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City-state · 1829–1893

Ibadan

Ibadan was born in 1829 as a war camp of Oyo, Ife and Ijebu warriors on the edge of the forest, and became a military republic where any freeborn man could rise to the highest titles by success in war.

Watch the Ibadan on the old map

At a glance

When did the Ibadan exist?
From 1829 to 1893. It was at its height around 1870.
What was the capital of the Ibadan?
Ibadan.
What was the ruler of the Ibadan called?
Baale, later Olubadan (rule by war chiefs).
What happened to the Ibadan?
The Olubadan of Ibadanland reigns in Ibadan, chosen in turn from senior chiefs, a system that grew out of its war-chief past.
Who lives in the lands of the Ibadan today?
Yoruba

Overview

Ibadan was born in 1829 as a war camp of Oyo, Ife and Ijebu warriors on the edge of the forest, and became a military republic where any freeborn man could rise to the highest titles by success in war. It stopped the jihad at Osogbo in 1840, destroyed its rival Ijaye in 1862, and by the 1870s ruled an empire over much of northern and eastern Yorubaland through resident agents, the ajele. Their abuses raised the Ekitiparapo against it in the sixteen-year Kiriji war, which ended in a British-brokered peace; in 1893 Ibadan signed a treaty making it a British protectorate.[1],[6]High confidence

Through the centuries

  1. c. 1829

    A war camp becomes a city

    Lagelu's old site at the edge of the forest becomes the camp of the armies that destroyed Owu: warriors from Oyo, Ife and Ijebu. After the Egba leave, Oyo warriors take over, and refugees from the Fulani raids pour in. Ibadan is run by its war chiefs rather than a king, with titles open to every freeborn man and one reserved for a woman.[1],[1],[2]High confidence

    Capital: Ibadan

  2. 1840

    Victory at Osogbo

    In 1840 Ibadan's army decisively defeats Ilorin at Osogbo, halting the jihad's advance into the forest. Alaafin Atiba charges Ibadan with guarding New Oyo from the north.[1],[3],[1],[4]High confidence

    Capital: Ibadan

  3. 1860–1869

    Ijaye destroyed

    Ibadan goes to war with Ijaye, its rival war-town under the Kakanfo Kurunmi, in 1860. Kurunmi dies in 1861 and Ijaye falls in 1862; its people scatter, many to Abeokuta. Ibadan is now the strongest power in Yorubaland.[6]High confidence

    Capital: Ibadan

  4. c. 1860–1877

    The Ibadan empire

    Ibadan rules Ibarapa, Osun, Ife, Ijesa, Ekiti, Igbomina, Yagba and Akoko through its ajele, resident agents who seize goods and people. It cannot master the Egba or the Ijebu, who hold the roads to the coast.[3],[1],[6]Medium confidence

    Capital: Ibadan

  5. 1878–1885

    Jalumi

    The Ekiti, Ila and Ijesa, joined by Ilorin, besiege Ikirun. On 1 November 1878 the Balogun Ogboriefon relieves it, crushes the Ijesa at Iba and drives the Ilorin army into the flooded Otin river, where thousands of men, women and horses drown: the Jalumi war. But the eastern alliance holds, and the war settles at Kiriji.[7],[6]High confidence

    Capital: Ibadan

  6. 1886

    Stalemate at Kiriji

    The Ekitiparapo war (from 1877) ends in stalemate at Kiriji; British mediation brings a ceasefire in 1886, and Ibadan accepts a British treaty in 1893.[1],[3]High confidence

    Capital: Ibadan

  7. 1893

    A British protectorate

    On 15 August 1893 Baale Fijabi of Ibadan signs a treaty with Acting Governor Denton of Lagos; Ibadan becomes a British protectorate, and a British Resident, Captain Bower, is posted there.[1],[8]High confidence

    Capital: Ibadan

Wars, treaties and turning points

Today

Olubadan of Ibadanland, Ibadan

The Olubadan of Ibadanland reigns in Ibadan, chosen in turn from senior chiefs, a system that grew out of its war-chief past.[1]High confidence

Its people

Yoruba

Living in its lands today

Peoples whose homelands lie inside its lands at its height, by number of LGAs.

Yoruba

Sources

Every claim carries a confidence level: high (well attested), medium (one source or approximate) or disputed (sources disagree).

  1. Wikipedia contributors. Ibadan
  2. Wikipedia contributors. Abeokuta
  3. Akintoye, S. A. (1971). Revolution and Power Politics in Yorubaland, 1840–1893: Ibadan Expansion and the Rise of Ekitiparapo. Longman, London (cited elsewhere, not yet checked directly)
  4. Wikipedia contributors. Oyo Empire
  5. Wikipedia contributors. Ijaye
  6. Wikipedia contributors. Kiriji War
  7. Wikipedia contributors. Jalumi War
  8. Wikipedia contributors. Ogedengbe of Ilesa