THE OSOGBO WAR OF 1840

After the Fulanis systematically captured and made Ilorin their territory, they sacked the old Oyo Empire in 1835/1636 .

They were still not satisfied with their victory; they wished to extend their rule deep into the heart of Yoruba land. Thus in 1840, they set to capture Osogbo , a Yoruba town. The Fulanis, under the command of Ali , the Hausa balogun of Ilorin, laid siege on Osogbo.

When the king of Osogbo realized that the Ilorins were too strong for the Osogbo army, he summoned the Ibadans for help. Ibadan immediately sent some auxiliaries to Osogbo under the command of Obele alias Mobitan , and Alade Abimpagun. As this force could not stop the Ilorins, another contingent was sent to Osogbo under a more experienced leader. But still the Ilorins won every battle and gained more ground.

When Ibadan realized that the Ilorins were becoming more threatening to Yoruba land, they sent a large and stronger force under Balogun Oderinlo to crush the intruding forces and Jammas of Ilorin . When Oderinlo and his men arrived at the battlefield, they realized that things had gone worse than they thought.

They could not show their faces in the open field for the fear of the Ilorin horses, and for about 20 days after their arrival at Osogbo, they could not fight outside the town thickets. Oderinlo suggested that Elepo, a brave Ibadan warrior was badly needed at the war-front. Elepo had been rejected by the war-chiefs of Ibadan for his actions at the late Agbamaja expedition.

As soon as the message from Oderinlo reached Ibadan, the Bashorun wished he could send Elepo to Osogbo but could not go against the wish of other war-chiefs. The Bashorun gave Elepo a cow to worship his god, Ori , and pray for the victory of Ibadan at the war-front.

At the war-front, the Ibadan could not attack the Ilorins during the day because Osogbo was practically in a plain and the Ilorin horses might have advantage of them with disastrous results.

They decided to attack at dusk when the Ilorins would no longer be able to use their horses. About 2:pm, the well prepared Ibadan army left the gate of Osogbo for the battlefield. They were to keep a strict watch and arrest anyone suspected to be a spy.

About a mile from the Ilorin camp, they halted and arranged the order of the attack.

The Osogbo army and the earlier auxiliaries were to handle the center of the battlefield, chiefs Abitiko and Labuju were to command the right wing, Balogun Oderinlo with the rest of the Ibadan war-chiefs were to form the left wing of the army. The Ilorin camp was then attacked at midnight. The watchword was “ Elo ni owo odo? ” (How much is the ferry fare?).

The reason this watchword was chosen was because the river Osun had to be crossed in entering Osogbo from the south, and anyone who could not tell this was likely to be an enemy.

Stampede engulfed the Ilorin camp as the Ibadan army set it on fire. The Ilorins could not offer the slightest resistance; they were smoked with the gunpowder of the Ibadan guns.

This attack was a success for the Ibadan. Some Ilorin war-chiefs were captured in the attack. Prominent ones were:
1. Jimba the head slave of the Emir;
2. One of the sons of Ali the commander in chief;
3. Chief Lateju;
4. Ajikobo the Yoruba Balogun of Ilorin.
The first two were released while the latter two, being Yoruba by birth, were regarded as traitors and were executed. This was a huge victory for the whole of Yoruba land. After the Osogbo victory,
Ibokun, an Ijesa town not far from Osogbo was taken by the Ibadans for being an ally of Ilorin.
After this war, Ìbàdàn later became a force building a formidable war machinery than later prosecuted many other wars with resounding victory.
Notable among the wars was the KIRIJI WAR where the Ibadan warlords formed a historic alliance with the Igbajos. Even though Igbajo became the war front for many years that the war lasted, it was never captured by the raging Ekiti parapò warriors. Rather it was a place where many of them met their Waterloo.
Notable among the warriors were Fabunmi Okeemesi, Ogedengbe Agbogun gboro of the Ijesas, Apasikoto pasigegele of Igbajo and Latoosa of Ibadan to mention a few. There were many more great warriors of the time.
It's worthy to note that the KIRIJI WAR was the last war in Yoruba land. It's also recorded as the longest native war between in Africa.
Since then the Yoruba people have continued to build strong bonds among themselves and they have sustained the peace.

We must continue to tell our children the history of the Yoruba people and the bond which our father had built so that we can continue to see ourselves as one. If the Ibadan people can sacrifice their lives for the people of Osogbo in other to safe other towns and villages in Yoruba land and in essence the carnage of innocent people were prevented, then, we the modern Yorubas have no reason to divide ourselves for political reasons or any reason at all.
Our leaders must continue to put their lives in the forefront to safe the land from all aggression.
And we have the responsibility to support, to advise and to pray for all our leaders irrespective of political divide.

God bless our leaders,
God bless Yoruba land
God bless Nigeria.

aremuforlife:
THE OSOGBO WAR OF 1840

After the Fulanis systematically captured and made Ilorin their territory, they sacked the old Oyo Empire in 1835/1636 .

They were still not satisfied with their victory; they wished to extend their rule deep into the heart of Yoruba land. Thus in 1840, they set to capture Osogbo , a Yoruba town. The Fulanis, under the command of Ali , the Hausa balogun of Ilorin, laid siege on Osogbo.

When the king of Osogbo realized that the Ilorins were too strong for the Osogbo army, he summoned the Ibadans for help. Ibadan immediately sent some auxiliaries to Osogbo under the command of Obele alias Mobitan , and Alade Abimpagun. As this force could not stop the Ilorins, another contingent was sent to Osogbo under a more experienced leader. But still the Ilorins won every battle and gained more ground.

When Ibadan realized that the Ilorins were becoming more threatening to Yoruba land, they sent a large and stronger force under Balogun Oderinlo to crush the intruding forces and Jammas of Ilorin . When Oderinlo and his men arrived at the battlefield, they realized that things had gone worse than they thought.

They could not show their faces in the open field for the fear of the Ilorin horses, and for about 20 days after their arrival at Osogbo, they could not fight outside the town thickets. Oderinlo suggested that Elepo, a brave Ibadan warrior was badly needed at the war-front. Elepo had been rejected by the war-chiefs of Ibadan for his actions at the late Agbamaja expedition.

As soon as the message from Oderinlo reached Ibadan, the Bashorun wished he could send Elepo to Osogbo but could not go against the wish of other war-chiefs. The Bashorun gave Elepo a cow to worship his god, Ori , and pray for the victory of Ibadan at the war-front.

At the war-front, the Ibadan could not attack the Ilorins during the day because Osogbo was practically in a plain and the Ilorin horses might have advantage of them with disastrous results.

They decided to attack at dusk when the Ilorins would no longer be able to use their horses. About 2:pm, the well prepared Ibadan army left the gate of Osogbo for the battlefield. They were to keep a strict watch and arrest anyone suspected to be a spy.

About a mile from the Ilorin camp, they halted and arranged the order of the attack.

The Osogbo army and the earlier auxiliaries were to handle the center of the battlefield, chiefs Abitiko and Labuju were to command the right wing, Balogun Oderinlo with the rest of the Ibadan war-chiefs were to form the left wing of the army. The Ilorin camp was then attacked at midnight. The watchword was “ Elo ni owo odo? ” (How much is the ferry fare?).

The reason this watchword was chosen was because the river Osun had to be crossed in entering Osogbo from the south, and anyone who could not tell this was likely to be an enemy.

Stampede engulfed the Ilorin camp as the Ibadan army set it on fire. The Ilorins could not offer the slightest resistance; they were smoked with the gunpowder of the Ibadan guns.

This attack was a success for the Ibadan. Some Ilorin war-chiefs were captured in the attack. Prominent ones were:
1. Jimba the head slave of the Emir;
2. One of the sons of Ali the commander in chief;
3. Chief Lateju;
4. Ajikobo the Yoruba Balogun of Ilorin.
The first two were released while the latter two, being Yoruba by birth, were regarded as traitors and were executed. This was a huge victory for the whole of Yoruba land. After the Osogbo victory,
Ibokun, an Ijesa town not far from Osogbo was taken by the Ibadans for being an ally of Ilorin.
After this war, Ìbàdàn later became a force building a formidable war machinery than later prosecuted many other wars with resounding victory.
Notable among the wars was the KIRIJI WAR where the Ibadan warlords formed a historic alliance with the Igbajos. Even though Igbajo became the war front for many years that the war lasted, it was never captured by the raging Ekiti parapò warriors. Rather it was a place where many of them met their Waterloo.
Notable among the warriors were Fabunmi Okeemesi, Ogedengbe Agbogun gboro of the Ijesas, Apasikoto pasigegele of Igbajo and Latoosa of Ibadan to mention a few. There were many more great warriors of the time.
It's worthy to note that the KIRIJI WAR was the last war in Yoruba land. It's also recorded as the longest native war between in Africa.
Since then the Yoruba people have continued to build strong bonds among themselves and they have sustained the peace.

We must continue to tell our children the history of the Yoruba people and the bond which our father had built so that we can continue to see ourselves as one. If the Ibadan people can sacrifice their lives for the people of Osogbo in other to safe other towns and villages in Yoruba land and in essence the carnage of innocent people were prevented, then, we the modern Yorubas have no reason to divide ourselves for political reasons or any reason at all.
Our leaders must continue to put their lives in the forefront to safe the land from all aggression.
And we have the responsibility to support, to advise and to pray for all our leaders irrespective of political divide.

God bless our leaders,
God bless Yoruba land
God bless Nigeria.

Permission to copy this work sir. You just made my day....

And where can i get more profound history regarding the oshogbo war. It is very important.

vaxx:
Permission to copy this work sir. You just made my day....

And where can i get more profound history regarding the oshogbo war. It is very important.

You are free to make the copy and you can also make research on Google, there are lots on the site.
Thanks alot

@aremuforlife were you there when they are fighting the siege
Please tell us how the fulanis conquer ilorin

purem:
@aremuforlife were you there when they are fighting the siege

Please tell us how the fulanis conquer ilorin

If I'm allowed to answer the later question, Ilorin was systematically captured starting from when Afonja, the then aare ona kakanfo rebelled against the alaafin. Ilorin was his base. Knowing he can't conquer the army alone with those loyal to him, he reached out to Alimi, a fulani Muslim cleric living on the outskirts of Ilorin for assistance. Alimi then reached out to his people for support. Other Yoruba Muslims joined the Afonja/Alimi ally. After the death of Afonja, Ilorin, now being a caliphate was governed by Alimi. Then after Alimi's death, Afonja's heir was prevented from the throne and murdered. A couple of murders went on and Ilorin has since been under the Fulani influenced government

My narration is hazy and I hope @aremuforlife has a better narrative

Ilorin
NIGERIA
WRITTEN BY: The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Ilorin, city, traditional emirate, and capital of Kwara state, western Nigeria, on the Awun River, a minor tributary of the Niger. Founded in the late 18th century by Yoruba people, it became the capital of a kingdom that was a vassal state of the Oyo empire. Oyo’s commander at Ilorin, Kakanfo (Field Marshal) Afonja, led a rebellion in 1817 that destroyed the unity of the empire. He was aided by Mallam Alimi (a Fulani from Sokoto), by Fulani warriors and slaves, and by Hausa slaves. Afonja was increasingly dominated by the Muslim Fulani, and, upon his assassination, Alimi’s son, Abd as-Salam (Abdul Salami), became emir of Ilorin and pledged allegiance (c. 1829) to the Sokoto caliphate. As a Muslim emirate, Ilorin subjugated several towns in Yorubaland and destroyed Oyo Ile (Old Oyo, or Katunga), 40 miles (64 km) northwest, the Oyo capital, in 1837. Abd as-Salam conducted a jihad toward the sea and was only stopped by the Ibadan victory over his cavalrymen at Oshogbo in 1840.


Throughout the 19th century, Ilorin served as a major trade centre between the Hausa of the north and the Yoruba of the south. It strongly resisted British rule, and not until 1897, when the army of the Royal Niger Company arrived after conquering Bida (106 miles east-northeast), did Ilorin recognize British supremacy. In 1900 Ilorin emirate was the only part of Yorubaland to be included in the Northern Nigeria Protectorate, which, later in the colonial period, developed into the Northern Province and then the Northern Region. With the subdivision of the country’s administrative regions in 1967, Ilorin became part of West Central (later Kwara) state.


Modern Ilorin is mainly inhabited by Muslim Yoruba people, although its traditional ruler is a Yoruba-speaking Fulani emir.

Is that why most of Yoruba land becomes Muslims

this is my comment

jom28gy:
Is that why most of Yoruba land becomes Muslims

Islam gained entry into Yoruba land through trading with the Mali.There were Muslims already among the Yoruba before any encounter with fulanis.

And was why the YORUBA'S called Islamic religion imole I.e imo mali

that is to say,Islam,has permeated the west,before the north?