DIPLOMACY AS A VERITABLE TOOL OF SUSTAINABILITY IN MULTIRACIAL ILORIN EMIRATE POLITY OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY

Abstract

The overthrow of power and establishment of the northern emirate in Ilorin was accompanied by a lot of challenges and threats from the allies of the annihilated political entity. Several wars and uprisings were waged by the Yoruba folk and their allies in a bid to winning back their lost territory. The new Fulani emirate political order responded through aggression and display of diplomacy in consolidating and sustaining its hegemonic rule in Ilorin and her dependencies. This paper exhibits the internal and external diplomatic methods employed by the Fulani political elites in protecting and sustaining her dynastic rule in the 19th century. The paper explores extant literatures and oral evidences to unravel the extent through which diplomatic tools such as tolerance, politics of involvements and consultation had ensured victory, peaceful coexistence and prosperity in the heterogeneous Ilorin emirate of the 19th century.