Ilorin

Ilorin began as a small settlement on the northern frontier of the Oyo Empire. From here the Oyo commander Afonja gathered followers and challenged the authority of the Alaafin. Yoruba, Hausa, Fulani and other communities came together in the town, whose fortunes would become closely bound to the upheavals that weakened Oyo.

Afonja sought the support of the Fulani Muslim scholar Alimi, whose following included pastoral Fulani and other Muslims. The forces assembled at Ilorin grew beyond Afonja's control, and he was overthrown and killed. In the 1820s Ilorin became an emirate under Alimi's son Abdulsalami, with its authority recognised through Gwandu in the Sokoto Caliphate. A former frontier outpost had become a centre of power in its own right.