Before the period of British colonial rule in the 20th century, the Igbo people were largely governed by the centralized chiefdoms of Nri, Aro Confederacy, Agbor and Onitsha.

[47] The historian Elizabeth Allo Isichei says "Nri and Aguleri and part of the Umueri clan, [are] a cluster of Igbo village groups which traces its origins to a sky being called Eri.

[50] The Nri had seven types of beliefs which included human (such as the birth of twins), animal (such as killing or eating of pythons),[53] object, temporal, behavioural, speech and place.

The archaeological findings at Igbo-Ukwu have provided valuable insights into the early history and cultural achievements of the Igbo people and their interactions with other civilizations in the region.

The Igbo-Ukwu artifacts predate certain other well-known Nigerian bronze sculpture traditions such as those of Ife and the Benin Kingdom and have contributed to our understanding of the development of metallurgical techniques in Africa.

Aro activities on the coast helped the growth of city-states in the Niger Delta, and these city states became important centres for the export of palm oil and slaves.

The Aro-Ibibio Wars were a series of conflicts between the Aro people (subgroup of the Igbo) and a Ibibio in present-day Southeastern Nigeria at Ibom Kingdom from 1630 to 1902.

Shortly after, a Jukun migration from Wukari conquered and established a royal dynasty in Idah, bringing them into contact with Igbo speaking groups.

Nsukka is the most notable Igbo subgroup to be involved in these wars as the Igala people conquered and installed priest-kings to govern the district for almost a century.

During the period of the Igbo-Igala Wars, marked by a scarcity of labor and insecurity resulting from slave raiding and the Nsukka-Igala conflicts, notable changes occurred in the iron smelting practices of the Nsukka people.

Due to urgency, some iron smelters resorted to using wood directly in their smelting process, bypassing the usual practice of burning it to produce charcoal.

This adaptation in smelting techniques demonstrates the impact of the war on the traditional methods employed by the Nsukka community, as they incorporated wood into their process to sustain their iron production amidst the challenging conditions.

Some rallied, but despite putting up a spirited but brief defense, the Agba were compelled to retreat southwards, leaving their abandoned lands to be later settled by Umunwagu and Ikwuate (Idembia).

Although some Igala dances continue to be performed in Anioma, there is no evidence of any lasting military conquests; instead, it appears that cultural traditions were exchanged mostly through trade and interactions between the neighboring communities.

Jaja barred entry to European and African middlemen, effectively monopolizing trade, and by 1870 was selling eight thousand tons of palm oil directly to the British.

His presence in the West Indies was alleged to be the cause of civil unrest, as the people of Barbados, of African descent, were upset at the poor treatment of a King from their homeland.

[96] With the goal for freedom, enslaved Igbo people were known to European planters as being rebellious outspoken and having a high rate of suicide to escape slavery.

[114] They were also imported to the southern borders of Georgia and South Carolina considered the low country and where Gulluh culture still preserves African traditions of its ancestors.

[121] A series of black and white, silent films about the Igbo people made by George Basden in the 1920s and 1930s are held in the British Empire and Commonwealth Collection at Bristol Archives (Ref.

[131] In their struggle, the people of Biafra earned the respect of figures such as Jean-Paul Sartre and John Lennon, who returned his MBE, partly in protest against British support for the Nigerian government in the Biafran War.

Traditional Igbo architecture predominantly uses locally sourced materials such as mud, clay, wood, bamboo, thatch, and palm fronds.

Some Igbo houses have elevated floors, which serve multiple purposes, including protection against flooding, improved ventilation, and storage space underneath.

[citation needed] Igbo architecture takes into account the region's climate and natural surroundings, using design elements that promote comfort and harmony with the environment.

[149] The Igbo language was used by John Goldsmith as an example to justify deviating from the classical linear model of phonology as laid out in The Sound Pattern of English.

The novel concerns the influence of British colonial rule and Christian missionaries on a traditional Igbo community during an unspecified time in the late nineteenth or early 20th century.

They believe the cosmos is divided into four complex parts: creation, known as Okike; supernatural forces or deities called Alusi; Mmuo, which are gods/spirits; and Uwa, the earthly world.

[187][188] Men would wear loincloths that wrapped round their waist and between their legs to be fastened at their back, the type of clothing appropriate for the intense heat as well as jobs such as farming.

Modern Igbo traditional attire, for men, is generally made up of the Isiagu top, which resembles the Dashiki worn by other African groups.

Soups or stews are included in a typical meal, prepared with a vegetable (such as okra, of which the word derives from the Igbo language, okwuru)[198] to which pieces of fish, chicken, beef, or goat meat are added.

[219][220] Most ethnicities that inhabit southeastern Nigeria, such as the closely related Efik and Ibibio people, are sometimes regarded as Igbo by other Nigerians and ethnographers who are not well informed about the southeast.