CRIM 105 THE MAKING OF KENYA

THE GREAT MIGRATION INTO KENYA

The Great Migration into Kenya: Kenyan communities were

attracted to Kenya from different regions by good climatic
conditions. They moved into the country between 2000 BC and
1500 BC. The country has three main ethnolinguistic groups,
namely Cushitic, Nilotic and Bantu speakers. Over the years,
however, this linguistic grouping has changed as a result of
intermarriage and other groups of people having migrated into
Kenya from other regions of the world.
The Great Migration into Kenya – Cushites in Kenya

The Cushitic speakers are said to have originated from the

Ethiopian Highlands. It is from here that they moved to their
current homelands. In Kenya they arrived in two groups, the
Eastern and southern Cushites.

The Cushitic speakers were the first people to move to Kenya

between 3000-5000 years ago through Lakes Abaya and Turkana.
Social scientists believe that the Cushites found other people whose
language is not known, although it is believed to have affinities with
the dental click languages of the Khoisan of South Africa and the
Sandawe, Hadza and lraqwi of Tanzania. These original inhabitants
are also believed to have been rock artists and practiced hunting
and gathering for subsistence. The Southern Cushitic speakers
moved from southwestern Ethiopia to Kenya and Tanzania.

To supplement the linguists’ evidence, archaeologists have found

pottery with the same forms of decoration and of similar age in the
areas that are assumed to have been occupied by the Cushitic
speakers. Some of the Eastern Cushitic groups in Kenya today
include the El molo, Somali and Boni.

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 Reasons for the migration of the Cushites from their original homeland into
Kenya
1. They were searching for pasture and water
2. Escape from drought and famine
3. Outbreak of diseases and epidemics
4. Clan feuds and External attacks from neighbours
5. The need for extra land for their increasing populations i.e
Population pressure
6. Spirit and adventure

Cushites in Kenya
The Cushitic speakers were the first people to move to Kenya
between 3000- 5000 years ago through Lakes Abaya and Turkana.
Cushites in Kenya – Origin
Cushites form a significant minority of Kenya’s population. They speak
Afro-Asiatic languages, and originally came from Ethiopia and Somalia
in north-east Africa. Cushites are concentrated in the northernmost
North Eastern Province (formerly known as Northern Frontier District -
NFD), which borders Somalia. The Cushitic people’s form a small
ethnic minority of about 2%, mostly represented by Oromo and Somali
speakers.
In Kenya, Cushitic language speakers are divided into the Eastern and
Southern Group. The Southern Cushites were the second earliest
inhabitants of Kenya after the indigenous Bushman hunter-gatherer
groups, and the first of the Cushitic-speaking people to migrate from

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 their homeland in the Horn of Africa about 2000 years ago. They were
progressively displaced in a southerly direction and/or absorbed by
incoming Nilotic and Bantu groups until they wound up in Tanzania. As
a consequence of these movements, there are no longer any Southern
Cushites left in Kenya.
The Eastern Cushites include the Oromo and the Somali, of which the
Somali are the most recent arrivals to Kenya, having first come from
Somalia only a few centuries ago.
The Cushites live in the arid and semi-arid eastern and North-Eastern
parts of Kenya. They reside along a very large area of land that runs
from the east of Lake Turkana, stretches to the north of Kenya, and
through to the Indian Ocean.
Cushites include Somali, Rendille, Borana and Oromo tribes.
Due to the dryness of their habitat throughout most of the year, Cushites
are mainly nomadic pastoralists who keep large herds of cattle, camels,
goats and sheep. Cushitic people maintain very close ties with their
kinsmen – the Cushites of the neighbouring countries of Somalia and
Ethiopia.
The Cushitic languages (spoken by Cushitic peoples) are a branch of the
Afroasiatic language family spoken in the Horn of Africa, Tanzania,
Kenya, Sudan and Egypt. They are named after the Biblical character
Cush, who was identified as an ancestor of the speakers of these specific
languages as early as AD 947 (in Masudi’s Arabic history Meadows of
Gold). The most populous Cushitic language is Oromo with about 35
million speakers, followed by Somali with about 18 million speakers,
and Sidamo in Ethiopia with about 2 million speakers. Other languages
with more than one million speakers are Hadia (1.6 million), Kambata
(1.4 million), and Afar (1.5 million).
Reasons for the migration of the Cushites from their original homeland into
Kenya
1. They were searching for pasture and water
2. Escape from drought and famine
3. Outbreak of diseases and epidemics
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4. Clan feuds and External attacks from neighbours
5. The need for extra land for their increasing populations i.e Population
pressure
6. The Spirit of adventure

Results of the settlement of the Cushites in Kenya during the pre-colonial period
1. The Cushites came with their own livestock and so encouraged
livestock farming in areas where they settled.
2. Their settlement led to increased rivalry and conflicts for ownership of
land.
3. Some Cushites who had been converted to Islam spread the religion in
the areas where they settled.
4. The Cushites attacked the Eastern Bantu communities who had settled
at Shungwaya, and forced them to move to their present homeland in
Kenya.
5. The Cushites intermarried with the communities they found in the areas
where they settled.
6. The Cushites attacked the Eastern Bantu communities who had settled
at Shungwaya, and forced them to move to their present homeland in
Kenya.
7. The Cushites intermarried with the communities they found in the areas
where they settled in Kenya. (There was increase in population)
8. Trade developed between the Cushites and the example they exchanged
livestock products such as milk and butter with the Bantu and in return
they obtained grains from the Bantu.
9. The Bantu borrowed some to the cultural practices of the Cushites e.g.
Circumcision.
10. Cushites learnt mixed farming.

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 Cushites in Kenya

Current settlement of the Cushites

The social political and economic organization of the Somali in the

19th century

The Somali are the largest group of Eastern Cushitic speakers in Kenya.
They are believed to have originated from the Northern part of present
day Somalia along the Gulf of Eden. The Somali of Kenya speak the
same language with their kin in Somalia. The map provided in the next
page shows their current settlement.

Social Organization

1. Their social setup was based on the clan which consisted of related
families
2. They circumcised boys who became members of an age set
3. They believed in the existence of a God called Wak whom they
believed was creator and controller of all aspects of their lives
4. They also had people who mediated between them and god in the
religious centers
5. In the 16th century, they interacted with Muslims and adopted
Islamic culture and religion

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 6. There was division of labor according to gender, for example men
took care of animals while women carried out domestic chores and
constructed houses
7. The institution of marriage was highly valued and was polygamous
in nature.
8. Marriage within the same clan was not allowed.

Political Organization of the Somali

1. The Somali had a decentralized system of government

2. It was based on the clan which comprised of related families
3. Due to their pastoralists’ way of life, their political organization
was not stable
4. The clan was headed by a council of elders which had the
following duties:

a) Maintaining law and order

b) Settling land disputes

5.The Somali had the age set system which formed the basis of their
military organization. The age sets had a responsibility of defending the
community

6. Due to Islamic influence, the Somali political setup was changed.

They adopted the institution of sheikhs and imams as leaders of the
community

An Imam

7. The political system was based on the Islamic sharia law

Economic activities of the Somali

The Somali had several economic activities

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1. They were nomadic pastoralists
2. They kept animals like camels, cattle, goats and sheep from which
they got milk, blood and meat.
3. They traded with their neighbors. They exchanged their goods with
the Pokomo and the Miji Kenda
4. A section of the Somali practiced iron working and craft industries for
example pottery and weaving.
5. They practiced hunting and gathering

Effects of Cushites Migration

Positive Effects
1. Introduction of craft industry. They introduced smelting and the
use of tolls made of animal skin in the interior of East Africa.
2. They absorbed other tribes e.g. the Nilotes. This led to a growing
of new tribes and culture.
3. Culture exchange where they managed to spread male
circumcision.
4. Promoted trade with other communities.

Negative Effects
1. The Cushite migration let to depopulation. This was caused by the
frequent attacks that made many people die.
2. There was loss of culture due to cultural absorption. This was
brought about due to inter marrying with the non-Cushites whom
they came across.
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3. There was transformation of languages into new ones: This led to
the dying down of some of the Cushaitic languages while others
remained.