Nri
The city of Nri is considered to be the foundation of igbo culture. Nri and Aguleri, where the Igbo creation myth originates, are in the territory of the Umueri clan, who trace their lineages back to the patriarchal king-figure, Eri. Nir in Anambra state Nigeria was a center of learning, religion, and commerce in pre-colonial West Africa and beyond. Historians have compared the significance of Nri, at its peak, to the religious cities of Rome and Mecca: it was the seat of a powerful and imperial state that influenced much of the territories inhabited by the Igbo of Akwa and Onitsha to the east; the Efik, the Ibibios, and the Ijaws to the South; Nsukka and southern Igala to the north; and Onitsha, Asaba, and the Bendel delta to the west.

Myth
Eri's origins are unclear, though he has been described as a "sky being" sent by Chukwu(God). He has been characterized as having first given societal order to the people of Anambra. Eri is said to have descended from the sky, sent by God to make peace (settle disputes and cleanse abominations) and provide Igbo people food (yam and cocoyam).The tale expounds that Nri (the founder of Nri clan) was the son of Eri (founder of Aguleri) and had migrated to the present day Nri from Anambra (Ama-Mbala) river valley in Northern Igboland. Nri was said to have inherited spiritual powers from his father.

Fact
Archaeological evidence suggests that Nri hegemony in Igboland may go back as far as the ninth century, and royal burials have been unearthed dating to at least the 10th century. Eri, the god-like founder of Nri, is believed to have settled the region around 948 AD with other related Igbo cultures following after in the 13th century. The first Eze Nri (King of Nri), Ìfikuánim's , followed directly after him. According to Igbo oral tradition, his reign started in 1043. At least one historian puts Ìfikuánim's reign much later, around 1225 AD.





Nri: Tradition and politics
The Kingdom of Nri was a religio-polity, a sort of theocratic state that developed in the central heartland of the Igbo region. The Nri had seven types of taboo's which included human (such as the birth of twins), animal (such as killing or eating of pythons), object, temporal, behavioral, speech and place taboos. The rules regarding these taboos were used to educate and govern Nri's subjects. This meant that, while certain Igbo may have lived under different formal administration, all followers of the had to abide by the rules of the faith and obey its representative on earth, the Eze Nri.
‘Each king traces his origin back to the founding ancestor, Eri. Each king is a ritual reproduction of Eri. The initiation rite of a new king shows that the ritual process of becoming Ezenri (Nri priest-king) follows closely the path traced by the hero in establishing the Nri kingdom.’
E. Elochukwu Uzukwu
The rulers of Nri did not use military conquest, but imposition of religious authority and control of commercial routes as tactics in the spread of their city-state. Politically, Nri is known to be the most ancient origins of the Eze kingship in Igbo societies. But Nri and its rulers were also known for their occultic religious juju, an institution that instilled both awe and fear in those who made pilgrimages to the shrine. Commercially, Nri was against slave holding. "Osu" was the name of outcasts of other communities who migrated and were accepted in Nri. Some Osu became eunuch’s. During the colonial period, Nri and the regions under its political, religious, or commercial control became international markets for palm oil. In the heart of Nri influence was the Igbo Ukwu bronze castings