The Fulani Jihad and Its Impacts on Ilorin’s History

Abstract

This paper investigated the incidence of the Fulani jihad of 19^th century with emphasis on the development and impacts on Ilorin’s history. Ilorin until the emergent Fulani jihad which goes all the way to the movement of Usman Dan Fodio was a Yoruba settlement that had been a constituent part of the defunct Oyo empire where Afonja, the Are-ona-Kakanfo of the Empire was domiciled. The paper examined the circumstances that gave rise to the influx of the Fulani group into Ilorin from the 19^th century. Ilorin was flooded by such emigrants The emergent Fulani Emirate system, which turned to the Sokoto Caliphate became the corollary of such emigration. The study took a critical look at the actions of Afonja whose decision played a pivotal role in the advent and development of the emirate system in Ilorin. This development has been described as what turned the movement into the thrust of the Fulani jihad into Yorubaland. As the new emergent order thrived in Ilorin, which was associated with the Sokoto Caliphate from the nineteenth century, it was not devoid of some impacts. The range of impacts includes political, socio-cultural and economic impacts. These tripartite impacts which are still evident in contemporary times are based on functionalism constituted the basis upon which this paper rests. In this article, it was established that these impacts on Ilorin would not have come into fruition without the role played by Afonja.