The Isu people are the largest group of the Igbo people of Nigeria. Isuama, in which the purest Igbo is said to be spoken, is to be found the heart of the Igbo nationality; consequently it is quite reasonable to look among its people for the original fountain-head from which all the other clans have sprung. This inference too is supported not only by the purity of the language, but by this right of dispensing or rather of confer-ring royalty which is undoubtedly the prerogative of the Nri or N'shi people. In the pre-colonial era, the Igbo people were protected from external invasion by the dense forests of the region, which also encouraged diversity. Thus as warriors the neighboring Oratta (Uratta) people looked down on the Isu people, who were traders.