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The Ijesha in a Widening World

Peel's book deals with the recent history of the Ijesha kingdom, whose capital is the town of Ilesha, in what is today the Oyo State of Nigeria, with special reference to the transformation of Ijesha society brought about by the kingdom's incorporation into the larger unit of Nigeria. An extended introductory section (almost a third of the main text), dealing with ' the pre-colonial kingdom', not only delineates a base line from which later changes can be measured, but also demonstrates that pre-colonial Ilesha was already to some degree integrated, both politically and economically, into a wider regional network, in ways which prefigured and perhaps provided precedents for the response of the Ijeshas to the more thoroughgoing incorporation which was to be thrust upon them during the colonial period. Peel then traces the history of Ilesha during the colonial period, and beyond into the post-colonial period, effectively (despite the book's sub-title) down to the overthrow of civilian rule in Nigeria by the military coup d'etat of 1966. After so many local studies of 'Indirect Rule' in Nigeria narrowly focussed on colonial administrative policies, it is refreshing to be presented with a truly social history, relating political developments to economic change (especially the rise of cocoa farming), the spread of western education, and the growth of large-scale migration from Ilesha to other areas of Nigeria. Conversion to the world religions (in Ilesha, predominantly to Christianity) and the growth of feelings of Yoruba ethnicity also find a place in this multi-faceted study. The main emphasis throughout, however, is on politics, both the efforts of Ijeshas collectively to advance the kingdom's interests in its dealings with the outside world and conflicts within Ijesha society, often complicated and exacerbated by the readiness of Ijesha fractions to call in support from this same outside world. To the long-established patterns of tension between rival claimants to titles and between the king and his chiefs were now added, under the impact of the economic and social changes of the colonial period, increased generational conflict between young men and elders, rivalry for leadership between the chiefs and the new educated elite, and finally in the 1950s and 1960s competition for the allegiance of the Ijeshas between rival nationalist parties. On two occasions internal conflicts in Ilesha led to serious violence, in the riots of 1941 directed against the king and the local government establishment and more horrifically in the party in-fighting of 1964-6, dramatic events most tellingly narrated by Peel. In addition to the obvious government archives and newspaper sources, Peel has been able to make use of the private papers of several Ijesha notables and has collected extensive oral information, which is frequently deployed to great effect. Indeed, Peel lays great emphasis upon understanding the Ijeshas' own perceptions of their experience, in particular the ways in which they sought to relate the events and developments of the twentieth century to their picture of their earlier history. While tracing general processes, he never loses sight of the fact that these are realized through the activities of real individuals, several of whom emerge vividly as historical personalities in his pages. Seeking to relate the Ijesha case-study to wider historiographical debates, Peel offers explicit and illuminating critical comment upon, for example, the conventional anthropological understanding of the functioning of 'lineages' in Yoruba town politics, the applicability of the Marxist concept of 'class', and the political scientists' explanation of voting behaviour in terms of 'community' choices. There can be few books which it is possible to recommend without reservation, but this is surely one.