With the downward exodus of the Bassa, those who settled in the former Nassarawa province established a formidable kingdom with the headquarters at a place called Ikerekwu. One Adama was the king. The Bassa kingdom of Ikerekwu under the leadership of Adama flourished to the period prior to 1855. All historical evidences point to the very fact that Bassa were an independent people in this their highly exalted kingdom which received tributes from Afo and other subordinates of the Kingdom. The kingdom fell in 1854 as a misunderstanding between its head and Fulani warrior Zaria – Makama Dogo. Baikie (1854) wrote explicitly that: “We got many particulars of the attacks of the Pulbe (Fulani) on Bassa, which with what we learnt before, enabled us to form a tolerably correct idea of the whole affair. It commenced by the refusal of the people of Afo named also Usha and Ekpe, living on the borders of Bassa, to pay their usual tribute. Adama, king of Bassa, not feeling himself sufficiently powerful to coerce them, requested assistance from the Fulani and accordingly Ama Dogo, or more correctly Makama Dogo, meaning ‘tallman’ a pulbe chief of Zozo (Zaria) came with an armed band for that purpose. Afo being subdued, a quarrel arose between Ama Dogo and Senani, brother of the king of Bassa, and chief of Kpata, which led to a general attack on the whole country. Ikerekwu, the capital, about fifteen miles from Eruko, was sacked and rendered desolate, and many of the people were slain or made captives… (5) The history of the existence and destruction of the Bassa kingdom is also recorded by Macgregor Larid as compiled by the Rev. Samuel Ajayi Crother in the book titled Journal of an Expedition up the Niger and Tshadda Rivers, 1854 Laird wrote that: Usha also called Afo and Ekpe, a part of Bassa refused to pay tribute to Adama the king and to punish them, he invited Ama Dogo, a war chief of the Fulani from Zozo, to attack them; an opportunity which was readily embraced by the latter. After the capture of the Uushas, according to the wishes of the king, Ama Dogo picked a quarrel with sanani the king’s brother, who governed some portion of the Bassa country westward and country to the king’s wishes, they destroyed Akpata, the town of Senani, and its dependances; and as their avarice knew no bounds, Ikerekwu itself, the capital of the Bassa, shared the same fate…..” (6) In this separate description of the existence and destruction of the Bassa kingdom, T.J. Hutchinson (1966) reported that: “Some people living at Ousha, in the direction of Doma, but in the Bassa kingdom refused to pay tribute to Adamo, king of Bassa. To punish them, Adamo invited or employed some Filatahs (Fulani) from Zaria, which is the capital of Zegozeg and over which Mohammed Sani is rule, to come and subdue the obstainary of the people of Oousha. The Fulatahs, ever ready to fight, accepted the invitation, and punished the Ousha gentry to their hearts conten. But this being only sufficient to whet their appetite, they managed to pick up a quarrel with Senani, the brother of Adamo, who was governor of a place Apata, in the Bassa country. Inspite of Adamo influence and recomnstrance, they destroyed Apata, and dethroned Senani from the government of his own kingdom. Thirst for blood increased as food for it sprang in their way, so they turned to a complete subjugation of the Bassa kingdom, drove Adama from his own capital of Ikeriko…(7) Having destroyed Ikerekwu, Ama Dogo turned to a complete subjugation and destruction of the whole Bassa kingdom. A detachment was sent to destroy and completely burn and pillage the town of Oruko, from which the chief-Zabutu, had to fly to the opposite village of Abashaw for his life. (8) There is no doubting it that there once existed a Bassa kingdom which had subjects who paid tribute to its rules. From the evidences recorded above, all other ethnic groups that resided in this kingdom were subjects to the king. With the destruction of the Bassa kingdom, like other kingdoms at that time, and prior to the colonial administration in Nigeria’s, the Bassa lived and governed themselves basically in small village settlements. There was no more a place that could serve as a traditional centre with a leading traditional and political head. Indeed the war had forced some of the Bassas to cross the River Benue and settled on the other side. Those who remained scattered all over the place and were known to be the first settlers in the area. Written records in reference to Keffi has it that: “The original inhabitants, that is, those occupying the country at the time of the earliest local accounts, were the Gade, the Yeskwa, and the Bassa”..(9) Thus, they solidy occupy an area that later became Nassarawa Province, which is today covered by the present day Keffi Nigeria

The following data shows a population statistic taken in 1914 for the then Nassarawa Province:

S/No	TRIBES	MALES	FEMALES	CHILDREN	TOTAL
1	Bassa	10,698	11,094	5,797	27,589
2	Hausa	5,304	5,163	2,682	13,149
3	Gwari	4,950	5,241	4,408	14,599
4	Gwandara	3,040	2,576	2,267	7,883
5	Afao	1,678	1,692	1,060	4,430
6	Igbira	1,623	1,430	877	3,930
7	Gade	1,514	1,667	1,213	4,394
8	Ganagana	344	301	152	797
8	Nupe	278	284	202	764

Source: Gazetters of the Northern Provinces of Nigeria, volume III. The Central Kingdoms, Nassarawa Province

In his assessment of Ogba-Pati District in 1914 Morgan (1915) gave the following figures:

S/No	TRIBE	MALES	FEMALES	CHILDREN	TOTAL
1	Nupe	12	13	7	31
2	Bassa	882	866	281	2,029
3	Igbira	78	84	49	211
4	Hausa	22	21	14	57
TOTAL	---	994	934	351	2,328

Source: national Archives Kaduna, file AR/ASS/N/12 P.2 Assessment Report on Ogba-Pati District Nassarawa Emirate,
province July 1915 by Mr. W.M. Morgan, Assistant District Officer.

For Toto District, B.K.M. waters (1916) records the following:

TRIBE	MALE	FEMALE	CHILDREN	TOTAL
Ibgira	1,210	987	628	2,825
Bassa	3,488	3,426	1,615	8,529
Hausa	133	144	88	365
Nupe	103	101	112	321
Ganagana	101	72	34	207
Kamberi	67	66	29	162
Fulani	14	13	6	33
Total	5,121	4,809	2,512	12,442

Source: national archives Kaduna, File AR/ASS/N/14 P.2 Assessment Report on the Toto District of Nassarawa Emirate,
Nassarawa province, 1916, by Comr B.K.M. waters, D.O.

On Umaish District, Morgan took the population statistics in 1918 as follow:

TRIBE	MALE	FEMALE	CHILDREN	TOTAL
Bassa	3,539	3,812	1,648	8,999
Igbira	808	779	316	1,903
Ganagana	186	152	89	427
Hausa	125	122	69	315
Gwari	93	101	79	273
Nupe	95	74	30	199
Fulani	14	14	9	37
Yoruba	7	9	2	18

Source: National archives Kaduna, File AR/ASS/N/10/18/ P.S Assessment Report on the umaisha district National province, by Mr. W. Morgan, Assistant district officer. From the forgoing, the existence of the Bassa in this part of the country is established and confirmed. Today, the Bassa population in the area has greatly increased. Today, the Bassa of Plateau State of Nigeria from the original and single majority ethnic group in Toto local Government Area. Many are found in Nassarawa, Keffi, Lafia, and Doma local Government Areas of the State.

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