Pre-1500 — Ancient settlement#
Eggon, Mada, Gwandara, Alago, Migili, Kanuri-Kambari and Koro settle the central Benue plateau. Iron-smelting at Taruga (c. 600 BCE) bridges the Nok culture and the central Sudan.
1500 — 1804 — Pre-colonial polities#
Jukun (Kwararafa) cavalry of Wukari raid northwards; Igala influence reaches Lafia via the Doma valley. Alago Kingdom of Doma (founded c. 1232 by Andoma Agbumanu, an Igala prince) is among the oldest documented polities of the Middle Belt.
1804 — 1903 — The long 19th century#
The Fulani Makama Dogo founds the Keffi Emirate (1802); Mallam Yamusa founds Nasarawa Emirate (1838) under Zaria/Sokoto; Lafia becomes a separate emirate (1837) under Abdullahi. The British WAFF takes Keffi in 1902 after the assassination of Resident Captain Maloney by Magaji Dan Yamusa of Keffi (3 Oct 1902) — the proximate trigger for Lugard's conquest of Kano and Sokoto (Feb–Mar 1903).
1900 — 1960 — Colonial provinces#
Plateau Province (1926) within Northern Nigeria; Lafia and Nasarawa Divisions.
1960 — present — State creation chain#
- 1967 — Benue–Plateau State (capital Jos).
- 3 Feb 1976 — Plateau State.
- 1 Oct 1996 — Abacha's Decree No. 36 creates Nasarawa State (capital Lafia) from southern Plateau.
- 2001–04, 2018–present — Eggon, Alago, Tiv and Fulani communal violence.