ury, extending south from Lake Chad into present-day Nigeria by the 11th century. During this period, Hausa city-states were established (in the north) and Islam was introduced into the region. Portugese traders entered the area in the 15th century and began to propagate the kidnapping and buying of slaves. Ibo and Ibibio city-states were built with wealth acquired from the slave trade (Morgan, 1996). In 1804, a "holy war" led by the Fulani Moslem conquered the Hausa states. The son of Usuman dan Fodio founded Sokoto, the ruling state until British colonization. Islam became established in the early 1800s and with it came segregation of the sexes, male authority in choosing domicile, and deprivation of womens traditional economic pursuits (Morgan, 1996).In earlier Nigerian history, women, such as Amina, Queen of Zaria, a 15th century Huasa Kingdom ruler, succeeded her father as ruler and maintained control for 34 years (Morgan, 1996). Before British colonization, Yoruba women of the Oyo kingdom held high political rank. Women in other significant tribes, such as the Ibo, had a role in traditional politics as well. The Omu, was in charge of women in the village with her chosen cabinet, which included a policewoman who kept order in the marketplace. Women also were organized in groups of wives of lineage and daugthers of lineage that acted as pressure groups. This group called the "Inyemedi" gathered regularly for mikiri, a forum for womens issues where rules were made about livestock, and the market, and women discussed their problems about men; strategies for solving them-which might include seuxal, housework, or childcare strikes-were arrived at collectively" (Morgan, 1996, p. 497). By 1906, British controlled the country and divided into 2 protectorates under "indirect rule." The British established judicial systems that circumvented the Ibo womens arbitration courts and recognized only male power structures. Igboland w...
