Mashariki Bantu
Mashariki Bantu refers to a group of Bantu-speaking peoples primarily found in East Africa, characterized by their rich cultural diversity and historical migrations. The term "Mashariki" means "east" in Swahili, while "Bantu" translates to "people." Bantu speakers predominantly inhabit regions south of 5 degrees north latitude and are organized into approximately three hundred distinct groups, each possessing its own language, history, and cultural identity. The origins of the Bantu can be traced back to the borderlands of Nigeria and Cameroon, from where they migrated as farmers and ironworkers, introducing advanced agricultural practices and iron technology across various parts of Africa.
The Mashariki Bantu migration brought them into contact with various indigenous groups, such as Khoisan speakers and Cushitic peoples, leading to gradual assimilation and the establishment of new social structures. These societies developed unique leadership dynamics, with roles sometimes shifting to religious specialists like rainmakers. Notably, some Mashariki Bantu groups migrated further into regions such as southeast Zaire and Zambia, where they integrated with existing West Bantu populations, creating a fusion of cultural and agricultural practices. This historical interplay illustrates the complexity and adaptability of the Mashariki Bantu within the broader narrative of African history.
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Subject Terms
Mashariki Bantu
Date: 1000 b.c.e.-700 c.e.
Locale: East Africa, present-day Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania
Mashariki Bantu
Mashariki (mah-shah-REE-kee) is a Swahili word that means “east,” and bantu (BAHN-tew) means “people.” The Bantu speakers make up a major part of the population of nearly all Africa south of 5 degrees north latitude. They belong to about three hundred groups, each with its own language or dialect. Every Bantu group considers itself a separate cultural and political unit, and each has its own name and history. Groups vary in size from a few hundred members to several million individuals. Large groups in East Africa include the Swahili, whose language is spoken throughout eastern Africa, and the Kikuyu (Gikuyu) in Kenya. The first Bantu came from the present Nigeria-Cameroon borderlands. Their growing population caused them to move to new lands. These people were farmers who established an ironworking culture, and brought their knowledge to much of Africa. As early as 900 b.c.e., these ironworkers were associated with a type of pottery called Urewe ware that had penetrated into the Great Lakes area of East Africa. The sites represent the earliest evidence of iron technology in East Africa. Bantu agriculturists carried their iron technology with them as they ranged farther from the forest margins and deeper into various parts of the southern subcontinent.
The Mashariki Bantu migration was soon confronted with other peoples. The earlier inhabitants of East Africa were several different groups of food-gatherers, including some who were Khoisan speakers. Southern Cushitic speakers from Ethiopia and the Eastern Cushites from the same area settled in the Rift Valley and in adjacent highland and plains areas of Kenya and Tanzania. Also the central Sudanic speakers came into Uganda, west of the Rift Valley. In each of these regions, the Mashariki societies expanded gradually wider and wider, progressively assimilating the earlier peoples into their societies.
The Mashariki Bantu ancestral vocabulary also shows that social structures had become different from those of the earlier Bantu dispersal. The speakers developed exogamous descent groups whose membership was better defined than that of the houses. The basic groups did not come directly from family and other ties that successful leaders had managed to create. Leaders rose in already constituted and not necessarily residential communities, and some were organized based on grouping males by age. In other places, leadership shifted to religious specialists, especially rainmakers. Some Mashariki Bantu speakers settled in southeast Zaire and Zambia and carried their grain-based farming complex westward into the savannas and woodlands to the Atlantic Ocean. These fused with the West Bantu speakers who had preceded them there, providing strong influence.
Bibliography
Ehret, Christopher. An African Classical Age: Eastern and Southern Africa in World History, 1000 b.c. to a.d. 400. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1998.
Hombert, Jean Marie, ed. Bantu Historical Linguistics: Theoretical and Empirical Perspective. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 1999.