city state · West Africa
Old Calabar
Origins
The Efik settled on the Calabar river in the 17th century, founding Creek Town, Old Town and Duke Town, which Europeans called Old Calabar. They became middlemen between European ships and the peoples of the Cross river hinterland, from whom they bought slaves.
Rule and society
There was no single king; the towns were ruled by heads of trading houses and by Ekpe, the leopard society, which made laws, enforced debts and bound European traders. The diary of the trader Antera Duke from the 1780s records life in Duke Town. After abolition, palm oil replaced slaves, and Scottish Presbyterian missionaries arrived in 1846.
Decline and legacy
The Efik chiefs signed a British protection treaty in 1884, and Calabar became the capital of the Oil Rivers Protectorate and then the Niger Coast Protectorate. It is now the capital of Cross River State, where the Obong of Calabar reigns.
On the connections map
Open the full map →Connections (1)
- Old Calabar was a protectorate of Oil Rivers Protectorate1884 CE – 1893 CE
Cite this page
- APA
- The Epoch Institute. (2026). Old Calabar. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/old-calabar
- MLA
- “Old Calabar.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/old-calabar. Accessed .
- Chicago
- The Epoch Institute. “Old Calabar.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/old-calabar.
- Harvard
- The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Old Calabar’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/old-calabar (Accessed: ).
Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻