A HISTORY OF THE NUPE, C.1068 â€" 1810 A.D.

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Author

Presented To

Department of Arts

ABSTRACT
The major objective of this thesis is to examine the history of the Nupe from 1068 – 1810 AD. For a proper conceptualization, the geographical location of the study area in relation to its neighbors is examined. This is to enable us see the socio-cultural affinities, archaeological, linguistic, political and economic relationships among various ethnic groups in the Middle Niger and Benue Confluence areas. The work particularly considers the relationship between Nupe and Igala lands, especially, as it affects the birth and growth of Tsoede, as well as the socio-cultural and political situation regarding his personality. Central to our discussion is the political transformation of Nupeland by Tsoede and his descendants, reflected in the foundation of a central authority – Nupe Kingdom in the 16th century, in place of the hitherto independent principalities in Nupeland. The insatiable desire by Tsoede to rule over a larger political landscape may have informed the idea of the central authority and its extension beyond core Nupeland. Central to the actualization of his dream is the strategic location of Nupeland which favored all sorts of vocation – agriculture, trade and commerce, transport and communication, industrial economy, unlimited access to and out of Nupeland, availability of raw materials for thriving arts and crafts. All these and other factors provided catalyst for state formation processes in Nupeland as was the case in Hausaland. Another central theme the thesis discusses is the penetration of Islam through a number of sources into Nupeland prior to the 19th century Sokoto Jihad, as well as the economic activities and opportunities which made the land great. It served as an entrepot and a strategic gateway between the north and the southern parts of the Nigerian area. Both the internal and external trade and commerce between the two zones and Nupe passed through the latter. The work also examines the genesis for the eclipse of the Kingdom. The internal dynastic succession disputes, as well as the political and socio-economic happenings in the neighboring states and Hausaland and most importantly, the intervention of the 19th Century Jihadists under the leadership of Mallam Dendo and other Fulbe, accounted for the demise of the indigenous Nupe Kingdom under Tsoede dynasty and its replacement by a foreign one under Dendo in the first half of the 19th century.