ABSTRACT
The disappearance of ancient Nupe kingship reflects the far-reaching historical changes which Nupe kingdom had undergone in the Fulani conquest. War was essentially a concern of the Nupe state. No warfare or organized fights occurred between the villages or tribal sections of the country. Fulani rule, only established by undisguised conquest, and dependent upon the co-operation of a band of war-chiefs and faction-leaders, turned semi-sacred kingship into rulership of the strongest. The titles of nobility which they hold by the privilege of birth may lead every one of them, by slower or more rapid promotion, eventually to the highest rank, kingship. Placed under the royal nobility in rank but its equal in political influence is the titled office nobility of the kingdom. Every promotion to a higher rank, as it involved a larger measure of political influence, involved also claims to larger and more lucrative fiefs.
