This is a timeline of

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

n history, comprising important legal and territorial changes and political events in Nigeria and its predecessor states. To read about the background to these events, see

History of Nigeria The history of Nigeria can be traced to the earliest inhabitants whose date remains at least 13,000 BC through the early civilizations such as the Nok culture which began around 1500 BC. Numerous ancient African civilizations settled in the reg ...

. See also the

list of heads of state of Nigeria The president of Nigeria is the head of state and head of government of Nigeria, directly elected to a four-year term. Under the Nigerian Constitution, the officeholder leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the command ...

Centuries: 17th 18th 19th 20th 21st

Early history

* 8000 B.C. – Creation of oldest currently known artifacts and stone shelters.

Igboland Igbo land ( Standard ) is a cultural and common linguistic region in southeastern Nigeria which is the indigenous homeland of the Igbo people. Geographically, it is divided into two sections, eastern (the larger of the two) and western. Its popu ...

mostly occupied by foragers, including Bantu ancestors. * 3000–500 B.C. – Development of agriculture (probably including yam cultivation) and animal husbandry. * 500 B.C. – A.D. 200 –

Nok culture The Nok culture is a population whose material remains are named after the Ham people, Ham village of Nok in Southern Kaduna, southern Kaduna State of Nigeria, where their terracotta sculptures were first discovered in 1928. The Nok people and ...

flourishes in Northern Nigeria. * 400–100 B.C. – Ironworking develops around Opi, Nsukka * 500 A.D. - End of the

Rise of Igbo, Yoruba, Edo, and Muslim civilizations

* 700 A.D – Early

Ijaw Ijaw may refer to: *Ijaw people The Ijaw people, also known as the Izon people, are an ethnic group found in the Niger Delta region in Nigeria, with primary Population, population clusters in Bayelsa State, Bayelsa, Delta State, Delta, and River ...

settlement. * 800 A.D – ** Mega-state at

Igbo-Ukwu Igbo-Ukwu ( English: ''Great Igbo'') is a town in the Nigerian state of Anambra in the south-central part of the country. The town comprises three quarters namely Obiuno, Ngo, and Ihite (an agglomeration of 4 quarters) with several villages wi ...

has complex social structure, produces copious artifacts including bronzes. ** Yoruba civilization already well established, based on thirteen farming villages centered at Ilé-Ifẹ̀. ** Kingdom of Kanem (later Kanem-Bornu) founded by Saif. * 900 – The reign of the

Kingdom of Nri The Kingdom of Nri () was a medieval polity located in what is now Nigeria. The kingdom existed as a sphere of religious and political influence over a significant part of what is known today as Igboland prior to expansion, and was administered ...

began. * 1100 – Rulers of the Kanem empire embrace Islam. Mai Dunama I (r. 1097–1150) drowns at

Suez Suez (, , , ) is a Port#Seaport, seaport city with a population of about 800,000 in north-eastern Egypt, located on the north coast of the Gulf of Suez on the Red Sea, near the southern terminus of the Suez Canal. It is the capital and largest c ...

in 1150. Kanem establish diplomatic ties with

Tunisia Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia also shares m ...

. * 1200 – ** Ilé-Ifẹ̀ becomes Yoruba metropolis. ** Kanem increase influence in the Islamic world throughout the century. It establishes a hostel in

Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...

for students and pilgrims from its domain. The empire conquers

Fezzan Fezzan ( , ; ; ; ) is the southwestern region of modern Libya. It is largely desert, but broken by mountains, uplands, and dry river valleys (wadis) in the north, where oases enable ancient towns and villages to survive deep in the otherwise in ...

during the reign of Dunama II (r. 1221–1259). ** Oba Ewedo comes to power in

Benin Empire The Kingdom of Benin, also known as Great Benin, is a traditional kingdom in southern Nigeria. It has no historical relation to the modern republic of Benin, which was known as Dahomey from the 17th century until 1975. The Kingdom of Benin's c ...

in 1255. * 1300 – Fulani Muslim scholars settle in Kanem from the

Mali empire The Mali Empire (Manding languages, Manding: ''Mandé''Ki-Zerbo, Joseph: ''UNESCO General History of Africa, Vol. IV, Abridged Edition: Africa from the Twelfth to the Sixteenth Century'', p. 57. University of California Press, 1997. or ''Manden ...

. The Kanem civil war begins. Mai Daud expelled from his capital of N'jimi and subsequently killed in 1376. * 1400 – ** Beginning of European contact on the Atlantic coast in 1450.Falola & Heaton, ''A History of Nigeria'' (2008), "Chronology" (pp. xiii–xviii). ** Mai Ali Ghaji (r. 1472–1504) establishes Birnin N'gazargamu and founds the

Bornu empire Bornu may refer to: * Bornu Empire, a historical state of West Africa * Borno State, Nigeria {{disambig