Idah

Idah, town, Kogi state, south-central Nigeria. It lies on a sandstone cliff on the east bank of the Niger River. The traditional capital of the Igala people, Idah was brought under the jurisdiction of the kingdom of Benin by Oba (King) Esigie in the early 16th century. From Benin the polity of Idah adopted both a system of kingship and the art of cire perdue (“lost wax”) casting in bronze. Tsoede, the son of an early ata (“king”), left Idah and conquered and refounded the kingdom of Nupe (near the confluence of the Niger and Kaduna rivers); he is also said to have introduced to the Nupe people the art of bronze casting, for which they later became well known.

During the 19th century Idah was a thriving port, trading palm oil and kernels and rubber to Europeans and staple crops, cotton, woven cloth, horses and other livestock, pots, and knives to the Igbo people just to the south. The Igala were able to maintain strict control over the lower Niger trade north of Idah (no Igbo boats were allowed above the port), partially because just south of the town the Niger valley emerges from a narrow, rocky section to some wide, extensive floodplains.

Modern Idah remains a major trading centre (palm produce, yams, cassava [manioc], rice, fish) on the river. Besides trade and farming, the local population is engaged in making canoes, fishing nets, and soap; handicrafts and cotton weaving are also significant. There are limestone deposits in the vicinity and coal deposits near Ankpa, 68 miles (109 km) east-northeast.

Islam is the predominant religion of the town. Christian missionaries have been active among the Igala since the 1860s, and Idah’s Roman Catholic community sponsors both a secondary school and a teacher-training college. The town also contains a federal polytechnic, a government craft school, and a hospital. Roads from the town lead to Nsukka and Ayangba, and there is ferry service to Agenebode across the Niger River. Pop. (2006) local government area, 79,815.