Kingdom of Nri

The Kingdom of Nri (Igbo: 'Ọ̀ràézè Ǹrì') was a medieval polity. The kingdom existed as a sphere of religious and political influence over a third of Igboland, and was administered by a priest-king called an Eze Nri. The Eze Nri managed trade and diplomacy on behalf of the Nri people, a subgroup of the Igbo-speaking people, and possessed divine authority in religious matters.

The kingdom was a haven for all those who had been rejected in their communities and also a place where slaves were set free from their bondage.[citation needed] Nri expanded through converts gaining neighboring communities' allegiance, not by force.[citation needed] Nri's royal founder, Eri, is said to be a 'sky being' that came down to earth and then established civilization. One of the better-known remnants of the Nri civilization is its art, as manifested in the Igbo Ukwu bronze items. Nri's culture permanently influenced the Northern and Western Igbo, especially through religion and taboos.

The kingdom appears to have passed its peak in the 14th century, encroached upon by the rise of the Bini and Igala kingdom, and later the Atlantic slave trade, but it appears to have maintained its authority well into the 16th century, and remnants of the eze hierarchy persisted until the establishment of Colonial Nigeria in 1911 and represents one of the traditional states within modern Nigeria.