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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 13 May 2014
The Niger-Benue Valley regional chronology is expanding. This is satisfying. Dates from the early city states and chiefdoms in the lower Cross river valley have been suggested and integrated into the larger regional chronological structure. Arochukwu was one such chiefdom. Utilizing the available genealogies from within Arochukwu and its satellite settlements, and guided by the existing methodology of chronology, I have calculated what I believe to be fairly reliable dates which locate the foundation of the chiefdom, ca. 1690/1720. These dates have been interrelated with the importation of the first guns into Calabar, since firearms were said to have been used in the war which ultimately resulted in the foundation of the Aro chiefdom (Arochukwu). They appear firm. Aro influence was evident in the whole of the Niger Benue-Cross river area, especially during the period when the Atlantic slave trade climaxed. Hence it seems appropriate to situate the foundation generation in the wider framework.
Arochukwu was not merely the product of the Atlantic trade, but also a response to events in the interior of the Bight of Biafra as far north as the Benue valley. The chiefdom was an offshoot of the Igbo movement into the tropical rain forest, accelerated by the southward expansion of ironsmelting and smithing, and correlated with the foundation of the Efik towns of Calabar. It was founded as a response to the shift in power centers from the upper Benue valley, which had been linked to the Rio del Rey trade route, down the river to concentrate on the Niger. It was significant that the Kwararafan takeover in Idah occurred in exactly the same generation when Arochukwu was founded.
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