TrybeAfrika (2024)

13/11/2022

*Mali Empire*

The Mali Empire (1240-1645) of West Africa was founded by Sundiata Keita (r. 1230-1255) following his victory over the kingdom of Sosso (c. 1180-1235). Sundiata's centralised government, diplomacy and well-trained army permitted a massive military expansion which would pave the way for a flourishing of the Mali Empire, making it the largest yet seen in Africa.
The reign of Mansa Musa I (1312-1337) saw the empire reach new heights in terms of territory controlled, cultural florescence, and the staggering wealth brought through Mali's control of regional trade routes. Acting as a middle-trader between North Africa via the Sahara desert and the Niger River to the south, Mali exploited the traffic in gold, salt, copper, ivory, and slaves that crisscrossed West Africa. Muslim merchants were attracted to all this commercial activity, and they converted Mali rulers who in turn spread Islam via such noted centres of learning as Timbuktu. In contrast to cities like Niani (the capital), Djenne, and Gao, most of the rural Mali population remained farmers who clung to their traditional animist beliefs. The Mali Empire collapsed in the 1460s following civil wars, the opening up of trade routes elsewhere, and the rise of the neighbouring Songhai Empire, but it did continue to control a small part of the western empire into the 17th century.

West Africa & the Sudan Region

The Sudan region of West Africa where the Mali Empire would develop had been inhabited since the Neolithic period as evidenced by Iron Age tumuli, megaliths, and remains of abandoned villages. The Niger River regularly flooded parts of this dry grassland and savannah, which provided fertile land for agriculture beginning at least 3,500 years ago, an endeavour greatly helped by the region's adequate annual rainfall. Cereals such as red-skinned African rice and millet were grown with success, as were pulses, tuber and root crops, oil and fibre plants, and fruits. Fishing and cattle herding

13/11/2022

*Kingdom of Kongo*

The Kingdom of Kongo was one of the most powerful states in Central Africa. Kongo was founded in around 1390, and by 1490 it had grown to rule three million subjects. It had a powerful army and a sophisticated political structure. The Kingdom only ended in the early twentieth century.
ORIGIN
The Kingdom of Kongo was spread across three modern-day countries: the Democratic Republic of Congo, Angola and the Republic of Congo. The Kongo Kingdom was extremely ethnically diverse. This was because Bantu-speaking peoples from West Africa had migrated into Central Africa in the first millennium BC, and they had mixed with other immigrants to produce a massive range of ethnic groups. Each ethnic group made up a chiefdom, and the Kingdom was formed when several chiefdoms were united under a single ruler.
We do not know where exactly the Kingdom began, but probably it started with an alliance between the Mpemba Kasi and Mbata peoples. By 1490, they had conquered Mpangu and Npundi in the south and had a population of three million.
SOCIETY AND ECONOMY
Kongolese society was organised into villages. Each village was made up of big families called ‘kanda’, united by a common ancestor. Social status and wealth was passed on through women, not men. Property and royal status were dependent on the mother, not the father. Usually, the head of the kanda was male, but in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries it was also common for women to be in charge.
In the villages, women worked in the fields and men gathered materials from trees, producing cloth, palm wine and other goods. There were also towns, like the capital of the Kingdom, Mbanza Kongo. This is where the king (Mani Kongo) and his elite lived, up in the mountains two thousand feet above sea level. The city was well-designed and impressive to look at: Portuguese visitors in the 1490s commented on how advanced it was.
POLITICAL ORGANIZATION
The Kongo Kingdom had six main provinces. Each province was commanded

12/11/2022

*Ethiopian Empire*

The Ethiopian Empire, also known as the Abyssinia, was one of several East African Kingdoms and covered what is now the northern half of Ethiopia. Established in the twelfth century and lasting until 1974, it is one of the longest running empires of all time, and one of only two countries in the world to have been independent for almost the entirety of its history.
THE ORIGIN OF THE ETHIOPIAN EMPIRE

The Empire is considered to have begun in around 1137, although no one knows exactly when, under the Zagwe dynasty. The name of the dynasty is derived from the Agaw people of northern Ethiopia, and therefore refers to them. The Zagwe kings and queens ruled for about 150 years, in which time many of Ethiopia’s famous rock-cut churches were constructed, such as the one at Lalibela.

In 1270, the Zagwe dynasty was overthrown by a king claiming to be a descendant of King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba. He was therefore believed to be a member of the traditional ruling house of Ethiopia. This dynasty reigned with only a few interruptions from 1270 until the late 20th century. It was under them that most of Ethiopia’s modern history occurred. During this time, the empire conquered and incorporated virtually all the peoples within modern Ethiopia.
THE EMPIRE’S FIRST DIPLOMATIC CONTACT WITH EUROPE

In the early 15th century, the Ethiopian Empire sought to make diplomatic contact with European kingdoms for the first time since the ancient Aksumite era. A letter from Henry IV of England to the Emperor of Abyssinia survives. In 1428, diplomatic contact was made with the King of Aragon, in Spain. The first continuous relations with a European country began in 1508 with Portugal under Dawit II. Relations with Portugal were so good that the two nations allied in battle on several occasions, and successfully defeated an attempted invasion by the Adal Sultanate in 1529.

Between 1755 and 1855, Ethiopia experienced a period of isolation referred to as the Zemene

12/11/2022

*Queen Nginza*

Disclaimer: I am fully aware that Queen Nzinga was dressed slightly more provocatively as part of the culture. However she has been censored here in order for information about her to reach a much wider audience. Should you wish to find her actual attire, paintings of this woman can be easily found on the internet. The story of Queen Nzinga in this context would be put in a Hetalia setting as per my previous work with Queen Amina. Following the story of Queen Nzinga I will dedicate time to the tribes that she ruled over. This character has been requested as a friend wanted Angola to have some representation.

In the Portuguese colony of Angola Nzinga (Ana de Souza Nzinga Mbande) was born to the then current ngola Kia Samba in 1583. During her early childhood it was stated that she was heavily favoured by her father and even as a child she would follow her father into battle, where she would be able to glean a largess of tactical experience. Nzinga had two legitimate siblings, Lady Mubkumbu Mbande and Lady Kifunji Mbande in addition to one illegitimate brother, Mbandi Mbande. Mbandi would seize the throne from his father in 1610 and exile and thus Nzinga was exiled from her home at age 27.

At this time the Portuguese settlement at Luanda had been thriving since its placement in 1576. Stationed there was a sizeable Portuguese navy and military force and by 1618 Mbandi bristled at the military presence next to his Kingdom. He issued an attack to occur on the Portuguese settlement but Portugal and his stationed governor Luis Mendes de Vasconcelos called for the help from another tribe named Imbangala and managed to put Mbandi under his thumb. Mbandi, in desperation summoned Nzinga and asked her to help negotiate freedom from Portuguese rule.

Thus in 1622 she met with Portugal in Luanda. The famous tale of this meeting involves the Luandan governer João Correia de Sousa refusing to offer Nzinga a seat and thus not seeing her as an equal for the talks.

12/11/2022

*Sokoto Caliphate*

This is a simple representation of the beginnings of what would be the relationship between the Hausa tribes of Northern Nigeria and the Fulani that lived in Northern Nigeria using the format of Hetalia to introduce people to Nigerian and African history.

For some context the Caliphate began during the era in the late 1700s-early 1800s known as the Fulani Jihads which were taking place all over West Africa with the different Fulani subgroups taking over the regions each subgroup had settled in. The Fulani in Nigeria were the last subgroup to start their own Jihad, but not for reasons of pure conquest, but to in their opinion right wrongs and settle issues.

The Fulani for the most part had remained nomads up until the late 1700s where they began to settle down. The Kingdom of Kano and its area enticed the Fulani to settle there and engage in trade with the Hausa kingdom where the relationship initially flourished.

This changed when Usman dan Fodio a well respected Islamic Fulani scholar and preacher began to preach in Gobir one of the city states of what was called Hausaland. His student Yunfa, (the Hausa King of Gobir) resented him due to the influence he had and the religious reforms he wanted to make and attempted an assassination. He summoned Usman to his chambers and prepared to kill him at gunpoint but Yunfa's pistol backfired. Yunfa then exiled Usman to the region of Gudu and was surprised when the Fulani population left Gobir and the other regions in the Hausa Kingdom to join Usman in exile. Fearing his growing power he declared war on Usman in 1804.

For a time Yunfa attained many victories but he did not count of the resourcefulness of the Fulani and had to be forced to drag the other Hausa vassals such as Katsina and Daura and eventually Hausa-Kano into his war with Usman and the Fulani. The Fulani then moved on to defeat Katsina, Daura and the other vassals before conquering the Kingdom of Kano in 1807. After taking the empire Gobir

12/10/2022

Battle of Atakpamé

The Battle of Atakpamé (1764) was an armed confrontation between the Ashanti Empire and neighboring Akan Allies under the leadership of the Kingdom of Akyem who joined up with the Oyo Empire and the Kingdom of Dahomey in and around Atakpamé in Togo.

Prelude

During the 18th century, the Ashanti Empire was beset by a host of rebellions. This was due in large part, to the empire's policy of allowing conquered rulers a fair amount of autonomy as long as they paid tribute and provided military contingents when ordered. The asantethene during this period was K**i Oboadum, who had ascended the throne in 1750. During his reign, the southern states under Asante's influence such as Denkyira, Wassa, Twifo and Akyem became openly hostile and threatened the empire's commercial routes to the coast. This was not only a threat to Asante's commercial interests but to its national security, since its supply of fi****ms came from the coast.

Casus belli

In 1763, the Asante vassal kingdom of Akyem under its King Pobi Asomaning II, the Okyenhene, made contact with the Kingdom of Dahomey while planning a rebellion with other dissidents within the empire, including the Kwahu and Brong. Meanwhile, the bantamahene, one of the major Asante military officers, had been relentlessly pressuring Asantehene K**i Oboadum for war. Bantamahene Adu Gyamera had even gone so far as to threaten the ruler's impeachment. The asantehene did not order an invasion, however, until learning that the Akyem had sought out aid from the Oyo Empire.

The battle

Sometime in 1764, the Ashanti army marched out to invade the Dahomey. The exact size of either force is known. What historians are sure of is that the Ashanti army was ambushed in or near Atakpamé in what is now Togo. A force of Dahomean infantry, including the kingdom's elite Ahosi corps of female soldiers, as well as levies from the Oyo Empire, were able to hold the Ashanti army to a standstill. During the battle, the Juabenhene

30/09/2022

WHO SOLD NIGERIA TO THE BRITISH FOR £865K IN 1899?

This is the story of the first oil war, which was fought in the 19th century, in the area that became Nigeria.

All through the 19th century, palm oil was highly sought-after by the British, for use as an industrial lubricant for machinery. Remember that Britain was the world’s first industrialised nation, so they needed resources such as palm oil to maintain that.

Palm oil, of course, is a tropical plant, which is native to the Niger Delta. Malaysia’s dominance came a century later. By 1870, palm oil had replaced slaves as the main export of the Niger Delta, the area which was once known as the Slave Coast. At first, most of the trade in the oil palm was uncoordinated, with natives selling to those who gave them the best deals. Native chiefs such as former slave, Jaja of Opobo became immensely wealthy because of oil palm. With this wealth came influence.

However, among the Europeans, there was competition for who would get preferential access to the lucrative oil palm trade. In 1879, George Goldie formed the United African Company (UAC), which was modelled on the former East India Company. Goldie effectively took control of the Lower Niger River. By 1884, his company had 30 trading posts along the Lower Niger. This monopoly gave the British a strong hand against the French and Germans in the 1884 Berlin Conference. The British got the area that the UAC operated in, included in their sphere of influence after the Berlin Conference.

When the Brits got the terms they wanted from other Europeans, they began to deal with the African chiefs. Within two years of 1886, Goldie had signed treaties with tribal chiefs along the Benue and Niger Rivers whilst also penetrating inland. This move inland was against the spirit of verbal agreements that had been made to restrict the organisation’s activities to coastal regions.

By 1886, the company name changed to The National Africa Company and was granted a royal charter

30/09/2022

HISTORY:
HOW BENIN FOUNDED ITSEKIRI KINGDOM

ln the 15th century, the early Itsekiris adopted a prince Ginuwa (also called "Iginuwa" in Bini Language) from the Kingdom of Benin as a monarch, and quickly coalesced into a kingdom under his rule. Traditionally fishermen and traders, the Itsekiri were among the first in the region to make contact with Portuguese traders. These interactions in the 16th century led the Itsekiri to become primarily Roman Catholic.

The Itsekiri monarchy has continued to the present day, with the coronation of Ogiame Ikenwoli on 12 December in 2015. The Itsekiri's historical capital is Ode-Itsekiri (also called "big warri" or "Ale iwerre"), though the monarch's main palace is in Warri town the largest city in the area and home to diverse other communities including the Urhobos, Ijaws, Isoko, and many other Nigerian and expatriate groups working in the oil and gas industry.

The Itsekiri, though a minority group within Nigeria, are considered to be a highly educated[citation needed] and affluent ethnic group[citation needed] with a very high rate of literacy and a rich cultural heritage. The Itsekiris have one of the oldest histories of western education in West Africa, and are noted for producing one of its earliest university graduates – the Olu of Warri Kingdom, Olu Atuwatse I, Dom Domingo a 17th-century graduate of Coimbra University in Portugal. Today, many Itsekiris can be found working in the professions[citation needed] particularly medicine, law and the academic professions and in business,[citation needed] trade[citation needed] and industry[citation needed] and were among the pioneers that led the development of the professions in Nigeria during the early-to-mid 20th century .[citation needed]

The Itsekiris traditionally lived in a society that was governed by a monarchy (the Olu) and council of chiefs who form the nobility or aristocracy. Itsekiri society itself was organised along the lines of an upper class

30/09/2022

Bornu

Disclaimer: The story of Bornu is heavily intertwined with that of Kanem and thus if you want the full story, Kanem's story is required reading for this. This is about the Bornu Era of the Kanem-Bornu era and it begins in 1380, with the fall of the Kanem Empire.

Bornu had managed to take Kanem, Kanuri and Sayfawa to safety within his own territory. Bornu would use this time to coordinate with Kanembu in order to make sure that from now on Kanembu would have an equal partnership with him. Kanembu agreed with him and they kept the arrangement with Sayfawa in order to organize things. Bornu then had to deal with a civil war but truimphed and made sure to consolidate the power in order to strengthen the Bornu Empire. Kanembu was able to see that Bornu's lands were more rich in resources than her land had been and stated that even if they retook her lands, the political capital will forever stay in Bornu territory.

The fateful moment came in 1455, Sayfawa suggested that they had regained enough power to retake Kanembu's lands. Landing on the borders of the Sultanate of Yao, Kanembu and Bornu waged a successful campaign until 1487 and ousted Bilalal from Kanembu's territory and Bilalal retreated to the south of the border. Gaining her kingdom back Kanembu decreed that from now on it would be named the Kanem-Bornu empire, and the two would work in unison. While their enemies were retreating Kanem-Bornu decided to take care of their longest running enemy, Sao. Catching Sao on the backfoot Kanem-Bornu conquered his entire territory and made his son Kotoko a vassal state that would pay tribute in cavalry troops every 6 months which allowed Kanem-Bornu to have a massive calvary unit.

Kanem-Bornu used their renewed military to take complete control of the eastern Saharan trade route, building towns on various oasis that the route commonly came across. Through this expansion they came into conflict with Hausa-Kano, Gobir, Katsina and Zaria. To the north Kanem-Bornu

30/09/2022

Kanem

Disclaimer: Most people have heard of the name: Kanem-Bornu Empire. What most outside of Chad and Libya are not often told is that the Empire had two periods dominated by two different tribes, the Kanembu Era and the later Bornu Era, named after the two tribes. Thus the first period is called the Kanem Empire and the later period is called the Bornu Empire. The legacy of the Kanem-Bornu empire can be found in the Kanuri tribe which is the result of the fusion of the two tribes. This style of story telling like the other will be done in the context of Hetalia. If you enjoy these hetalia presentations I encourage you to find the real tales of these tribes and kingdoms.

Both Kanembu and Bornu are extremely old tribes that lived in the Chad basin since 2000 BCE. Evidence for this comes from trade logs from the middle Kingdom period (2000-1650 BCE). Egypt stated that during periods of low agricultural yields they would engage in payments to Kanembu and Bornu as well as other tribes in order to purchase adequate food to feed the people. Kanem and Bornu's trade relationship with the North African tribes and nations continued to grow despite staying agricultural and pastoral for some time. This was due to Kanem and Bornu finding a trans-saharan trade route that was in the opposite direction from the one Tuareg used that usually cut through West Africa. This allowed them access to the Kush, Nubian, East African as well as contact with Middle Eastern kingdoms to some extent through trade.

The second confirmation of the age comes from records from two kingdoms, Carthage around 700 BCE and Garamantes in 400 BCE. The relationship with these two kingdoms remained the same and Kanem and Bornu show up in trade logs in Ptolemaic Egpyt, Roman Egypt and even later Arabic Egypt well into the 6th century CE.

As Northern Africa slowly became more Islamic Kanem and Bornu both found themselves in a delicate situation. The local Berber subgroup in their area was willing

30/09/2022

Futa-jallon

Disclaimer: This telling of history will be using the format seen in Axis Powers Hetalia as a method to allow a wider audience access to knowledge of this particular tribal subgroup. For this case, we have a non-Nigeria based variant of the Fulani which ties into the overall story of the Fulani jihads.

Jallon and his siblings once resided in present-day Algeria in 6000BCE where their sense of identity was developed at Tassili n'Ajjer. The Fulani siblings, comprised of Wodaabe, Fula, Ilorin, Jallon, Kontagora, Toro, Massina and Toucouleur lived with many other tribes in the North of Africa during the ancient years during what was known as the Green Sahara period. When the northern part of the Sahara was a lush Green vibrant landscape where the Fulani shared the landscape with Ateria and Capsia along with their Berber childreb. The prehistoric northern region of the Sahara unbeknownst to the Northern tribes was undergoing a form of climate change, desertification. By 3000 BCE the Sahara desert pushed up North right to the edge of North Africa, forcing away the wildlife, which included a variety of Savannah animals to wherever they could find lush greens. The Kingdoms and cultures of Ateria and Capsia collapsed, leaving only the Fulani siblings and Berbers to manage the area. The siblings maintained peace with the Berbers during this period preferring to continuously roam as nomadic herdsmen.

This would continue until 600BCE when Carthage established a presence in North Africa followed by many Mediterranean civilizations making their footholds in the African region and mixing with some of the Berbers. Carthage engaged in trade with the Berbers and the Fulani but would often enslave the Berbers during this time period. During the first of the Punic War the Berbers and the Fulani made up the bulk of the Carthaginian forces. Later Berber and Fulani would rebel, crippling Carthage and continuously sabotaging their attempts to maintain order during the rest

30/09/2022

Edo-Benin

Name: Imudiase (Stability)

This character is based on the Kingdom of Benin and its subsequent history as there are variations of the Edo people. The attire is based on that worn by the current Oba (ruler) of the Benin people of the Edo tribe. This is not to be confused with the country of Benin which used to be called Dahorney. As this is a hetalia representation all events would be ascribed to this character.

Originally going by the name of Igodomigodo-Edo, Edo-Benin settled in what would become Edo state of Nigeria in the 600s. Feeling the threat of enemies such as the Igbo and the Yoruba alongside being unnerved by Ijaw and Itsekiri he began construction of a great wall as the foundation for his city in 800. Whilst gathering many masons for centuries he would continue to build the biggest man made structure-length wise, only stopping his construction of the wall in the mid-1400s surpassing Yoruba's famed Erebo wall. The walls of Benin enclosed over 6,500 square kilometers and was more than 16,000 kilometers in length, making it the largest artificial structure in the world today. The Erebo wall was 160 kilometers long. He was able to continue his building unabated by making good trade relations with the others, who would sometimes sell their builders to him though Oyo-Yoruba would often be jealous of his great wall which consumed over 150 million working hours and used up more material than the Great Pyramid of Cheops/Giza.

While all this construction was going on, beginning in the 8th century he started expanding his small city states to cover more land as his rulers began to dispute over who would have the throne. He spent time between building the wall and remaining neutral as to who would rule the land and once the infighting had calmed down he had finished the wall by then and began to expand his territory to become a small empire. Whilst he began his expansion to what would be known as the Benin Empire beginning in 1440 Ijaw and Itsekiri

17/09/2022

ATTAH
The Story Of Attah Ameh Oboni – the Nigerian King who Chose Su***de Instead of Bowing to the Queen of England
Attah Ameh Oboni was a revered Igala King.
At a particular meeting held in Kaduna which consisted of all paramount traditional rulers in Nigeria and which had the queen of England in attendance, Attah Ameh was asked to remove his cap to greet the Queen of England as others had done.
Though he refused until they said he should leave the meeting if he would not remove his cap. But Attah was not like others, or was he?
It was a taboo for Attah to remove his cap in the public. The entire hall where they were staying was occupied by swan of bees which emanates from the cap of Attah Ameh Oboni which he removed in order to greet the Queen.
The Queen of England as well as other rulers in the meeting ran helter-skelter except the friendly Oba of Benin who was asked by Attah Ameh to go out before he removed his cap. The hall became empty as some were stung by the bees and the meeting ended.
According to history, Attah Ameh Oboni was asked to be arrested and handcuffed by the security people, which they did, but the handcuffs fell off his hands.
He was later locked up in a room on the instruction of the Northern rulers and guarded by the security personnel but only to find out later by the personnel that he had left the room. Yes, when the security were taking him to be locked up, he told his driver, Amanabo of blessed memory, to take the car and be going to Idah while the security locked him in the room.
He then warned Amanabo not to look back until he felt a cool breeze in the car. Though Amanabo argued a little that he cannot leave the Attah there but later obeyed and started driving back to Idah from Kaduna.
After some time, he felt the cool breeze in the car, and Attah Ameh was sitted inside the car.
The incident in the meeting made many traditional rulers which were mostly northerners to be angry especially making kings run in such a manner because of bees.

17/09/2022

Here is The Real Queen 👸The Most Effective Female Military Strategist of All Time. Empress Tayitu Bitul of Ethiopia 🇪🇹 💪
"I am a woman. I do not like war. However, I would rather die rather than accepting your deal.... Don't ever think that we are not willing to sacrifice our comfort and die for our country. Giving ones life for the county is an honorable death." - Empress Taitu Betul, a verse taken from the book 'Emperor Menelik' by Paulos Gnogno.
Empress Taytu Betul
c.1851–1918 Itege (Empress) Taytu Betul of Ethiopia, (c.1851-1918) was married to Emperor Menelik II, who is said to have been her equal and partner as theirs was not only a love marriage, but a political alliance as well. As a young girl, she received an education, something that not a lot of Ethiopian women were privileged enough to receive at the time.
She founded Addis Ababa and made it the capital of the empire. She also established and managed businesses such as Addis Ababa’s first modern hotel: Itege Hotel, whose clients included Ethiopian nobility and even Menelik II himself to show support for his queen wife. She established a wool factory and a candle factory with help from Turkish and Indian experts to pave the way for her empire’s industrialization. She also set up Ethiopia’s first domestic financial institution to modernize Ethiopia’s economy through access to financing and thus strengthen commerce.

Itege Taytu -the light of Ethiopia- shone at her brightest when the Italians tried to make Ethiopia their colony.
Since Tatyu and Menelik II played bad cop – good cop respectively when it came to the empire’s issues, it was clearly time for bad cop antics.
Itege Taytu was the bad cop in this empire.

Itege Taytu was of great importance to the war effort against Italy. She was the receiver and analyzer of intelligence from spies, which was of crucial importance to the war effort.
This is what enabled Menelik II to meet the Ital...

15/09/2022

After the death of several small Igbo tribes Ekumeku decided to abandon the Guerrilla strategy and try to defend the smaller tribes town by town. This would fail spectacularly against English weaponry as the towns were swiftly destroyed. Joining the fight on the side of Ekumeku-Igbo was Aro-Igbo and his allies. Joining forces they gave the Royal Niger Company a great deal of distress until in 1902 the Brigadiers decided for a massive strike, destroying Aro-Igbo and gaining the full attention of Nri-Igbo in the process.

The war still raged in 1904, hitting the English forces at various choke-points and two years later, Brigadier S.O Crew marched into the town of Owa and met Ekumeku head on and suffered death and defeat. The later major conflict was headed by H.C Chapman who tried to destroy Ekumeku-Igbo who was hiding in the town of Ogwashi-Uku owned by Asaba-Igbo who had recently joined his cause and aided him in defeating the British forces at Ogwashi in 1909 and killing H.C Chapman. In 1910 Asaba would be killed whilst caught unawares by the English troops led by remaining Brigadier W.E.B Crawford Coupland.

After the defeat of Nri-Igbo in 1911 Ekumeku was on his own and was on the retreat until in 1914 where he made his final stand against England and fell, allowing for the creation of Nigeria after 30 years of resistance. His death would later inspire the Mau-Mau rebellions in Kenya in 1952. His people were placed under the protection of Nri-Igbo for decades, but when the Biafran war came in 1967, his people were the first to suffer genocide on September 27 1967 at the hands of General Murtala Muhammad and Major Gen. Ibrahim Haruna.

15/09/2022

Ekemuke-Igbo (Anioma)

Name: Abaeze (branch of the lords)

Disclaimer: As with previous representations of the Nigerian tribes, this will be done in the Hetalia format as attributing the history and culture of this particular group to this individual. In this case the Ekumeku or Anioma subgroup of the Igbo tribe. Yes the Anioma still exist somewhat to this day but they are a scattered people whilst most absorbed by the Nri after colonization with the rest becoming endangered after the Biafran war.

Ekumeku-Igbo is descended from Umuleri-Igbo (who have artifacts dating as far back as 4500BCE) and after he passed away he spent most of his tenure under Nri-Igbo from 900 CE-1400 CE before moving out to settle along the West Basin of the River Niger. He was a relatively peaceful person, only engaging in conflict when necessary. Trade was what he mostly engaged in with the surrounding tribes, though he encountered various Islamic tribes he still maintained his traditional Odanini religion. His biggest source of income was trade with fellow Igbo tribes, Oga, Egbeme and Ndoni who were a trio that spoke their own version of the Igbo language. He was the peaceful sage, not very willing to fight initially until after centuries of trade he heard of the spread of colonization and the European power that was closest to him was England.

In 1870 England invaded the territory of sister tribe Ndoni-Igbo and destroyed her whilst Oga-Igbo and Egbema-Igbo also perished in the surprise onslaught for rejecting English rule. Ekumeku saw this and began to prepare a strategy for when England eventually came to his borders. In 1883 he declared war on England and used Guerrilla tactics to hit England hard, knowing full out assault against the weapons of the colonizers in the Royal Niger Company would be futile. He was aided by many fellow Igbo tribes such as Onitsha and Enuani-Igbo. Then fellow tribe Onitsha was brought down by English cannon fire on November 2 1897 followed by Enuani in 1

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