Part 2 — Chapter 10

Chapter X THE SPREAD OF ANARCHY AND POLITICAL DISPLACEMENTS § I. The Destruction of Egba Towns We have seen above (Chap. VII) that after the fall of Owu, and the punishment inflicted upon some Egba towns for secretly befriending the beleagured city, the camp at Idi Ogugun broke up, and the leading Ife and Ijebu generals returned home to their respective masters, but the rest of the aUied armies with the Oyo refugees were invited by the Ijebus to Ipara, a town of Ijebu Remg. Making this place their headquarters, these restless bands of marauders found occupation for their arms in conquering and subjugating several towns in Ijebu Rem.o under the Awujale of Ijebu Ode, viz Ode, Iperu, Ogere and Makun. Pretext was soon found for waging war with the Egbas who were then living in small villages scattered all over the area between Ipara and Ibadan. Several expeditions were made from their base at Ipara, and Iporo, Eruwon, Oba, Itoko, Itesi, Imo, Ikereku, Itoku, etc., were taken. The following are the names of the distinguished war-chiefs in this campaign :—Oyo chiefs—Oluyedun, Lakanle, Oluyole, Adelakun, Opeagbe, Abitiko, YSmati, Oluoyg, Koseiko, Abidogun, Apksa, Osun, Laleitan, Bankole, Fadeyi Ogani-ija, Agbeni, etc. All these chiefs oined the allied army as private soldiers, but the fortunes of war raised them to positions of great distinction. Notwithstanding this, they were looked down upon by the Ife and Ijebu leaders under whose auspices they joined the war against Owu, and had no voice in their councils. But they were soon to show their superiority. Ife chiefs—Maye (the generahssimo in the absence of Singusin) Ogugu, Derin-Okiin, Labgsinde, Ogini, Aregbe, Olufadi, Degoke, Kugbayigbe, Oluygde, Epo, Kudayisi. Ijebu chiefs—Kalejaiye, Amoibo, Osunlalu, Oguade, Argwgsanle, etc. Rich with the booty of these expeditions, and finding no fresh fields of operation for their arms they decided to disband the army. The Ijebu war chiefs returned home and the Ifes set out to return by way of Oorun ; the Oygs who had nowhere to go to 223 224 THE HISTORY OF THE YORUBAS accompanied them. There were thousands of Oyos already in Ife districts. At 06run (a Gbagura town) they found fresh employment for their arms when the men of that place refused them a passage. Another circumstance also occurred which hastened the siege of Oorun and the fall of the remaining Egba townships. A dispute arose between the people of Idomapa a neighbouring town and the Gbaguras about territorial limits which at length broke out into war and Oluwole the king of Idomapa who was the weaker of the two combatants asked the aid of Labgsinde one of the leading Ife war-chiefs, and through him the rest of the Ife and Oyo war-chiefs against Ajiboso the king of the Gbaguras. The allies encamped at Idomapa and Oorun was the scene of conflict, where the Gbaguras concentrated all their forces to oppose the Idomapas and their allies. The Gbagura army was swelled by re-inforcement from Ika, Owe Ikija, Iwokoto. The contest was furious and one Oga Oh5roagallantwar-chiefgreatlydistinguishedhimself in the defence of 06run. As long as he could handle his bow and arrows, the enemy was kept at bay ; but he fell in an engagement, and at the same time famine had commenced its direful work, and so the assailants successfully reduced the town. As their fighting men had all fallen at Oorun the conquest of all the rest of the Gbagura towns was complete. Oorun when captured was fired; being a town situated on a high hill, the conquerors were able by the aid of the light to pursue their victory to the next town which they found deserted, and so on to the next and the next until they reached Ojoh6. The towns deserted and overrun that night were Oorun, Ijaiye- maja, Kosi-kosi, Ikerekuiwere, Ora, Ibadan. Ofa and Oje were also deserted, but the conquerors did not know of this till three days after as they lay outside their line of march. From Ibadan they followed up the conquest to Ojokodo Iwohaha, and Eguoto ; all these places were deserted and plundered in one night and by the dawn of day they were before 0]6h6. Ojghb offered a stout resistance and being weary from long marches the conquerors retired to find a resting place. Of all the towns overrun the previous night, Ibadan alone they found not destroyed by fire, and so this marauding band hastily occupied it, the war-chiefs taking possession of any compound they chose, and their men with them and thus Ibadan was again re-peopled but not by the owners of the town, but by a composite band of marauders, consisting of Oyos, Ifes, Ijebus, and some friendly Egbas, Maye a bold and brave Ife chieftain being their leader. Next to him was Labgsinde also an Ife, but, through his mother, of Oyo descent. These two leaders were men of different character and opposite temperament. Maye was of an irritable temper, in manners rough and domineering, and never failed at all times to show his contempt for the Oyos, chiefly because they were homeless refugees. At the head of the Oyos was Lakanl^ a bold and brave leader who alone of all the Oyo war-chiefs could venture to open his mouth when Maye spoke. Labosinde on the contrary was most agreeable and very fatherly in his manners and therefore much respected by all. Ibadan now became the headquarters of these marauders from which place Ojoho was besieged and at length taken. At this time also Ikeiye Owe and a part of Ika were deserted ; the Ika people escaping to Iwokoto. All these were Eeba villages of the Gbagura section. § 2. Foundation of the Present Abeqkuta As stated in the preceding section there were some friendly Egba chiefs who joined the marauders at Idi Ogiigun and at Ipara, and now they were all living together at Ibadan. The most influential among them were :—Lamgdi, Apati, Ogunbona, Oso, Gbewiri, and Inakoju. OgQdipe, who afterwards became a notable chief at Abeokuta was then but a blacksmith and a private soldier. Rivalry was so rife among these various tribes that altercations were frequent, and one led to a civil war. In a public meeting held at the Isale Ijebu quarter of the town, Lamodi an Egba chief shot Ege an influential Ife chief down dead with a pistol, and in the commotion which ensued Lamodi himself was slain. For fear of the Ifes avenging the death of Ege the Egbas withdrew in a body from Ibadan and encamped on the other side of the Ona river, about 3 or 4 miles distant Here also they were ill at ease and after divination they sent for one Sodeke to be their leader, and they escaped to Abeokuta then a farm village of an Itoko man, and a resting place for traders to and from the Oke Ogun districts. Sodeke was at the head of this new colony until his death. This was about the year 1830 They were continually swelled by Egba refugees from all parts of the countr}^ and also by Egba slaves who had deserted their masters. At Abeokuta the refugees kept together according to their family distinctions, viz.:— 1. The Egba Agbeyin comprising Ake the chief town, Ijeun, Kemta, Imo, Igbore, etc. These were under the Alake as chief. 2. Egba Agura (or Gbagura) comprising Agura the chief town Ilugun, Ibadan, Ojohg, Ika, etc., under the Agura as chief. 3. Egba Oke Ona with Oko the chief town. Ikija, Ikereku, Idomapa, Odo, Podo, etc., under the Osile as chief. Here also the Owus joined them, one common calamity throwing them together. It was some considerable time after that Ijaiye joined them, and so by degrees all the Egba townships about 153 became concentrated at Abeokuta, the new town comprising Ijemo Itoko and a few others who were already on the spot. Until the death of Sodeke in A.D. 1844 the Egbas never spoke of having a king over them, Sodeke wielding supreme power in a very paternal way. Of external relations, very little (if any) existed, each of these families managed its own affairs, and there was no properly organized central government. Even after the foundation ot Abeokuta there were still some Egbas residing at Ibadan. Egba women also who were unable or unwilling to go with their husbands to the new settlement were taken as wives by the new colonists at Ibadan and they became the mothers of most of the children of the first generation of the new Ibadan. From this it will be seen that the current tale of the Egbas being driven from Ibadan by the Oygs is lacking in accuracy. Such then is the foundation of the present Abeokuta. § 3. The Egbado Tribes The Egbados are a Yoruba family bordering on the coast. They were very loyal subjects of the AlAfin^ before the revolution that altered the pohtical state of the country. The Olu or king of Ilaro was the greatest king of the Egbados, having about 443 ruling chiefs under him, himself a crowned vassal of Oyo. The ancient custom was for the Alafin to crown a new Olu every three years. After the expiration of his term of office the retiring Olu was to take 10 of his young wives, and whatever else he chose and proceed to the metropohs, and there to spend the rest of-his days in peace. There was a quarter of the city assigned to them known as Oke Olu (the quarter of the Olus). The parting between these young wives and their mothers was most touching. The relatives generally accompanied them as far as to Jiga or Jakg, and the wailings and lamentations on such occasions were as one mourning for the dead. Hence the sa5nng ^ In the year 1902 the head chief of Ifo died, an Egbado town about 6 hours distant from Ilaro. Sir Wm. MacGregor, then Governor of Lagos, asked the chiefs of the town who their overlord was, to appoint a successor, they replied the Alafin of Oyo. He was much puzzled at this. He told them he was too far, they had better apply to the Alake of Abeokuta. Evidently they at least were not affected by the revolution. " A ri erinkan I'Egba iri Olu " (the Olu is seen by the Egbas but once in ahfe time). Next to the Olu of Ilaro came the Onisare or king of Ijana, but his was not a crowned head. The appointment of the Onisare was also from Oyo, and a Tapa was always selected for that office. The reason for this is not known. The Olu and the people of Ilaro, as well as the Onisare and the people of Ijana were so to speak but one people; they observed the same national customs, and the same laws, their national deity was the god Ifa and the annual festivals in its honour were observed in both places one after the other in the same month, each lasting for a week, the one commencing the day after the completion of the other so as to give the people of both places an opportunity of taking part in each other's festivities. The following ceremony usually brought the anniversary to a close :—^Both these kings were to meet in a certain place in the open field midway between the two towns : two mounds of earth previously raised opposite each other served for each king to enthrone himself upon, the one turning his back to the other as they were not to see each other's face. The one to reach the spot first would sit with his face turned homewards, the other on his arrival does the same, and thus they sit back to back, each one looking homewards ; communication with each other was by messengers. A numerous retinue always attended either to take an active part in the proceedings or as mere spectators. This custom served as a bond of union and friendship between them, a people having identical interests. The kings of Ijakoand Jiga are called Abepa: they had a strange custom of standing seven days and seven nights in the seventh month of the year during the anniversary of their national deity, after which they may sit down. The Egbados were a commercial people and of a quiet and peaceful disposition and. as a result, were considered very wealthy. They termed themselves "Egbaluw§" to distinguish them from the Egbas in forest lands (now inhabiting Abeokuta) whom they designated " Egbalugbo." They traded in kola nuts, palm oil, and fish. They had very few slaves, and their wealth consisted in beads and native cloths. From Kano and Sokoto they imported what they termed Erinla and Esuru beads in quantities, as they esteemed them very valuable. The Beginning of Disturbance in the Egbado Districts. The Ijaka War. A serious complication arose between the people of Ijana and Ijaka which ended in the conquest and fall of this peaceful tribe. War was very foolishly declared against Ijaka by the Onisare of Ijana which resulted in the defeat ot the aggressor. There was a rich and influential chief at Ijana called Dekun, in whom the Ijanas trusted when they rashly declared war, not knowing that he was a great coward. At the height of the battle Dekun dastardly gave way and the IjcLnas were completely routed. He escaped to Oniyefun and those who like himself escaped with their lives murmured against him, and even insulted him to his face, calling him " white-feathered," " a poltroon," " the cause of their defeat." Dekuri was offended at this, and more from shame than from the insult he resolved never to return to Ijana. He remained at Oniyefun for a considerable time, until a war (which we shall notice afterwards) met him there. On the return home of the remnants of the defeated IjSnas Dekun's house was plundered. Dekun afterwards spent several years at Ijaka with whose king he contracted friendship, and later perhaps in order to avenge the insults received, he took refuge with the king of Dahomey whom he asked to espouse his cause. The king of Dahomey destroyed Inubi where thousands of Oyo refugees made their home ; of these about 13,000 were children or grandchildren of Oyo nobles or well-to-do people " whose fathers had kept horses " before the devastation of the Yoruba country by the Fulanis. They were all put to the sword by the Dahomians with the exception of one Ekuola to whom Dekun was under some obligation, and he evidently interposed and had his life spared. Thus did Dekun resent his so-called insdlt. Such was the beginning of the fall of this peaceful Egbaluwe tribe, and the inroads of the Dahomians into the Yoruba country. Two years after the destruction of Inubi, the king of Dahomey took Refurefu by capture in war. A Short Account of Dekun. Dekun was an Ilari of Oyo, placed at Ijana by one of the AlAfins as the King's representative. Instead of upholding the King's interests when the great chiefs of the kingdom rebelled against their sovereign, he also rebelled against his master, and made himself great at Ijclna, by appro- priating all taxes and tributes he should have forwarded to Oyo. He joined the marauders at Ipara in the devastation ot the Egba principalities, but at the occupation and settlement of Ibadan he returned to Ijana, and did not reside with the new settlers. In one of their expeditions Sodeke was captured by him, and served him for years as his horse boy. But providence destined Sodeke for a great position in life and hence he eventually became the renowned leader of the Egbas to Abeokuta. Dgkun was rich but childless, although he kept a numerous harem. There is a story told in connection with him which is worth recording :— A woman ot an abandoned character called Isokun had left her husband and children at Ipokia to become Dekun's mistress. This woman on one occasion went on a long journey and required some justification for her prolonged absence ; on her way home, she saw at the last sleeping place of the caravan, a mother with her new born babe 3 days old, she quietly stole this babe from its mother's side while she was fast asleep, and immediately went off with it. On reaching home she gave it as an excuse for her long absence that she was enceinte of this child before she left home, and when she might have returned she was unfit for travelling but immediately after delivery she was able to hasten home. Dekun rejoiced that after all he was now a father and to demonstrate his joy he invited all the principal men and chiefs of Ijana and of the adjacent towns to a feast held in honour of the event. Presents poured in from every rank and station for the child and the supposed mother according to the father's dignit}' and every care and attention were bestowed on them. Meanwhile the real mother was in eager search for her lost baby. She at first supposed that it might have been a wolf that snatched it away from her side, and consequently she explored the surrounding woods if haply she might find the bones. Failing in this she was resolved to seek for it in the town ; and taking it quarter by quarter she entered every house asking the mothers to produce their babies, in order to identify her own. On the i8th day of search she reached Dekun's house and discovered her baby with Isokun. Then there arose an uproar about the child and a regular " to do " about the whole affair with assertions and denials on either side. A proper investigation of the case having been instituted, and signs of recent delivery not found in Isokun she was thus brought to book ; the whole truth was at length extorted from her when her arms were bound behind her back with a new rope, till both elbows and wrists met. From shame she escaped from Ijana to her former home at Ipokia where she had left her sons and daughters to become D§kun's mistress. Her name was put to vulgar street songs, being branded as a man-stealer. Dekun lived in Dahomey till the accession of King Atiba of the present Oyo who demanded him from the King of Dahomey, and he was given up. He was charged as a rebel and a traitor, condemned, and pubhcly executed at the market-place. The sentence was universally held to be a just one. 230 THE HISTORY OF THE YORUBAS Dekun it seems had a son called Onibudo ; perhaps an adopted one as is customary with childless chiefs ; his life was spared, but he was degraded by the AlAfin and the mean title of Agbomopa was conferred on him and his descendants. § 4. The Founding of Modakeke By the Fulani conquest of all the principal towns in Yoruba proper, fugitives from all parts escaped southwards and settled in all Ife towns except at He Ife the chief town. They were in great numbers at Moro, Ipetumodu, Odiiabon, Yakioy6, Ifa-lende, Sope, Waro, Ogi as well as in Apomu and Ikire. Just about the time of the Lasinmi war a Mohammedan at Iwo called Mohomi invited the Folanis of Ilorin to extend theii conquest to the towns of these Eastern districts, as the Oyos were then engaged in a civil war. The Ilorin army accordingly came and overran the above mentioned towns. The latter made no attempt at resistance but simply deserted their towns and with all the Oyo refugees escaped to He Ife their chief town and were well received and protected by Aldnmgyero (aUas Odunle) the then reigning Ow6ni of Ife. The most important Oyo chief amongst the refugees was the Asirawo, the king of Iraw6. Before long, a feeling of disaffection became evident between the Ife citizens and the exiles. The Owoni spared the Ife refugees, but enslaved all the Oyos making them " hewers of wood and drawers of water " after having murdered the Asirawo their chief. One ot the Asirawo's sons enslaved was the afterwards renowned chieftain of Modakeke, Ojo Akitikori by name. The Oyos built their houses, cleaned their farms and performed all sorts of menial work for them. This was towards the close of Akinmoyer6's reign. Gbanlare who succeeded him was more favourably disposed towards the Oyos, and they now received better treatment, but this was not for long. Gbegbaaje succeeded Gbanlare, and the bad feeling and cruelty against Oyos were revived ; many of them were even sold into slavery. This king also was soon murdered. Winmolaje who succeeded Gbegbaaje utilized the services of these Oyos in repelling the inroads of the Ijesas into his territory. From appreciation of their services, he was kindly disposed toward them ; but the hatred and malice of the Ife citizens generally was so strong that not even the well-disposed could curb the virulence of the opposite party. A pretext was soon found again for murdering the well disposed Ow6ni. Adegunle succeeded to the throne: he was partly of Yoruba descent on the mother's side and hence was the benefactor of the Oyos all his days. Before he accepted the crown of Ife he made the chiefs take an oath that they would not find a pretext for murdering him as they did his predecessors, but would allow him to die a natural death ; they readily agreed to this request. Soon after his accession knowing full well the disposition of his people, he took the pre- caution at once of accumulating ammunition of war, in order to make himself strong against any attack from the populace. He was not of a warlike disposition but was rather given to agricultural pursuits ; hence his nickname " Ab'ewe ila gbagkdk gbagada " (one whose okra leaves are very broad) from his garden plantations. The Oyos were by this time growing to be an important section in the community, having for their chief one Wingbolu a smelter of iron. The Ife nature and spirit of the times soon became evident. Notwithstanding the oath, a pretext was soon found for a civil war against their king, but he was too strong for them; he defeated and suppressed all the refractory chiefs among them. After the civil fight the Owoni called Wingbolu and asked him why he and the Oyos were neutral at the time of the insurrection. He replied boldly " Had I been invited by your opponents, does your majesty think yoa would have proved victorious ? Or if you had invited us, would not 3''our victory have been more complete? " Thinking over these significant remarks the Owoni who had some strains of Oyo blood in him was resolved not on exter- minating these Oyos as some others would have done but rather on emancipating them. He appointed them a settlement outside the walls of the city deputing one Adewgro to accompany Win- gbolu to the site and mark out the settlement. On the Oyo chief himself he conferred the title of Ogunsuwa signifying One whom Ogun (the god of war) has blessed with a fortune. That has become the title of all the chief rulers of Modakeke to this day. By a royal proclamation all Oyos were to leave the city of He Ife for the new settlement, and accordingly the settlement grew rapidly from new arrivals every day. The new settlement was named Modakeke, a term said to have been derived from the cry of a nest of storks on a large tree near the site. Modakeke was first built in a circular form as a single vast compound of about 2 miles in circumference; the enclosed area was left covered with trees and high grass, each individual clearing out a small space in front of his dwelling. This was done for the sake of mutual protection as no one need to go out of the com- 232 THE HISTORY OF THE YORUBAS pound for sticks or thatch for roofing purposes. Modakeke was in 1884 a town of between 50,000 and 60,000 inhabitants. By dwelling in a separate settlement it was not meant that they should hold themselves independent of the Ifes. They were still loyal to the Ow6ni. A sedition was again raised for the purpose of murdering the Ow6ni for emancipating the Oyos, but he receiving help from the new settlement crushed the rising completely, and all the ring- leaders were put to death among whom was the son of a rich lady called Olugboka. As Ab'ewe-ila could not be murdered by force of arms, the Ifes finally succeeded in poisoning him and the first intimation the settlers had of the death of their benefactor was from the street song of the Ifes " They are deprived of their King, woe betide the Oyos." The late king was denied a royal funeral, and was buried like any common man and all his slaves were seized b}- the Ifes, but the Oyos amongst them went over in a body to the new settlement. Modakeke was soon besieged by the Ifes, but they were repulsed with a heavy loss in dead, wounded, and captives. The Modakekes captured aboat 12070 of them, but they had not the heart to enslave their former masters and benefactors and hence all were released. Thirty days after this defeat, one Ogunmakin an Ife chief receiving re-inforcement from Oke Igbo, Modakeke was again attacked. The Ifes were again badly beaten and they were pursued right home, and the city of Ife taken by an assault. The victors now ventured to sell their Ife captives as slaves, but reserved of their women-folks for wives. The Ifes escaped to Isoya, Oke Igbo, and other Ife towns where they remained for many years till about the year 1854 when the Ibadans were engaged in the Ijebu Ere war. Chief Ogunmola of Ibadan sent messengers from the camp to negotiate terms ot peace and bring the Ifes home, as it would never do to let the cradle of the race remain perpetually in desolation and the ancestral gods not worshipped. Kubusi was the then reigning Owoni who could no longer remain in exile, but promised that if allowed to return home the past would be obliterated ; no restitution of anything will be demanded of the Modakekes, not even of their wives who might have been appropriated. But no sooner did they return home than all the Ife women deserted their present husbands with all the children born to them and returned to He Ifg. Notwithstanding their present relations the Modakekes still acknowledged the supremacy of the Ifes and by mutual arrange- ment they had their representatives in the If e assembly. Thus they Uved together harmoniously till the year 1878 when the whole of the Yoruba country was again embroiled in war, and the latent animosity broke out afresh in an open fight, and the If§s were again worsted as we shall noti e hereafter.