Battle of Ogbomosho

Last updated
Battle of Ogbomosho
Date1830s
Location
Result Decisive Fulani Victory
Belligerents
Ilorin Emirate Yoruba Allied Forces
Commanders and leaders
Alimi & Chief Solagberu Toyeje Baale of Ogbomosho
Strength
Unknown Unknown
Casualties and losses
Unknown Unknown

The Battle of Ogbomosho was a battle between the Ilorin Emirate of the Sokoto Caliphate and the Yoruba Oyo Empire in modern day Ogele. This battle was narrated, and written down by the accredit Yoruba historian, Samuel Johnson in the book The History of the Yorubas.

Background

The tragic end of afonja the kakanfo by the hands of his jamas has long been anticipated by thoughtful men who deprecated their information, and had predicted the worst for the nation when slaves became masters. The death of the Kakanfo struck the nation with such awe and bewilderment that it took the people a whole year to bring them back to their right mind. Seeing the whole faith of the nation was trembling in the balances it were, all the people united to avenge the death of Afonja, while in the meantime, the crafty Fulani had been strengthening itself for the conflict. He had studied the yorubas and knew how to circumvent them. Toyeje the Baale of Ogbomosho and the commander of the late Kakanfo's right, was promoted to the post of Kakanfo and the whole nation was united under his standard to expel the Fulanis from Ilorin. They encamped at a place called Ogele, where they were met by the Fulani horse aided by a powerful Yoruba moslem chief Solagberu of Oke Suna. Another fatal mistake of Solagberu's. A sanguinary battle was fought in which the Fulanis were victorious. They routed the Yorubas and followed up their victory, which resulted in desertion or destruction of many great towns in Ibolo province. [1] The only important towns left in that part were Ofa, igbomina, Ilemona, Erin and a few others. The refugees could only carry away such of their personal effects which could be snatched away in a hasty flight, as the Fulani horse kept hovering in their rear. They found temporary refuge in any walled town where a powerful chief happened to be there, maybe, to await another siege by the conqueror. The distress caused by the calamity cannot be described. Aged people who could not be carried were left to perish. The doleful lamentations of parents who had lost their Children and of thousands of widows and orphans were heartbreaking. [2] Bereft of everything, without money or anything that could be converted into money in such hasty and sudden flight, they were reduced to abject misery and poverty among strangers and could only support life by doing menial work by procuring firewood or leaves for sale and such like. [3]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shango</span> Orisha, or deity, in the Yoruba religion

Shango is an Orisha, a deity in Yoruba religion. Genealogically speaking, Shango is a royal ancestor of the Yoruba as he was the third Alaafin of the Oyo Kingdom prior to his posthumous deification. Shango has numerous manifestations, including Airá, Agodo, Afonja, Lubé, and Obomin. He is known for his powerful double axe (Oṣè). He is considered to be one of the most powerful rulers that Yorubaland has ever produced.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ilorin</span> Capital city of Kwara State, Nigeria

Ilorin is the capital city of Kwara State located in the North Central region of Nigeria. As of the 2006 census, it had a population of 777,667, making it the 7th largest city by population in Nigeria. Surrounding the historic central district with its traditional single-story red-mud houses with thatched straw roofs and numerous mosques, all protected by a mud wall, the modern city is an industrial, commercial, and educational centre.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yorubaland</span> Cultural region of the Yoruba people in West Africa

Yorubaland is the homeland and cultural region of the Yoruba people in West Africa. It spans the modern-day countries of Nigeria, Togo and Benin, and covers a total land area of 142,114 km2 or about 60% of the land area of Ghana. Of this land area, 106,016 km2 (74.6%) lies within Nigeria, 18.9% in Benin, and the remaining 6.5% is in Togo. Prior to European colonization, a portion of this area was known as Yoruba country. The geo-cultural space contains an estimated 55 million people, the majority of this population being ethnic Yorubas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oyo Empire</span> Former empire in present-day Benin and Nigeria

The Oyo Empire was a Yoruba empire in West Africa. It was located in present-day eastern Benin and western Nigeria. The empire grew to become the largest Yoruba-speaking state and rose through the outstanding organizational and administrative skills of the Yoruba people, wealth gained from trade, and its powerful cavalry. The Oyo Empire was one of the most politically important states in the entirety of Western Africa from the mid-17th to the late 18th century, and held sway not only over most of the other kingdoms in Yorubaland, but also over nearby African states, notably the Fon Kingdom of Dahomey in the modern Republic of Benin on its west.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Samuel Johnson (Nigerian historian)</span> Nigerian historian (1846-1901)

The Rev. Samuel Johnson was an Anglican priest and historian of the Yoruba.

Obadiah Johnson, M.D. was a Saro who was both the second Nigerian to qualify as a medical doctor and the co-author, with his brother the Reverend Samuel Johnson, of A History of the Yorubas from the Earliest Times to the Beginning of the British Protectorate.

Ajagbo was an Alaafin of the West African Oyo Empire, whose long reign took place during the seventeenth century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oyo, Oyo State</span> City in Oyo State, Nigeria

Oyo is an ancient city in Oyo State, Nigeria. It was founded as the capital of the remnant of the historic Oyo empire in the 1830s, and is known to its people as 'New Oyo' to distinguish it from the former capital to the north, 'Old Oyo' (Ọ̀yọ́-Ilé), which had been deserted as a result of the Yoruba Revolutionary Wars. Its inhabitants are mostly of the Yoruba people, and its ruler is the Alaafin of Oyo.

Bashorun Gaha was a notable nobleman and leader of the military in the old Oyo Empire during the 18th century. From 1650 to 1750, Oyo Empire was at the pinnacle of her greatness, peace, prosperity and wealth. The Empire had expanded to the utmost part covering the river Niger in the north; part of Tapa and Bariba kingdoms in the East of the lower Niger; towards the South by the seacoast and the West including Popos and Dahomey. Thousands of provincial officials were appointed to administer all the conquered kingdoms and report to the Alafin who glory in his majesty and power. Women, men, young and old sang his praises. Then internal struggles for power began the rapid acceleration of the Empire disintegration and total collapse.

Gbedu literally means "big drum" and is a percussion instrument traditionally used in ceremonial Yoruba music in Nigeria and Benin. More recently, the word has come to be used to describe forms of Nigerian Afrobeats music.

The Ilorin Emirate is a traditional state based in the city of Ilorin in Kwara State, Nigeria. It is largely populated by the Yoruba-speaking people, though the kingdom is a hybrid state due to the influence of the many other tribes that make up the city.

Afonja of Ilorin was the "Are-Ona-Kakanfo", or chief military leader, of the Oyo Empire. Laderin, the great-grandfather of Afonja, was the founder of Ilorin city. He was succeeded by his son, Pasin, a powerful warrior who became a threat and target to, Basorun Gaha, because of his rising profile. He was driven into exile and killed. Alagbin, his son was made King. After the death of Alagbin, his son, Afonja, took over. These were the only four Yoruba kings in Ilorin.

The Jalumi War, also called the Battle of Ikirun, was a battle that took place on 1 November 1878 in the north east of present-day Osun State, Nigeria. It was part of the larger conflict named the Ibadan War. The forces of Ibadan victorious in detail over a force of rebellious Yorubas including soldiers from Ilorin, Ekiti, Ila and Ijesha. Despite the victory, fighting continued in the years that followed until the Ilorins were finally defeated in 1897.

The Yoruba Revolutionary Wars, otherwise known as the Yoruba Civil Wars, were a series of conflicts that engulfed the Yoruba-speaking areas of West Africa in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Robin Law summarizes the causes of the wars as the disintegration of the old Oyo Empire after the death of Alaafin Abiodun in 1789 and a resurgence of long-standing quarrels between the provincial chiefs over various issues. The root of the first disagreements can be traced to the feud between two noble houses; Laderin, based in Ilorin, and Yamba, based in the capital at Oyo-Ile. The conflict was also exacerbated by a Muslim slave rebellion led by a Fulani Muslim cleric, Shehu Alimi, and sponsored by the Aare Ona Kakanfo, Afonja, a descendant of Laderin, the founder of Ilorin, in 1817.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oyo Mesi</span>

The Oyo Mesi is the privy council of Oyo, a Yoruba traditional state in Southwestern Nigeria. It dates to the medieval period, when it served as the government of a powerful pre-colonial state that was known as the Oyo empire.

The Kiriji War, also known as the Ekiti–Parapo War, was a 16-year-long civil war between the subethnic kingdoms of the Yoruba people, specifically divided between the Western Yoruba, which was mainly the Ibadan and Oyo-speaking Yorubas, and the Eastern Yoruba, who were the Ekiti people, Ijesha, Ijebu people, and others.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aare Latoosa of Ibadan</span>

Obadoke Latoosa Oyatoosa, (c. 1820s - 1885) but more commonly referred to as Latoosa (or Latosisa), and later Mohammed Obadoke Latoosa, was a Yoruba General, Warlord, and Chief who was the Aare Ona Kakanfo of the Oyo Empire, the ruler of the self proclaimed Ibadan Empire, and the commander and leader of the Western forces of Ibadan during the Kiriji War from 1877 to his death in 1885.

Alaafin Atiba Atobatele was a prince of the Oyo Empire. He was the son of King Abiodun of Oyo, and Eni-olufan from Akeitan.

Orile Ijaye is a small town located in Akinyele local government, Oyo state, Nigeria. It is about 18 miles from Ibadan, Oyo state capital. This town was re-inhabited in 1895, thirty-two years after it was destroyed due to an intra-ethnic and supremacy war with Ibadan; another military power at that time. It was in 1895 they named it, Orile Ijaye from the original name, Ijaye.

The Second Battle of Ilorin, also commonly known as the battle of Kunla was the third attempt to reclaim Ilorin by the Yorubas, the battle was led by a powerful Yoruba chief, King Amodo who sought nothing else to release the Yoruba country from the yoke of the Fulanis. This battle was narrated, and written down by the accredit Yoruba historian, Samuel Johnson in the book The History of the Yorubas.

References

  1. Johnson, Samuel (1956). The History of the Yorubas: From the Earliest Times to the Beginning of the British Protectorate. C.M.S. (Nigeria) Bookshops.
  2. Johnson, Samuel (2010). Johnson, Obadiah (ed.). The History of the Yorubas: From the Earliest Times to the Beginning of the British Protectorate. Cambridge Library Collection - African Studies. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN   978-1-108-02099-2.
  3. The History of the Yorubas