Eze Nri Òbalíke, the 15th recorded Eze Nri of the Kingdom of Nri in modern day southeastern Nigeria, sounding a bell. Photo taken by Northcorte Thomas in 1910. The eze held religious and political authority over the Kingdom of Nri in a fashion comparable with that of the pope. The Nri culture is believed to stretch back to around the 10th century, however, its recorded kings goes back to the early 13th century. The power of the eze Nri and the kingdom as a whole ended in 1911 with the last independent monarch being forced to submit to British rule at gunpoint. Nevertheless, the title of eze Nri has survived into the 21st century.
