Nigeria

=== Pre-colonial era ===
{{Further|History of Nigeria (1500–1800)}}
[[File:Ancient_Benin_city.JPG|thumb|Depiction of [[Benin City]] by a Dutch illustrator in 1668. The wall-like structure in the centre probably represents the [[walls of Benin]], housing the [[Benin bronze]] decorated historic [[Royal Palace of the Oba of Benin|Benin City Palace]].]]

In the 16th century, [[Portuguese discoveries|Portuguese explorers]] were the first [[Ethnic groups in Europe|Europeans]] to begin important, direct trade with the peoples of southern Nigeria, at the port they named Lagos (formerly Eko) and in [[Calabar]] along the region [[Slave Coast of West Africa|Slave Coast]]. Europeans traded goods with peoples at the coast; coastal trade with Europeans also marked the beginnings of the [[Atlantic slave trade]].<ref name="diverse-slavery">{{cite book|last=Gordon|first=April A.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H26pO3vwmHoC&pg=PA54|title=Nigeria's Diverse Peoples: A Reference Sourcebook|publisher=ABC-CLIO|year=2003|isbn=978-1-57607-682-8|pages=44–54|access-date=29 March 2015}}</ref> The port of Calabar on the historical [[Bight of Biafra]] (now commonly referred to as the Bight of Bonny) became one of the largest slave-trading posts in West Africa in this era. Other major slaving ports were located in [[Badagry]], Lagos on the [[Bight of Benin]], and [[Bonny Island]] on the Bight of Biafra.<ref name="diverse-slavery" /><ref name="slave-trade">{{cite book|last1=Falola|first1=Toyin|url=https://archive.org/details/historicaldictio0000falo|title=Historical Dictionary of Nigeria|last2=Genova|first2=Ann|publisher=Scarecrow Press|year=2009|isbn=978-0-8108-6316-3|page=[https://archive.org/details/historicaldictio0000falo/page/n373 328]|access-date=29 March 2015|url-access=registration}}</ref> The majority of those taken to these ports were captured in raids and wars.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Falola|first1=Toyin|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ANzFx1O95eAC&pg=PA78|title=Environment and Economics in Nigeria|last2=Paddock|first2=Adam|publisher=Routledge|year=2012|isbn=978-1-136-66247-8|page=78|access-date=29 March 2015}}</ref> Usually, the captives were taken back to the conquerors' territory as [[forced labour]]; they were sometimes gradually acculturated and absorbed into the conquerors' society. Slave routes were established throughout Nigeria linking the hinterland areas with the major coastal ports. Some of the more prolific slave-trading kingdoms who participated in the Atlantic slave trade were linked with the Edo's [[Kingdom of Benin|Benin Empire]] in the south, [[Oyo Empire]] in the southwest, and the [[Aro Confederacy]] in the southeast.<ref name="diverse-slavery" /><ref name="slave-trade" /> Benin's power lasted between the 15th and 19th centuries.<ref>{{cite web|title=Nigeria: A Country Study – The Slave Trade|url=http://countrystudies.us/nigeria/7.htm|last=Metz|first=Helen Chapin|author-link=Helen Chapin Metz |year=1991|publisher=[[Library of Congress Country Studies]]|access-date=28 May 2011}}</ref> Oyo, at its territorial zenith in the late 17th to early 18th centuries, extended its influence from western Nigeria to modern-day [[Togo]].

In the north, the incessant fighting amongst the Hausa city-states and the decline of the [[Kanem–Bornu Empire|Bornu Empire]] allowed the Fulani people to gain headway into the region. Until this point, the Fulani, a [[nomad]]ic ethnic group, primarily traversed the semi-desert [[Sahel]]ian region north of Sudan with cattle and avoided trade and intermingling with the Sudanic peoples. At the beginning of the 19th century, [[Usman dan Fodio]] led [[Fulani War|a successful jihad]] against the [[Hausa Kingdoms]], founding the centralised [[Sokoto Caliphate]]. This empire, with Arabic as its official language, grew rapidly under his rule and that of [[List of Sultans of Sokoto|his descendants]], who sent out [[Fula jihads|invading armies]] in every direction. The vast landlocked empire connected the east with the western Sudan region and made inroads down south conquering parts of the Oyo Empire (modern-day [[Kwara State|Kwara]]), and advanced towards the [[Yorubaland|Yoruba heartland]] of [[Ibadan]], to reach the Atlantic Ocean. The territory controlled by the empire included much of modern-day northern and central Nigeria. The sultan sent out emirs to establish [[suzerainty]] over the conquered territories and promote Islamic civilization; the emirs in turn became increasingly rich and powerful through trade and slavery. By the 1890s, the largest [[Slavery in Africa|slave population]] in the world, about two million, was concentrated in the territories of the Sokoto [[Caliphate]]. The use of slave labour was extensive, especially in agriculture.<ref>Shillington, Kevin, ''[[Encyclopedia of African History]]''. (U of Michigan Press, 2005) p. 1401.</ref> By the time of its break-up in 1903 into various European colonies, the Sokoto Caliphate was one of the largest pre-colonial African states.<ref>Adam, Abba Idris, "Re-inventing Islamic Civilization in the Sudanic Belt: The Role of Sheikh Usman Dan Fodio." ''Journal of Modern Education Review'' 4.6 (2014): 457–465. [http://tweb.cjcu.edu.tw/journal_abstract/2014_10_02_12_32_45.99.pdf#page=63 online] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210415060148/https://tweb.cjcu.edu.tw/journal_abstract/2014_10_02_12_32_45.99.pdf#page=63 |date=15 April 2021 }}</ref>

A changing legal imperative (the outlawing of the [[Atlantic slave trade]] in 1807) and economic imperative (a desire for political and social stability) led most European powers to support the widespread cultivation of agricultural products, such as the palm, for use in European industry. The slave trade continued after the ban, as illegal smugglers purchased slaves along the coast from native slavers. Britain's [[West Africa Squadron]] sought to intercept the smugglers at sea. The [[Saro people|rescued slaves]] were taken to [[Freetown]], a colony in West Africa originally established by [[John Clarkson (abolitionist)|Lieutenant John Clarkson]] for the resettlement of slaves freed by Britain in North America after the [[American Revolutionary War]].