View source for Igboland

{{Infobox settlement
| name               = Igboland
| official_name      = Àlà na ḿbà ṇ́dị́ Ìgbò
| other_name         = 
| native_name        = ''Àlaịgbò/Ànaịgbò''
| nickname           = ''The East''
| settlement_type    = [[Cultural region]]
| total_type         = <!-- to set a non-standard label for total area and population rows -->
| motto              = 
| anthem             = <!-- images and maps ----------->
| image_skyline      = 
| image_flag         = 
| flag_size          = 
| image_seal         = 
| seal_size          = 
| image_shield       = 
| shield_size        = 75px
| image_blank_emblem = 
| blank_emblem_type  = 
| blank_emblem_size  = 
| image_map          = File:Igboland Map.png
| mapsize            = 
| map_caption        = Complete Map of Igboland
| image_map0         = 
| mapsize0           = 
| map_caption1       = 
| image_dot_map      = 
| dot_mapsize        = 
| dot_map_caption    = 
| dot_x              = 
| dot_y              = 
| pushpin_map        = 
| pushpin_label_position = 
| pushpin_map_caption = 
| pushpin_mapsize    = <!-- Location ------------------>
| subdivision_type   = Part of
| subdivision_name   = {{NGR}}
| subdivision_type1  = 
| subdivision_name1  = 
| subdivision_type2  = 
| subdivision_name2  = 
| subdivision_type3  = 
| subdivision_name3  = <!-- established --------------->
| established_title  = - Founding of [[Kingdom of Nri|Nri]]
| established_date   = c. 900
| established_title1 = - British Colony
| established_date1  = 1902
| established_title2 = - Nigeria
| established_date2  = 1914
| founder            = Proto-Igbo
<!-- Smaller parts (e.g. boroughs of a city) and seat of government -->| seat_type          = Regional capital
| seat               = [[Enugu (city)|Enugu]]
| parts_type         = Composed of
| parts_style        = coll
| parts              = [[States of Nigeria|States]]
| p1                 = '''All or some parts of:'''
| p2                 = namely, [[Abia State|Abia]], [[Anambra]], [[Delta State]],  [[Ebonyi]], [[Rivers State]], [[Enugu (city)|Enugu]] and [[Imo (state)|Imo]] 
<!-- Politics ----------------->| government_footnotes = 
| government_type    = Autonomous communities
| leader_title       = 
| leader_name        = 
| leader_title1      = 
| leader_name1       = <!-- Area --------------------->
| area_magnitude     = 
| unit_pref          = metric
| area_footnotes     = <ref name="area"/>
| area_total_km2     = 49000
| area_land_km2      = 49000
| area_water_km2     = 
| area_total_sq_mi   = 18919
| area_land_sq_mi    = 18919
| area_water_sq_mi   = 
| area_water_percent = <!-- Elevation -------------------------->
| elevation_footnotes = <!--for references: use <ref>tags-->
| elevation_m        = 
| elevation_ft       = 
| elevation_max_m    = 1000
| elevation_max_ft   = 3300
| elevation_min_m    = 0
| elevation_min_ft   = 0
<!-- Population ----------------------->| population_as_of   = 2025 estimate
| population_footnotes = <ref>{{Cite web|last=Sare|first=Watimagbo|date=2020|title=2020 population of South Eastern Nigeria|url=https://www.researchgate.net/figure/The-Distribution-of-Population-in-the-South-East_tbl1_332326145#:~:text=The%20National%20Population%20Commission%20(NPC,in%20Table%201.%20...|access-date=31 May 2024|website=researchgate.net}}</ref><ref name="https://books.google.com"/>{{rp|15}}
| population_note    = <!-- Many readers might benefit from clarification of the logic of this editorial choice; personally, I wonder what sense  of the word "only" was intended. At the risk of being labeled a "language geek" (which would  exaggerate my qualifications!) I suggest the possibility that the colleague's intent may have been to warn  of possiblle omissions, or of the possibility of misrepresentation of the relevant spatial extent of Igbo etnicity, or of the perhaps inevitable amiguity/subjectivity of ethnicity determinations-->
| population_total   = 47 million
| population_density_km2 = 612.
For automatic calculation, any density field may contain: auto -->
| population_density_sq_mi = 1685
<!-- Demographics ---------------------->| demographics_type1 = Demographics
| demographics1_footnotes = 
| demographics1_title1 = Language
| demographics1_info1 = [[Igbo language|Igbo]]<br>[[English language|English]]
| demographics1_title2 = Religion
| demographics1_info2 = [[Syncretism|Syncretic Christianity]] (>90%)<br>[[Odinani]] (5-10%)
<!-- General information --------------->| timezone           = [[West Africa Time|WAT]]
| utc_offset         = +1
| coor_type          = <!-- Area/postal codes & others -------->
| blank_name_sec1    = God
| blank_info_sec1    = [[Chukwu]]
| blank_name_sec2    = [[Alusi]]
| blank_info_sec2    = [[Ala (odinani)|Ala]]
| website            = 
| footnotes          = 
| Largest City       = 
| established_title3 = Largest City
| established_date3  = [[Onitsha]]
}}
{{Infobox ethnonym|people=[[Igbo people|Ṇ́dị́ Ìgbò]]|language=[[Igbo language|Ásụ̀sụ́ Ìgbò]]|country='''Àlà Ị̀gbò'''}}
{{History of Nigeria}}

'''Igbo land''' ([[Pan-Nigerian alphabet|Standard]] {{Langx|ig|Àlà Ị̀gbò}})<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://businessday.ng/columnist/article/planting-and-watering-the-grass-of-ala-ibo-for-a-new-era/|title=Planting and watering the grass of Ala Ibo for a new era|date=2 January 2020}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.legit.ng/1151109-origin-ibo-tribe-nigeria.html|title = Origin of Ibo tribe ☛ versions and myths|date = 12 February 2018}}</ref> is a [[cultural region|cultural]] and common linguistic region in southeastern Nigeria which is the indigenous homeland of the [[Ibo people|Igbo people]].<ref name="www.faculty.ucr.edu"/><ref>Baikie (1854) uses ''Ibo '' is the term for Iboland: "Ibo, as I have formerly mentioned, started and stoped at the eastern part of Nigeria." ([https://archive.org/stream/narrativeofexplo00baik#page/306/ p. 307]).</ref> Geographically, it is divided into two sections, eastern (the larger of the two) and western.<ref name="www.faculty.ucr.edu"/> Its population is characterized by the diverse [[Igbo culture|Igbo culture.]]<ref name="https://books.google.com">{{cite book |title=Foreign Missionary Background and Indigenous Evangelization in Iboland: Iboland and The Ibo People of Nigeria |first1= Nkem Hyginus|last1=Chigere|publisher= Transaction Publishers, USA |year=2000 |isbn=3-8258-4964-3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sAY8aQz4ztEC&pg=PA17|page=17 |access-date=January 17, 2016}}</ref><ref name="www.faculty.ucr.edu">{{cite web |url=http://www.faculty.ucr.edu/~legneref/igbo/ibo1.htm |title=The Ibo People - Origins & History |first1= Katharine |last1=Slattery|publisher= School of English, Queen's University of Belfast|work=www.faculty.ucr.edu|access-date=April 20, 2016}}</ref><ref name="ia600303.us.archive.org">{{cite web|last1=Baikie|first1=William Balfour|year=1856|title=Narrative of an Exploring Voyage up the rivers of Kwora and Binue (commonly known as Niger and Tsádda) in 1854 with a map and appendices|url=https://archive.org/details/narrativeofexplo00baik|access-date=April 24, 2016|work=ia600303.us.archive.org<!--|publisher= School of English, Queen's University of Belfast-->|publisher=John Mueray, Albemarle Street (published with a sanction of Her Majesty's Government).}}</ref>{{rp|307}}<ref name="ia600303.us.archive.org"/>{{rp|315}}
 
Politically, Igboland is divided into several southern [[Nigerian states]]; culturally, it has included several subgroupings, including the [[Awka]]-[[Enugu]]-[[Nsukka]], [[Anioma]]-[[Anioma people|Enuani]], the [[Umueri]]-[[Aguleri]]-Anam groups, the [[Ngwa people|Ngwa]], the [[Orlu, Imo|Orlu]]-[[Okigwe]]-[[Owerri]] communities, the [[Mbaise]], the [[Edda people|Ezza]], [[Bende people|Bende]], the [[Ikwuano]]-[[Umuahia]] (these include [[Ohuhu]], [[Ubakala]], [[Oboro (Nigeria)|Oboro]], [[Ibeku]], etc.),  the [[Omuma]], the [[Abam]]-[[Aro people|Aro]]-[[Ohafia]] ([[Abiriba]] and [[Nkporo]]), the [[Waawa]], the [[Ndoki people|Ndoki]].

==Territorial boundaries==
Igboland is surrounded on all sides by large rivers, and other southern and central Nigeria indigenous tribes, namely [[Igala people|Igala]], [[Tiv people|Tiv]], [[Yakö people|Yako]], [[Idoma people|Idoma]] and [[Ibibio people|Ibibio]].<ref name="www.faculty.ucr.edu"/> In the words of William B. Baikie: 
<blockquote>Igbo settlement, extends east and west in the Niger-Delta region which is owned by the Middle-Belt, formerly known as Bendel, from the Old Kalabar river to the banks of the Kwora, [[Niger River]], and live in some territory at [[Aboh]], an Igbo clan, to the west-ward of the latter stream. On the north it borders on Igara, [[Igala people|Igala]] and [[Akpotoro|A'kpoto]], and it is separated from the sea only by petty tribes, all of which trace their origin to this great race.<ref name="ia600303.us.archive.org"/>{{rp|307}}</blockquote>

It is primarily situated in the [[Lower Guinean forests|Lowland forest]] region of Nigeria. They can also be found in some parts of the [[Niger Delta|Niger-Delta]]. Here the Niger river fans out into the [[Atlantic Ocean]] in a vast network of creeks and mangrove swamps on the [[Bight of Bonny]].<ref>{{cite book |doi=10.1057/9780230116689 |title=Political Organisation in Nigeria since the late Stone Age, A History of the Igbo People |last=Oriji|first=John N. |year=2011 |page=13 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |isbn=978-1-349-38369-6 }}</ref>

The earliest found settlements in Igboland date to 900 [[Common Era|BCE]] in the central area, from where the majority of the Igbo-speaking population is believed to have migrated. The northern Igbo [[Kingdom of Nri]], which rose around the 10th century CE, is credited with the foundation of much of Igboland's culture, customs, and religious practices. It is the oldest existing monarchy in present-day Nigeria. In southern Igboland several groups developed, of which the most notable was the [[Aro Confederacy]] and in Western Igboland the [[Ukwuani people|Ukwuani]] kingdom of [[Kingdom of Aboh|Aboh]].

During the late 19th century, Igboland was made part of the [[Southern Nigeria Protectorate]] of the [[British Empire]] and was amalgamated into modern-day Nigeria in 1914. Nigeria gained independence in 1960.<ref name="www.faculty.ucr.edu"/> Shortly afterward, Igboland was involved in its biggest war during [[Nigerian Civil War|Biafra's movement for secession]]. It ended in 1970, when the war was declared "No victory, no vanquish".

==Geography and biodiversity==
{{Igbo land labelled map}}
Historically, Igboland has taken up a large part of southeastern Nigeria, mostly on the eastern side of the [[Niger River]]. Their territory extends westward across the Niger to the regions of Aniocha, Ndokwa, Ukwuani, and Ika in present-day Delta State.  Its eastern side is terminated by the [[Cross River (Nigeria)|Cross River]], although micro-communities exist over on the other side of the river; its northernmost point enters the Savannah climate around [[Nsukka]].

[[File:Nkanu West, Enugu.jpg|thumb|left|[[w:Nkanu West|Nkanu West]], Enugu]]
In Nigeria today, Igboland is roughly made up of [[Abia State|Abia]], [[Anambra State|Anambra]], [[Ebonyi State|Ebonyi]], [[Enugu State|Enugu]], [[Imo State|Imo]], Northern [[Delta State|Delta]] and [[Rivers State|Rivers]] states.<ref>{{cite book |title=Overcoming Women's Subordination in the Igbo African Culture and in the Catholic Church: Envisioning an Inclusive Theology with Reference to Women |first=Rose N. |last=Uchem |publisher=Universal-Publishers |year=2001 |isbn=1-58112-133-4 |page=36 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3Zhfu363kfkC&pg=PA36 }}</ref> More than 30 million people inhabit Igboland and with a population density ranging from {{convert|350|to|1000|PD/sqmi|order=flip}}<ref>{{Cite book|title=Divorce: Its Psychological Effects on the Divorced Women and Their Children: A Study on the Igbos of Southern Nigeria |first=Jude Obinna |last=Ezeokana |page=22 |publisher=Peter Lang |year=1999 |isbn=0-8204-3634-8}}</ref> it could be the most densely populated area in Africa after the [[Nile Valley]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Museums, archaeologists and indigenous people: archaeology and the public in Nigeria |first=Pamela Ifeoma |last=Eze-Uzomaka |page=79 |publisher=Archaeopress |year=2000 |isbn=1-84171-200-0}}</ref><ref>Chigere, p. 22.</ref> Altogether Igboland has an area of some {{convert|15,800|to|16,000|sqmi|order=flip|abbr=on|sigfig=3}}.<ref name="area">{{cite book|title=The Igbo of Southeast Nigeria (Case Studies in Cultural Anthropology) |first=Victor Chikezie |last=Uchendu |page=1 |publisher=Van Nostrand Reinhold Company |date=June 1965 |isbn=0-03-052475-X}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title=Towards an Igbo metaphysics |first=Emmanuel M. P. |last=Edeh |page=9 |publisher=Loyola University Press |year=1985 |isbn=0-8294-0460-0}}</ref>

==Ancient trade routes==
Igboland's culture has been shaped by its rainforest climate, its ancient trade along the rivers, migration, and social history within its various clans and peoples. It has been influenced by its ancient trading neighbours, allies, and more recently by relations with Europeans.<ref name="www.faculty.ucr.edu"/>

Mid-nineteenth century trader W. B. Baikie said, "I seized the moment, and, by our interpreter, told Tshukuma, that we had come to make his acquaintance and his friendship, and to ascertain if the people were willing to trade with us." He signed a trade agreement with Igbo chief,  Tshukuma (Chukwuma) Obi from [[Aboh]] clan, one of the leading Igbo clans, which engaged in early active trading with [[Europe]].<ref name="ia600303.us.archive.org"/>{{rp|45}} Similarly, Baikie recounted that "after our salutations, I spoke of friendship, of trade, and of education, and particularly enlarged upon the evils of war, and the benefits of peace, all of which was well received", when signing a trade agreement on August 30, 1885, with Ezebogo, an Igbo chief in [[Asaba, Delta|Asaba]].<ref name="ia600303.us.archive.org"/>{{rp|296}}

Due to the native common linguistic standard and interrelated cultures in Igboland, the lower [[Niger River]], which divides [[Southeastern Nigeria|Igboland]] into unequal eastern and western parts, has from ancient times provided easy means of communication, trading and unity amongst the Igbo on both sides of the river.<ref name="ia600303.us.archive.org"/>{{rp|300}} It also enabled ancient trade and migration of people into Igboland, and between Igboland and rest of the world.<ref name="www.faculty.ucr.edu"/> Some of the notable ancient trade and export routes in Igboland included the famous lower [[Niger River|Niger]] and [[Njaba River|Njaba]]-[[Oguta lake]]-[[Orashi River|Orashi]] navigational routes via [[Asaba, Delta|Asaba]]-[[Onitsha]]-[[Aboh]],<ref name="ia600303.us.archive.org"/>{{rp|315}}<ref name=www.britannica.com>{{cite encyclopedia |url=http://www.britannica.com/place/Asaba|title=Asaba|encyclopedia=www.britannica.com|publisher=The Britanica|access-date=April 24, 2016}}</ref> and [[Awo-omamma]]-[[Oguta]]-[[Ogba–Egbema–Ndoni]]-[[Aboh]] ferry services, respectively.<ref name="ia600303.us.archive.org"/>{{rp|300}}<ref>{{cite book|title=Up the Niger (1856-1930) |first1= Augustus.F-Ferryman|last1=Mockler|page=236}}</ref>

==History==

===Stone Age===
There is evidence of [[Late Stone Age]] (late Paleolithic) human presence from at least 10,000 years ago.<ref name="colors-newyork.com">{{Cite web|title=When did Christianity came to Igbo land?|url=https://colors-newyork.com/when-did-christianity-came-to-igbo-land/|access-date=2021-09-14|website=colors-newyork.com|language=en-US}}</ref> Early settlement of Igboland is dated to 6000 BC based on pottery found in the Okigwe, Oka Igwe, and known today as Awka.<ref name="colors-newyork.com"/> In 1978 a team led by [[Thurstan Shaw]], with the [[University of Nigeria]] at Nsukka, excavated a rock quarry. They found that it was a mine for tool and pottery making for a 'stone civilisation' nearby at [[Ibagwa-Aka|Ibagwa]]. Anthropologists at the [[University of Benin (Nigeria)|University of Benin]] have discovered fossils and use of monoliths dating to 4500 BC at [[Ngodo]] in Uturu town.<ref>Oliver Ifeanyi Anyabolu, ''Nigeria, past to the present: from 500 B.C. to the present'' (2000), p. 12.</ref> Further evidence of ancient settlements were uncovered at what researchers believe may be an Nsukka metal cultural area from 3000 BC, and later settlements attributed to [[Ngwa]] culture at AD 8–18.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2021-03-22|title=Why Igbos Are Regarded As The Oldest Tribe In Nigeria|url=https://naturenex.net/why-igbos-are-regarded-as-the-oldest-tribe-in-nigeria/|access-date=2021-09-14|website=Naturenex News|language=en-US}}</ref> It is unclear what cultural links there are between these pre-historic artefacts and the people of the region today. Later human settlement in the region may have links with other discoveries made in the wider area, particularly with the culture associated with the [[Nok culture|terracotta discoveries at Nok]], which spanned a wide area of present-day north-central Nigeria.

Some local villagers retain what they believe are original names of settlements, such as Umuzuoka, The Blacksmiths Ụzụoka, Ọkigwe, Ịmọka, etc.{{clarify|date=August 2018}}<ref>{{cite book|last=Elizabeth |first=Isichei |title=A History of the Igbo People |publisher=London: Macmillan |year=1976 |isbn=0-333-18556-0}}; excerpted in "[https://archive.org/details/understandingthi0000ogba/page/83 Cultural Harmony I: Igboland — the World of Man and the World of Spirits]", section 4 of Kalu Ogbaa, ed., ''Understanding Things Fall Apart'' (Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 1999; {{ISBN|0-313-30294-4}}), pp. 83–85.
{{request quotation|date=August 2018}}<!--the passage this is referencing is completely garbled and incomprehensible, please report what is said in the source cited-->
</ref>

The Nsukka-Okigwe axis forms a basis for a proposed Proto-Igbo cultural heartland antecedent to contemporary Igbo culture.<ref>{{Cite web|last=J.C.|date=2018-03-29|title=Igboland|url=https://alkebulangriot.wordpress.com/2018/03/29/igboland/|access-date=2021-09-14|website=Alkebulan Griot|language=en}}</ref> Much of the Igbo population is believed to have expanded from a smaller area in this region, diverging into several independent Igbo-speaking tribes, village-groups, kingdoms and states. The movements were generally broken into two trends in migration: a more northerly group that expanded towards the banks of the Niger and the upper quadrant of the Cross River; the other, following a southerly trail, had risen from the [[Isu people|Isu]] populations based closer to the axis from which the majority of southern Igbo communities emerged. Mbaise are notably the best examples of an Igbo group claiming autochthony; they reject theories of many migratory histories about their origins. Based on the proximity of traditions to those of their neighbours, and familial and political ties, many of these groups are apparently culturally northern or southern Igbo.

===Igbo-Ukwu finds (AD 300–900)===
{{See also|Archaeology of Igbo-Ukwu}}
[[File:9th century bronze ceremonial pot, Igbo-Ukwu, Nigeria.JPG|thumb|alt=An image of a bronze bowl from the Igbo archaeological site known as Igbo ukwu|right|[[Archaeology of Igbo-Ukwu|Igbo-Ukwu]] was the site of an early indigenous bronze industry that was rediscovered in the 20th century. Many of the items recovered were ritual objects such as this 9th century bronze vessel.]]
 
The first Igbo Ukwu metal and precious artefacts finds were made accidentally in 1939, when a resident named Isiah Anozie found them in the process of digging a cistern. This led to the discovery of a larger network of linked metal works from the 9th century. The works were based in Igbo Ukwu. Further finds were made by archaeology teams led by Thurstan Shaw in 1959–60, and in 1964 in the compound of Jonah Anozie.

Initially, throughout the 1960s and 1970s, scholars believed that the Igbo Ukwu bronze and copper items found here had been made elsewhere and were trade goods or were influenced by outside technology due to their technical sophistication. The opposite was revealed to be true: local copper deposits had been exploited by the 9th century and anthropological evidence, such as the Ichi-like scarifications on the human figures, show the items were of local Igbo cultural origin. The works have since been attributed to an isolated bronze industry, which had developed without outside influence over time and reached great sophistication.

Igbo trade routes of the early second millennium reached the cities of [[Mecca]], [[Medina]] and [[Jeddah]] through a network of trade routes journeyed by middlemen.<ref>{{cite book|title=McMafia Seriously Organised Crime |first=Misha |last=Glenny |publisher=Random House |year=2008 |isbn=978-0-09-948125-6 |page=200}}</ref> Beads that originated in India in the 9th century have been found in Igbo Ukwu burial sites: Thousands of glass beads were uncovered from the ruined remains of a nobleman's garments. The burial site was associated with the Nri Kingdom, which began around the same century, according to indigenous history.<ref name=igboukwu>{{cite web |url=http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/igbo/hd_igbo.htm |last=Apley |first=Apley |title=Igbo-Ukwu (ca. 9th century) |publisher=The Metropolitan Museum of Art|access-date=2008-11-23}}</ref>

===Kingdom of Nri (900–c. 1560)===
The northern Igbo [[Kingdom of Nri]], rising around the 10th century based on Umunri traditions, is credited with the foundation of much of Igboland's culture, customs, and religious practices. It is the oldest existing monarchy in present-day Nigeria. It was around the mid-10th century that the divine figure Eri is said to have migrated, according to Umunri lore, to the [[Anambra River|Anambra]] ({{Langx|ig|Omambara}}) river basin &mdash; specifically at its meeting with Ezu river known as Ezu na Omambara in present-day [[Aguleri]]. The exact origins of Eri are unknown and much of Nri traditions present him as a divine leader and civiliser sent from heaven to begin civilisation. In contrast, Eri's origins generally suggest a north easterly origin which has sparked up debate pertaining to a possible [[Igala people|Igala]] (not a fact) origin for Eri.

Due to historic trade and migration of old, other people also entered the Igboland in about the fourteenth or fifteenth centuries and mixed with the natives.<ref name="www.faculty.ucr.edu"/> Towards the western end of Igboland, across the [[Niger River]], rose a man known as Eze Chima who fled Benin with his accomplices after a dispute with the [[Oba of Benin]] who consequently exiled him in the 1560s. As they left Benin City heading eastwards, Eze Chima and his followers settled in a number of lands and established monarchies with the natives in those areas.<ref name="www.faculty.ucr.edu"/>  Other accounts point to Eze Chima coming from Ife as a result of Ekaladeran, an Bini prince who migrated to Ife from Bini and usurped the original Igbo rulers. . Ife was originally inhabited by Igbos prior to 1300.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://republicreporters.com/breaking-oba-titles-an-aboriginal-igbo-title-ezechima-the-last-prince-of-the-igbos-of-ile-ife-charles-oforkaja/|title=Ezechima:Last prince of Ile Ife|date=April 2015|website=Republicreporters.com|access-date=2020-02-02|archive-date=2022-07-28|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220728161018/http://republicreporters.com/breaking-oba-titles-an-aboriginal-igbo-title-ezechima-the-last-prince-of-the-igbos-of-ile-ife-charles-oforkaja/|url-status=usurped}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.igbodefender.com/2012/10/12/obatala-father-of-the-igbo-nation/|title=Obatala Igbo King|last=Offokaja|first=Prince Charles|date=2012|website=Igbodefender.com|access-date=2020-02-02|archive-date=2022-07-28|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220728161021/https://igbodefender.com/2012/10/12/obatala-father-of-the-igbo-nation/|url-status=dead}}</ref>  Those grew into major village groups and towns after the 16th century.<ref name="www.faculty.ucr.edu"/> Collectively, these places are known as Umuezechima which translates as 'the children or descendants of king Chima'.

===Igbo wars and European contact (1450–1750)===
Igboland was historically known as the ''Ibo(e)'', ''Ebo(e)'', and ''Ibwo Country'' by early European explorers.<ref name="jamaicaigbo">{{cite book | last = Lovejoy | first = Paul | title = Identity in the Shadow of Slavery | publisher = Continuum International Publishing Group | page=58 | year = 2000 | isbn  = 0-8264-4725-2|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yEHVCsSFRUcC&pg=PA58}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=In the Realm of Ghosts and Hauntings |first=E. Randall |last=Floyd |publisher=Harbor House |year=2002 |isbn=1-891799-06-1 |page=51 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=T8p8OyMHWTYC&pg=PA51}}</ref><ref name=eboe>{{cite book|title=A Dictionary of Jamaican English |first=Frederic Gomes |edition=2nd |last=Cassidy |author2=Robert Brock Le Page |publisher=University of the West Indies Press |year=2002 |page=168 |isbn=976-640-127-6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_lmFzFgsTZYC&pg=PA168}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano |last=Equiano |first=Olaudah |author-link=Olaudah Equiano |page=27 |publisher=I. Knapp |year=1837 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FXVkAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA27}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Studies in Southern Nigerian History: A Festschrift for Joseph Christopher Okwudili Anene 1918–68 |first=Boniface I. |last=Obichere |publisher=Routledge |year=1982 |isbn=0-7146-3106-X |page=207 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FYFxE8-uSa4C&pg=PA207}}</ref> Igboland was conquered by the [[British Empire]] after several decades of resistance on all fronts; some of the most famous of the resistance include the [[Ekumeku Movement]], the [[Anglo-Aro War]], and the [[Aba Women's Riots]] which was contributed to by women of different ethnic backgrounds in eastern Nigeria.

===Arochukwu and the slave trade (1750–1850)===
{{main|Aro Confederacy}}
A number of polities rose either directly or indirectly as a result of Nri; the most powerful kingdom of these was the [[Aro Confederacy]] which rose in the Cross River region in the 17th century and declined after British colonisation in the early 20th century. The Aro state centred on [[Arochukwu]] followed Nri's steady decline, basing much of its economic activities on the rising trade in slaves to Europeans by coastal African middlemen.

The present site of Arochukwu was originally settled by the [[Ibibio people]] under the Obong Okon Ita kingdom before the conquest of what became [[Obinkita]] in the 17th century by two main Igbo groups: the Eze Agwu clan and the Oke Nnachi assisted by the [[Ibom Isi]] (or Akpa) mercenaries under the leadership of the [[Nnubi dynasty]]. Led by [[Agwu Inobia]], a descendant of Nna Uru from [[Abiriba]], the Eze Agwu clan was centered at their capital Amanagwu and were resisted by Obong Okon Ita which led to the start of the [[Aro-Ibibio Wars]].

The war initially became a stalemate. Both sides arranged a marriage between the king of Obong Okon Ita and a woman from Amanagwu. The marriage eventually failed to bring peace but played a decisive role in the war. Oke Nnachi was led by [[Nnachi Ipia]] who was a ''dibia'' or priest among the [[Edda people]] and was called by Agwu Inobia to help in the war against the Ibibio. These groups were followed by a third non-Igbo [[Ekoi people|Ekoi]]-cultured group, Akpa or Ibom Oburutu who were led by Akuma Nnaubi, the first Eze Aro, the title of the king of the Aro.

In southern Igboland several groups developed mostly independent of Nri influence. Most of these groups followed a migration out of [[Isu people|Isu communities]] in present-day [[Imo State]], although some communities, such as the Mbaise cluster of village groups, claim to be [[Indigenism|autochthonous]].

===Colonial era (1850–1960)===
[[File:Enugu panorama1.jpg|thumb|alt=A picture of a panorama of the Nigerian city of Enugu which is considered the Igbo capital|Enugu, the capital city of the old Eastern Region of Nigeria.]]

Following the British parliament's abolition of the slave trade in 1807, the British [[Royal Navy]] had opened up trade with coastal towns Bonny and Opobo and further inland on the Niger with Asaba in the 1870s. The palm oil industry, the biggest export, grew large and important to the British who traded here. British arrival and trade led to increased encounters between the Igbo and other polities and ethnic groups around the [[Niger River]] and led to a deepening sense of a distinct Igbo ethnic identity. Missionaries had started arriving in the 1850s. The Igbo, at first wary of the religion, started to embrace Christianity and Western education as traditional society broke down.<ref>{{cite book |title=Missionary Enterprise and Rivalry in Igboland, 1857–1914|author=Felix K. Ekechi |edition=illustrated |publisher =by Routledge |year=1972 |location=last paragraph on page 146 |page=146 |isbn=0-7146-2778-X |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WNwgU_0wQukC&pg=PA146}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Igbo Women and Economic Transformation in Southeastern Nigeria, 1900–1960: 1900–1960 |first=Gloria |last=Chuku |edition= illustrated |publisher=Routledge |year=2005 |isbn=0-415-97210-8 |page=145 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Z3jouPZxPC4C&pg=PA145}}</ref> Christianity had played a great part in the introduction of European ideology into Igbo society and culture often time through erasure of cultural practice; adherents to the denominations were often barred in partaking in ancient rites and traditions, and joining fraternities and secret societies were forbidden as the church grew stronger.<ref>{{cite book |title=Christianity and Ibo Culture |first=Edmund |last=Ilogu |publisher=Brill Archive |year=1974 |isbn=90-04-04021-8 |page=63 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0uMUAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA63}}</ref>

Due to the incompatibility of the Igbo decentralized style of government and the centralized system required for British indirect rule, [[Colonial Nigeria|British colonial rule]] was marked with open conflicts and much tension.<ref name=africanhistory>{{cite book |title=Encyclopedia of African History |first=Kevin |last=Shillington |publisher=CRC Press |year=2005 |page=674 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ftz_gtO-pngC&pg=PA674 |isbn=1-57958-245-1}}</ref> Under British colonial rule, the diversity within each of Nigeria's major ethnic groups slowly decreased and distinctions between the Igbo and other large ethnic groups, such as the [[Hausa people|Hausa]] and the [[Yoruba people|Yoruba]], became sharper.<ref>{{cite book |year=1992 |title=Groundwork of Igbo history |author-link=Adiele Afigbo |last=Afigbo |first=A. E. |publisher=Vista Books |location=Lagos |isbn=978-134-400-8 | pages = 522–541}}</ref> British rule brought about changes in culture such as the introduction of warrant chiefs as [[Eze]] (traditional rulers) where there were no such monarchies.<ref>{{cite book|title=Power, Marginality and African Oral Literature |first=Graham |last=Furniss |author2=Elizabeth Gunner |author3=Liz Gunner  |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1995 |isbn=0-521-48061-2 |page=67 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=G8ZDWbwIwdQC&pg=PA67}}</ref>

===Nigerian independence and Civil War (1960s)===
{{Main|Nigerian Civil War}}
Following the independence of Nigeria from the [[United Kingdom]] in 1960, most of Igboland was included in its [[Eastern Region, Nigeria|Eastern Region]].

[[File:Flag of Biafra.svg|thumb|right|Flag of the [[Republic of Biafra]] (1967–1970), sometimes regarded as the [[ethnic flag]] of the Igbo.<ref name="stateless">{{cite book|title=Encyclopedia of the Stateless Nations: S-Z |first=James |last=Minahan |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |year=2002 |isbn=0-313-32384-4 |page=762 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=K94wQ9MF2JsC&pg=PA762}}</ref>]]

Following a coup in 1966 which saw mostly Igbo soldiers assassinating politicians from the western and northern regions of Nigeria, [[Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi]] seized control of Lagos, the capital, and came into power as military head of state of Nigeria. In revolt and retaliation against the government General Aguiyi-Ironsi was ambushed and assassinated by Northern members of the military on 29 July 1966 in a revolt against that had strong ethnic overtones. Ironsi's assassination stood out more because of the method of his killers; Ironsi had his legs tied to the back of a Land Rover and was driven around town while still attached.<ref>{{cite book |title=Annual Survey of African Law |first=Neville |last=Rubin |year=1970 |publisher=Routledge, 1970 |isbn=0-7146-2601-5 |page=20 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=orH4bpOCYSkC&pg=PA20}}
</ref> The [[Eastern Region, Nigeria|Eastern Region]] formed the core of the secessionist Republic of Biafra. A regional council of the peoples of Eastern Nigeria decided the region should secede as the Republic of Biafra on May 30, 1967.<ref name=biafradate>
{{cite book |title=Nigeria: Current Issues and Historical Background |first=Martin P. |last=Mathews |publisher=Nova Publishers |page=38 |year=2002 |isbn=1-59033-316-0 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hTs6GpM4zDMC&pg=PA38}}</ref>

Nigerian General [[Emeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu]] on this day made a declaration of independence of Biafra from Nigeria and became the head of state of the new republic.<ref>{{cite book |title=African Aims & Attitudes: Selected Documents |first=Martin |last=Minogue |author2=Judith Molloy |publisher=CUP Archive |year=1974 |page=393 |isbn=0-521-20426-7 |location=General C. O. Ojukwu |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eBk7AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA393}}
</ref> The [[Nigerian Civil War]] (or the "Nigerian-Biafran War") lasted from 6 July 1967 until 15 January 1970, after which Biafra once again became part of Nigeria.<ref name=biafradate/><ref>{{cite book |title=Memoirs of a Mbororo: The Life of Ndudi Umaru, Fulani Nomad of Cameroon |first=Henri |last=Bocquené |author2=Oumarou Ndoudi |author3=Gordeen Gorder  |publisher=Berghahn Books |page=285 |year=2002 |isbn=1-57181-844-8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9gY6_WbmfK0C&pg=PA285}}</ref> The Republic of Biafra was defeated after three years of war by the federal government of Nigeria from 1967 to 1970 with military support from the United Kingdom (strategy and ammunition), [[Soviet Union]] (ammunition), the [[United Arab Republic]] (air force), as well as with support from other states around the world. The effects of Nigerian war strategies such as starvation on Biafran civilians (most of whom were ethnic Igbo) remains a controversial topic. The movement for the sovereignty of Biafra has continued with a minority, most making up the [[Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra|MASSOB]] organisation.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Bibliography==
*{{cite book|title=Foreign missionary background and indigenous evangelization in Igboland |first=Nkem Hyginus M. V. |last=Chigere |page=15 |publisher=LIT Verlag Münster |year=2001 |isbn=3-8258-4964-3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sAY8aQz4ztEC&pg=PA15}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Igbo}}
*[http://www.igboguide.org Igboland's Culture and Language], Igboguide.org
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20160620160208/http://www.panoramio.com/user/8598610 Pictorial tour of Igboland]

{{Igbo topics}}
{{Regions of Africa}}

[[Category:History of Igboland]]
[[Category:Cultural regions]]
[[Category:Separatism in Nigeria]]
[[Category:Regions of West Africa]]