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ILLORIN
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ILLORIN , a See also:province of See also:British See also:West See also:Africa in the See also:protectorate of See also:Nigeria. It has an See also:area of 6300 m., with an estimated See also:population of about 250,000. Its inhabitants are of various tribes, among which the Yoruba now predominate. There are two See also:minor emirates, Shonga and Lafiagi in this province, and a number of semi-See also:independent towns of which the See also:chief are Awton, Ajassa, See also:Offa and Patiji. Under British See also:administration the province is divided into three divisions, Illorin (central), Offa (See also:southern) and Patiji (See also:northern). The province is See also:rich in agricultural and sylvan products. Among the former are See also:tobacco, See also:cotton, See also:rice, peppers, ground-nuts and kolas. The latter include See also:great quantities of See also:rhea as well as See also:palm-oil and See also:rubber. The See also:capital is a See also:town of the same name as the province. It is 16o m. in a See also:direct See also:line N.N.E. of See also:Lagos, and 50 M. S.S.W. of Jebba, a See also:port on the See also:Niger, being connected with both places by railway. The town is surrounded by a mud See also:wall partly in ruins, which has a See also:circuit of some to m. Illorin is a great trading centre, See also:Hausa caravans bringing goods from central Africa, and merchandise from the coasts of the Mediterranean, which is distributed from Illorin to See also:Dahomey, See also:Benin and the Lagos See also:hinterland, while from the See also:Guinea See also:coast the See also:trade is in the hands of the Yoruba and comes chiefly through Lagos. A variety of manufactures are carried on, including the making of See also:leather goods, carved wooden vessels, finely plaited mats, embroidered See also:work, shoes of yellow and red leather and pottery of various kinds. Before the See also:establishment of British administration traders from the See also:south, with a few selected exceptions, were prohibited from entering the See also:city. Illorin middlemen trans-acted all business between the traders from the See also:north, who were not allowed to pass to the south, and those from the south. Since the establishment of British authority the town has been thrown open, crowds of See also:petty traders from Lagos have flocked into Illorin, and between 4000 and 5000 trade licences are issued yearly. The British See also:resident estimated in 1904 that at least 3000 'loads of British cotton goods, which he valued at £5 a load, were imported. The population of the town is estimated at from 6o,000 to 70,000. The chief buildings are the See also:palace of the emir and the houses of the baloguns (See also:war chiefs). From the centre of the town roads radiate like spokes of a See also:wheel to the various See also:gates. Baobabs and other shade trees are numerous. There are a number of mosques in the town, and the Mahommedans are the dominant See also:power, but the Yoruba, who constitute the bulk of the See also:people, are pagans. The town of Illorin was founded, towards the See also:close of the 18th See also:century, by Yoruba, and See also:rose to be the capital of one of the Yoruba kingdoms. About 1825 the See also:kingdom, which had come under See also:Mahommedan See also:influence, ceased its connexion with the Yoruba states and became an emirate of the See also:Sokoto See also:empire. The See also:Fula, however, maintained the Yoruba See also:system of See also:government, which places the chief power in a See also:council of elders. In 1897 Illorin was occupied by the forces of the Royal Niger See also:Company, and the emir placed himself " entirely under the See also:protection and power of the company." After the See also:assumption of authority by the British government in 190o, Illorin was organized for administration on the same system as the See also:remainder of northern Nigeria. The emir took the See also:oath of See also:allegiance to the See also:sovereign of Great See also:Britain. A resident was placed at his See also:court. Courts of See also:justice have been established and British garrisons quartered at various places in the province. Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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