traditions recorded at Akpata (1975) speak of Abinu folk crossing
the river and becoming "Baha" ( = Bassa-Nge).
75. Etie was said to have been so populous that their foot
-soldiers passing over a cow-hide in single file wore a hole
through it before everyone could pass. For similar claims for Oyo
armies, see Norris, R., 1789- Memoirs of the Reign of Bossa Ahadee,
King of Dahomy (London), 1966 repr., pp. 11-12. For the recurrence
of certain myths to explain greater populations of earlier times in
a study of another Nigerian people, see Erim, E.O., 1974 -
Stereotype Themes in Yala Oral Traditions (Oduma, Vol. II, No. 1,
August, pp. 11-15).
This content downloaded from 197.253.6.248 on Thu, 25 Sep 2014
10:36:02 AMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
-
84 Journal of the Historical Society of Nigeria
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 attest to
a population and prosperity now gone'.7 6
Depopulation of the O-kun districts is only one' of the keys to
the twentieth century history. There were the effects of a
psychology of helplessness and one which had been documented since
the earliest entries of the O-kun into literary records. But such
professed helplessness and 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 for the intervention of the white man and indeed
there are records relating to deputations from these districts to
Lagos and elsewhere and there are local confirmation that 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
mini- state form of 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 things considered, 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): Colonial Office, 1901-1911.
77. Laird & Oldfield, 1837, Vols. I & II. 78. Bishop
Tugwell to Capt. R.L. Bower, 24 Dec. 1894, in FO. 83/1376,
refers to deputations of chiefs from this area both to the Royal
Niger Company agents and to Bower.
79. For a summary of these, see Ikime, O., 1977 - The Fall of
Nigeria: The British Conquest (Heinemann, London), pp. 48-53,
161-177.
80. Vandeleur used the term 'Southern Nupe' when he referred to
the districts of the North-East Yoruba. The British invasion and
conquest of Nigeria, groups which acknowledge no paramount rulers
had to be conquered on a village -by- village basis. For an
example, see Gonyok, C., 1978 - Colonial Violence - The Case of the
Plateau Minesfield, 1902-1912 (Postgraduate Seminar Paper, Ahmadu
Bello University, Zaria, mimeo, 18pp).
This content downloaded from 197.253.6.248 on Thu, 25 Sep 2014
10:36:02 AMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
-
Sokoto Jihad and the 'O-kun' Yoruba 85
south, the emptied settlements elsewhere were symptoms of the
disaffection with a power which though feared was hated. These were
pointers too to the dismal failure of an indigenous political order
the mini-state type in the face of external threat. The British,
through the agency of the Royal Niger Company were responsible for
bringing the system to an end: they .had also helped to foster it
by the monopoly they gave the emirs of Bida over fire- arms. 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 after the Nupe presence.
The ebi (lineage) remained the basic landowning and land-
disposing unit. The ebi in the O-kun had been essentially an
economic, social and religious unit the distinct sub-unit of the
different states living the individual citizen his social identity
and 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 withdrawals by certain lineages from their own lands and the
consequent abandonment of their resources, host populations
accommodated refugees on the basis of hosts and resident guests.
The dual citizenship within such communities and the conflicts over
economic resources, religious observances, are today narrated as
between 'hosts' and unassimilated guests. The emergency which
produced this latter state of affairs did not last long enough
(less than one decade in certain parts of Ijumu) to make for
permanence 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 acknowledgement
of his economic and social standing within the old system, survived
intact.
The fact that in spite of the afflictions of 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 symptoms that 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 respective ebi
where known, but old shrines were re- activated. In places where
lineages had died
81. One example in the area is vividly recalled by elders of
Ekafe lineage in Ufe-Ijumu with whom some sections of Ighara
(Araromi) took refuge and did not return home until the pax
brittanica was weil established.
This content downloaded from 197.253.6.248 on Thu, 25 Sep 2014
10:36:02 AMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
-
86 Journal of the Historical Society of Nigeria
out or had almost become extinct, known descendants (even on the
female line) were persuaded to return and resettle such in order
that the old system and its relativities of the component ebi might
be restored and maintained. This process has continued till our
tim.
The persistence of 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 persistence of its
oriki (greetings), the observance of old festivals and the
patronage of lineage cults and professions. These, with the
retention of the old calendars and of the market cycles, the
attachment to or rather the continuity of the old system of
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 system and thus of all the
basic institutions of the ancient polities give us the cultural
reference basic to a discussion of the social changes that go with
the processes of twentieth century modernisa- tion. 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
administrators till the present day are some of the reactions of
the old order to forces of 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, settlements and individuals
adopting Islam or the various Christian denominations now
co-existing in the area.
These illustrations show the essentially, indeed overwhelmingly
negative impact of the so-called jihad on O-kun society. Its
'revolutionary' effect lies in the fact of the demographic
dislocations and relocations more than in anything else. Where, as
in the Oworo area we do have the adoption of some Nupe institutions
and attitudes, these are the results of direct copying (as of
titles, and personal names) during the twentieth century. The
underlying culture remains substantially indigenous. The oral
literature- especially 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 form or the other persisted till 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' still
within 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.
This content downloaded from 197.253.6.248 on Thu, 25 Sep 2014
10:36:02 AMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
-
Sokoto Jihad and the 'O-kun 9 Yoruba 87
Indeed, the use of Islamic concepts- jihad, amana, etc.- however
applicable to the core area of the Sokoto Caliphate cannot be
universally applied to all parts which were affected in one form or
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 orientation of the Bida regime had much to do with
ideological issues. When the O-kun took the field against the
forces of Bida, they were not resisting a religion, they were
fighting for life 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 settlements to adopt
the faith when their presumed agents were gone. As far as the O-kun
are concerned, there was warfare in the nineteenth century: they
were partially incorporated into a new political order; it could
not have been jihad, not even as an after-thought.
This content downloaded from 197.253.6.248 on Thu, 25 Sep 2014
10:36:02 AMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
Article Contentsp. 61p. 62p. 63p. 64p. 65p. 66p. 67p. 68p. 69p.
70p. 71p. 72p. 73p. 74p. 75p. 76p. 77p. 78p. 79p. 80p. 81p. 82p.
83p. 84p. 85p. 86p. 87
Issue Table of ContentsJournal of the Historical Society of
Nigeria, Vol. 9, No. 2 (June 1978), pp. 1-172Front MatterNIGERIAN
FEDERALISM: ACCIDENTAL FOUNDATIONS BY LUGARD [pp. 1-20]THE IMPACT
OF NINETEENTH CENTURY WARFARE ON YORUBA TRADITIONAL CHIEFTAINCY
[pp. 21-34]THE CAREER OF ADELE AT LAGOS AND BADAGRY, c. 1807 - c.
1837 [pp. 35-59]THE SOKOTO JIHAD AND THE 'O-KUN' YORUBA: A REVIEW
[pp. 61-87]THE DEVELOPMENT OF ENGLISH IN NIGERIA UP TO 1914: A
SOCIO-HISTORICAL APPRAISAL [pp. 89-103]PERSONALITIES AND POLICIES
IN THE ESTABLISHMENT OF ENGLISH IN NORTHERN NIGERIA DURING THE
BRITISH COLONIAL ADMINISTRATION, 1900-1943 [pp. 105-126]THE
NIGERIAN MOTOR TRANSPORT UNION STRIKE OF 1937 [pp. 127-144]REVIEW
ARTICLENIGERIAN HISTORIANS AND THE DISSEMINATION OF HISTORICAL
INFORMATION [pp. 145-154]
BOOK REVIEWReview: untitled [pp. 155-156]Review: untitled [pp.
157-163]Review: untitled [pp. 165-167]Review: untitled [pp.
169-172]
Back Matter