Pre-1500 — Ancient settlement#
Bata, Bwatiye, Vere, Chamba and Mumuye Adamawa-language groups settle the upper Benue and Mandara foothills; iron-working from c. 500 CE.
1500 — 1804 — Pre-colonial polities#
The Bata, Kilba and Margi resist incorporation into Kanem–Borno's western tributary chain. Chamba migration from the Faro–Deo plateau begins in the late 18th century.
1804 — 1903 — The long 19th century#
The Fulani scholar Modibbo Adama bin Ardo Hassan receives a flag from Usman dan Fodio at Gudu in 1809 during the Sokoto Jihad and founds the Adamawa Emirate (1809), naming his capital Yola in 1841. Adamawa becomes the largest emirate of the Sokoto Caliphate, stretching into modern Cameroon. The Royal Niger Company sends Captain Mizon (French) and then Sir George Goldie's expedition to Yola; on 2 September 1885 Lamido Sanda signs an RNC treaty granting trade monopoly. The 1893 Anglo-German Yola–Cross River boundary, and the 1901 British conquest under Colonel Morland's WAFF column (Yola taken 2 Sept 1901 after Lamido Zubeiru's resistance), partition the emirate. The 1919 Versailles partition of German Kamerun cedes northern Adamawa to British administration as Northern Cameroons.
1900 — 1960 — Colonial provinces#
Adamawa Province within the Protectorate of Northern Nigeria (1900–14), then Northern Region. The 1959–61 UN Plebiscite splits the Trust Territory: Northern Cameroons votes (11 Feb 1961) to join Nigeria, adding Mubi and the Mandara districts.
1960 — present — State creation chain#
- 1967 — North-Eastern State (capital Maiduguri).
- 3 Feb 1976 — Gongola State created (capital Yola).
- 27 Aug 1991 — Gongola is split into Adamawa (capital Yola) and Taraba (capital Jalingo).