The city state of Ilesa (Ile ti a sa, which means "a homeland we chose") is the traditional headquarters of Ijesaland. It was founded in c.1250 by Owaluse, a grandson of Ajibogun Ajaka Owa Obokun Onida Arara, one of the most accomplished great-grandsons of Oduduwa, the royal progenitor of the Yoruba race of South-Western Nigeria, Benin Republic and Togo.[citation needed] The city was described by Rev. William Howard Clark in 1854 as:
The word Ìjèsà comes from the phrase ijè òòsà, meaning food of the gods. This name was given because neighboring enemies often exclusively raided Ijesha towns for humans to sacrifice to the orisha.
