The Eastern Bantu: People of Kenya up to 19th Century

The Eastern Bantu

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The Eastern Bantu

• Mt Kenya/Highland Bantu
  • Agikuyu
  • Ameru
  • Akamba
  • Aembu
  • Ambeere
• Coastal Bantu
  • Pokomo
  • Mijikenda
  • Taita

​The Eastern Bantu are divided into 

• Highland or Mt. Kenya Bantu and 
• Coastal Bantu.

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Coastal Bantu

They include the 

• Taita, 
• Pokomo and 
• Mijikenda.

From the west Victoria dispersal point their first movement was up to Taita hills, where the Taita remained.
The Mijikenda and Pokomo proceeded northwards to the coast up to Shungwaya (another dispersal point).
​The main reason for the Shungwaya dispersal was the Oromo attack In AD 1600.

​Pokomo

​They moved from Shungwaya following river Tana interacting with the Cushites like the Oromo and Somali.

​Mijikenda

​The name means Nine Clans comprising of the Kauma, Giriama, Duruma, Chonyi, Jibana, Kambe, Ribe, Rabai and Digo.
From the Shungwaya dispersal point,(forced out by the Oromo/Somali southwards expansionist attacks), they settled in fortified villages mainly due to security concerns. Each of the nine groups settled in their own separate ridge referred to as Kaya fortified with thorny trees.
By the 19th, the Mijikenda were established as middlemen during the long distance trade between the Akamba and the coastal Waswahili.

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​The highland Bantu

​Examples of highland Bantus include Agikuyu, Ameru, Aembu, Ambeere and the AkambaThey are also products of the Shungwaya dispersion.

• The Kikuyu traditionally believe that a man, Gikuyu, was the founder of the tribe. He had a wife named Mumbi, who gave birth to nine (plus one) daughters. The daughters married and had their own families, retaining a domineering role in Kikuyu society.

​Agikuyu

• The largest single group of the eastern group.
• While the Kikuyu can be found throughout Kenya, the heaviest concentration being in Central Province, known as the traditional Kikuyu homeland.
• The Kikuyu traditionally believe that a man, Gikuyu, was the founder of the tribe. He had a wife named Mumbi, who gave birth to nine (plus one) daughters. The daughters married and had their own families, retaining a domineering role in Kikuyu society.
• It was in Mukurwe wa Gathanga division of Nyeri district where an identifiable beginning for the modern Kikuyu people is defined.
• Ancestors of the Kikuyu arrived in Kenya during the Bantu migrations of 1200-1600 AD. The Agikuyu seem to have moved southwest from the coast at around 1400AD also running away from hostile Oromo. They followed Tana River with some groups falling off and settling in different places. For example the Tharaka settled in the east and the Ambeere settled in the southwest. The main group proceeded up to the confluence of rivers Tana and Thika (Mukurwe wa Gathanga. They spread and settled in Kiambu and Nyandarua from Murang’a.
• The key event in their migration and settlement was military conflict with and defeat of the Gumba people by the Mathira and Tetu people, allied with the Athi and the Maasai in the early 1800's.
• They displaced or absorbed the original inhabitants-the Dorobo (Athi) and Gumba who were a hunter- gatherer community.
• Settlement of the Nyeri plains took place after the British moved the Maasai from the area. The Kikuyu were in Kabete by around 1850, Ruiru about 1900.
• They heavily interacted with the Maasai and Cushites in the area.

​Describe the relationship between Athi and the Agikuyu.

• The Athi were the original inhabitants of the land where the Agikuyu live presently.
• The Agikuyu claim they bought the land from the Athi.
• The Agikuyu also acquired some cultural practices from the Athi e.g. circumcision, clitoridectomy and age set system.
• The Athi acted as middlemen in the trade between the Agikuyu, Maasai and the coastal people.

The original homeland of the Ameru is claimed to Mbwa, located somewhere at the coast on Manda island.

​Akamba.

• They point to the area around mt Kilimanjaro as their original homeland.
• From here they moved to Taita Hills before reaching Tsavo West. They followed the Banks of Athi River in the 15th century one group crossing Athi into Ulu. Another group moved south to the Galana River and settled in the region around chyulu hills north of mt. Kilimanjaro
• By around mid 16th century a group of the Akamba had settled in the Mbooni hills near Machakos.
• Due to environmental influence, the Akamba near Mbooni began to practice agriculture before migrating to iveti, kilungu and masaku. Those that moved to drier Chyulu hills became hunters. The Kitui group adopted pastoralism and hunting and participated in long distance trade.

​The Ameru

• Their original homeland is claimed to Mbwa, located somewhere at the coast on manda island. The Shungwaya dispersal might have led to the pushing of the Ameru to tigania and Igembe regions at around 1400AD. They crossed the Tana River with the Tharaka sections of Agikuyu and settled to the east of tana. The Chuka section settled in the west of river tana. The mwimbi, imenti, tigania and igembe also settled west of the Tana River.
• According to tradition, the Meru and Agikuyu were initially migrating as one group and separated at around 15th c and 16th c.

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​Effects of the Bantu Migration

​The results of the Bantu migration were both positive and negative.

​Positive results

• Introduction of iron working the use of iron tools in the interior of East Africa where peoplewere at first using stone tools. There was an increase in food production.
• Introduction of new crops e.g. yams, bananas: the Bantu introduced and increased theknowledge of food and extensive crop cultivation. Earlier on, the inhabitants of East Africa were food gatherers, but with iron smelting and its results, food production seriously started.
• The absorbed other tribes e.g. the gathers: This led to widespread Bantu languages of “NTU” prefix in East Africa.
• They introduced centralized administration: They introduced a centralized system of government whereby the king acted as the overall ruler, under who were the other chiefs, down to the lay person. This was done in western Kenya by the Wanga.
• Introduced a system of building permanent homes: They opened new land to settlement in families, clans and villages.
• The knowledge of iron smelting which the Bantu introduced led to the making of hoes and pangas for tilling and clearing land, the bows, arrows and spears for defense and protection.
• They introduced subsistence agriculture, whereby they grew enough food for home consumption, and the rest could be kept in case of shortages, or be exchanged in barter trade.

​Negative effects

• The Bantu migration led to depopulation:
  This was caused by the frequent attacks made on the Bantu by Somali and Oromo, or by the Bantu against the people East Africa for land, through wars.
• There was loss of culture due to cultural absorption:
  This was brought about due to Bantu intermarrying with the non- Bantu peoples, whom they came across.
• There was transformation of languages into new ones:
  ​This led to the dying down of some of the Bantu languages, while others remained.

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