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Explain the results of the interactions between the various Kenyan communities during
the pre-colonial period.
a) Through the inter-tribal wars, there was loss of lives and destruction of property hence
economic decline.
b) Many communities were displaced as new ones arrived. E.g when the Luos arrived,
Abagusii and sections of the Abaluhyia were displaced. Etc.
c) The constant raids as a means of interaction led to some communities seeking for
refugee in secure places. E.g the Abagusii too refugee in the present Kisii highland due to
the Kipsigis, Nandi and Maasai raids in 1800AD.
d) A sense of unity developed among some communities e.g. among the Luo, as a means
of Defence against attacks by the Maasai, Nandi and Abaluhyia.
e) Tension between various communities was reduced as they interacted through
intermarriages e.g. between the Agikuyu and the Maasai.
f) Some new customs found their way into various communities. E.g the Bantu and the
nilotes learned of circumcision and age set system from the southern Cushites.
g) New technology infused into various communities. E.g. the Bantu and the nilotes
learned the art of cattle milking and bleeding, irrigation and manuring from the southern
Cushites.
h) Specialization emerged mainly due to inter-community trade in the region.
i) There was also increased wealth in some communities. For example through the trade
between the Agikuyu and the Akamba, some Agikuyu gained wealth.
j) New economic activities sprung up in some communities. E.g. the Maasai adopted
crop cultivation from the Agikuyu.
k) The Bantu language was enriched through the borrowing of some vocabulary from the
southern Cushites.
l) The Abakuria were able to develop into a distinct ethnic group as a result of constant
raids from the Maasai and the Luo.
SOCIO-ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL ORGANIZATION OF KENYAN
COMMUNITIES IN THE 19THCENTURY
THE BANTU
Social organization
~ Almost all the Bantu communities were organized in clans made up of people with
common descent.
~ All the Bantu communities practiced circumcision. In some communities like the
Akamba, Abaluhyia, only boys circumcised. Among the Abagusii and Agikuyu, both
boys and girls were circumcised. The initiates were taught the values and customs of their
community
~ Circumcision marked an entry into an age set whose functions included defending the
community from external attacks, building huts and advising junior age-sets on how to
raid.