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Colonial rule in Igboland: trade routes, the Aro war and the warrant chiefs
British conquest met a society of assemblies, titles and oracles. It answered by inventing chiefs, and the consequences ran from the Long Juju to the Women’s War.
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This chapter explains how British rule reshaped Igboland, from the old trade routes to the courts, missions and new social classes. It relies on the chapters of Korieh (2009) by Njoku, Kalu, Ekechi, Afigbo and Akuma-Kalu Njoku, together with Echeruo’s dictionary for key Igbo terms.
These authors sometimes disagree about the Aro, the oracle and Igbo “democracy”. The pages show the disagreements.
In this chapter
01Trade routes: Aro, Ubani and the hinterland
Aro, Ubani and a trade without rulers.
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02The Aro expedition and the end of the Long Juju
1,550 soldiers, an oracle and a disputed “empire”.
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03The warrant-chief system
How British officers invented chiefs.
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04Missions and churches: the “figs from thistles”
Missionaries, ex-slaves and the roads of the slave trade.
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05Slavery and outcast status within Igboland
Ohu, osu and pawning inside Igboland.
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06Social change: yam kings, clerks and new classes
Yam lords, clerks and a changing wardrobe.
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