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209 ISSN 1712-8056[Print] ISSN 1923-6697[Online] www.cscanada.net www.cscanada.

209 ISSN 1712-8056[Print] ISSN 1923-6697[Online] www.cscanada.net www.cscanada.org Canadian Social Science Vol. 8, No. 2, 2012, pp. 209-218 DOI:10.3968/j.css.1923669720120802.1678 Copyright © Canadian Academy of Oriental and Occidental Culture The Dynamics of Inter Group Relations in Pre-Colonial Nigeria: Nupe Activities in Etsakoland C. 1860-1897 LA DYNAMIQUE DES INTER-RELATIONS DES GROUPES DANS LE PRE-COLONIALE NIGERIA : LES ACTIVITES DANS LE NUPE ETSAKOLAND C.1860-1897 Eddy O. Erhagbe 1,* 1 Ph.D Boston, Associate Professor of History and International Studies and Diplomacy, Department of History and International Studies, Faculty of Arts, University of Benin, Benin City, Nigeria. *Corresponding author. Received 1 February 2012; accepted 3 April 2012 Abstract A point that is not often emphasized in Nigeria’s history is the high level of interaction that existed among different groups in the country in pre-colonial times. This study brings to the fore the circumstances that brought the Nupe to Etsakoland and how they greatly influenced the lives of the people, with emphasis on the socio- political sphere. Among other things, the Nupe suzerainty in the area changed the political tenor of the people by introducing centralized monarchical authority, a new title system and taxation. In the social sphere, Islam with its attendant practices got introduced to Etsakoland. Some of the introduced practices now became well entrenched among the Etsako people. Etsakoland was still undergoing transition when the British came and now also inﬂ uenced the lives of the people. The features of the Etsako society of today reflect the amalgam of both the indigenously evolved ones and those introduced through foreign contacts, starting with the Nupe. The interaction between the Nupe from the Middle Belt part of Nigeria and the Etsako of South-South Nigeria exemplifies the level of interaction among Nigerian peoples in the Pre-British days. Key words: Jihad; Islam; Etsako; Nupe Résumé Un point qui n’est pas souvent souligné dans l’histoire du Nigéria est le niveau élevé d’interaction qui existait entre les différents groupes dans le pays dans la période précoloniale. Cette étude met en évidence les circonstances qui ont amené les Nupe à Etsakoland et comment ils ont grandement influencé la vie des gens, en mettant l’accent sur la sphère socio-politique. Entre autres choses, la suzeraineté Nupe dans la région a changé la teneur politique du peuple par l’introduction de l’autorité monarchique centralisé, un système nouveau titre et de la ﬁ scalité. Dans le domaine social, l’Islam avec ses pratiques concomitantes été présenté à Etsakoland. Certaines des pratiques introduites maintenant devenu bien ancrée parmi les gens Etsako. Etsakoland était encore en phase de transition où les Britanniques sont venus et maintenant aussi inﬂ uencé la vie des gens. Les caractéristiques de la société d’aujourd'hui reﬂ ètent Etsako l’amalgame des deux les localement évolué et celles introduites par contacts à l’étranger, en commençant par le Nupe. L’interaction entre les Nupe de la partie Middle Belt du Nigeria et le Etsako Sud-Sud du Nigeria illustre bien le niveau de l’interaction entre les peuples nigérians dans les jours pré-britanniques. Mots clés: Jihad; L’islam; Etsako; Nupe Eddy O. Erhagbe (2012). The Dynamics of Inter Group Relations in Pre-Colonial Nigeria: Nupe Activities in Etsakoland C. 1860-1897. Canadian Social Science, 8(2), 209-218. Available from URL: http://www. cscanada.net/index.php/css/article/view/j.css.1923669720120802.1678 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3968/j.css.1923669720120802.1678 INTRODUCTION In Nigeria, before the advent of Europeans, different communities had long interacted with their neighbours. The history of the Etsako clans in the last three decades of the nineteenth century shows how, through the contact with the Nupe, the Etsako acquired new societal features, some of which have remained extant with the people till date. The Etsako people live in the northern part of Edo State of Nigeria. The various Etsako clans were first 210 Copyright © Canadian Academy of Oriental and Occidental Culture The Dynamics of Inter Group Relations in Pre-Colonial Nigeria: Nupe Activities in Etsakoland C. 1860-1897 brought under a single administrative umbrella in 1919, when the British colonial administrators established Kukuruku Division in the former Benin Province. Etsakoland constituted one of the three districts that made up the division (Igbafe, 1979). The geographical boundaries of the Etsako district have remained unchanged up to date although it has now been divided into three administrative units, recognized in the 1999 Federal Constitution as Etsako West, East, and Central Local Government Areas. Within the boundaries of Etsakoland, thirteen clans are recognized: Auchi, Aviele, Avianwun, Awain, Ekperi, Jagbe, Okpekpe, South Ibie, South Ineme, Three Ibies, Ukpilla, Uzairue and Weppa Wanno. These clans are connected by common traditions of origin, and they speak closely related dialects, while at the same time their customs exhibit a high degree of similitude that set them apart from their neigbours. They occupy an area of approximately 1,000 square miles, with a population of 265.509 and each of the thirteen clans is compised of a cluster of villages, with Auchi, Uzairue, and Weppa, Wanno, having the highest population ﬁ gures of 43,394, 42,876 and 25412 respectively. Jagbe, Awain and South Ineme have the lowest ﬁ gures of 2,639, 3,602 and 3,605 respectively as captured by the Nigerian Federal census conducted in 1991. Essentially, the prevalent traditions of origin among the people of present-day Etsako is that of emigration from the core of the Benin Kingdom at different times and for varied reasons (Bradbury, 1970; Blair, 1935; Denton, 1936 and Egharevba, 1968). Although their society was part of Benin, over time they developed distinctive cultural features that set them apart (Bradbury, 1973; Egharevba, 1968; Ryder, 1969 and Igbafe, 1979). These features are noticeable in their language, system of government, traditional religion, and the title system (Erhagbe, 1982). The most outstanding of these features was the absence of rigid centralization of authority and allegiance to one venerated ruler, which were the hallmark of the Benin traditional polity. Some traditional features of Etsako society underwent considerable alternations as a result of “foreign contact” The main external impetus for change came via the Nupe invasion of their new homeland in the late nineteenth century. What instigated this contact, and its impact on the indigenous Etsako polity, form the subject of this paper. This historical episode will also be explored as an aspect of the nineteenth-century Sokoto Jihad that engulfed the whole of Northern Nigeria, but also extended its effect South-wards. THE INDIGENOUS ETSAKO POLITY BEFORE 1860 The indigenous system of government was relatively representative and based mainly on the principle of gerontocracy (Erhagbe, 1982). There were established councils that administered the different administrative units in the community, ranging from the family council to the clan council. A remarkable feature of this political order was that unlike Benin from where they emigrated, the Etsako clans did not develop monarchical traditions. Individual authority devoid of religious responsibilities was practically non-existent. In this regard, however, it has to be pointed out that the Uzairue contend that their monarchy pre-dates the period of Nupe invasion (Erhagbe, 1982). In addition to politics, the people of the area also evolved social usages and beliefs. Their religious belief was animist and polytheist in nature, with individual environmental features determined the gods and goddesses that were worshipped. For example, the people of Auchi worshipped “Orle”, the spirit of a major river that affected their lives; while the people of Weppa Wanno worshipped “Ise”, also the spirit of a river in their landscape. Marriage, names, burial practices, and the age-grade system were also given a cultural stamp by the Etsako people (Erhagbe, 1982). While differences existed from one clan to the next, beliefs and practices were quite similar. The nineteenth- century Nupe incursions into the area subjected these political and social features of the clans to strains and changes, a process that was later supplanted by the arrival of the British. The Nupe involvement in Etsako affairs was directly tied to the Islamic upheavals that engulfed a large portion of Northern Nigeria in the form of the Sokoto jihad of the early nineteenth century. THE NUPE AND THE SOKOTO JIHAD The Nupe, one of the seven Hausa Banza Bokwoi states, live around the confluence of the Niger and Kaduna rivers (Obayemi, 1980 and Mabogunje, 1979). Before the ﬁ fteenth century the Nupe had no centralized state of their own, but they were vassals of the Igala kingdom. By the mid-sixteenth century, however, they had established their own kingdom with its ruler adopting the title Etsu Nupe. For details on the transformation of the Benin Confederacy to the nucleus of the Nupe Kingdom see (Johnson, 1970; Nedel, 1942 and Obayemi, 1980). The establishment of the Nupe kingdom with a new ruling dynasty was followed by a period of territorial expansion, which reached a high water mark in the nineteenth century. The original dynasty was overthrown, though temporarily, by the jihad of Uthman Dan Fodio, and this was to bring the Nupe into the mainstream of Sokoto caliphate history. It is well known that the history of Hausaland in the nineteenth century was marked by Islamic revival and reformation through a jihad based on the theological expositions of Uthman Dan Fodio. Waging war on the Hausa Habe rulers of Hausaland, the leaders of uploads/Societe et culture/ 2480-3244-3-pb.pdf