Afonja

Afonja is the hinge. Two men had already shown the empire that its provinces could overrule its capital — Gaa from inside, Abiodun by calling in the provinces to beat him — and Afonja drew the conclusion: took Ilorin out in 1817, and to hold it, brought in a religious constituency the Oyo system had no way to absorb. Alimi's men were not his men, and when he could no longer pay them in war they killed him and kept the city, which went to Sokoto. Ilorin has been an emirate ever since, and the argument about whether it is a Yoruba town is a direct consequence of one field marshal's calculation. The disagreement about his death date is real and is left standing here: the earliest citation is irreconcilable with the 1817 secession being his.

Domains

• military command
• rebellion

Relations

• enemy: Aole AroganganHe refused the order, kept the army, and finished the king.Reference treatment of Afonja's refusal of Aole's order against Iwere-Ile, of his march on Oyo-Ile and of the calabash sent to the Alaafin. (secondary)

Sources

• Afonja of Ilorin, born in the 1750s into the line of Laderin who founded the city, was Are-Ona-Kakanfo of the Oyo Empire, seceded Ilorin in 1817 with Muslim and Fulani support led by Alimi, and was killed by the force he had raised, at a date variously given as c. 1813, 1823 and early 1824.: Reference treatments of Afonja, his lineage, the 1817 secession, Alimi's support and the disputed date of his death. (secondary)