Pre-colonial history of Northern Nigeria Pre-colonial history of Northern Nigeria The pre-colonial history of Northern Nigeria encompasses the history of Northern Nigeria before the advent of European explorers and the subsequent pacification of Northern Nigeria by the British Empire. In pre-historical times, the area known as Northern Nigeria was home to the Kwatarkwashi/Nok culture. Elements of human civilisation have also been discovered around the Niger River near Kainji Dam. Around the 7th century the Kabara Nation under the control of the Kabara's emerged in Northern Nigeria. Around the 9th century an upheaval of unexplained origins saw a transference of power from these matriarchal monarchs and
Nok culture archaeologist Graham Connah believes that "Nok artwork represents a style that was adopted by a range of iron-using farming societies of varying cultures, rather than being the diagnostic feature of a particular human group as has often been claimed." The first Nok terracotta was discovered in 1928 by Colonel Dent Young, a co-owner of a mining partnership, near the village of Nok on the Jos Plateau in Nigeria. The terracotta was accidentally unearthed at a level of 24 feet from an alluvial tin mine. Young presented the sculptures to the museum of the Department of Mines in Jos. Fifteen years