ABSTRACT
A state that would disdain to call to assistance the bonds of inner unity seems to jeopardize continuously its safety, and to risk being shattered and broken up by unrest and revolts, possibly beyond repair. Such tension and unrest seems indeed characteristic of the political history of Nupe. The rest of Nupe kingdom was divided up into smaller and larger 'countries' comprising each a town with its dependent villages and tunga which were administered as fiefs through feudal lords or egba. The identification of State and Church is demonstrated in the annual Mohammedan festival, the Sallah, which is as much a pageant of the might and splendour of the kingdom as a religious feast. A great display of horsemanship takes place, at which the bodyguard of the king, his police, and officers of state parade before him and his guests of honour—the foremost among whom are the District Officer and all the Europeans living in Bida Emirate.
