The Nupe Kingdom emerged in the 14th-15th century, nestled between the Niger and Kaduna rivers. The Nupe Kingdom was brought about by conquest, with Igala leader Tsoede taking on the title of Etsu (king) and uniting neighboring tribes by conquest. The Etsu Jibiri adopted Islam around 1770, due to the Fulani's conquest coming from the north. The late 18th century and early 19th century was a period marked by instability, with two Etsus, Jimanda and Majiya II, competing for the throne in the 1790s, and the continued Fulani conquest in the 1820s. By the end of the 19th century, the area was under British colonial control by way of the Royal Niger Company, and became apart of modern Nigeria with Nigerian independence in 1960.[6]
Today, the Nupe people speak over 5 dialects: Central Nupe, Nupe Tako/Bassa-Nge, Kupa, Kakanda, and Dibo/Abawa/Gana-Gana. Nupe is the largest ethnic group in the Middle Belt, they are at the heart of Nigerian art and culture. The proximity of Nupe to the Yoruba Igbomina people in the south and to the Yoruba Oyo people in the southwest led to cross-fertilization of cultural influences through trade and conflicts over the centuries.[7] In his book The Negro, African-American scholar W.E.B. Du Bois wrote that Nupe trade may have extended as far as Sofala and the Byzantine Empire, with the latter of which, according to what he termed "credible legend", there was even an exchange of embassies.[8]
Population and demography
There are probably about 4.5million Nupes,[9] principally in Niger State. The Nupe language is also spoken in Kwara, Kogi and Federal Capital Territory. They are primarily Muslims, with some Christians and followers of African Traditional Religion. The Nupe people have several local traditional rulers. The Etsu Nupe (Bida) is not pure Nupe, his great-grandfather from his father's side is Fulani, while the family of his mother was completely Nupe. His great-grandfather from his father's side came to Rabba then later Bida in 1806 during the Sokoto jihad.[10]
Nupe part in Nigeria
Traditions, art and culture
The Nupe people maintain a cultural heritage rooted in oral traditions. These spoken narratives have preserved practices such as Dzana, a "multifaceted cultural gesture involving the giving of gifts, blessings, or symbolic items primarily in the context of travel, transitions, and relational expressions of care".[11]
Many practices have changed as a result of the movements started by Sokoto jihad of the 19th century, but they still hold on to some of their culture. Many Nupe people often have tribal marks on their faces, some to identify their prestige and the family of which they belong as well as for protection, and adornment as jewellery. However, these traditions are dying out in certain areas.[12][pageneeded]
Their art is often abstract. They are well known for their wooden stools with patterns carved onto the surface.[12][pageneeded]
The Nupe were described in detail by the ethnographer Siegfried Nadel, whose book, Black Byzantium, remains an anthropological classic.
Examples of Nupe art
Burtu wooden mask, used during bird hunting; Museum of Ethnology, Vienna. The hunter would tie the mask around his head and imitate the bird's movement.
Carved door; c. 1920 – 1940; wood with iron staples; Hood Museum of Art.
A Nupe cavalryman wearing lifidi (padded armour). Drawn in 1911 by Carl Arriens.
Nupe traditional music is sung by the Ningba, or musician(s), while the Enyanicizhi beats the drum. Legendary Nupe singers of memory include Hajiya Fatima Lolo[13] Alhaji Nda'asabe, Hajiya Nnadzwa, Hauwa Kulu, Baba-Mini, Ahmed Shata and Ndako Kutigi.
The prime-movers of the Nupe cinema started film-making since the late 1990s into the early 2000s. Great Nupe personalities that birthed the idea of producing, acting and directing Nupe dramas/comedies on-screen are late Sadisu Muhammad DGN,[14] Prince Ahmed Chado, late Prince Hussaini Kodo, M.B. Yahaya Babs and Jibril Bala Jibril. They are the people who made the move for Nupe dramas to be on-screen and are the founders of the modern-day Nupe film industry[15] known as Nupewood.[16] Nupewood has since produced more than a thousand entertaining movies in Nupe space to the millions of Nupe audiences.
↑ Katcha, Abubakar. (1978). An exploratory demographic study of the Nupe of Niger State: the case of Sakpe village. Australian National University. ISBN0-909150-60-5. OCLC5021109.
↑ Rumala, B. E. B. M., Sode-Shinni Rumala, A. B., Rumala, S. Y., Rumala, F. L. Y., Saba, S. A., Saba, J. J., Saba, A., Saba, M. H., Audu, L. A., Adams, R. A., Mamman, E. B., Adams, J. N., Kolo, P. I., Mamman, C., Saba, S. W., Saba, S. A., Saba, S. L., Sode-Shinni Rumala, K. S., Jiya, G. G., … Nupe Heritage Cekpa Project Team. (2025). Dzana Practice in Nupe Culture as a Legacy of Love, Blessing, and Intergenerational Bonding. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.16627589
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Nupe people.
Sources
Blench, R. M. (1984), "Islam among the Nupe." Muslim peoples. (edn 2), Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press.
Forde, D. (1955), "The Nupe". pp.17–52 in Peoples of the Niger-Benue Confluence. London: IAI.
Ibrahim, Saidu (1992), The Nupe and their neighbours from the 14th century. Ibadan: Heinemann Educational Books.
Madugu, George I. (1971), "The a construction in Nupe: Perfective, Stative, Causative or Instrumental". In Kim, C-W., & Stahlke, H., Papers in African Linguistics, I, pp.81–100. Linguistic Research Institute, Champaign.
Perani, J. M. (1977), Nupe crafts; the dynamics of change in nineteenth and twentieth century weaving and brassworking. Ph.D. Fine Arts, Indiana University.
Stevens, P. (1966), Nupe woodcarving. Nigeria, 88:21–35.
Yahaya, Mohammed Kuta, The Nupe People of Nigeria. Nigeria, 95:1–2
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