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ABEOKUTA

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Originally appearing in Volume V01, Page 43 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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ABEOKUTA , a See also:

town of See also:British See also:West See also:Africa in the Egba See also:division of the Yoruba See also:country, S. See also:Nigeria See also:Protectorate. It is situated in 70 8' N., 30 25' E., on the Ogun See also:river, 64 m. N. of See also:Lagos by railway, or 81 m. by See also:water. See also:Population, approximately 6o,000. Abeokuta lies in a beautiful and fertile country, the See also:surface of which is broken by masses of See also:grey See also:granite. It is spread over an extensive See also:area, being surrounded by mud walls 18 See also:miles in extent. Abeokuta, under the reforming zeal of its native rulers, was largely transformed during the See also:early years of the loth See also:century. See also:Law courts, See also:government offices, prisons and a substantial See also:bridge were built, See also:good roads made, and a large See also:staff of sanitary inspectors appointed. The streets are generally narrow and the houses built of mud. There are numerous markets in which a considerable See also:trade is done in,, native products and articles of See also:European manufacture. See also:Palm-oil, See also:timber, See also:rubber, yams and shea-See also:butter are the See also:chief articles of trade.

An See also:

official newspaper is published in the Yoruba and See also:English See also:languages. Abeokuta is the headquarters of the Yoruba See also:branch of the See also:Church Missionary Society, and British and See also:American missionaries have met with some success in their civilizing See also:work.. In their See also:schools about 2000 See also:children are educated. The completion in 1899 of.a railway from Lagos helped not only to develop trade but to strengthen generally the See also:influence of the See also:white Mari. Abeokuta (a word meaning " under t,.l rocks " ),; dating from I82g, ewes its origin to the incessant inroads of the slave-hunters from See also:Dahomey and See also:Ibadan, which compelled. the See also:village populations scattered over the open country to take See also:refuge in this rocky stronghold against the See also:common enemy. Here they constituted themselves a See also:free confederacy of many distinct tribal See also:groups, each preserving the traditional customs, religious See also:rites and even the very names of their See also:original villages. Yet this apparently incoherent aggregate held its. grotifhd successfully against the powerful armies often sent against the See also:place both by the See also:king of Dahomey from the west, and by the See also:people of Ibadan from the See also:north-See also:east. The See also:district of Egba, of which Abeokuta is the See also:capital, has an estimated area of 3000 sq. m. and a population of some 350,000. It is officially known as the Abeokuta See also:province of the See also:Southern Nigeria protectorate. It contains luxuriant forests of palm-trees, which constitute the chief See also:wealth of the people. See also:Cotton is indigenous and is grown for export. The Egbas are enthusiastic farmers and have largely adopted European methods of cultivation.

They are very tenacious of their See also:

independence, but accepted without opposition the See also:establishment of a British protectorate, which, while putting a stop to inter-tribal warfare, slave-raiding and human sacrifices, and exercising See also:control over the working of the See also:laws, See also:left to the people executive and fiscal See also:autonomy. The See also:administration is in the hands of a See also:council of chiefs which exercises legislative, executive and, to some extent, judicial functions." The See also:president of this council, or ruling chief —chosen from among the members of the two recognized reigning families—is called the alake, a word meaning "See also:Lord of Ake," Ake 'being the name of the See also:principal See also:quarter of Abeokuta, after the See also:ancient capital of the Egbas. The alake exercises little authority apart from his council, the See also:form of government being largely democratic. See also:Revenue is chiefly derived from tolls or import duties. A visit of the alake to See also:England in 1904 evoked considerable public See also:interest. The chief was a See also:man of See also:great intelligence, eager to study western See also:civilization, and an ardent agriculturist. See the publications of the Church Missionary Society dealing, with the Yoruba See also:Mission; See also:Col. A. B. See also:Ellis's The Voruba-speak,ng Peoples (See also:London, 1894) ; and an See also:article on Abeokuta by See also:Sir Wm. See also:Macgregor, sometime See also:governor of Lagos, in the See also:African Society's See also:Journal, No. xii. (London, See also:July 1904).

End of Article: ABEOKUTA

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