The Ijesha (written as Ìjẹ̀ṣà in Yoruba orthography) are a sub-

ethnicity An ethnic group or an ethnicity is a grouping of people who identify with each other on the basis of shared attributes that distinguish them from other groups. Those attributes can include common sets of traditions, ancestry, language, history, ...

of the

Yorubas The Yoruba people (, , ) are a West African ethnic group that mainly inhabit parts of Nigeria, Benin, and Togo. The areas of these countries primarily inhabited by Yoruba are often collectively referred to as Yorubaland. The Yoruba constitute ...

West Africa West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, Maurit ...

Ilesha Ilesa () is an ancient town located in the Osun State, southwest Nigeria; it is also the name of a historic kingdom (also known as Ijesha) centred on that village. The state is ruled by a monarch bearing the title of the Owa Obokun Adimula of Ij ...

is the largest town and historic cultural capital of the Ijesha people, and is home to a kingdom of the same name, ruled by an Oba locally styled as the Owa Obokun Adimula. The present ruling family of Ijesha is the Aromolaran family with the current reigning Owa Obokun being Oba Gabriel Adekunle Aromolaran.

Geography

Ijeshaland is located at latitude 8.92°N and Longitude 3.42°E. It lies in a forested region at the heart of the Yoruba country west of the Effon ridge which separate the Ijeshas from the Ekitis to their east, and at the intersection of roads from Ile-Ife,

Oshogbo Osogbo (also ''Oṣogbo'', rarely ''Oshogbo'') is a city in Nigeria. It became the capital city of Osun State in 1991. Osogbo city seats the Headquarters of both Osogbo Local Government Area (situated at Oke Baale Area of the city) and Olorund ...

Ado Ekiti Ado Ekiti is the capital city of Ekiti State, Nigeria. It is the headquarter of the Ekiti central senatorial district, southwest, Nigeria. History Ado Ewi is an ancient city, founded by Ewi Awamaro the son of Biritikolu. Awamaro (the restles ...

and

Akure Akure is a city in south-western Nigeria. It is the capital and largest city of Ondo State. The city had a population of 403,000 as at the 2006 population census. History Pre 1914 Rock engravings dating back to the Mesolithic period, hav ...

. The Ijesa cultural area presently covers six local government councils within

Osun state Osun State (; yo, Ìpínlẹ̀ Ọ̀ṣun), occasionally known as the State of Osun by the state government, is a state in southwestern Nigeria; bounded to the east by Ekiti and Ondo states, to the north by Kwara State, to the south by Ogun S ...

and Okemesi currently the headquarter of Okemesi/Ido-ile LCDA in Ekiti State of

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

. The Ijesha territory is adjoined by the Ekiti on the east, the Igbomina to the north, the Ife to the south, and the Oyo and Ibolo to the west. The nationally famous Olumirin waterfalls, more popularly known as Erin-Ijesha Waterfalls is located in Ijeshaland. Ijeshaland is rich in Gold has the largest deposit in Nigeria

History

The word Ìjèsà comes from the phrase ijè òòsà, meaning food of the gods. This name was given because neighboring enemies often exclusively raided Ijesha towns for humans to sacrifice to the orisha. The Ijesha may have lost some territory to their neighbours during various conflicts and wars of the nineteenth and preceding centuries. The people of Oke-Ako,

Irele Ikale or old Ikale local government is Yoruba tribes in Ondo state Nigeria.It originally included what is now irele Local government. Which was split into Irele and Okitipupa local government. Irele is a Local Government Area in Ondo State, Nige ...

, Omuo-Oke are said to speak a dialect similar to Ijesha.

Ilesa

The city state of Ilesa (''Ile ti a sa'', which means "a homeland we chose") is the traditional headquarters of Ijesaland. It was founded in c.1250 by Owaluse, a grandson of Ajibogun Ajaka Owa Obokun Onida Arara, one of the most accomplished great-grandsons of

Oduduwa Oduduwa was a Yoruba divine king. According to tradition, he was the holder of the title of the ''Olofin'' of Ile-Ife, the Yoruba holy city. He ruled briefly in Ife, and also served as the progenitor of a number of independent royal dynastie ...

, the royal progenitor of the Yoruba race of South-Western Nigeria,

Benin Republic Benin ( , ; french: Bénin , ff, Benen), officially the Republic of Benin (french: République du Bénin), and formerly Dahomey, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the north ...

and

Togo Togo (), officially the Togolese Republic (french: République togolaise), is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Ghana to the west, Benin to the east and Burkina Faso to the north. It extends south to the Gulf of Guinea, where its c ...

. The city was described by Rev. William Howard Clark in 1854 as:

''For its cleanliness, regularity in breadth and width, and the straightness of its streets, the ancient city of Ilesa far surpasses any native town I have seen in black Africa''.

The Ijesha royal family

The Ijesha royals all claim descent from Oba Oduduwa by way of Ajibogun. In addition to serving as rulers of Ijeshaland, the dynasty has also contributed to the development of other powerful kingdoms in Yorubaland. The ruling houses of the

Akure Kingdom The Akure Kingdom is a traditional state with headquarters in Akure, Ondo State, Nigeria. It is the successor to an ancient Yoruba city state of the same name. The ruler bears the title "Deji of Akure". Location Akure is located in southweste ...

, for example, claim descent from the Owas by way of Princess Owawejokun, a daughter of Owa Atakunmosa. The rulers of the Kingdom have been:

References

{{Authority control Yoruba subgroups