The Yoruba war of the 19th century was mainly

centered at controlling trade routes. By this period, Lagos

source of slave was the Ijebu country situated to the
northern east of the island. These slaves disposed by Ijebu
were internally recruited as the demand of Lagos
surpassed the supply the Ijebu looked around for external
sources of procurement. By the beginning of the 19th
century, “Apomu” market had become one of the most
populous market which was located in Ife Kingdom. The
Ijebu conspired with the Ife people by in-sighting local
slave raiding and kidnapping of other Yoruba travellers or
traders who had come to the Apomu market and this was
one of the factor that contributed to the Yoruba war of the
19th century.
The 19th century Yoruba civil wars could also be
divided into 3 stages. The first stage, 1813 to 1837
signalled the collapse and suppression of Oyo and the
outbreak of the Owu war which is the first of the civil
wars.
The 2nd stage, 1837-1878 was characterized by
struggle to fill the power vacuum left by the decline of
Oyo. This power rivalry was primarily between Ibadan
and Abeokuta/Ijaye.
 The 3rd stage which is also the last phase was
characterized by the rise of Ekitiparapo and other
coalition of Ijebu, Ilorin against Ibadan hegemony.
The 19th century was a century of revolution in
Yoruba land. The century began with the political crises
that ended in the fall of the Oyo empire. After this fall,
there were wars by other Yoruba states for political
ascendancy.
The empire attained its greatest power and extent
in the 1780s during the reign of Abiodun. But it was
during the same period that the weakening of Oyo’s
power began, especially that it lost its influence on her
northern neighbours of the British and Nupe. Awole who
succeeded Abiodun in 1789 was a weak ruler and had to
be overthrown by his chiefs. The overthrow of Awole was
yet another indication of the crisis at the centre. The
Oyomesi re-asserted power which it had partially lost
under Abiodun. It requested Adesina , Abiodun’s heir
who thought that he could succeed his father, to commit
suicide. It drove Abiodun’s other children out of Oyo and
chose the weak Awole as the new Alaafin.
But Awole quarrelled with the Oyomesi (especially
the Bashorun, its head) and with one of the senior war
generals. While he was able to get away with this , he was
foolish enough to extend the quarrel to Afonja, the Aare
Ona Kakanfo was also the head of the Ilorin Province.
Afonja had strong and legitimate connection with the Oyo
ruling house and also had the ultimate ambition of
becoming the Alaafin. Awole’s scheme to destroy Afonja
ended in causing more trouble for the empire.
Afonja sought the throne but the Oyomesi would
not have such a strong man. It chose Adebo as the new
Alaafin. He withdrew his allegiance to Oyo and embarked
on the creation of a new kingdom. The relations in the
northern frontier of the empire deteriorated to the extent
that Oyo lost its influence.
The problems of the early 19th century were
complicated by the spread of the Sokoto Jihad to the
south. Both the internal problems and external threat
posed by the jihad converged in 1817 when a muslim
rebellion occurred. The Principal character in the story
was still Afonja. Before 1817, he had succeeded in
turning Ilorin into his kingdom but still he wanted to take
more areas out of Oyo. He was yet to fulfil his ambition
to become the Alaafin or create an alternative kingdom.
Neither was he free of military attacks from Oyo.
In 1817, Afonja decided to invoke a Muslim
rebellion in his support. This choice was possible because
of the outbreak of the jihad in 1804 and its subsequent
spread to the south. The Fulani constituted a military
force which Afonja thought he could manipulate to serve
his interest.
There were groups in Oyo who could respond to
Afonja’s request for a jihad. Firstly, there were the
pastoral Fulani who, though indifferent to Islam would
support Muslim Fulani leaders in a war against Oyo.
Secondly,several slaves of northern origin who were
muslims (A jihad would liberate these people from
bondage). There were also Mallams (Muslim Scholars)
who could provide leadership. A prominent one was
Mallam Salih (called Alimi by the Oyo), a Fulani itinerant
preacher.
Afonja, the man who wanted to harness these
Muslim potentials was not a convert. He believed in the
efficacy of Muslim charms and the military prowess of
the jihadists. To achieve his aim, he invited Alimi and his
followers to Ilorin. Other Muslims also went to Ilorin.
With the support of Afonja, Alimi proclaimed a jihad
against Oyo in 1817. Hundreds of Muslims joined in this
campaign. Northern slaves held by Oyo masters also
revolted. Islam had provided the opportunity of different
groups (Yoruba, Fulani and Hausa; Muslims and non-
muslims) to unite against the Oyo authority. The attack on
Oyo, previously limited to the eastern provinces now
extended into the western provinces.
 Afonja, however had miscalculated in thinking that
militant islam would serve his interest. The Muslims and
others had constituted themselves into a jama’a
(community) and moved about in groups causing
disruptions. The excesses of the jama’a made Afonja very
unpopular especially among the Yoruba. To curb their
excesses and to conciliate the opinion in Oyo so that he
might still secure the throne. He then decided in 1823 to
expel the Hausa and Fulani from Ilorin but they refused to
leave Ilorin. In addition, the killed Afonja then Abdul
Salami, the son of Mallam Alimi became the new head.
Salami gave his full allegiance to Sokoto and Afonja’s
followers were now under a Fulani emirate.
After 1823, the aim of Ilorin was to ‘dip the Koran
into the sea’, that is, to spread the Jihad throughout the
Yorubaland. They succeeded in destroying Oyo after
series of wars from C.1823-1836. Several wars were
fought , notably the Ogele, Mugbamugba, Kanla and
Eleduwe. The last was the Eleduwe war where the
Alaafin lost his life and the capital was destroyed and
deserted.
The creation of the Ibadan empire involved the use
of diplomacy and war. While some towns and villages
surrendered themselves to it, others had to be conquered
by force. There were two main phases in the wars. The
first was between C.1830 and 1850. During this period,
Ibadan perfected the use of firearms bought mostly from
the Ijebu to halt the Ilorin calvary. By defeating the Ilorin
army at Osogbo in 1838, the Ibadan army put an end to
the threat posed by Ilorin. By this victory, she became the
saviour of the Yoruba. Many Oyo-Yoruba towns and
villages became Ibadan vassals in the hope that they
would receive protection. Using the threat posed by Ilorin
as the major excuse, Ibadan re-conquered some of the
Ekiti states from the Ilorin and imposed its control on
several others.
The second phase was between 1860-1877. There
were two major developments during this phase which
were the Ijaye war of 1860-to 1862 and the consolidation
of the Ibadan empire.
The war with Ijaye was to resolve the power tussle
between two powerful successor states of Oyo. Kurunmi,
the leader of Ijaye also had an imperial desire. He wanted
to expand his domination towards the northeast, an area
which also interested Oyo and Ibadan.
The final clash occurred in 1860 when Ibadan posed as
the defender of the Yoruba unity and Alaafin’s authority
by accusing Kurunmi of insolence and insurbodination to
Oyo.
 After many bitter clashes, Ibadan won on 17 March
1862, a day when it set Ijaye on fire.
With this victory, Ibadan became the dominant power
of Yorubaland. The major rivals were the Egba and Ijebu
who realized that Ibadan’s policy was beyond the mere
restoration of Yoruba unity, both the Ijebu and Egba were
threatened by the fear of an Ibadan domination. And to
check her, they resorted to closing their trade routes and
markets from where Ibadan obtained its firearms. The
British who were interested in trade had to intervene on
several occasions in order to maintain a free flow of trade
from the hinterland to the port in Lagos. After the Ijaye
war, the British maintained an unsigned alliance with
Ibadan against the Ijebu and Egba. British forces attacked
the Egba army at Ikorodu in 1865 and insisted on the
opening of the trade routes. The Ijebu retaliated by
forbidding Europeans from entering their country while
the Egba expelled European missionaries and pro-British
sympathizers in 1867.
There were three main routes to the interior which was
Egba, Ijebu and Ondo. The Ondo route had been opened
up by the British due to the frequent closure of the other
roads. During this war, it became the main supply route
for both sides. The Egba and Ijebu to the south were
interested in limiting the power of Ibadan and so they
blockaded the trade route to Lagos. Ibadan could no
longer import guns and gunpowder. At a point, Ibadan
was forced to procure military supplies through Benin. In
1877, Ibadan attacked Egba to force her to lift the
blockade. Ibadan also hoped through this attack to
subdue the Egba and Ijebu. But this ambition was
thwarted by a new development, which we shall see
presently.To the east, the Ijesa, Ekiti, Igbomina and
Akoko came together and revolted, killing their Ajale.
They then formed a confederacy called Ekitiparapo. The
aim of this confederacy was to regain their independence
from Ibadan. This explains why they allied with the Egba
against Ibadan. Ife also later threw in their support on
the side of the Egba hoping through this war to resolve
the long-standing disagreement with Modakeke, a
nearby Oyo settlement that constantly threatened Ife
and had in fact sacked Ife in 1850. The Alaafin supported
the alliance too if only it would help him to avenge
Ibadan’s defiance of Yoruba tradition. Dahomey seized
the opportunity of this pressure to attack part of the
territory under Ibadan.
Like earlier stated,the war between the Egba and their
allies against Ibadan popularly known as the Ekitiparapo
war started in 1878. The main scene of the war was Kiriji
and the leader of the Ekitiparapo was Ogedemgbe, one
of the slave soldiers who had mastered Ibadan war
tactics. To ensure a successful prosecution of this war,
the educated Ijesa who lived in Lagos ensured the regular
supply of modern weapons to the Ekiti parapo through
the Ekitiparapo National Association. As the war with the
Ekitiparapo was raging, the Fulani jihadists in 1875
confronted the Ibadan troops at Offa. With this attack,
Ibadan found herself fighting on two fronts — Kiriji and
Offa. In spite of this formidable coalition, Ibadan
remained undefeated. But then no side could gain the
upper hand and so the conflict continHued. Instead the
wars further complicated matters especially for the
traders.
The wars which were intended basically to shut off trade
supplies to Ibadan and reduce its powers also dislocated
trade to Lagos. It was at this point that the merchants in
Lagos urged an end to the war. They invited the British to
intervene. Thus in 1882, although the British appeared
on the scene as peacemakers it was clear that they
wanted to restore trade by opening up the trade routes.
In 1886, two Yoruba clergymen Bishop Charles Phillips
from Ondo and Samuel Johnson, the Yoruba historian,
were sent by the British to make peace. The result was
the 1886 treaty by which Ibadan accepted to recognize
the independence of the Ekitiparapo and to dissolve its
empire. The treaty also provided that Modakeke (a town
that had twice sacked Ile-Ife in 1850 and 1881) should
disband and move from Ife to Ibadan territory while Ife
was asked to reoccupy their town. The Modakeke had
allied with Ibadan to fight Ile-Ife during the war and the
Ekitiparapo had sent troops to help Ile-ife destroy
Modakeke. Unfortunately all the provisions of the 1886
treaty were not obeyed and so the war continued.
Several issues were yet to be resolved. The Egba had
tightened their blockade on Ibadan. Even ijebu that had
accepted to make peace with Ibadan in 1883 still saw
Ibadan as a threat. The Ekitiparapo refused to disband
their forces. The agreement did not also settle the
quarrel with Ife. Although the Ekitiparapo had secured
their independence and Ibadan had abandoned the idea
of dominating Yorubaland, the demand by Ife that
Modakeke be destroyed was .yet to be settled. Ilorin and
Ibadan still fought over the control of the border town of
Offa. The deadlock which had been created in the ijebu
area ended when an expedition under Governor Carter
subdued the ijebu in 1892. The ijebu were thereafter
forced to reopen the trade route. The Egba followed suit
to reopen their own routes. In 1893, the Ibadan-Ilorin
war was terminated with a settlement which established
their boundary as the line between Offa and Ikirun. The
various armies returned home and the Ekitiparapo then
disbanded their troops.
CONCLUSION
As the study of history has proven time and time
again, trade is important to the growth and development
of the economy of any state or empire. Naturally, the
control of trade routes would be of great importance as it
sometimes can be a deciding factor of the outcome of any
war as a state can not just depend on its military might
alone to thrive.
For example, in today’s politics, the United States of
America’s claim to being the most powerful state in the
world is being challenged by China with their economical
strength on the matters of trade.
With regard to this, control of trade routes among the
Yoruba states in the civil war was a major issue
REFERENCE
“Yoruba Warfare in The Nineteenth Century By J.F Ade
Ajayi and Robert Smith.” Cambridge University Press in
association with the Institute of African studies ,
University of Ibadan,1964. “The Journal of African
History” 6(3):430-432