Kwararafa

Kwararafa was a confederacy of peoples in the Benue valley, known to the chroniclers of Bornu and the Hausa states as a formidable neighbour. Its history is closely associated with the Jukun, though many other peoples also trace ties to the confederacy. Its changing centres of power reflected a long history of migration, warfare, and alliances across the region.

In the late fourteenth and early fifteenth centuries, the rulers of Kano compelled Kwararafa to pay tribute. Later the balance shifted: in the seventeenth century its armies struck deep into the Hausa states and challenged Bornu itself. By the end of the eighteenth century Kwararafa paid tribute to Bornu, while the Jukun had become the leading power in the Benue valley.