Ilesha is the largest town and historic cultural capital of the Ijesha people, and is home to a large kingdom of the same name, ruled by a King titled as his Imperial Majesty, the Owa Obokun Adimula of Ijesaland .
The Prince Clement Adesuyi Haastrup from the Bilaro Oluodo Ruling House succeeds the now late Oba Gabriel Adekunle Aromolaran, as the 49th Owa Obokun of Ijesaland.
The Ijesha territory is adjoined by the Ekiti on the east, the Igbomina to the north, the Ife to the south, and the Oyo and Ibolo to the west.
[5] 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.
For its cleanliness, regularity in breadth and width, and the straightness of its streets, the ancient city of Ilesa far surpasses any native town I have seen in black Africa.