XIXᵉ siècle – XIXᵉ siècle
Maasailand, Rift Valley of Kenya and Tanzania
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The Maasai civil wars were a series of nineteenth-century conflicts over cattle, pasture, political influence, and access to grazing lands across Maasailand. Fighting involved shifting alliances among pastoral Maasai, agricultural Maasai or Iloikop, and groups occupying strategic plateaux. Wars followed the famine of 1836, continued through conflicts on the Uasin Gishu plateau and between Purko and Losegalai, and culminated in struggles among northern plateau alliances. By 1884, pastoral groups had prevailed while Iloikop communities were dispersed.
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Le récit
By the mid-nineteenth century, pastoral Maasai controlled grasslands in the Rift Valley between central Tanzania and central Kenya. Agricultural Maasai groups, known as Iloikop or Wa-Kwavi, bordered them to the east between Mount Kilimanjaro and the Kenya Highlands and also to the west. The conflicts that followed were not simply a confrontation between two permanently separate ways of life, because groups could move between pastoral and agricultural subsistence according to their access to cattle and pasture.
One series of wars took place on the Uasin Gishu plateau. Pastoral Maasai from the Rift Valley sought access to its grasslands, which were occupied by the Uasin Gishu and supported by other Maasai-speaking groups. The Uasin Gishu were eventually driven from the plateau and dispersed toward other areas, and some were later used to strengthen the kingdom of Wanga.
A second series followed the famine of 1836, which affected many parts of East Africa. Raids appear to have been undertaken partly to replenish herds lost during the drought. In the south, Rift Valley Maasai pushed groups from Kibaya, Shambarai, and Naberera toward areas east of the Pangani River, the Kilimanjaro lowlands, and Taveta; the settlement of the Arusha on Mount Meru is also associated with this phase.
Further conflicts included raids against the Laikipia and a major war between the Purko and Losegalai from 1860 to 1864. Some Losegalai fled to Kipsigis and Nandi territories, where Maasai refugees were associated with the introduction of the oloiboni-like office known as orkoiyot. In the final northern plateau conflicts, alliances involving Purko, Kisongo, Laikipia, and Iloikop groups produced pastoral pre-eminence by 1884 and scattered many Iloikop communities.
XIXᵉ siècle – XIXᵉ siècle
Maasailand, Rift Valley of Kenya and Tanzania
Traduction non disponible · Original (anglais) · français indisponible
The Maasai civil wars were a series of nineteenth-century conflicts over cattle, pasture, political influence, and access to grazing lands across Maasailand. Fighting involved shifting alliances among pastoral Maasai, agricultural Maasai or Iloikop, and groups occupying strategic plateaux. Wars followed the famine of 1836, continued through conflicts on the Uasin Gishu plateau and between Purko and Losegalai, and culminated in struggles among northern plateau alliances. By 1884, pastoral groups had prevailed while Iloikop communities were dispersed.
Poursuivre l’exploration
Le récit
By the mid-nineteenth century, pastoral Maasai controlled grasslands in the Rift Valley between central Tanzania and central Kenya. Agricultural Maasai groups, known as Iloikop or Wa-Kwavi, bordered them to the east between Mount Kilimanjaro and the Kenya Highlands and also to the west. The conflicts that followed were not simply a confrontation between two permanently separate ways of life, because groups could move between pastoral and agricultural subsistence according to their access to cattle and pasture.
One series of wars took place on the Uasin Gishu plateau. Pastoral Maasai from the Rift Valley sought access to its grasslands, which were occupied by the Uasin Gishu and supported by other Maasai-speaking groups. The Uasin Gishu were eventually driven from the plateau and dispersed toward other areas, and some were later used to strengthen the kingdom of Wanga.
A second series followed the famine of 1836, which affected many parts of East Africa. Raids appear to have been undertaken partly to replenish herds lost during the drought. In the south, Rift Valley Maasai pushed groups from Kibaya, Shambarai, and Naberera toward areas east of the Pangani River, the Kilimanjaro lowlands, and Taveta; the settlement of the Arusha on Mount Meru is also associated with this phase.
Further conflicts included raids against the Laikipia and a major war between the Purko and Losegalai from 1860 to 1864. Some Losegalai fled to Kipsigis and Nandi territories, where Maasai refugees were associated with the introduction of the oloiboni-like office known as orkoiyot. In the final northern plateau conflicts, alliances involving Purko, Kisongo, Laikipia, and Iloikop groups produced pastoral pre-eminence by 1884 and scattered many Iloikop communities.
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