Note on the Oral Data Index (ODI):

     The ODI set I have is incomplete. It does not contain Adesiyun tape numbers 2 or 8, though they are included on the cassette tapes of the interviews, which Professor Lovejoy also kindly sent to me (Ann O’Hear), so I was able to have numbers 2 and 8 included in the re-translations that my research assistants made from the cassettes in consultation with me (for which, see 3.3). There is no Oral Data Index (ODI) translation for number 5, which seems from the cassette to be a first interview with Alh. Y.K. Olabintan, prior to the interview with Alh. Olabintan which was recorded as number 11.  In addition, there are some discrepancies in numbering between the Oral Data Index and the tapes.

     The ODI set I have consists of copies of the original typescript, which are now quite faded and sometimes difficult to read. I therefore transcribed the data onto a computer file in August 2020. I silently corrected a number of obvious typographical errors and mis-spellings and made the punctuation more consistent, to improve readability. Other corrections and suggestions, notifications, or observations are given in square brackets within or following the word or words concerned. Words omitted from the text are also supplied in square brackets, where this seems advisable to aid clarity.

The interviewer’s surname is spelled variously in the original typescript of the ODI. Here, I have made it consistent as Adesiyun. I have replaced the abbreviated forename in the typescript with the full form: Otolorin. Please note that the spellings of names of informants in the re-translations of Adesiyun interviews (see 3.3) may be different from those given in the ODI.

      Section I of each interview recorded in the ODI contains reference data. The dates of interviews are given in the format  day/month/year. I have omitted the names of other people who were present at the interview apart from the interviewee, as these names were often difficult to decipher. Section II is a list of possible topics for the interviews. Here, I have listed only the topics that are actually covered in each specific interview. The text of the interviews follows the introductory sections.

Tape Number 1

I. REFERENCE DATA:

COLLECTOR: OTOLORIN ADESIYUN   TAPE NUMBER: 1

PERSON INTERVIEWED: ABDUL KAREEM   DATE 9/7/1975

PLACE: SINGINI QUARTER    LANGUAGE YORUBA

BIRTH PLACE: ILORIN     AGE OF INFORMANT OVER 100

II. SUMMARY OF MAIN TOPICS DISCUSSED IN INTERVIEW:

CRAFT TOPICS: WEAVING/SPINNING [and trade in textiles]

OTHER: THE GAMBARI IN ILORIN

PERSONAL DATA

Q. What is your name? Abdul Kareem.  Q. What is the name of your father?  A. Suleimana.

Q. Where were you born?  A. I was born at Ilorin here.

Q. Do you remember the reign of the king during which you were born?  A. Aliu.

Q. What was your work before you became old?  A. Weaving was my sole work.  Q. Did you learn any other job with it?  A. No.

Q. Can you remember your father’s work?  A. He was a farmer.

Q. Did you inherit any farm land from your late father?  A. No.

Q. Can you remember the place where your father was born?  A. He was born at Ilorin.

Q. Can you remember from where your family came?  A. From Kobayi near Kishi in Oyo North.

Q. Can you remember what brought them from Kobayi?  A. When the people from the North came with Islam, we decided to join them at the time when Ilorin population was growing under Alfa Alimi.

Q. From where did Alfa Alimi come?  A. From Sokoto.

Q. What was the work of your parents at Kishi?  A. Farming but they changed to weaving at Ilorin.

Q. Did the people who came from Kishi area have any identity mark?  A. They have three marks (III).

Q. Where are your relatives now?  A. Ailara compound. Lemonu Imole etc., all in Ilorin.

Q. What is your mother’s name?  A. Barikisu.

Q. Can you remember your mother’s trade?  A. She was a weaver and dyer (dyeing).

Q. Can you remember where your mother came from?  A. Aluko in Ilorin.

Q. Can you remember the man who taught Islam religion?  A. I met my father in Islam and he initiated me [in]to it.

Q. Can you remember your father’s religion before he left Kobaye [sic] for Ilorin?  A. He was a muslim from where he migrated.

TEXTILE[S]

Q. What are the types of clothes you weave at Ilorin especially before the coming of the Europeans?  A. Waka, Arikinla, Iyermoje, Popo elepo, Petuje, Etu, Karojo [Karoje?], Arojalasa, Sanyon, Wulu, Fanfun.

Q. Can you remember the raw materials you used for the production of these materials?  A. Slaves got from Kano. Cotton were [was] grown in villages near Ilorin where they were [it was] spun and sold to us.

Q. Who were those that undertook the spinning of the cotton?  A. Women, some women also took part in weaving.

Q. Were these women under you?  A. They worked separately on their own.

Q. Did you have (apprentice) people learning the skill under you?  A. There were many of them who learned, became free and stood independent on their own.

Q. What was your relationship with these learners?  A. Relatives, but some also learnt it as a part time job.

Q. Did they pay you money for the skill they were learning under you?  A. We didn’t get money from relatives but we charged non-relatives depending on period [length of time during which they were learning the skill of weaving?].

Q. Who were those that undertook the dyeing?  A. Women specialized in it.

Q. Were they your relations?  A. No.

Q. Explain the marketing of the cloths.  A. We took them to Lagos for sale, Ijebu Ode etc. on foot but we used to stop on our way in Oyo, Ogbomosho etc. Some come from the Yoruba areas to buy in Ilorin.

Q. Can you explain the credit facilities in the trade?  A. We received money immediately for our products. No credit even in buying of local cotton and in the dyeing sector.

Q. Which type of currency were you using at the time?  A. Cowrie (Owo eyo), the monies were always carried by the slaves after we have sold our products in the Southern Yoruba areas of Ijebu, Lagos etc. Slaves also helped in carrying the textile products to the southern markets in Yoruba land and Onitsha in the Ibo land. When the Europeans came they later introduced coin money.

Q. In which type of cloth did  the textile workers in Ilorin specialize?  A. Alaro. (Always in great demand from Lagos) before the Europeans introduced another type of cotton.

Q. Can you remember any boom period in textile market?  A. It was always in great demand.

SLAVERY

Q. From where did you get your slaves?  A. They bought them from Kano market and brought them to Gambari market here at Ilorin from where we purchased ours for our trade. Gambari market was a slave market in Ilorin.

Q. Can you remember where the descendants of the slaves are today in Ilorin?  A. Some have gone where[as?] some have been assimilated into compounds.

Q. Can you explain the changes that you experienced in textile industry when the Europeans came?  A. We began to mix the European (new) cotton wool [sic] with our own local one in producing textile materials. Later we neglected our local cotton to [sic] totally.

Q. Did any authority charge money on good[s] you produced?  A. No.

Q. Who are the  people called Gambari in Ilorin here?  A. They came from the north (Hausaland), some were slaves who refused to go to their homes after slave trade had been eradicated and they settled at Gambari area in Ilorin. Some came on their own.

Q. What was their work when they came from Hausaland?  A. Their women were spinning cotton. Their men were butchers, cow dealers, fura sellers, i.e. milk sellers. They sold rice, burnt sere [cooked suya meat]. All the people called Gambari in Ilorin are Hausa descendants.

Q. Have they got any settlement here at Ilorin?  A. They own Ita Ajia up to Amilnybe [Amilegbe?] near [the] maternity in Ilorin.

Q. Do you differentiate between those called Hausa or Gambari and Fulani?  A. Fulani came from Sokoto where[as] Hausa came from Kano but they live side by side in Ilorin.

Q. Who are ruling or on the throne today in Ilorin?  A. Fulani people.

Q. Do they [the Gambari] speak Hausa till today?  A. Yes, they speak Hausa.

Q. What were you using slaves for and where in Ilorin did they use them?  A. They used them on the farm to sell goods, agric[ultural] goods. Some married them, some traded with them.

Q. Have the slaves got special marks on their face?  A. They had different types brought from Hausa land. Some have no marks. Most people traded on [in] slaves.

Q. Did you feed your slaves?  A. Yes, but some were allowed to stay on their own. We even allowed some to get married and they gave birth to children who are living today.

Q. Did you enslave yourselves in Ilorin?  A. No. Only during the wars with other Yoruba towns.

Tape Number 2

I. REFERENCE DATA:

COLLECTOR: OTOLORIN ADESIYUN   TAPE NUMBER 2

PERSON INTERVIEWED: MUSTAPHA MESUNA DATE 10/7/1975

PLACE: ADANA COMPOUND ILORIN   LANGUAGE YORUBA

BIRTH PLACE: [not given here]    AGE OF INFORMANT 95 YEARS

II. SUMMARY OF MAIN TOPICS DISCUSSED IN INTERVIEW:

CRAFT TOPICS: TEXTILE INDUSTRY [and trade in textiles]

TRADE [in livestock]

OTHER: SLAVERY

PERSONAL DATA

Q. What is your name?  A. Mustapha Mesuna. Q. Can you remember your father’s name?  A. Abubakare.

Q. Where were you born?  A. Here in Ilorin in Adana compound.

Q. Whose reign were you born [in]?  A. Momo[’s reign].

Q.  What was your profession before you started to grow old?  A. Weaving, cloth weaving. Q. Did you learn any other job?  A. No.

Q. Can you remember your father’s job?  A. Textile weaving.

Q. Did you inherit any farm?  A. No.

Q. From where did your father move to Ilorin?  A. Oyo Ile.

Q. Can you remember where your father was born?  A. Yes. He was born in Okon relugba in Oyo.

Q. Can you remember what made your father to move from Oyo Ile to Ilorin?  A. Because of Islam.

Q. What was his religion at Oyo Ile before he moved to Ilorin?  A. He was a pagan.

Q. Did the people who moved from Oyo Ile have a special mark?  A. Yes: seven marks (Koyin).

Q. Where are your other relations now?  A. They all near died. [sic] You can find them in Aigboro compound and Olorombo compound.

Q. Can you remember the name of the father of your mother?

Q. From where did she [he?] come?  A. I don’t know.

Q. What is your mother’s name?  A. Ayisatu.

Q. From where did she come?  A. Singini compound.

Q. From where did Singini (compound) people come?  A. Oyo area in Kobayi.

Q. What was your mother’s work before she died?  A. Cloth weaving.

TEXTILE INDUSTRY

Q. What are the types of clothes you weave before the coming of the Europeans?  A. White cloth; Fu, Etu, Sanyan.

Q. From where did you get the cotton before the Europeans came?  A. They were [It was] plant[ed] here in Ilorin and the nearby villages, Oko Ilorin.

Q. Who were those planting the cotton on the farm?  A. Slaves.

Q. From where did they bring the slaves?  A. In Yoruba land during the wars.

Q. Who are those spinning the cotton?  A. Slaves, male slaves worked on the farms. While females spun the cotton.

Q. Can you remember [a] few towns [from w]here the slaves were brought?  A. Aiyede, Lokoja.

Q. What was the position of the slaves spinning the cotton?  A. They were all under their lords who fed them. They were not autonomous.

Q. Did you have those learning in the textile industries?  A. People came from Iseyin, Ogbomosho, Ibadan to learn the job, i.e. weaving.

Q. Who were those responsible for dyeing the cloths?  A. The head of the textile industry usually plant[ed] leaves used for dyeing on his farm, and slaves helped to process it and turn it to coloured liquid to [sentence unfinished]

Q. Were those dyeing the cloth under the leader or lord in the textile industry?  A. Yes, all the slaves performing different works, i.e. those spinning, working on the farms, and dyeing. He thought others who were not slaves but the leader owned the materials.

Q. Who taught you how to weave?  A. My father’s slaves taught me weaving.

Q. Please, explain the marketing of the finished cloths.  A. Some came to buy them for sale in their own towns, e.g. from Ibadan, Lagos, Iseyin and Oyo, Lokoja, Onitsha, Bida, Borgu and little from Kano.

Q. Who are those carrying the cloth to other towns for sale?  A. Slaves carried them while free men followed them but properly armed.

Q. Please, explain the credit facilities in textile industry.  A. We did not sell in [on] credit in any form. The principle was if you have no money you don’t get the required services or goods. Even some paid in advance for cloths they wanted to buy from us.

Q. Which kind of cloth did you specialize in producing in Ilorin?  A. Reke type.

Q. Can you remember the period [when] you experienced boom in textile trade?  A. During Momo[’s] reign and Sule[’s] when there was peace.

Q. What were the differences brought about by the advent of the Europeans in Ilorin?  A. They brought another type of cotton called elewe. But they went with our own cotton which they changed to the new type they started to sell to us.

Q. Did any authority charge money or tax on any textile product?  A. No, even before the  coming of the Europeans.

Q. Which type of currency were you using before the Europeans came?  A. Owo Eyo, i.e. Cowrie.

Q. How did you always bring the bulky money home from the markets in places like Onitsha, Lagos etc.?  A. Slaves brought them [it] home for us.

SLAVERY

Q. How did you get the slaves mentioned in the sale and production of textiles?  A. In wars, i.e. war captives.

Q. Do you have slave settlements here which you can locate today? In Ilorin?  A. Yes, but we must not mention them today.

Q. Who are those called Gambari in Ilorin?  A. Those who came from the North, i.e. Arewa.

Q. What brought them here?  A. They followed Alimi (Jihadist).

Q. Which work are they known for?  A. Government designs [meaning unclear] or clothes design.

Q. What is the relationship between slaves and their lords?  A. They worked for the lords and the lords fed them although some are [were] allowed to marry and their children were used as slaves, also saraki family is well known for slavery, i.e. buying and capturing slaves.

Q. Did you have slave market[s] in Ilorin before the Europeans came?  A. Yes, Oja Oba and Gambari.

Q. Were they capturing slaves in Ilorin?  A. No: they captured [slaves] in external wars.

COMMERCE

Q. Have you undertaken any commercial activity?  A. Yes, I was a herdsman before.

Q. Where did you go to purchase the goats or [other?] animals?  A. They brought them from the North to Ilorin market where we bought them and took them to other [parts of] Yoruba land as far [away] as Lagos.

Q. With whom did you start this trade?  A. They are all dead now.

Q. How did you start herding?  A. From friends.

Q. How many of your [friends] join[ed] to herd?  A. About six, but if it was for in the South we used to be about 16 in number,

Q. How did you distribute your profit?  A. Each has [had] got his own animals which he sold himself. We did not put our profit together.

Q. How long did a trip to [the] South take you?  A. To Ibadan on fro [and from?] it took us about 20 days.

Q. Did you have stopping places?  A. Yes: Ibudo egba, Tapa, Oyo, Olorunda, Ibadan.

Q. Did you use slaves [to carry cloth?] to the markets in the places mentioned above?  A. We used grand children of our fathers’ slaves.

Q. What later happened to your partners in herding?  A. They later left herding for textile making.

Q. Did you have free men helping you to herd? [no answer recorded]

Q. Did you have a leader in herding?  A. No.

Q. Did you sell on credit?  A. No.

Q. How was the saraki family mentioned under slavery [important in?] the town?  A. They were warriors who caught many slaves. They befriended Alimi.

Q. How do you differentiate Fulani, Gambari?  A. Gambari have marks while Fulani have known [none].

Tape Number 3

I. REFERENCE DATA

COLLECTOR: OTOLORIN ADESIYUN   TAPE NUMBER 3

PERSON INTERVIEWED: ALFA YAHAYA  DATE 11/7/1975

PLACE: ILE SEFUTU[?]     LANGUAGE YORUBA

BIRTH PLACE: ILE SEFUTU[?]    AGE OF INFORMANT 85 YEARS

II. SUMMARY OF MAIN TOPICS DISCUSSED IN INTERVIEW:

CRAFT TOPICS: TEXTILES

[Trade in medicines]

OTHER: SLAVERY (VERY LITTLE)

PERSONAL DATA

Q. What is your name?  A. Alfa Yahaya.

Q. Can you remember the name of your father?  A. I cannot remember.

Q. What was your work?  A. I used to sell cloths and cloth weaving.

Q. What was your father’s work before he died?  A. I do not know.

Q. Can you remember the place from which your father came to Ilorin?  A. No.

Q. Since when have you started weaving?  A. I cannot know but I had started many years ago.

Q. What were the types of cloths you were weaving before the Europeans came? A. White cloths and Kutupu (kigipa), Alaro. Etu and Sanyan but not widespread.

Q. What are the raw materials and instruments used in weaving the cloths?  A. Cotton of different colours.

Q. Where did you obtain the cotton before the coming of the Europeans?  A. In Ilorin area.

Q. Who were those spinning the cotton?  A. Old women in Ilorin.

Q. Did you have people learning weaving under you?  A. No.

Q. Who were those responsible for dyeing the cloth? A. The cotton [threads] were coloured before weaving.

Q. Do you know where they obtain the dye?  A. No.

Q. Explain the marketing of the cloths.  A. We sold them here in Ilorin market and people came from Ogbomosho to purchase them, but some took them to some Yoruba towns for sale.

Q. Did you know anybody who used to take his own cloths to other towns for sale?  A. No.

Q. Any credit facility in the marketing of textile material or in the industry generally?  A. Nothing like that.

Q. What type of cloth did the people of Ilorin specialise [in]?  A. I cannot say.

Q. Can you remember any period of trade boom in textile industry?  A. Only God knows.

Q. Can you explain changes in the textile industry when the Europeans came?  A. I did not notice it much. But we changed the cotton and started to mix them, i.e. new cotton and Ilorin cotton.

Q. Did the authority [authorities] use to charge money or tax on the cloths you made?  A. No.

SLAVERY

Q. Can you remember and explain the use of slavery [slaves] in weaving and marketing of textile materials?  A. I cannot say.

Q. Any slave market here at Ilorin before the  Europeans came?  A. I do not know.

NOTE  My informant refused to go further with me on the issue of slavery because it is a sensitive one in Ilorin.

COMMERCE

Q. You one time mentioned that you were Dr. of medicine before. Were you working together with other friends?  A. I started with my father.

Q. Did you always combine to do it?  A. No.

Q. How long did it take you to return?  A. I cannot exactly remember, but we used to spend few days and slept on our way to Ibadan.

My informant claimed certain secrets are in the trade and he would not discuss it with me further.

Dabara: Means medicine.

Tape Number 4

I. REFERENCE DATA:

COLLECTOR: OTOLORIN ADESIYUN   TAPE NUMBER 4

PERSON INTERVIEWED: BABANKUDI   DATE 11/7/1975

PLACE: OLUKODO (COMPOUND)   LANGUAGE YORUBA

BIRTH PLACE: [not given here]    AGE OF INFORMANT 80 YEARS

II. SUMMARY OF MAIN TOPICS DISCUSSED IN INTERVIEW:

CRAFT TOPICS: TEXTILES

TRADE: TEXTILES

OTHER: SLAVERY (VERY LITTLE), THE GAMBARI IN ILORIN

PERSONAL DATA

Q. What is  your name?  A. Babankudi.

Q. Can you remember your father’s name?  A. Jimoh.

Q. Can you remember your grand father’s name?  A. I cannot know.

Q. Where were you born?  A. This compound, Olukodo, in Ilorin.

Q. Can you remember the reign of the king [in which] you were born?  A. Suleiman’s reign.

Q. What was your work?  A. Cloth weaving.

Q. Did you learn any other job with the trade or profession?  A. Medicine making.

Q. What was your work before he died?  A. Cloth weaving.

Q. Since when have you started cloth weaving?  A. About 50 years [ago].

Q. Were you once a farmer?  A. No.

Q. Where was your father born?  A.  Olukodo compound here in Ilorin.

Q. Can you remember from where your family moved to this Ilorin?  A. Fedegbo Ile from Kanji [sic] area.

Q. Are they Yoruba speaking in Fedegbo Ile?  A. Yes.

Q. Can you account for what brought them to Ilorin?  A. Islamic religion.

Q. What was their work at Fedegbo Ile before they came to Ilorin?  A. [the response is “No”—maybe an answer to another question, which has not been recorded in the typescript]

Q. Have the people who came from Fedegbo Ile got any distinctive work? [“work” may be a typographical error—the question may have actually referred to a facial “mark”] A. No.

Q. Can you remember the places where your relatives are in Ilorin today?  A. No.

Q. What is your mother’s name?  A. Gogo.

Q. What was her work before she died?  A. Cloth weaving.

Q. Can you remember the place from where she came?  A. No.

Q. What is your religion?  A. Islam.

Q. Can you remember the man who initiated you [in]to the religion?  A. Alfa Aliyu.

TEXTILE INDUSTRY

Q. What types of cloths were you weaving at Ilorin especially before the coming of the Europeans?  A. Kijipa.

Q. What were the instruments and the raw materials used in your textile industry?  A. Onnu, Okeke Keke Agbonrin Okuta, Okuku [punctuation as in the typescript].

Q. Where did you get the cotton?  A. Oke Oje in Ilorin, king’s market ofrer [after] they must have been spun by women living at Ilorin [or?] in places like Alapa, Megida, Igbeti.

Q. Did you have people learning the profession under you?  A. No.

Q. How did you learn your own?  A. My father taught me.

Q. Who were those responsible for the dyeing of the cloths?  A. Women from villages around Ilorin have always dyed the cotton before we bought them [it] for weaving.

Q. Where did they get the raw materials for dyeing the cloths?  A. I don’t know.

Q. Explain the marketing of these cloths ofrer [after] they have been woven.  A. We used to sell them at Oja Oba in Ilorin. People came from Ogbomosho to buy, also from the North. Hausa people also came to buy cloths like Petu je, Iya moje etc.

Q. Were there people carrying the finished cloths to other towns to sell?  A. Only Ogbomosho people came down to buy.

Q. Explain the credit facilities in textile making and marketing.  A. Nothing like credit.

Q. Can you remember a period before the Europeans came that you experienced trade boom in textile industry?  A. I can[’t] state this specifically, it is a long time [ago].

Q. What changes did you notice in textile industry when the Europeans came?  A. They changed our cotton and we started to mix their cotton and our local cotton, but later our people stopped planting theirs [i.e., our own?] and we some how neglected our own local cotton for the European type. Although you can still get our own.

Q. You mentioned Kano cotton, how did you get Kano cotton here in Ilorin?  A. Hausa people brought them [it] to Ilorin for sale at Oja Oba.

Q. Did authority [the authorities] charge any money on your finished cloths?  A. No: but we paid only poll tax.

SLAVERY

Q. Have they been using slaves here at Ilorin before?  A. I learnt so.

Q. From where did they buy them?  A. From Hausa land.

Q. Did you know any slave settlement in Ilorin?  A. No.

NOTE  He refused to answer other questions on slavery because it is a sensitive issue.

COMMERCE

Q. You said you pray for people and received money. Have you made this idea your profession?  A. Yes.

Q. Did you go to other towns to do the work?  A. No.

Q. Were you working with other people?  A. No.

Q. Did you receive money?  A. Yes.

Q. Which work did you learn first?  A. Learning of Quran, and later weaving.

Q. Which one paid you better?  A. Weaving.

Q. What did your counterpart[s] do?  A. I don’t know.

Q. Who are those called Gambari in Ilorin? A. Hausas.

Q. Do you differentiate between Gambari and Fulani?  A. Yes.

Q. Have Gambaris got special marks?  A. No.

Q. Do you know Alimi?  A. Yes, he is from Hausa land.

Q. How did Gambari people get here in Ilorin?  A. They followed Alimi the Jihadist also the Fulanis.

Tape Number 6

I. REFERENCE DATA:

COLLECTOR: OTOLORIN ADESIYUN   TAPE NUMBER 6

PERSON INTERVIEWED:  ALFA SHEU   DATE 12/7/1975

PLACE: ALOWA COMPOUND    LANGUAGE YORUBA

BIRTH PLACE: [not given here]    AGE OF INFORMANT 80 YEARS

II. SUMMARY OF MAIN TOPICS DISCUSSED IN INTERVIEW:

CRAFT TOPICS: TEXTILE[S] [including trade]

OTHER: SLAVERY, THE GAMBARI IN ILORIN [brief]

PERSONAL DATA; TEXTILES

Q. What is your name? A.  Alfa Sheu.

Q. Can you remember your father’s name?  A. Yes: Alfa Lemonu Sanusi.

Q. Where were you born?  A. Ilorin, in Sayidun Alawaye.

Q. What is your work?  A. Cloth weaving.

Q. What was your father’s work?  A. Cloth weaving.

Q. Can you remember the place from where your father moved to Ilorin.  A.  Awaye near Iseyin.

Q. What are the people of Iseyin known for?  A. Cloth weaving.

Q. What was your father’s work before he came to Iseyin? [should be “before he came to Ilorin”?]  A. Cloth weaving.

Q. Since when have you started weaving?  A. I have stood on my own since 1931. I went to weave at Ibadan that year.

Q. Can you name the types of cloth you wove at Ibadan?  A. Ajanbule, Olona, Reke, Eleya, Sanyeri, Etu, Alari, Topola.

Q. What are the instruments you use for weaving?  A. Asa, Oko, Omu, Agbonsin, Okoko, Okeke.

Q. Where did you get your cotton before the Europeans came?  A. Ilorin and its suburbs, and from Hausa land (Red and yellow). and slaves were brought from Hausa land also. “Abawa” is got from Ilorin.

Q. Who were the people responsible for spinning the cotton?  A. Also those learning did the spinning; women did the spinning mostly and women also wove.

Q. Where did you buy the cotton?  A. They brought them [it] to the market where we did the purchasing. Cotton markets in Ilorin were Oloje, Oja Oba.

Q. Did you have people learning weaving under you?  A. Yes.

Q. Did they pay for learning or you paid them as masters?  A. Some were relations and you did not need to get money. I have taught some people who came from Ibadan, Onitsha, Offa, Oshogbo. I was the first man to bring cloth weaving business to this compound with different designs.

Q. Who were those responsible for dyeing the cloths?  A. They used to bring the dye from Oyo, North [or should this be “from Oyo North,” that is, from a district called Oyo North?] to Ilorin market where we purchased the leaves from which dye is extracted. We planted the leaves in Ilorin in those days. Igbeti was well known with [for] planting the dye leaving [leaves]. Our women undertook the dyeing of the cloths.

Q. Explain the marketing of the cloths.  A. We sold them at Ilorin market but some carried their own as far as Onitsha, Lagos, Ogbomosho, and Ibadan for sale. Rich men went out to the towns to sell the cloths.

Q. Were you at any occasion outside Ilorin to sell cloths?  A. Yes.

Q. When you went out, how long did it take you to travel to Ibadan [and] to come back?  A. It varied in [accordance with the] individual’s capability.

Q. Who were those responsible for carrying the cloths on your journey?  A. Some who had slaves used them, and those who had relatives made use of them for the journey.

Q. Explain the credit facilities in the marketing of the cloths.  A. When you borrow money in those days for something you would give your son to the lender to work for him until when you can return or repay the money. Iwofa system.

Q. Did you buy your cotton in [on] credit?  A. No. Unless you were a customer to the seller.

Q. Did those who went to sell out[side] Ilorin sell to the people in the towns like Ogbomosho etc. in [on] credit?  A. It was possible since they had customers.

Q. In which type[s] of cloths did Ilorin weavers specialise before the coming of the Europeans?  A. Etu, Sanyan, Petuje, Bula, all for marriage ceremony.

Q. Can you remember any period you experience trade boom in cloth weaving industry?  A. During rainy season when people can not weave and rivers were overflowing and it became impossible to cross the flooding rivers. Then prices of the cloths always went up.

Q. Can you explain the changes experienced in the textile industry after the Europeans had come?  A. We started to mix the local cotton and the new cotton introduced by the Europeans, e.g. Petuje types of cloth and Sonyan.

Q. Was any excise duty collected on the finished cloths before they were sold? Or were charges made before you enter the towns to sell them?  A. Nothing like the two questions. [No to both questions.]

Q. Did you have any cooperative society here before?  A. Yes; those who used to go and sell outside Ilorin had a cooperative or an association.

Q. What of weavers’ association?  A. No.

Q. What were the arrangements made in the cloths sellers’ association?  A. I don’t know.

Q. Did they legislate on prices?  A. No.  Q. Did they contribute money?  A. Yes.

Q. How far is it true that the whites began to bring some people to Kalu’s place to learn weaving?  A. I do not know. My people used to go as far as Birni Keffi, Zaria to buy cotton before the introduction of lorries.

Q. Did you always go to the far North to sell cloths?  A. Yes, but that stopped later when the Hausas started to weave intensively themselves.

SLAVERY

Q. Have they ever used slaves here in Ilorin before?  A. Yes.

Q. In which trade[s] were they abundantly used?  A. Farming and other jobs where use of physical man power was need[ed]. They even learnt the work under the man.

Q. Was the same system of on the job training common in the textile industry?  A. Yes, but it was later.

Q. From where did the slaves come?  A. From Hausa and Yoruba land, e.g. in war against [between] Offa and Ilorin.

Q. Explain the method of enslavement in the past.  A. In the war, i.e. those who were conquered or surrendered in a war.

Q. Were they used for other purposes?  A. Yes. Some were used as soldiers in other wars. Some slaves later in this Ilorin became warriors to be reckoned with, e.g. Dada.

Q. Any slave settlement in this Ilorin?  A. No.

Q. Were there special marks for slaves, to distinguish them?  A. No.

Q. Explain the relationship between a slave and his master.  A. In some [cases] very cordial if he was useful. They were even allowed to marry and bear children.

Q. Was there any slave market here in Ilorin before the coming of the Europeans?  A. Yes, Asunnara, Gambari, Oja Oba were slave markets in Ilorin.

Q. Were slaves captured around Ilorin?  A. Yes, from anywhere.

Q. Please, explain the major differences between Fulani and Gambari.  A. Language, places of origin. The Fulani migrated from Sokoto area, while Gambari came from Kano, Katsina.

Q. When the Hausas first came, which type of work were they doing?  A. Dilali [and] butcher men, while Fulani sell cattle and rear them.

Q. Enlighten me about Saraki family here.  A. Anybody who is a Chief is called Saraki.

Q. Who are those well known for slavery or capturing slaves?  A. Anybody who was organised and had able men could go on slave raiding.

Tape Number 7

I. REFERENCE DATA:

COLLECTOR: OTOLORIN ADESIYUN   TAPE NUMBER 7

PERSON INTERVIEWED:  AMINU SINHABA  DATE [not given]

PLACE: SAYODUN COMPOUND    LANGUAGE YORUBA

BIRTH PLACE: [not given here] AGE OF INFORMANT ABOUT 80 YEARS

II. SUMMARY OF MAIN TOPICS DISCUSSED IN INTERVIEW:

CRAFT TOPICS: TEXTILE[S] [including trade]

OTHER: [Slavery: very little]

PERSONAL DATA, TEXTILES, SLAVERY

Q. What is your name?  A. Aminu Sinhaba.

Q. Where were you born?  A. Sayodun Compound here in Ilorin.

Q. What is your work?  A. Cloth weaving.

Q. What of your father’s work?  A. Cloth weaving.

Q. Can you remember from where your father came to Ilorin?  A. Sayodun.

Q. Since where [when] have you started to weave cloth?  A. I was initiated into it by my father since childhood.

Q. Explain the type of cloths you weave in Ilorin.  A. We weave Etu, Petuje, Sonyan, Alari, Iyamoje Male [?].

Q. What are the materials you used to weave the cloths?  A. Cotton, dye.

Q. What of instruments?  A. Okunkun,  Oke, Okeke etc.

Q. From where did you get your cotton in the pre-colonial era?  A. Omoda, Alanamu, Oloje, Agbayawo and Lore in the colonial period at “Osa [sic] Oba.” [do the first five places refer to the pre-colonial period, and only the last to the colonial period? They planted cotton in Ilorin and its area while old women spun the cotton, slaves also helped.

Q. From where did the slaves come?  A. Those captured in war and their children.

Q. Were the women spinning cotton under you weavers?  A. No.

Q. Did they come to learn this trade under you?  If yes, from where? A. Oyo, Ibadan, Iseyin etc. People come to learn the trade, i.e. cloth weaving, at Ilorin.

Q. Did they pay [fees] for [to] the masters?  A. No, but they worked under the man for a stipulated time. Some decided to stay permanently in Ilorin till today.

Q. Who were those responsible for dyeing cloths?  A. Old women.

Q. From where did they purchase the materials used for dyeing, like “Elu”?  A. Ilorin, Igbeti, Igboho.

Q. Explain the marketing of these products.  A. As prices were low it was almost free. [this must refer to materials used for dyeing]

Q. Did you go outside Ilorin to sell cloths?  A. Ogbomosho, Oyo, Kano, Bida.

Q. Who were responsible for carrying the cloths to the distant markets?  A. Slaves and professional carriers. Slaves were bought at Gambari market in Ilorin. They stopped on  their way to rest when going to the distant markets.

Q. Explain the credit facilities in the textile trade.  A. We borrowed ourselves [loaned each other?] money and sold cloths to those we knew in [on] credit.

Q. In which cloth did the Ilorin people specialise?  A. Etu, Sonya, Alari, used for various ceremonies.

Q. When was textile market [flourishing] or [at] which period did the textile market experience boom?  A. Any time there may be such [demand] for cloths from outside.

Q. Explain the change brought about by the advent of Europeans in the textile industry.  A. They introduced new cotton and nondurable  [sic] and stronger cotton.

Q. Did you mix the various [types of] cotton?  i.e. African cotton and the European cotton?  A. Yes.

Q Did they collect custom[s] or excise?  A. With custom[s] it was indirect but we did not pay excise. With [As for] custom[s] we gave any [of] those who [were] gate men something.

Q. What is the difference between Fulani and Hausa?  A. Their work varies: the Fulani rear cattle and sell cattle while the Hausas were butcher men. Hausas also trade in kola and they travel as traders.

Tape Number 8

I. REFERENCE DATA:

COLLECTOR: OTOLORIN ADESIYUN   TAPE NUMBER 8

PERSON INTERVIEWED:  ALFA ABDUL LASISI DATE 14/7/1975

PLACE: [not given here]     LANGUAGE YORUBA

BIRTH PLACE: [not given here] AGE OF INFORMANT 60 YEARS

II. SUMMARY OF MAIN TOPICS DISCUSSED IN INTERVIEW:

CRAFT TOPICS: TEXTILE[S] [including trade]

OTHER: SLAVERY, THE GAMBARI IN ILORIN

PERSONAL DATA, TEXTILES, SLAVERY, THE GAMBARI IN ILORIN

Q. What is your name?  A. Abdul Lasisi.

Q. What was your father’s name?  A. Alfa Abdul Lasisi Aminu.

Q. Where were you born?  A. Pakata in Ilorin.

Q. What is your work?  A. Cloth weaving as handed over to me by my father.

Q. Can you remember the place from where your father moved to this place?  A. I did not ask him.

Q. Since when have you started weaving?  A. More than 40 years old [ago].

Q. From whom did you hear the story of textiles you wish to tell me today?  A. From my father.

Q. What was his work?  A. Cloth weaving.

Q. Explain the cloths they weave at Ilorin.  A. Bulas the oldest cloth.

Q. What are the instruments you use for weaving?  A. Asa, Osu etc.

Q. From where did they obtain cotton in the pre-colonial period?  A. We planted them [it] in Ilorin, even my father was planting before.

Q. Have you ever heard that most weavers who had farm[s] had slaves?  A. Yes, even my father had some.

Q. From where did they get the slaves?  A. They bought them from some places in Ilorin, e.g. Ile Aroworeru was known for capturing slaves and selling to people.

Q. Did they (slaves) do other jobs apart from farming?  [no response recorded]

Q. Who were responsible for spinning the cotton?  A. My father had many wives who were [in] purdah; they were the people responsible for spinning (old women).

Q. Were slaves useful as spinners?  A. Yes, their women.

Q. Did your father have apprentice[s] under him?  A. Yes, even from far places like Ekiti, Oshogbo, Ibadan, Ijebu Ode etc. but not Iseyin. No one can say where weaving first started, either [whether] Ilorin or Iseyin.

Q. Did those learning cloths stay after freedom or go back?  A. Most went.

Q. Did they pay for learning under your father?  A. No, but they wove cloths for a stipulated time under them [him].

Q. Who were those responsible for dyeing?  A. Old women.

Q. From where did they obtain leaves used for dyeing, i.e. Elu?  A. They planted them in farms.

Q. Who were those working on Elu farms?  A. Slaves: they also brought the leaves from Igbeti, Igboho.

Q. In which market did you purchase them in Ilorin?  A. Oloje market, even Pakata.

Q. Explain the marketing of the textile materials. They took them to Lokoja; it took them 30 days to go to Lokoja.

Q. Who were responsible for [carrying items to and from] outside markets?  A. Slaves and carriers; when they sold cloths in Ijebu, Eko, they brought [back] cowries from the South.

Q. What is the difference between a slave and an Iwofa?  A. An Iwofa was asked for [to] work for somebody who had lent out money to his parents, until the money was paid off; while a slave was caught at war, etc.

Q. Explain the credit facilities in textile marketing.  A. We sold in [on] credit to those we knew well.

Q. In which textile material did Ilorin weavers specialise?  A. Olona and Eleya.

Q. Did your people before the coming of Europeans go to places like Bida, Borgu to sell cloths?  A. We used Kano cotton; we went to Kano, Bida, etc. to purchase Kano cotton.

Q. Did they bring slaves?  A. Yes, the Tonbon.

Q. Who were the Gambaris?  A. Those who speak Hausa and came from Kano, Katsina. They are today butcher men in Ilorin and live in a quarter called Gambari, while the Fulani came from Sokoto area and deal with selling of cattle. Hausas were commercial men who brought [bought?] cattle and sold kolanut.

Q. How did the Gambaris reach Ilorin?  A. They came through Alfa Alimi.

Q. When did textile trade experience boom?  A. During festivals, muslim and pagan festivals; during rainy season there is also trade recession.

Q. What were the differences brought about by the coming of the Europeans in the textile industry?  A. New cotton was introduced and we could weave varieties like Eleya etc. New cotton is stronger and we sometimes mix them.

Q. Was there any system where you were made to pay custom[s] and excise?  A. We never paid excise in any form, but some said they paid customs in distant places, e.g. Oyo.

Q. Any cooperative of textile weavers?  A. No.

Q. What has been Kalu’s position among cloth weavers in Ilorin?  A. He is only an expert, no more, no less.

Tape Number 9

I. REFERENCE DATA:

COLLECTOR: OTOLORIN ADESIYUN   TAPE NUMBER 9

PERSON INTERVIEWED: AMUDA [?] YUSUF  DATE [not given]

PLACE: PAKATA      LANGUAGE YORUBA

BIRTH PLACE: [not given here] AGE OF INFORMANT 75 YEARS

II. SUMMARY OF MAIN TOPICS DISCUSSED IN INTERVIEW:

CRAFT TOPICS: TEXTILE[S]

TRADE IN TEXTILES

OTHER: [Slavery: brief], THE GAMBARI IN ILORIN [brief]

PERSONAL DATA, TEXTILES, SLAVERY, THE GAMBARI IN ILORIN

Q. What is your name?  A. Yusuf.

Q. Can you remember your father’s name?  A. Musa.

Q. Can you remember where you were born?  A. Pakata.

Q. Can you remember your father’s work?  A. Cloth weaving.

Q. Can  you remember from where your father came?  A. No.

Q. What were the types of cloths you wove in the pre-colonial period?  A. Iyamoje, Bamboko, koko Olomoba, Iginla Mole.

Q. What are the instruments used for weaving?  A. Asa, Okoko, Agbonrin, Osu.

Q. Where did you obtain cotton in the pre-colonial period?  A. Ilorin area. Nobody planted it, I believe.

Q. How did they obtain cotton used as a raw material? They were [it was] brought to markets in Ilorin.

Q. Have you ever heard that your father had a cotton farm or people working under him?

A. Everybody specialised in his own trade: farmers did not weave, spinners did not weave, and weavers did not spin.

Q. Did your father have slaves on his farms?  A. No, but I have heard that some did it.

Q. From which markets did they obtain  cotton?  A. Anywhere in Ilorin.

Q. Who were responsible for spinning?  A. The old women and some women slaves.

Q. Was there a set of people well known for spinning?  A. I have not heard of it.

Q. Were there apprentices under your father?  A. Yes, people came from Ibadan, Ijebu Ode, Ogbomosho.

Q. Did they pay for it?  A. People from Ilorin don’t pay since they are relatives, while others pay.

Q. Who are those who dye the cloths?  A. Women.

Q. From where did they get leaves [text unclear here] used for dyeing?  A. They brought them from Igbeti, Igboho, and Ilorin people also went to their farms to get.

Q. Explain the marketing of the textile materials when you finished weaving them.  A. They carried to Lagos for sale, and other people also came to purchase them, e.g. Ogbomosho [people].

Q. Did they go to the North to sell cloths?  A. Yes, they went even as far as to Onitsha.

Q. Who were responsible for carrying the cloths? A. Slaves and carriers, but most slaves were used in the farm.  They preferred the slaves on the farm than elsewhere.

Q. Did they have stopping places?  A. Yes, but we cannot remember their stopping places. We learnt they spent 17 days to and from Lagos.

Q. Explain the credit facilities in the textile industry.  A. They borrowed money but with interest; they sold materials in [on] credit.

Q. In which kind of cloth did Ilorin people specialise?  A. Iyamoje, Omole etc.

Q. When did textile trade experience boom?  A. Festival[s].

Q. What were difficulties in weaving?  A. Rain.

Q. What changes were brought about by the coming of the Europeans in the textile industry?

A. A new set of stronger but less durable cotton was introduced.

Q. Was there any system for collection of excise and custom[s] duties?  A. No excise was collected.

Q. Any cooperative of weavers?  A. No.

Q. What about Kalu’s position in Ilorin among weavers?  A. He only know[s] styles and varieties more than anybody. But sellers travelled [travel] together till today to sell in distant places.  [this last sentence seems to answer a different question]

Q. How do you differentiate between Gambari and Fulani?  A. Gambari are carriers and traders, while Fulani sell cattle milk etc. They do not put on clothes.

Q. Any slave markets in Ilorin in the past?  A. I can’t say.

Tape Number 10

I. REFERENCE DATA:

COLLECTOR: OTOLORIN ADESIYUN   TAPE NUMBER 10

PERSON INTERVIEWED: SALIMONU (ALFA)  DATE 14/7/1975

PLACE: PAKATA ISALE OJA    LANGUAGE YORUBA

BIRTH PLACE: [not given here] AGE OF INFORMANT 90 YEARS

II. SUMMARY OF MAIN TOPICS DISCUSSED IN INTERVIEW:

SLAVE DEALING, [Slavery, Twentieth-century trade]

PERSONAL DATA, SLAVE DEALING, SLAVERY, TWENTIETH-CENTURY TRADE

Q. What is  your name?  A. Yahaya. [name here is different from that given in the Reference Data]

Q. What is your father’s name?  A. Usman.

Q. Can you remember where you were born?   A. Pakata Isale Oja.

Q. What was your work before you became old?  A. I was the first man to reach Ilorin with a motor lorry from Lagos. I was a commercialist.

Q. What was your father’s work?  A. He was a cattle rearer and textile weaving. He was also a dealer in slaves with his brother. They brought slaves from the North to sell in Ilorin and cattle were also brought all along down to Lagos.

Q. From where did your father come to this Ilorin in the pre-colonial period?  A. Ikoyi near Ilorin. It takes a day[’s] journey.

Q. With whom did you start the trade?  A. I started at Lagos and when I [was] freed I came home as an engineer.

Q. How did they sell the slaves?  A. The Egbos [Egbas] came to purchase.

Q. Were there slave markets in Ilorin before?  A. Yes, at Oja Oba market before the Europeans came.

Q. What were the slaves used for?  A. On the farms or agric[ultural] labour.

Q. Were there slave markets in Ilorin before?  A. No. We sold them as we got them. [this answer should be taken as a reflection of the practices of some traders including the interviewee’s family, rather than a denial of the existence of actual markets, two of which the interviewee identifies in this interview]

Q. Were they (slaves) differentiated by facial marks?  A. Yes. As it pleased the master.

Q. Were cotton-dyeing leaves grown by the slaves?  A. Yes. These were [This was] practised by many people.

Q. What was the relationship between a slave and his master?  A. They were allowed to marry if the masters liked them, but their products [offspring] were slaves. The women slaves were also married by the masters.

Q. Were there slave markets in this Ilorin before?  A. Gambari [and] Oja Oba were slave markets.

Q. Did they capture slaves around Ilorin?  A. No, but where there was war you captured only [members of] opposing sides.

Q. Were there families who used to capture slaves or were dealers in slaves?  A.  Yes. Alanamu family warriors (Saraki), Balogun Gambari [, Balogun] Fulani. These were warriors.

Q. Can you remember where freed slaves moved to after the coming of the Europeans?  A. Some to the North, to Minna, Borgu etc. Also Iwofa system disappeared.

Q. What happened to the work which used to be done by the slaves when they disappeared?  A. Some farms were spoilt.

Q. Did any slave refuse to go to his town after they were freed by the Europeans?  Yes, some refused to go, while some went. Some who refused to go are even rich men in Ilorin today.

Q. You mentioned you were the first man to bring [a] motor vehicle to Ilorin. Where were you patronising [travelling to for trade] with your motor lorry?  A. I used to patronise Otun, [and] Ogudu near Jebba. Amold [Arnold?] was the Ilorin resident [colonial officer in charge] then, and they borrowed the motor from me and paid me for my services.

Q. You mentioned your motor was running [to] Otun, but which type of trade was going on in Otun?  A. Kola nut trade even up to Ado Ekiti. All the cements used for bridge[s] in Ilorin area were carried with my motor.

Q. Did other people join you to learn your own new kind of trade?  A. Yes, they learnt them [the new kind of trade] from me.

Q. How did you get to Lagos yourself?  A. I was taken to Lagos by my father after the end of slave trade and slavery.

Q. Did you have apprentices under you, whom you worked together with?  A. There were some whom I trained, some worked under me. I worked together with [the] Oni of Ife, the present one on the throne.

Q. How did you share your profits?  A. Oni of Ife was paying me salary and I was a senior driver.

Q. Did you have any other job apart from that work? Did any one of your children learn the job from you? [no answers provided]

Q. Did you have cooperative of motor owners?  A. No. No civilisation then.

Q. Did you go with your lorry as far as the Northern part of the country?  A. No. There were no roads to the North then.

Q. How were slaves moved from the North to the South then, when there was no bridge across the Niger?  A. We used to paddle vessels across the Niger down to the South.

Tape Number 11

I. REFERENCE DATA:

COLLECTOR: OTOLORIN ADESIYUN   TAPE NUMBER 11

PERSON INTERVIEWED: ALHAJI YAHAYA KALU DATE 19/7/1975 [or 15/7/1975]

PLACE: OLABINTAN COMPOUND   LANGUAGE YORUBA

BIRTH PLACE: [not given here] AGE OF INFORMANT 100 YEARS

II. SUMMARY OF MAIN TOPICS DISCUSSED IN INTERVIEW:

CRAFT TOPICS: TEXTILES [including trade]

OTHER: SLAVERY [detailed], THE GAMBARI IN ILORIN [brief]

PERSONAL DATA, TEXTILES, SLAVERY, GAMBARI

[Comment by interviewer:] Leader of weavers, 100 years.

Q. What is your name?  A. Alhaji Yahaya Kalu.

Q. What is the name of your father?  A. Mahammed [spelling unclear] Duphia.

Q. Where were you born?  A. Olabintan in Ilorin here.

Q. What is your work?  A. Cloth weaving.

Q. What was your father’s work?  A. Cloth weaving.

Q. Did you inherit farms from your father?  A. No, although my father had cotton farms.

Q. Who were those working for him on his farms?  A. Slaves.

Q. From where were they captured?  A. I can not know.

Q. When railway was introduced, was there any change in the farming method?  A. I cannot know.

Q. From where did your father come to Ilorin?  A. From Iseyin in the Western State.

Q. What was his work at Iseyin before he came to Ilorin?  A. He was a cloth weaver.

Q. Can we say he decided to move to Ilorin because weaving in Ilorin was more profitable than weaving in Iseyin?  A. No. He came by religious war.

Q. Did people from Iseyin have special mark?  A. Isoju, but majority has no mark.

Q. Where are your relatives in Ilorin?  A. Ile Omo Dada, a warrior; Ike the Baloguns [sic], saraki—chief.

Q. What was the criterion for making people chiefs?  A. Battle achievement.

Q. What was your mother’s work?  A. Cloth selling at the markets, e.g. Omoda.

Q. Did she partake in cotton spinning?  A. Yes.

Q. What were the type[s] of cloth you were weaving in the pre-colonial period?  A. Etu, Sanyan, Petuje.

Q. When the Europeans came, which type did you start to weave?  A. Olona.

Q. Who taught you how to make styles to [sic] cloth weaving?  A. On my own initiative.

[Note by interviewer:] He showed me his specially made cloths.

[Interviewee:] There was an attempt by the Europeans to take me to Europe since they said they cannot understand how I was able to weave the special cloths. The Emir took the Europeans to my place. My cloth won the 1st prize in a competition in London. Obajeri type won 1st prize, Morindoti took 2nd, while Obajare won the 3rd prize.

Note: [by interviewer] At a time, my informant, i.e. Alhaji Kalu, was presented with series of certificates in some cultural shows held at Ilorin.

Q. Is there any group of people well known for specialised spinning?  A. No. I cannot say but all I know is every old woman can spin cotton.

Q. Were slaves taught how to weave?  A. They learnt different trade[s] but not many of them learnt cloth weaving.

Q. Did you charge for training people under you?  A. No, but anybody whom we trained would work for a stipulated period under us. My father also did not charge people.

Q. Who were those responsible for dyeing the cloths?  A. The old women take charge of that since time immemorial.

Q. Where did they get the raw materials for making dye?  A. We bought them from people coming from Igbeti etc.

Q. Who were those responsible for selling the cloths?  A. We used to carry them to Lagos, Ibadan, Onitsha etc. Ogbomosho.

Q. When did textile trade experience boom?  A. During festivals.

Q. Who were those responsible for carrying the cloths?  A. Carriers including Hausas.

Q. Was credit allowed in the trade?  A. Yes, even in buying cotton, dye raw materials etc., credit was common.

Q. In which type[s] of cloth did Ilorin weavers specialise?  A. Sayna [Sanyan] Bamboko, Petuje. [punctuation as in the typescript; are three types mentioned here, or two?]

Q. What changes were brought about in the textile industry by the advent of the Europeans?  A. A new type of stronger cotton was introduced by the Europeans.

Q. Did you mix the two types?  A. Yes, we used to mix cotton to weave cloth.

Q. Did they collect customs and excise?  A. No, we [have] not heard that they ever collected excise, but traders going to sell in a distant [place] paid customs before they entered the cities.

SLAVERY

Q. Did they use slaves in pre-colonial period?  A. Yes. They were captured during series of wars in Yoruba land, even as far [away] as Ekiti land.

Q. Did you have people who were responsible for selling slaves?  A. Yes. The sarakis (chiefs) who were warriors brought slaves from the battle and sold them at Ilorin markets, Oja Oba, Gambari market, etc.

Q. Were there slave settlements in Ilorin before the advent of the Europeans?  A. I cannot know where they settled at when they were set free.

Q. Any difference between Iwofa and slave?  A. Yes, A slave was caught in battle and sold, while [an] Iwofa was serving under a person because his parent borrowed money from that person. He would serve until the man can pay off his debt.

Q. Any special mark to differentiate a free man from a slave?  A. Some did give their slaves special marks, especially those captured or bought from Kano, Borgu or Bida areas.

Q. Which kind of work were the slaves used for in Ilorin?  A. They worked on the farm, [were] employed as soldiers to fight in wars, even some helped to capture slaves.

Q. What is the relationship between a slave and his master?  A. A slave worked under his master and some did their own private work.

Q. Where did they sell slaves in those days?  A. Isale Gambari and Arowoteru quarter.

Q. What are the major differences between a Gambari and Fulani?  A. Gambari engaged themselves in butchering, [acted as] dilali, while Fulani sell cattle, milk, but the Hausas engaged themselves more in commercial activities.

Tape Number 12

I. REFERENCE DATA:

COLLECTOR: OTOLORIN ADESIYUN   TAPE NUMBER 12

PERSON INTERVIEWED: JIMOH ISOWO   DATE 15/7/1975

PLACE: ODE ISOWO     LANGUAGE YORUBA

BIRTH PLACE: [not given here] AGE OF INFORMANT 70 YEARS

II. SUMMARY OF MAIN TOPICS DISCUSSED IN INTERVIEW:

CRAFT TOPICS: TEXTILES [including trade]

[THE GAMBARI IN ILORIN [brief]

PERSONAL DATA, TEXTILES, GAMBARI

Q. What is your name?  A. Alfa Jimoh Isowo.

Q. What was your father’s name?  A. Isowo.

Q. Where were you born?  A. Ode Isowo.

Q. What was your father’s work?  A. Cloth weaving.

Q. Can you remember the place from which your father came here?  A. Oyo.

Q. Can you remember what actually brought him to Ilorin?  A. Religious reason (Islam) and weaving.

Q. Had he been weaving at Oyo before he came to Ilorin?  A. He had been weaving from Oyo.

Q. Since when have you started weaving cloth?  A. More than forty years ago.

Q. Can you tell me the various type of cloths they wove  at Ilorin before the coming of the Europeans?  A. Fu, Etu, Sanyon, Alari, Alaro.

Q. When the Europeans came, what type did they start to weave?  A. Different types.

Q. From where did they get cotton to weave in Ilorin in the pre-colonial era?  A. Cotton was at Oloje, a compound [an area?] in Ilorin, and villages near Ilorin.

Q. Who were those responsible for spinning cotton?  A. Old women.

Q. Have you ever heard [of] weavers who employed slaves in their work?  A. Yes, but they were mostly used in their farms. They also taught them how to weave.

Q. Which type of work were the slaves mostly used for in Ilorin in the pre-colonial era?  A. They were mostly used on the farm.

Q. Were the spinners of cotton under weavers in those days, or they stood on their own?  A. They stood on their own—specialisation.

Q. Were [there] learners under your father?  A. Yes, even some came from distant places like Oshogbo, Akure etc.

Q. After freedom, did the people [ex-slaves] go to their various towns or [stay] permanent[ly] at Ilorin?  A. Some went away.

Q. When learning weaving, did you have to pay money, or what was the going [rate?] of the man who trained one in the act [skill]?  A. He [the learner] would work for a stipulated period. It is done till today.

Q. Who were those responsible for dyeing?  A. Old women.

Q. How [and] where did they get Elu, a leaf used as raw material?  A. From Kishi in Oyo North, Igbeti, they came to Ilorin by [on] foot.

Q. Please explain the marketing system [for woven cloths].  A. They carried them to distant markets in the west like Oje Lagos, Ibadan [confusing: should it be “markets in the west like Lagos and Oje market in Ibadan”?]. They also came down [meaning that buyers also travelled to Ilorin?].

Q. Do you have any leader in your association? i.e. [a leader] of weavers?  A. No.

Q. How did they get to the distant markets?  A. They slept on the way—Ogbomosho, Moniyo, Oyo etc.—to Ibadan.

Q. How did they carry them [the cloths]?  A. They were carried by carriers including people from villages around.

Q. Did they go in [a] group?  A. Yes, with a leader, and they were also well equipped.

Q. Please explain the credit facilities in the textile industry.  A. We sold cloths in [on] credit even in distant markets.

Q. Which type of cloth were the people of Ilorin well known for?  A. Olona.

Q. Can you remember the period of boom in cloth trade?  A. During marriage periods and festivals.

Q. Explain the changes that came about in the textile industry when the Europeans came.

A. New, strong cotton and abundant one was introduced. Also we were able to mix [the] new and old cotton.

Q. Was there any time when custom[s] or excise was charged?  A. Yes, they charged cloth sellers going to sell in distant markets some amount in the cities.

Q. How do you by profession differentiate between a Fulani and Gambari man?  A. Gambari were commercial men, while Fulanis were cattle sellers. Some slaves although [however] were brought from Hausa land.

Tape Number 13

I. REFERENCE DATA:

COLLECTOR: OTOLORIN ADESIYUN   TAPE NUMBER 13

PERSON INTERVIEWED: ALFA SHEU FASAUNSI DATE 16/7/1975

PLACE: ILE ISOWO      LANGUAGE YORUBA

BIRTH PLACE: [not given here] AGE OF INFORMANT  85 YEARS

II. SUMMARY OF MAIN TOPICS DISCUSSED IN INTERVIEW:

CRAFT TOPICS: TEXTILES [including trade]

PERSONAL DATA, TEXTILES, SLAVERY, GAMBARI

Q. What is your name? Alfa Sheu Fasaunsi.

Q. Can you remember the name of your father?  A. Alfa Fasaunsi.

Q. Where were you born?  A. Ilorin.

Q. What was your father’s work?  A. Cloth weaving.

Q. What of your own work?  A. Cloth weaving.

Q. Can you remember the place from which your father came to Ilorin?  A. Ede in the West.

Q. Do they weave at Ede?  A. Yes.

Q. Since when have you started to weave cloth?  A. 40 years ago.

Q. Explain the type of cloths they weave [wove] at  Ilorin in pre-colonial period.  A. The popular one then was called Fu before the Europeans came; other types are Kokoro Aro, Iyamaje, Sanya, Alari, Etu, Donmole, Itorin Toro.

Q. What were the raw materials used?  A. Cotton dye. [Note by interviewer:] (followed by the description of how it was processed).

Q. What are the instruments used for weaving as set up now? [Note by interviewer:] (I was at his loom)  A. Itese, Okuku, Agborin, Oke, Asa, Omu Itese etc.

Q. Where did they get cotton in pre-colonial period?  A. They got at Ilorin and the villages around; they were [it was] spun by old [wo]men and made into a process [?] before it is used for weaving.

Q. Did slaves spin cotton in these days?  A. Depending on its status.

Q. Were the women spinning under the weavers?  A. No. They were autonomous.

Q. Any special pace known for good spun cotton?  A. Yes. The Hausas in Gambari area in Ilorin produced special cotton before; our fathers used to get them [it] from Kano.

Q. Where did they get raw materials for making dye?  A. They brought them from Igbeti, Igboho to Ilorin markets and we purchased them from the markets.

Q. Explain the marketing of the textiles after production.  A. Before, we sold them to people only around Ilorin, but later Ilorin became [well known for?] weaving like Iseyin, and our people started to carry the finished textiles to the far Southern markets etc. Abeokuta, etc.

Q. Were there entourage[s] of traders who used to travel together for the same commercial interest?  A. Yes, even they selected leaders among themselves, but a leader should be a warrior.

Q. Who were those responsible for carrying the cloths to distant markets?   A. The middlemen Dilali (Alarobo) used to carry them to places for sale.

Q. Explain credit facilities in the industry.  A. We gave out cloths to other people to weave and they make their own profit in the process.

Q. Which type of cloth was Ilorin well known for, in those days?  A. Adebisi type led to the rise of Ilorin in textile production.

Q. Where did they first start cloth weaving, Iseyin or Ilorin?  A. I cannot say definitely.

Q. Did you notice any Hausa in textile production in Ilorin?  A. No. Hausas are till today known as commercialists. They brought rice, pepper.

Q. When did textile trade experience boom?  A. Marriage period and festivals.

Q. What were the major changes brought about by the Europeans in the textile industry in Ilorin?  A. Dye was changed. Galura [dye? and] stronger cotton was introduced . . . Kuferi cotton was introduced.

Q. Were customs or excise charged?  A. We had only customs charged at distant markets, not in Ilorin.

Tape Number 14

I. REFERENCE DATA:

COLLECTOR: OTOLORIN ADESIYUN   TAPE NUMBER 14

PERSON INTERVIEWED: BABA ONIMANGORO DATE 16/7/1975

PLACE: ALOSINRIN (Alusinrin?)    LANGUAGE YORUBA

BIRTH PLACE: [not given here] AGE OF INFORMANT  75 YEARS

II. SUMMARY OF MAIN TOPICS DISCUSSED IN INTERVIEW:

CRAFT TOPICS: TEXTILES [including trade]

OTHER: THE GAMBARI IN ILORIN [very brief]; [Slavery: very brief]

PERSONAL DETAILS, TEXTILES, SLAVERY, GAMBARI

Q. What is your name?  A. Babamangoro.

Q. What was your father’s name?  Momoh Jimoh.

Q. Where were you born?  A. Alusinrin in Ilorin.

Q What has been your work?   A. Cloth weaving.

Q. What of your father’s work?  A. He was also a cloth weaver before he died.

Q. From where did your father come to Ilorin?  A. Ggoho [Igboho] on Igbeti side.

Q. What was his work at Gboho [Igboho]?  A. I cannot say.

Q. What were the types of cloth woven by Ilorin people in the pre-colonial period?

Q. Fu, Alari etc. Iyamoje.

Q. Where did they get cotton before the coming of the Europeans?  A. Ilorin and villages around.

Q. Were slaves used to cultivate cotton?  A. Yes.

Q. Were [was] the cotton brought to the market?  A. Yes.

Q. Who were those responsible for spinning?  A. Old women.

Q. Have you heard it that slaves partook in spinning?  A. No.

Q. Were the spinners under weavers?  A. No. The [weavers] bought cotton from them.

Q. Have you heard of a group good in cotton spinning?  A. Yes. The Hausas were better in spinning and we preferred their own cotton to ours.

Q. Were people learning weaving under your father?  A. No. Only relations.

Q. Have you heard of people coming from distant places to learn weaving in Ilorin?  A. Yes.

Q. Were the people learning the trade charged some amount by their masters?  A. No. They only prayed for them.

Q. Who were those responsible for dyeing cloth? Women, old ones.

Q. Where did they get the raw materials?  A. From Kishi and Igbeti area.

Q. Can you mention some markets where the materials were sold at Ilorin etc. Elu.

A. Oloje, Pakata, Ade ja [,?] Oja Oba.

Q. Any specialisation in production of cloth?  A. Yes.

Q. How were the sales of the textiles organised?  A. People came down to Ilorin to buy the materials and our people also carried them to distant places for sale.

Q. Who were those responsible for carrying the products on their way to the distant markets?  A. Members of the family and they went in group[s].

Q. Did they have stopping places on their way down?  A. Yes.

Q. Explain the credit facilities in textile production.  A. We borrowed ourselves [loaned each other?] money and undertook “middle man transaction[s].” We bought raw materials on credit.

Q. In what type of cloth were the Ilorin people specialised before the coming of the Europeans?

A. Alaro, Sanyan.

Q. Can you remember the period of trade boom for textiles?  A. During Ramadan and other festivals.

Q. What were the changes brought about after the Europeans had come, in the textile industry?  A. I did not hear of both [either].

W. How do you differentiate between a Fulani and Gambari.  A. Fulani engage in cattle selling, Gambari in their quarters engage in commercial activities.

Tape Number 15

I. REFERENCE DATA:

COLLECTOR: OTOLORIN ADESIYUN   TAPE NUMBER 15

PERSON INTERVIEWED: ALFA ANAFI   DATE 16/7/1975

PLACE: IDI IGBA      LANGUAGE YORUBA

BIRTH PLACE: [not given here] AGE OF INFORMANT  85 YEARS

II. SUMMARY OF MAIN TOPICS DISCUSSED IN INTERVIEW:

CRAFT TOPICS: TEXTILES [including trade]

OTHER: THE GAMBARI IN ILORIN [brief], [Slavery: brief mentions]

PERSONAL DETAILS, TEXTILES, SLAVERY, GAMBARI

Q. What is your name?  A. Alfa Anafi.

Q. What is your father’s name?  A. Abdul Rahim Elega.

Q. Where were you born?  A. Idi Igba in Ilorin.

Q. What is your work?  A. Cloth weaving has been my only work.

Q. What was your father’s work?  A. Cloth weaving.

Q. Can you remember the very place from which your family moved to Ilorin?  A. Yes. We came from Oyo in Western State.

Q. Can you remember the work he was doing at Oyo?  A. Cloth dressing [sic].

Q. Can you explain the different types of cloths they wove at Ilorin before the coming of the Europeans?  A. Etu, Petuje, Sanyan.

Q. From where did they get cotton before the Europeans came?  A. They were [It was] planted by our people in Ilorin and villages around. They were [It was] grown by farmers.

Q. Who were responsible for spinning?  A. Women, but Hausas were better.

Q. Were the old women under you or they were selling on their own?  A. They stood alone.

Q. Did people learn the trade under you?  A. Yes. We taught our relations and people came from Akure, Ogbomosho to learn under us.

Q. Where did cloth weaving first start, Iseyin or Ilorin?  A. Iseyin and Ilorin were known for cloth weaving, but I cannot say where it first started.

Q. Did you go as far as Borgu to sell your cloths?  A. Yes, so our fathers told us.

Q. Did you charge for training people how to weave?  A. We charged, but it all depends, but most people whom we trained worked under us for a stipulated period which served as payment.

Q. Who were those responsible for dyeing?  A. Our old women.

Q. Who were those who planted the raw materials?  A. Nobody planted them, but they grew and slaves were made to work on them. They were mostly brought from Igbeti area.

Q. Explain the marketing of textile products in the pre-colonial period.  A. Our fathers used to carry them by foot to distant areas, as far [away] as Kano, Bida, Borgu, Ibadan.

Q. Who were responsible for carrying the textile materials?  A. Slaves made up of Yoruba, Kannike, Gogobiri etc.

Q. Did they travel together?  A. Yes, they travelled together armed.

Q. Explain the credit facilities in the textile industry in the pre-colonial period.  A. People gave money in advance for weavers to weave for them.  They also sold in [on] credit to customers in distant markets.

Q. Which type[s] of cloths were Ilorin [weavers] known for?  A. Fun, Iyamo je.

Q. When were trade booms common?  A. Dry season and when marriages were common.

Q. What major changes were brought about by the Europeans into [in] the textile industry?  A. A stronger and more preferable cotton was introduced.

Q. Did they collect custom[s] or excise in those days?  A. No.

Q. How do you by profession differentiate between Fulani and Gambari?  A. Fulani engaged themselves in rope weaving, cattle selling, while Hausas were commercialists and carriers. The Gambari engaged themselves in labour work.

Tape Number 16

I. REFERENCE DATA:

COLLECTOR: OTOLORIN ADESIYUN   TAPE NUMBER 16

PERSON INTERVIEWED: ALFA ADELODUN  DATE 17/7/1975

PLACE: IDI IGBA  COMPOUND    LANGUAGE YORUBA

BIRTH PLACE: [not given here] AGE OF INFORMANT  83 YEARS

II. SUMMARY OF MAIN TOPICS DISCUSSED IN INTERVIEW:

CRAFT TOPICS: TEXTILES [including trade]

OTHER: THE GAMBARI IN ILORIN [brief], [Slavery]

PERSONAL DETAILS, TEXTILES, SLAVERY, GAMBARI

Q. What is your name?  A. Alfa Adelodun.

Q. Can you remember the name of your father?  A. I cannot remember.

Q. Where were you born?  A. Idi Igba in Ilorin here.

Q. What is your own work?  A. Cloth weaving.

Q. What was your father’s work before he died?  A. Cloth weaving, in fact he initiated me [in]to it.

Q. Did you learn any other job again?  A. No.

Q. Can you remember the place from which your father came to Ilorin?  A. Oyo.

Q. What were the types of cloth you wove at Ilorin in pre-colonial period?  A. Ajombule (Kure), Reke, Olona [,?] Abesika.

Q. Where did they get [cotton for weaving] cloth in pre-colonial period?  A. We planted cotton in Ilorin and its area.

Q. Have you heard if the slaves were working on the cotton farms?  A. Yes, even Iwofas.

Q. Differentiate between a slave and an Iwofa.  A. A slave was captured, while you entered into an agreement with Iwofa system. That was when you were in debt to a man. A slave was bought.

Q. Who were those responsible for spinning?  A. The old men [sic: this is obviously a typographic error].

Q. Were they under the weavers?  A. No. They stood on their own although they may be the relations of the weavers.

Q. Were there certain groups better in spinning cotton?  A. No.

Q. Did you ever use the Hausa cotton?  A. Yes, and they used ours also.

Q. Did you have learners in [sic] your father’s loom before he died?  A. Yes, very many of them.

Q. From where did they come?  A. Iseyin, Ogbomosho, and Ekiti.

Q. Where did weaving first start?  Iseyin or Ilorin?  A. Ilorin. They moved to Iseyin.

Q. Did learners pay their masters?  A. No. They worked for them [their masters] for a stipulated time.

Q. Who were those responsible for dyeing the cloths?  A. Old women.

Q. Where did they get the raw materials, Elu?  A.  They planted them in Ilorin area, and some were brought to Ilorin markets to sell, from Igboho, Igbeti etc. Dongari. [was Dongari another place from which Elu was brought, as in Ejidongari?]

Q. Have you heard that they used slaves in cultivating the Elu?  A. They used them.

Q. Which tribe was in majority among the slaves?  A.  Kemberi or Gambari [,] Iyagba. [Iyagba = Yagba?] They were brought from the Northern markets.

Q. Explain the sales of the textile materials.  A. They carried them on foot to Ibadan, Ogbomosho.

Q. Who were responsible for carrying the cloths?  A. The slaves were mostly used.

Q. Did [they] walk in groups?  A. Yes. They even had leaders responsible for security [and?] had stopping places.

Q. Explain the credit facilities in the trade.  A. Spinners allowed credit. Dyers allowed [it] also. In fact, cloths were sold on credit in the distant markets.

Q. In [sic] which type of cloths were the Ilorin [weavers] well known for?  A. Kure, Petuje.

Q. Who were responsible for pressing [the cloths?]?  A. Anybody, common in compounds.

Q. Can you remember when trade boom is experienced?  A. Marriage periods, festivals usually during dry season.

Q. What major changes were brought about in the textile industry by the coming or advent of the Europeans?  A. They introduced a stronger cotton [and?] silk; pukutu types of cotton [grown] by the Africans disappeared.

Q. Did they collect custom[s] or excise?  A. Only customs were collected.

Q. Have you heard that they sold slaves in Gambari area in Ilorin?  A. Yes.

Q. What are the major differences between Fulani and Gambari in Ilorin by the[ir] professions?  A. Fulani engaged in cattle selling, while Gambari do all types of labour; Hausa engaged in butchering, and kola selling before the Yoruas were [became] dominant in kola trade.

Tape Number 17

I. REFERENCE DATA:

COLLECTOR: OTOLORIN ADESIYUN   TAPE NUMBER 17

PERSON INTERVIEWED: ALFA AHINLA[?]  DATE 17/7/1975

PLACE: IDI IGBA        LANGUAGE YORUBA

BIRTH PLACE: [not given here] AGE OF INFORMANT  85 YEARS

II. SUMMARY OF MAIN TOPICS DISCUSSED IN INTERVIEW:

CRAFT TOPICS: TEXTILES [including trade]

OTHER: THE GAMBARI IN ILORIN [brief], [Slavery]

PERSONAL DETAILS, TEXTILES, SLAVERY, GAMBARI

Q. What is your name?  A.  Alfa Ahinla[?].

Q. What is the work of your father?  A.  Cloth weaving.

Q. What is your father’s name?  A.  Baraye.

Q. Where were [you] born?  Idi Igba.

Q. Can  you remember the place from which your father came?  A.  Oyo.

Q. What brought him to Ilorin?  A. I understand it was a war.

Q.  What were the types of cloths they wove at Ilorin in the pre-colonial period?  A. Fu, Petuje, Etu, Sanyan.

Q. From where did they get cotton then?  A. Cotton was grown in Ilorin and nearby villages. They were [it was] even brought from Hausaland.

Q. Who were those responsible for spinning?  A. Old women.

Q. Were slaves used in the spinning sector of the industry?  A. Yes.

Q. Were slaves used in the cotton farms?  A. Yes. Able ones.

Q. Were spinners under weavers?  No. Everyone was autonomous, although women helped in harvesting of cotton.

Q. Any special group well known for spinning good wool [sic]?  A. Yes. The Hausas spun a special type.

Q. Did people come to learn the trade under your father?  A. Yes. People came from Abeokuta, Ogbomosho.

Q. Did they pay?  A. No, but [they] worked for about 5 years under the master.

Q. Who were responsible for dyeing?  A. Old women.

Q. Where did they get the leaves used for dyeing?  A. Igboho,  Igbeti.

Q. Did they use slaves on the farms?  A. Yes, slaves were used in every sector of the economy in the pre-colonial period.

Q. Explain the marketing of the finished textile products.  A. They were sold in Ilorin markets, Kano, Ijebu area, Ibadan and Lagos, also Ekiti and Ghana. They [also] carried textiles to Makurdi. [the information about Makurdi was originally placed on its own, later in the text]

Q. Did they travel in group[s]?  A. Yes, they travelled in groups and walked but stopped on the way. Their stopping places include Ogbomosho, Oyo, Fiditi when they were going to Ibadan.

Q. Who were responsible for carrying the textile products?  A. Slaves and carriers.

Q. How did they get slaves?  A. The conquered settlements were enslaved after wars.

Q. What is the difference between a slave and an Iwofa?  A. An Iwofa stayed with a man on contract basis, usually when the parent[s] were in debt, while a slave was conquered in war.

Q. Explain the credit facilities in the textile industry.  A. No credit given.

Q. Who were those responsible for carrying back money received after sales in distant markets.  A. The slaves and carriers.

Q. In which type[s] of cloth did Ilorin specialise during the colonial period? [typographical error: should read “pre-colonial period]  A. Fu, Etu, Sanyan, Petuje, Banboko.

Q. Can you remember the period of boom for textile materials?  A. During dry season when there were marriages, but there were recession[s] during wet season.

Q. What happened to textile industry when the Europeans came?  A. New cotton was introduced but stronger than ours, and we even started to mix both cottons, local ones and imported ones.

Q. Did they charge custom[s] or excise?  A. No excise was charged but people who travelled to sell in distant markets paid customs before they entered the cities.

Q. Which people do you call Gambari and Fulani?  A. Gambari came from the North and Fulani [also did], but Fulani engaged in cattle selling while the Gambari did any manual labour.

Tape Number 18

REFERENCE DATA:

COLLECTOR: OTOLORIN ADESIYUN   TAPE NUMBER 18

PERSON INTERVIEWED: ALFA BABA DAN ALADI DATE 18/7/1975

PLACE: IDI IGBA        LANGUAGE YORUBA

BIRTH PLACE: [not given here] AGE OF INFORMANT 75 YEARS

SUMMARY OF MAIN TOPICS DISCUSSED IN INTERVIEW:

CRAFT TOPICS: TEXTILES, TRADE IN TEXTILES

PERSONAL DETAILS, TEXTILES, TRADE IN TEXTILES

Q. What is your name?  A. Alfa Baba dan Alhaji [dan Aladi in the Reference Data section]

Q. Can you remember the name of your late father? Abdul Majeed.

Q. Where were you born?  A. Sangbaiye.

Q. What is your work?  A. I was formerly a mallam before I started weaving.

Q. What was your father’s work?  A. He was a mallam and a textile weaver; his father was a warrior. I was initiated to both trades by my father.

Q. Can you remember the place from where your father came?  A. Ilorin.

Q. Can you explain the types of cloth woven at Ilorin in pre-colonial era?  A. Iyamoje, Reke, Etu, Sanyan, Fu.

Q. Where did they get cotton in pre-colonial era?  A. Cotton was grown on the farms in Ilorin and nearby villages. They also got from Kano markets.

Q. Who were responsible for spinning cotton?  A. The old women.

Q. Any difference between cotton got from Ilorin and of Ilorin [from Kano]?  [the end of the sentence was garbled, but it is clear that the replacement in square brackets represents the intended ending] A. Kano cotton is thinner and preferable.

Q. Who were those working on the cotton farms?  A. Slaves who were old women helped in spinning and worked on the farms.

Q. Have you heard that people came to Ilorin to learn how to weave?  A. I do not know.

Q. Where did weaving first start? Iseyin or Ilorin?  A. I do not know.

Q. Did people learning weaving pay their masters?  A. No, but they worked for the master for a period.

Q. Who were the people responsible for dyeing?  A. Old women.

Q. Where did they get the raw materials to make the solution?  A. Igbeti, Igboho, Olapa [?], Megida.

Q. Can you explain the marketing of the materials?  A. They went to sell them at Lagos area and far North.

Q. Any credit facilities in the textile industry?  A. No, but allowed credit for those well known to the sellers.

Q. In which type of cloth did the Ilorin weavers specialise?  A. Petuje, Etu.

(NO FURTHER COOPERATION)

Tape Number 19

REFERENCE DATA:

COLLECTOR: OTOLORIN ADESIYUN    TAPE NUMBER 19

PERSON INTERVIEWED: ALHAJI ABDUL GAMBARI DATE 19/7/1975

PLACE: OKE AGODI[?]       LANGUAGE YORUBA

BIRTH PLACE: [not given here]    AGE OF INFORMANT  79 YEARS

SUMMARY OF MAIN TOPICS DISCUSSED IN INTERVIEW:

CRAFT TOPICS: TEXTILES, TRADE IN TEXTILES[, Slavery: brief]

PERSONAL DETAILS, TEXTILES, TRADE IN TEXTILES, SLAVERY

Q. What is your name:  A. Alhaji Abdul Gambari.

Q. What is your father’s name?  A. Abibu.

Q. What is your work?  A. Cloth weaving.

Q. Where were you born?  A. Ilorin here.

Q. Can you remember your father’s work?  A. Yes. Cloth weaving.

Q. Can you remember the place from which your father moved to Ilorin?  A. I cannot know.

Q. What were the types of cloth woven at Ilorin before the colonial rule?  A. Iyamoje, Etu, Petuje, Fu etc.

Q. Where did they get cotton in the pre-colonial era?  A. At Ilorin, because cotton was grown at Ilorin and nearby villages.

Q. Who were those working on the farm?  A. Slaves were abundantly used.

Q. Who were those responsible for spinning cotton?  A. Old women.

Q. Were the old women working under you?  A. No.

Q. Any special group of spinners?  A. Hausa spun thinner cotton and we got them [it] from Kano market by foot. (Slaves were used. Probably)

Q. Did they have learners in the trade?  A. Yes.

Q. Have you heard it in history the place which first started weaving cloth, Iseyin or Ilorin?  A. Iseyin people used to come to learn from Ilorin.

Q. Did learners pay their masters?  A. No, they only worked for the masters for a stipulated period.

Q. Who were those responsible for dyeing?  A. Old women.

Q. Were they under weavers?  A. No, but autonomous.

Q. Where did they get the raw materials used to make dye?  A. Etu is used and was available near Ilorin. They were [it was] brought from Ilorin and other places to farms. [should read: brought to Ilorin and other places from farms]

Q. Explain the marketing of cloths.  A. They were carried to Ilorin markets and other distant markets in Ibadan, Ogbomosho etc. My father was the first man to carry cloths from Ilorin to sell in  Lagos. He was called Girigiri because he used to keep the other people who went with him to Lagos in a hurry.

Q. Did they go along?  A. They travelled in groups and they stopped on the way.

Q. Did they use slaves?  No. They walked themselves. They stopped at Oyo, Ogbomosho. It was 10 days’ journey to Lagos.

Q. Was there any cooperative of cloth sellers?  A. Yes, they brought salt when coming from Lagos. They sold cloths at Omoda, then Oja oba.

Q. What did they sell at Gambari market?  A. Anything.

Q. Explain credit facilities in the textile industry.  A. They did not sell in [on] credit.

Q. In which type[s] of cloth did Ilorin weavers specialise?  A. Fu, Sanyan, Petuje.

Q. What was the time of trade boom?  A. Dry season, and during marriages.

Q. What changes were brought [about] by the coming of the Europeans?  A. New, better cotton was introduced.

Q. Were custom[s] and excise duties charged for the products?  A. No.

Q. Differentiate between a Fulani and [a] Gambari.  A. I cannot.

Tape Number 20

REFERENCE DATA:

COLLECTOR: OTOLORIN ADESIYUN  TAPE NUMBER 20

PERSON INTERVIEWED: ALFA SA’ADU DATE 20/7/1975

PLACE: OKE AGODI      LANGUAGE YORUBA

BIRTH PLACE: [not given here]   AGE OF INFORMANT  80 YEARS

SUMMARY OF MAIN TOPICS DISCUSSED IN INTERVIEW:

CRAFT TOPICS: TEXTILES, TRADE IN TEXTILES

OTHER: THE GAMBARI IN ILORIN [brief]

PERSONAL DETAILS, TEXTILES, TRADE IN TEXTILES, GAMBARI

Q. What is your name?  A. Alfa Sa’adu.

Q. What is your father’s name?  A. Alfa Badiru.

Q. Where were you born?  A. Oke Agodi in Ilorin.

Q. What was your father’s work?  A. Cloth weaving.

Q. What is your own work?  A. Cloth weaving

Q. Can you remember the place from which your relations moved to Ilorin?  A. No, I cannot remember.

Q. What were the types of cloths woven at Ilorin in the pre-colonial era?  A. Etu, Petuje, Sanyan.

Q. Where did they get cotton?  A. From Ilorin and nearby villages.

Q. Who were those responsible for spinning?  A. Old women.

Q. Did they use slaves in the farms?  A. I don’t know.

Q. From which other places were Ilorin weavers supplied with cotton?  A. They got cotton from Kano markets in the pre-colonial period.

Q. Who were those responsible for carrying the cotton from Kano?  A. I do not know.

Q. Any difference between Kano cotton and Ilorin cotton?  A. Yes, Kano cotton was thinner and stronger.

Q. Were the spinners under weavers?  A. No. They stood on their own.

Q. Did people learn the weaving under your father?  A. Yes. They even came from other towns.

Q. Where did weaving first start? Iseyin or Ilorin?  A. I cannot say. I know the two towns were popular. They [Iseyin] specialised in Kure, while Ilorin specialised in Njawu.

Q. What was the going [rate?] of a master who taught people how to weave?  A. The learners worked under the masters for a stipulated time.

Q. Who were responsible for dyeing?  A. Old women. They also stood alone like the spinners.

Q. Where did they get raw materials for making dye?  A. They brought them from Igbeti, Igboho Moro, Alapa Ogere all near Ilorin. [should all the following words—Igboho, Moro, Alapa, and Ogere—be separated by commas, as indicating 4 separate places/areas?]

Q. Explain the marketing of the products after weaving.  A. They were taken by foot to Lagos, Ibadan, Ogbomosho etc. They went in groups. They also sold at Omoda market, Gambari [both in Ilorin], etc.

Q. Were Ilorin textiles sold in the North?  A. I do not know.

Q. Explain the credit facilities in the textile trade.  A. They sold through Alarobo, i.e. Delali [sic], and they allowed credit in the spinning and cotton selling section [sectors].

Q. In which kinds of cloths were the Ilorin people specialised?  A. Etu, Sanyan, Alikinla.

Q. When did the textile trade experience boom?  A. Dry season because no rain or river disturbance, also during marriage period[s].

Q. What happened to textile industry when the Europeans came?  A. They introduced stronger and cheaper cotton. We preferred [the] European type. We also started to combine the two types.

Q. Did they charge customs or excise?  A. I have not heard of the history.

Q. Any cooperative of cloth weavers in this Ilorin?  A. No.

Q. What of Kalu’s position?  A. He is only an expert honoured by [the] Emir of Ilorin.

Q. What is the difference between a Fulani and [a] Gambari?  A. Gambari sold kola and engaged in commerce. Fulani sold cattle also.

Tape Number 21

REFERENCE DATA:

COLLECTOR: OTOLORIN ADESIYUN TAPE NUMBER 21

PERSON INTERVIEWED: ALFA SHEU DATE 20/7/1975

PLACE: IDI [incomplete]    LANGUAGE YORUBA

BIRTH PLACE: [not given here]   AGE OF INFORMANT  80 YEARS

SUMMARY OF MAIN TOPICS DISCUSSED IN INTERVIEW:

CRAFT TOPICS: TEXTILES

TRADE: TRADE IN TEXTILES

[Slavery: brief]

PERSONAL DETAILS, TEXTILES, TRADE IN TEXTILES

Q. What is your name?  A. Alfa Sheu.

Q. What is your father’s name?  A. Alfa Gidado.

Q. What was your father’s work?  A. Cloth weaving.

Q. Can you remember the place from which your father moved to Ilorin?  A. Yoruba land.

Q. What of your own work?  A. Cloth weaving.

Q. Can you explain the types of cloths woven in Ilorin before the coming of the European[s]?  A. Fu, Etu, Petuje, Iyamo de doropo, Iyatuya, Omo le.

Q. Where did they get the supply of cotton in the pre-colonial period?  A. It was grown by the farmers in Ilorin and nearby villages.

Q. Did you hear that cotton were [was] brought from Hausa land?  A. Yes, spun cotton.

Q. How did you recognise cotton brought from Hausa land?  A. Theirs, i.e. Hausas’ cotton, were [was] thinner.

Q. Who were those working on the cotton farms?  A. Slaves and Iwofas.

Q. Differentiate between a slave and [an] Iwofa.  A. An Iwofa was asked to work for a person who had lent out money to the parents, while a slave was bought or captured in war. A slave could buy himself [freedom] by repaying his master the amount [for which] he was bought.

Q. Who were responsible for spinning?  A. The old women.

Q.  Were the spinners under weavers?  A. No, they stood alone on their own. So also the dyers.

Q. Did people learn weaving?  A. Yes, people come [came?] from Okiti [Ekiti?], Oyo, Ede to learn in Ilorin.

Q. Where did weaving first start?  A. Iseyin used to come to learn weaving at Ilorin, e.g. Agarau compound was made up of people from Iseyin who came to learn weaving in Ilorin and finally settled down in Ilorin. I cannot know the place which first started weaving. Each town specialised, e.g. Kure is their specialisation in Iseyin.

Q. Did learners pay their masters for training them [in] weaving?  A. We don’t charge relations but they worked for masters for a stipulated period. Usually, they become free when they are about to get married. [difficult to tell from this answer whether the interviewee is talking about the past, the present, or both]

Q. Who were those responsible for dyeing cloths?  A. old women who stood on their own like spinners.

Q. Where did they get supply of some materials?  A. They brought Ehe [Elu for dyeing?] from Elulu, Alapa, Igbeti etc. Kishi, Igbeti, Igboho.

Q. Explain the marketing of the textile materials.  A. The materials were taken by foot to distant markets, to places like Akure, Jos, Kano, Lagos, and [also sold] in Ilorin markets.

Q. What type of currency were they using when they were walking on foot to Lagos?  A. Cowrie shells.

Q. Explain the credit facilities in the textile trade.  A. Credits were allowed.

Q. In which kind[s] of cloth were Ilorin weavers specialised?  A. Petuje, Sunyun [Sanyan].

Q. When did cloth [trade] experience boom?  A. Dry season.

Q. What happened to the textile industry when the Europeans came?  A. New cotton was introduced. The new one was better because it was stronger.

Q. Did they collect customs and excise duties on the materials produced?  A. Customs [duties were] collected at the gates of other cities.