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Ilorin[ElO´rEn] Pronunciation Key, city (1991 est. pop. 420,000), SW Nigeria. It is an industrial city and the market (especially for cattle, poultry, palm products, and yams) and transport center for a wide region. Manufactures include cigarettes, matches, and sugar. Traditional artisans make woven goods, tin products, wood carvings, and pottery. Ilorin was the capital of a Yoruba kingdom that, with the assistance of the Fulani, successfully rebelled against the Oyo empire in 1817 but soon thereafter was incorporated into the Fulani state of Sokoto. Through warfare against Oyo and Ibadan in the later 19th cent., Ilorin considerably increased its territory. In 1897 it was conquered by troops of the British-chartered Royal Niger Company led by Sir George Goldie.
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