Warrior Peoples ofEast Africa 1840-1900

THE RUGA-RUGA 21

~..• 1fItt>..

\

at PEEM w•• born In1Me 'bHIled hlatot)' ,tCaInbrtdge Unlveratty. and__ u- tin punuotd •

IlfMonrI ,"*"1 in military

IliItofY MCI Afrio;M elq)lon&n.

He lit MMried wfth_

~,-.d"- and-u in ainnlngham.

RAFfAELE RUGGERI I~ end-u In Iologne, 1~1y. andtIM I/kII:nled • number of

o.prey tldM. Most reflect'"- pattIcuIwlnle,...ta InIn. ",lUota", hltltory of AMe.

and of thoI ottoman Emplr••

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION• Limil;uions on warfare in pre<olonial Ea.~l Africa• Tribal dominance relationships

CHRONOLOGY

THE MASAI• 511CCesseS against Arab sla\ers• Conflict ,\;th Europeans: Carl Peters at Elbejel. 1889• Org:aniZduon and tanics

THENGONI• ~oI1.lH..~.uds migration in the face ofShaki.t's Zulus• Fragmentalion illlo fOUf groups - the L.... le :'\\";b..... lingdoms• Encolllllcrs ",il.h the Gcmlans and British

• OrganiLalion and tactics. ~Ion'ment on campaign­the assault -the rewards ofcourage - nigh I raids­ambush 011 a car.n'lI1

THE HEHE• Strength from unification• The campaigns of ~lkwawa - expansion to...."ards the coasl.

War \\;th the Germans: ambush of the Zclc\\'Sk.i column,1891 - the sLOnning of Kalenhra, 189..J - final glJcrrillacampaigns

• Organization and tactics: Supplies and portcrs - the am1\'on the march -limited usc offireanns - positional fighting

• BandilS, militia and 'hired gUlls'• 'nle warlord r-.lirambo ('I-leaps of CorVses') - the treacherous

N}'unI:Pl·)'<I.~lawe

• Organizalion and tactics: Nyungu's company cOlllmanders­rUlhless discipline

THE NANDI• Iioslilily 10 foreign tradel'S• The British cx~dition of 1895• Organization and tactics

THE TURKANA• The military limitations of climate• Organi7..ation and leadership

SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY

THE PLATES

INDEX

3

5

5

12

17

35

38

41

42

48

Men-at-Arms· 41 1OSPREYPUBLISHING

Warrior Peoples ofEast Africa 1840-1900

Chris Peers· Illustrated by RaffaeSenes editor Marton Wllld~ow

fCQI~ ..~ by o.p., PI-.gMdwIcl~. WlIIl Wri. Bolley. 0><10nl 0X2 llPH, UKU3 fin """-- SouIh. New Y!;lrk, NY 10011, l.ISA

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FOA A CATALOGUE OF AU.. BOOKS P!JBl.I8l-EO BY

0SPflEY r.tlUTARV AND AIIIAl10N PlEASE CONT~----:M21 80ncl SIr-. IJnioNnitJ' Pw1I, Il.IOoIM, USA

M_.....--""PO Boa 1010. ~oybooOUgh, Pb1hInllt .... IF" UK

&nil: UO.Up.... t .... '.

-.-eow PC '•• """11

Artl.t'. Note---------

~ may ca1I 10 note thal the original pejnllrlgS II'om wtIICh thecclour plat.... this book .."~ _ av.aabIe b' ".,..... saaAI~ IXIP'IrilIht what3olIYe' •~ by Ihe PutIliIItws..AI~ ahcuId be M:ldI sed to:

RatI..Ruggeri. "" .ldllpelodel'llII 22• .t0121~ rt.Iy

The P!.tJWIcIn; regret IhId hIy can enter no no~upon Itw metter.

.Joseph~ and two Swahili

companloM INIoN the ckpartu..

of their ...pedltlon Kroft

~I_ kt 1883, tt w .. the

• .....-. of brHet\.~Jng

""" lin the oM ahoWn heNtNIt put an end to the cIoml~

of the tr8dlUO-I E..t Afrk8;nw.rriot" peoples. (Joseph1lIcHnson, Through ",.-1 Und)

WARRIOR PEOPLESOF EAST AFRICA

1840-1900

INTRODUCTION

liE seBJECTSorTHlS BOOK are me six warrior peoples ....ho dominatedE..'lS1 Africa during the second half of the 19th centlll"\, The\include fh'e traditional 'tribes' (a teml used here forcoll\'enience,

....ithout an) claim 10 a precise meaning) - the .\Ias."li, ~goni, Hehe,Nandi and Turkana; and one group ....'hich mighl be better described asa warrior caste - the Ruga-Ruga, These peoples ",ere not, of course, theonh nOlable fighlers in the region, and .... ere far from the onh ones whoresisted the European conquesL Howe\cr, me\ were regarded rncontemporaries as me most skilled, the most n1thless and me moslfeared of the natin~ milital") powers of their region,

'Easl Africa' as defined here corresponds roughh 10 preselll~a\

Kenra, T;U17.ania and Malawi, For 50 years before the colonial era theregion v:as fought over b) Arab slavers and European explorers as wellas b) iLS indigenous human predators, who logether gave ila reputationfOl' \lolence and la..,:lcssncss, By 1900 il had been partitioned betweenIhe empires of Britain and Gennany, and all of its inhabitanl.'l had

lost Iheir independence (although it was 10take nearl)' (WO more decades before me Turkanaof Ken)<l's remote northern frontier finallyaccepted that fuct) ,

All too man)' European \,TIters regarded African,lImies as no more than diso'l.'<Inized hordes of'sa\'agcs', but in realil)' they were well adapted tothe conditions under .."hich they operaled, andwere often organi1ed with considerable sophis­licalion. Warfare here was differenl from thatin most other pans of the world in a number ofrespects, Becausc of infcnile soils and unpre­dictable climate it was seldom possible 10 collectthe food surpluses which were needed LO sustainlarge annies. This problem ....-as compounded bythe difficult terrain, the lack of na\igable ri ers,and me e\-cr-present thrcat of disease, hichmade it almost impossible to maintain hugebodies of European troops in Ihe field for an~

length of time, Disease made the deployment ofcavall")' impossible, and onh thc lightest of fieldartillel")' could be manhandled o\er the Ullc\cntracks. The outcomc of all these factors was thai....'ar was waged on a ...e .... small scale; e\-en the mostpowerful of the peoples discussed here could not 3

OCEAA

I,\'DIA r

~Pbttnames

~ thoK in eonunonllV in 1M 19" cmtun

taLe Rudulris no",'

lno>-n 8:'i lIlk" Tand 1.&<: r.}"UlI II!>

l.a.ld.lab",i

AM. EJgon

.iKaIenga •

!

~LNyau

niTA

~BU

NGONI

r----~-,-------/~·r---_;:=====:::;'~ L. Rudolf \,1,'.~ EAST AFRICA~ rlJ IN THE 19"

I?/(A....A CENTURYShQ""ng ~1 ions ofthe peopIt'5 di!lCUS.'lC:d

intne 101.

4

put forces of more than a couple of thousand men imo the field formore than a fewda)'S. Both Bliush and Gelman E.."\St Africa were broughtunder colonial camral by 'al1l1ics' consisting of tWO or three companies,usually of locally recruited infanu"}'.

On lhe olher hand. the native peoples of East Africa lived in an almostpermanent state of low-inlcnsit)' hostiJitk-s. 'In Africa', said C'1plain Stairsof the Royal Engineers in 1891. 'lhe on I)' CdllSC of war is simply fear.' Oftenthis ....~.lS true, but economic moti\'cs were also important. With so fewresources lO go round, connie! with neighbours \\'as inevitable. In mostcases it look the f0l111 of raids for callie, which wcrc the only significamf0l111 ofmovcable wealth, The economics ofallthc w.uTior tribes discussedhere were based La a great extent on callIe, and for lllC Ma.....i especiallylhey were a national obsession, NOl all Easl Aflic.1ns, howt:vcr, were equallyadepl at war; travellers noticed a sharp distinclion belween the ordinary\iJlagers, who li\'ed in a conslant st.:..te of insecllIil}', and the minority ofllibes which mighl be regarded as 'nel exponcrs of fear'. For one reasonor anolher some peoples had become a source of lerror to theirneighbours, in the process incidelllally guaral1tccing lheir mm security.

F.D,Lugard writes of the 'illlolerable t}'fanny of lhe dominant tribe' ineach area as being as great a menace as the Arab slave-raiders. TheyachiC\'ed this dominance for a variety of reasons. The Turkana of thenorthern deserts, for example. depended lot."lll) on their li\'t:SlOCk. whichwas exu-cmely nJinerable 10 drought., so had no choice bUl to replacelheir losses by raiding other tribes. The Nandi, a small tribe surrounded

by cnemies, musl have fuced the earl)' choice either of becoming great.....tniors or of being annihilated. TIle Masai and Ngoni were descendedfrom migrant conquerors .....ho for generations had dC'-elopcd aggressh'e......arfare illlo a ....'a)' of life. The Hehe and Ruga-Ruga ofTangan)ika o edtheir \ictories to the leadership of a handful of remarkable men hoconsciousl)" set out to turn them into fighting nations. WhatC"er thereasons for taking the course they did, this handful of ....'anior peoplessloo<l largel), aloof from the chaos which engulfed most of late 19thccntury East Africa. The Arab slave-raidcrs g;we them a wide benh, thewhite explorers treatcd them with rcspect, and evcn whcn the)' .....ereflna1J)' brought under colonial allthorit)' thc)' often continued to rcgardthemseh'es as allics !"alhcr limn subjects of their new o\'crlords. TI1CMas.... i, Ngoni and Hehe especiall)' pro\idcd man)' of dlC nalive soldiersor auxiliaries which lhe new colonial armics deplo)cd againslncighbouring tribes, lhus pcrpeUiating the old pattems of .....arfare underdifferent nags for at Icast another gcncration.

CHRONOLOGY

1835

1848

1857

18591871

187~77

1883

1884

188518881890

1891-98189518961897

Thc Ngoni under Zwangcndaba cross the Zambczi intoEast Africa.Dcadt of Z....'angendaba. Ngoni split up into numcrousindependcnt bands.Explorcrs Hunan and Speke discover dlC route toLake Tanganyika.The ~'Iasai S<1.ck Mombasa.Rise to po....'er of the Ruga-Ruga leaders Mirambo andNyu ngu-)'a-~1 a.....e.H.M.slanley in\"Oh'cd in Arab campaign against ~'!irambo.

Stanley's trans-Africa expedition.Thomson makes the first successful crossing of Masailandb)' a European.Deaths of Mirambo and Nyungu-)'a-Ma.....e.Genn:m)' annexes the coastal region ofTangan)"ib.Berlin Conference prccipil<'ues thc 'Scramblc for Africa'.First European cnCOlllllcr with thc Turkana.Anglo-Cennan agrecment panitions East Africa bet.....centhe t.....o po.....ers.Hehe war of resistancc against the Germans.First British campaign against dlC Nandi.Ngoni of N)'asaJand brought under British control.Final conquest of Ngoni in German East Africa.

THE MASAI

The Masai .....ere uniquc among the tribes of East Africa in the fear thatthL")' inspired in Europeans, Arabs and othcr Africans alikc. In the .....ordsof Charles New.....·ho encountered thcm in thc earl)' 18iOs, 'Ph)"Sicall)'thcy are a splendid peoplc; and for cncrb'Y, intrepidit), and dash they arewithout their equals in Africa; but thc)' arc cruel and rcmorselcss to the •

From the fTonthpl.ee of Joseph

Thomton" J1'In)ulJh M." ~nd,

thb: is the c:iassk: Image of e letetltttl c:entury M...l wentOf' In fullwer ge.r, with feether heltdd,..s.nd nec:k n.ltf, ne/be,.. doek.nd go.t h.lr leg om.mente.h.,. with spur-like horb:ont.1eden.io"e (... Pletes A end 8J.

The we.pons of the morenw.nio... were the speer. theol.lem .hort eword .nd th.club or knobkel'l1e,

Another of Thomson"ilIustJ1ltlons of M...l w.nio....this time b.Md 0I'l • phologrephteken I" t 883. showing menof the L.lklptek cl.n In theirordirYry d.y·to-dey .ttl,...The w.rrionI In"erl.bly (:limedtheir spea... even when 1101 0I'l

the we1JNlth. bee8U" of theC:OI'l$l8nt nMd to protlKt theirhMds from lJons .nd other

6 wild enlme'"

last degree,' They had migr:lled illlO East Africafrolll the north about 300 yem-s earlier, suITjugating or driving out the earlier inhabilallls oftile region, and now occupied the prime grazinglands of the Kem';\ llighlands, extending southinto what is now Tanlania.

Nineteenth CCntu .... writcrs belic\'ed that therewere twO major subdhisions of the ~Iasai nation­the Masai proper, and the 'Kwa\'i'. The lauertenu, howe\'er, did nat refer to a di.uinCl people,but was used to describe those tribesmen who hadlost their callie and been forced - usualh'lemporarih -10 ...,1..e up famling. In fact the :\Iasaiwere di\ided il1lo 16 major clans. of which four­the Kapllliei. Loitai, Purko and Kisongo - .....erepredominant, and fonned the cores of loose,semi~pennanel11 power blocs.

Br tJle beginning oCthe 19th centu.... the mainphase of Mas.1.i territorial e'pansion \'t'aS o\'er, butall tJle dans fought constanth against each otheras well as their non-~fasai neighbour'S. In fact thepeople suffered far more casualties in these chilwars than in all their elo:temal campaigns puttogetJler. The main moti\e for this \'o-arfare \'o'ascaule-raiding: according to Ma.sai myth, Cod hadoriginall)' given their people o\\uership of all thecattle in the world. so il follo\\'ed that all the beasts

now in the possession of others were descended from herds stolen fromthe Masai. It was therefore nOI JUSt a quick wa) of gaining \\'eahh. butalmost a religious dUlY, LO lr)' to get them back. TIlese raids affectedalmost Lhe whole of East AfriC<1 to some extelll, as f-ar north as the

coumry of the Turkana around Lake Rudolf and soutb to the bordersof the Hehe kingdom beyond thc Ruaha Rivcr.

The Masai were not alwa)'s \;ctOl;OUS, howC\'cr, and south of MountKilima..~jaro a series of disasten had prevcntcd thcm expanding funherin lhal direction. Joseph 1110111son s.,} that in about 1830 a raid b)' the·Wa-k",...fi' into Ugogo mel "';th defeal, ",;th 'great numhen' ofwarrionslaughtered. Fifty yean later thc)' suffered another major setback al thehands of the Hehe. Masai fighting l<lctics ",ere best suited 10 the openplains, so where\'er their enemies could find a refuge in difficult coumrylhey managed to hold lheir own. Thus the Kiku}'u, K.,mba and Chagaheld out in the mOlllllains and forests on the edges of Masailand untillhc colonial period. On the eastern fromier lhere was less resistancefrom the un...."ilrlike u;bes, and the raiding parties were obstmcted onlyby scauered Zanzibari garrisons.

The first Arab and S.....ahili traders had managed 10 l.r3verse the Masaicoulllr)' as far as lake Baringo as early as the 1840s, but this was b)' far themosl dangerolls of the three main routes from the coast into the imerior.From the 1850s white explorers accepted that the direct route 10 LakeVictoria was imp.'\SSable Ix.'cause of the Masai. Some suspected thailhe Arab pioneers had exaggerated the I;sks in order to discoumgecompetitors and keep lhe lucmtive ivory t...de wilh lhe north for them­selves, but lhere was plenty of e\;dence to the contrary.j.M.Hildebrandt,for example, reponed to the Berlin Geographical Society in 1877 lhat behad been im;led 10join a camvan of 2,000 ivory Irdders travelling to LakeVictoria, bUI had declined -luckily for him, since 'A year laler Ileanu thatlhis \'el1' cara\';lll was attacked b)' the Masai, and that \'ery few of thenumber escaped'. Al the beginning of 1877 the same writer was forcedto tum back on I}' three da}'S' march from Mount Ken).... because 'a shorttime before m} arrival Lhe Wak.....afi [pro!>.,bl)' Laikipiak Mas..~i, whomThomson also refers 10 as kK.....avi..l had to the last man destroyed acaravan of 1,500 armed men'.

In 1893Sil' Gerald Ponal, on his way to Ubranda, saw the site ofa baulc12 ycars before, in .....hich 300 Swahilis had held ofT thc .....arrio..s untillheir ammunition ran OUI and had then been massacred, lea\'ing onlythree sun;vors. And according to Carl Pelers, in 1887 the Masai 'CLlt

Dattllil from th.lat. 1880s, thl,I' OMI of the ....ry f.w aur'l'lvl",

photogl'llphll of II llMtl ClMltury

Maul "'., patty In the field.While unfortulNltely not very

c"'r, tt doM .now~I poInb

of In~t. Note especlalt1 the

nriety of ."lelet 1N'tterns. Metthe way In which meny of the

_rrtCH. .,.. holding their ."....

_ UIeft" heed.. Hwe th" "probllbly bel",~ to pnMde

ahade! from the -.un, but otherob..r'I'.... conflrm !:hilt tn.V

could be hfid In thlll wav whenIn IeUon to ",ent off~(LudwIg II'On Hohnel, The

~o''''''"RudoIrand Sr.,-,-,

7

dO"l1, to the lasl man, an Arab caravan numbering t"'o thousand guns.laid all the corpses in ranks and rm'oS side b) side, and in scorn put eachman's gun across his shouldcr', Evcn !.hose parties \\-hich did get throughS(':ldom did so \\ithout fighting, Thomson was told thai the laM threecaravans to altempt the joume)' before his own 1883 expedition hadeach losl marc than 100 men in baltle.

The Masai were not generall)' hostile to ,,-hite men, howC"er, bm So:1.\'ed

!.heir real hatred for thc Arabs. In the 1890s man) British adminislratorsfelt that most of the attacks on the Arabs and Swahilis hadbeen provoked b)' the traders, "rho, belie\ing that theirguns "'Ollid intimidate Ihe uibcsmen, had looted Masaivillages and ;-ntCl'llptt.'<I 10 abduct the ,,'omen.

Conflict with Europe.n.It was 110t untit 1883 that Joseph Thomson made thefirst successful crossing of the country. He expeliencedno serious resistance, although bands of warriorsrepeatedly appeared to demand 'presents' or imposearbitrary fines. They showed no fcar of the white men'sweapons, and Thomson latcr admiued thai he had beenlucky, as many of thc most intransigelll bands were awayraiding at the time of his visit.

The "lOSt clash bct,,'een the Masai and the whitescame in 1889, ,,'hen the German [min Pasha ReliefExpedition, led by Carl Peters, crossed northernMas.'liland on its way to Uganda. I-lis force comprisedtwO white men, 21 Somali ask.aris (nine of whom hadrepealing rifles), and 85 poners, an unk.nmm numberofwhom \\'ere amled. Peters \\'as determined to provokeconflict \\ilh the i\lasai. lie refused to pal' tribute. and

8 relied on seizing food and !i,'eslock to supplemem his

ABOVE An inddent ckIring the

"'ht .t Elbetet In o.e.mbet"1888. H.¥Ing prvvoklMl the MaN!

Into .tt.Kldng hi"" the o.nn.n.llpkww C..-I ht....~ to.~t. hI.- carw.n only .ner......,.1 d-vs of hard "'htlng.(C..-I P.t..... 1M"" LIght ono.,*A~1

•

'./

A Maul eM••t Elbejet. In thisand the~ drawing, mostwanion _ Mown c.rrying

1dentig,11y p"«emed ,hle'ds,

bIrt photooraphk: -.n::.. neveratNn¥ thi' uniformity. It Is 'lmoatcertaInly an error on the part

of the Illustrator, who pemapshad only one shield 10 work

from, (Pets,.)

LEFT MillS.' elder with II fly

.wltch, whlr;h appea.-. to hava

been used •• an Informal mark

of rlInk. See Plata 82 for II

lWConatnlcUon of II mont typl""l...... (Von Hohnel)

inadequate supplies. In December he auacked the hilltop \-ill,age ofElbcjCl earh on a cold morning, \\hen most of the ....<Inial'S .... ere stillasleep. HO\\'el"cr, a sel1ll"} was shot when he challenged the attad.en. andthe sound woke the people in me 'illage. The "'omen and children neddown the far slope of the hill, \fhilc the men n1shed out lO counter­.mack. The)' 1ll0\'cd round the base of the hill and threatened PeteI'!'camp, forcing him 10 rctrc:n from the village and concelllr.HC his mento defend the cncampmCIll. "'hen his ammunition began to run low, heordered the camp lO be stmck and retreated into a nearby foresL

The C<lra\-an had been marching for onlva few minutes when hundredsof Mas:li were seen approaching. Peters I'emarks that the u-ibc<;men hadne...er before seen repeating guns, .... hich 'must haH" appeared to themsupemaUlrar. Several times the atlaclers hesitated in the face of hisrdpid fire. gi\ing his men time to reload, although the} ...1".... quickhadapted their tactics. advancing in shon rushes from tree to tree. 'al"'d~'!;

with caution. to 1"0\'1"1' themselves from the bulletS'. Meam"hile theexpedition's re,lrguard \l!iL'l also under auack. but held on long enoughfor the armed porters to deploy into line and support them. The Masaie\'entuall)' withdrew, leaving 43 dead behind them. PClers had lost sevenmen, and most of the ammunition had been used up.

O...er the next fe\\' da...s he led a fighting retreat, shadowed b\ largebodies ofwaniors. Two daY5 later the ~tasai attacked his c-.unp at nighLThey ....·ere onh beaten offm firing a S:;llm ofsignal rockets. which failedto break their morale as intended but prO\ided the defenders "'ithjustenough light to shoot b\, Finalh the expedition reached safer. at theA1-ab trading post of Kamasia. In fact the encounter had been al best aqualified victory for Peters. He did bring away some caule. but he hadonly s,wed his expedition by a hurried withdrawal, and e\'en this was onlypossible because the Masai had been weakened by an epidemic of cauledisease. probably il11roduced br U1C whites. On thc rctreat from Elbcjelthe expedition had passed numerous deserted kra.ds, and Peters found 9

thai many arcas which had becn densely populatcd in Thomson's daywere now uninhabitcd. If hc had launchcd a similar rash atlacl:. only afcw rears bcfore his pari}' would probably ha\'e becn swirlly annihilated.

B) the earl)' 1890s the Mas..... i were reco\'elingthcir strength, but openl}' admittcd that the)' didflat want to fight the whites, as b)' now the)' hadlearncd to appreciate the powcr of thcir guns.TIlere wcre no major clashes "ith thc British,although in 1894 a war pan) unsuccessfull)'attacked the IBEA Compan) fan at Machakos. Amore scrious war scare brien) followed a clash\\ith some unruly poners in British emplO)' in1895, but during thc )890s man) Masai wererecruited to fight alongsidc thc British, especially Mfor their campaigns against the Kikuru. InCOlltr.lSt. the Gennans on the other side of thefromier were oftcn on bad temu with the Masai,and most of those who found themsch'es inGcnuan tcrritory C\'clllllally mo\'ed north andmade peace with the British.

Organization and tacticsLike most of the related lribes of the northcrnpart of East Africa, thc Masai based thcir militaryorgani7.ation all the age-set s)'Stem. The roungmen were initiated into these SCIS en masse, at aceremony which "'''as held about evcry SC\'enreal'S, so that an entire age group ""ould gothrough the process together. The} ",'ereinitiated as moran, or warriors, in about their lateteens, Because herding the cauJe on which thC)depended "'as not labour intensive and the "'ork"'as easil) perfonned hr' the young bo\'S and

10 older men, it "'as possible to spare the entire

A pond group of W.kw.t1 oragrk:ultu,.t M..... photographed

In u,. 18l1Os. wrm.n accounblconfl"" tNIt .nield, of ttIft alzeWeN not uncommon••!though

the~ were only eround3ft In height. MuM buffalo-hkM

.tIieId, were often tt'Ild<~to ,top •~ blllI. Durlng

tnelr t\rtt ene_ten wtth

Eu~ tnelr contldenc::e IntheM .n.... ---eed the

M.... to take • defiant .ttitl.Kte.wh~h qukkly dl..l~ted wNftthey encountered brMch-lo.cIlngrIfl.... an. w.mor chilleneedCount Telekl to UN hi, .nleldfOf' brget practlce, only to retl,.dlKomflted when the fIBt bYlletwent right through It.(E,,""t Oedge)

M.... warrlon ~Intlng tttelrI.hIelds - _ p-.,. 43 for ~ttMn

~"" COw's bM>od __ In

Inlporbnt constituent of the..-d plgll'Mlnt used, (\loti Honnel)

"....m·iol' age group from economically productive activity, For the ncxt15 rears or so tJ1(~y would fonn what was in effect a professional smndinganny, \'I'hose only emplovmclH was fighting.

The knO\'l'l age-selS from which the moran \'I'ere recruited during the19th celllu..,·, ",ith their approximate dales, ,·:ere:

Ti)iokiMerishariKidotuTuati [- 'The Rich Ones'Nyangusi I - 'Those \Vho Take FOI' Thcmselves'Laimer - 'The Pursuers'TalalaTuati II

(c.li91-1811)(c. 1806-26)(c.1821-41)(c. 1836-56)(<.1851-71)(c. 1866--86)(1881-1905)(1896-1917)

LEFT Maul w_pons end wer

e-r, The speem.Mt In the_tre ttl 6eserlbMI ..~

of the southern c'-o wN.. theIongef' and _rTOWef' types oneither side belonged to thenorthern brtlneh.. of the tribe,Note the e:aegoertlted 'spoon'

shipe of the sword It top rlilht,

end the crude wooden club el

botto", r1iht, The SfMIlr et fer

Ie" w.. used by the ellledOorobo trlbes_ for huntlng

eleph.8nts. (ThoIn"'"1

Each of tht."Se selS was dhided into two sections - thc 'right hand' orsenior group, and the 'left hand' or junior. Each se<:tion ~'ould lake aname, and some of those recorded include: II-Kup-,i, meaning 'TheWhile Swords'; II-Kieku, 'The Long-Bladed Spears'; II-Ghunmre, 'ThoseWho Fight By Day'; II-Ngarbut, 'The Glllttons'; and II-Meitaroni, 'TheUnconquerables' .

Each ofl.hcse groups was flmher subdi,;ded inlo l.hree parts, accordingto the precise dates on which their members had been circumcised.TI1ese subdi\;sions were knO\'l'l as JI-Changen-opir, or 'The Big OsuichFeathers': II-Tareto, 'The Helpers'; and II-Paringotwa-Iang, or 'Our SwiftRunners'. This system could idelllif' each warrior fairly prec~"

according to seniorit)" It is not clear, howC'o'er, whether these di'isionsdeployed and foughllOgether in battle, or whether dan or ..illage.oosedunits wcre more usual.

The IJ/oran slept in their own wanior camps or IJ/anytltlas, and lived onbeef, blood and milk, as other foods were belicvcd to make them 50ft.

Junior waniors were nOI allowed to marry, drink alcohol, smoke, or eat\'egetabks, although some of these rules were relaxed for the seniormen, Another means employed to induce courage was the use ofa brew 11

Mual~ Of u.dltional~n; thIo blade of th•

.......jMe .. 17~n long .nd "InMeN. TlHl author's a.perlmenls

wlth th•••apon ,~t that

altMlugh It appears unw~and poorly balaneed, It would

" v.......ftactlve 'or d.lIveringan underarm thruat to

dl..mbow.' an oppon.nt.A crsn,man who made auch

w.apona demonatrsled a aimliar

manoeuvra to Mrs FlWnCh­

sn.Jdon, cOflflrmlng that M....apear1I ..... normally employed

In th.. way, The apaar auocNotad

wlth thIo Me.... In~ racanttimes .. of a different type, wlth

a much longer. naml_ blacM,which wa, probably bon'owed

fnlm ttMo na'ghbourtng Ct\aga of

Mount KlUmanjaro. The tran,ltlon

to thla MlW de'liin tooll plac.

around the and 0' the HUh12 century. (Marti: Coppl.,tonel

made from bark and herbs. which was sometimes drunk before a battleand is S<"lid to ha\"c combined the effects of amphetamines and cannabis.making the men immune to both fear and fatigue.

The highest authorities in Masai societ)' as a whole were the MJanisor chil chicfs, and the heredi ....,,, lailxnu, ~'ho combined the roles ofdhiners and medicine men. An influentiallaioon like ~Ibatiany, ",ho heldoffice from about 1866 to 1890, might organiLc large coalitions of clans,but these medicine chiefs do not seem to have had a fonnal militarvcommand function. In fact there was liltle lrace of any command s}'Stemin Masai armies, although the organiz..,tion by age-sets did provide arough hicrarch)'. Each camp had a group of nnbikas, picked "'arriot's whoaCled as a sort of military police to impose nldirnentary disciplinc in Campand on lhc march, Nevcrtheless, lhere appear lO have been no fonnalsanctions preventing thc warriors from nlllning awa)" and no S)'Stem ofpunishments apart from the cOlllempt of their peers. TIle ad\ice ofrespected ciders might be sought, but their orders were not binding.

The usuallilcnc in a pitched b.,ttle ~'aS for the bravest warriors to forma wedge in the centre, supponed b) a rearguard and a nank guard oneach side. and charge straight through the enelll\ line. This fonnation"''as knO~'l as the 'eagle's ~ing', L:nlike most African armies the '-Iasaidid not use drums or other lllusical instl1.lments in battle, although tile}did employ chants and war-cries.

According to Richard Bunon they had once been afraid of guns, butcame to appreciate their disadvantages after a baltle in 1857 in ..,:hich800 1/I0mll had defeated 148 Arab and Baluchi matchlock men, TheMasai allegedly fled at lhe first volle}', but when the Ar.lbs n1shed fOT\\'anlto round up lheir cattle the tribesmen turned and routed them, 'Untilthis )'ear they have shunned meeting '-loslems and musketeers in thefield,' wrote Burton: 'ha\ing won the da),. they will, it is feared, repeat theexperimelll', In fact it sounds as if the Mas."l.i had already understoodthat the guns took a long time to reload, and their apparenl flight ~'aS

probabl} a ruse designed to tempI the enenw to break formation. The'!did repeat the experiment. and - until tile) encountered Europeanexpeditions anned ,\itll breechloaders - almost alwavs successfull}, CarlPetcrs described their .actics against musket-anncd cnemies thus:

'The Massai [sic] knows how to protect himself from the first shot b)tlno"ing himself on the ground, or sheltering himself behind a lree;and long before the mU/..LIc-loader has been made read)' for a seconddischarge, he bas come bounding up, to finish the malter with a thrustof his lance.. , Generally, in fact. the caravans fil'e tllcir guns once, andthen immediately take 10 night, whereupon they are regl.llarl}' massacredto the last man b), the swift-footed Massais.·

THE NGONI

During tllC 18305-408 "''<Irfare in tile southem half of East Africa "''as

transfonnt..-d b)' the arrival of the Ngoni. "'ho brought ~ith them manv ofthe refomu which had been introduced b), lhe Zulu king Shaka at thebeginning of tllC cenmr)'. TIle Ngoni were originall)' a splinter gl"OuJ> of theNdl\'andl\'c, nortllem neigh bolli's of the Zulus, who had been defeated byShak.a's il/llJisin the 1820s and driven north into what is now Mozambiquc.

13

INDIAN

OCEAN

THEMIGRATIONS

OFTHENGONI

c. 1825 - 1875

R""""R·•

R. lambezr

ZULU LAND r)

~lost of them settled in thatregion. bUl one nlrosi orchief, Zwangendaba. ledhis section of the tribe onan even more ambitiousmarch. MO';ng throughMashonaland, me}' crossedthe Zambezi Rh'cr in Nm­ember 1835. The Ngoni. astllt."y now came to be known.then split into f\','O groupsand advanced nonhwardsalong both shores of L"lkeNyasa. Their Zulu-inspiredbaule (actics gave them acrucial ad"U1l.age o\'cr thelocal tribes, most of \\ homeither fled illlo lllounl.ainrefuges, were defeated andincorporated into the Ngoniforces, or c\'cmuall) copiedthese tactics themselves.ZW3ngendaba himself Lookthe wcstcm roule and scldedon the fenilc plateau ofUfipa. east of the southerntip of Lake Tanganyika,where he presided over arelatively stable kingdomuntil his dealh in 1848.

TIlcreafter his successorsqualTelled. and sc\eralgroups resumed theirwanderings. Those whoremained in Ufipa wereknown as me Manti, Maviti01" MaziLu. A second groupsculed in thc mountains onthe westem shore of LakeNyasa, where they .....ereoften refelTed to as Angoni.There mey founded 1\\'0 large and t.....o smaller kingdoms, the mostpowerful ones being at the north end of the lake and half-way up thewestem shore. A third section, commanded by a chief called Zlliligama,"'as the G"-d.fig'l'o",ra. ThC)' migrated east to"",rds the Indian Ocean,wreaking ha\'OC among the peaceful tribes of the RO\1.lma valle)'. andin meting on the region a reign of terror which lasted .....ell illlo the 1880s,

The fourth di\ision, the Tuta or Watul3, marched still further LO thenorth, and arrived on the southem shore of Lake Victoria eady in the18505. According to Richard Burton, they were originally imiLed illlothe region to help a local chief against his Sango enemies, The Sangodrove Lhe TUfa off, whereupon the thwarted invaders cmbarked on an

,

••

,

An Antoni from the ahonts ofL.k. Ny.....howlng the twlcal

black cock.t..thet- h.IIdd,.....plu"," "MOIIl .nd Zutu·.tyM,.hletd - ... PI.t. C2. (H.IT)'

Joh".to", 8rit/tIt C."fntl A,rlclIl

orgy of looling and caule-n.IStJing across theregion. The Tuta finally seuled into a semi­nomadic wa) of life, living on callie acquiredfrom the N)'amwezi and other tribes, andaugmenting them by raids on \'illages and passingcara\'am. nleir raiding parties often numberedin thousands, and would besiege a \illage formonths if the)' were unable to L.1.~e it bo,. MSaulLIn 1876 H.M.Stanle), found the counu....- east ofLake Tangan)ika entirely ruined b) theirdepredations. He says that the rniders were hatedby all their neighbours, and that to the Arabskilling onc of them was 'far more nece5SaT) thankilling a snake'. I-Iowever, the Arabs occasionall)'hired the Tum as mercenaries; and groups ofNgoni frequently fought alongside the Nyamweziwarlord Mirambo and his Ruga-Ruga (seebelow), Some ofZwangendaba's ol"iginal \'ctcranswere still 10 bc found among these Ngoni b.mdswell into the I 870s, but they now included manylocal tribesmen who had been capllll'ed andassimilated, and othcrs who had \'oluntarilradopted their dress and style of fighting.

The Ngoni of Tanganyika came underGerman control during the 18905. There \\'as

some fierce fighting in the south in 1897 beforeLhey submitted to an expedition under CaptainsEngelhardt and Fulebom. The stronghold ofSongea onl)' fell after a number of Ngoni chief:<were lured Ollt under a nag of truce andarrested. It \\'as not until the Maji ~Iaji Rebellionof 1905 thaI the tribe made a serious attempt

to a\cnge this U'eachen'. The TuUt \\'ere nominall) subjugated byanother German expedition under Emin Pasha in 1890, but escapedmilitary defeat by «\'oiding contact, and continued their customaryraids for se\'eral more rears until the)' were forcibly settled sOlllh ofLake Victoria.

The L....ke Nyasa kingdoms came within what became known as UritishCemral Africa, and were brought under British rule dllring the I890s,The nonhern kingdom \\"IS fliendly to the British, main I)' thanks to theinnuence of the Commissioner, Dr Laws. They welcomed missionariesand \'DIlIm.... rily gave up raiding. In the cenlral kingdom, a chief namedChikusi accepted Bl"itish protection in 1890, but during the reign of hissuccessor Gomani a group of anti-British headmen gaint.-d influence. In1896 they attacked a mission mtion, and in respon a puniti\-eexpedition defeated an Ngoni IInpi and sacked Gomani's \illage. Thecentral :-.l'goni lost most of their cattle and submitted to the Britishadministration. Funher w'esl, on the plateau between the lake andthe luan~<1 Rh-er in what i now north-eastem Zambia, thesmaller kingdom mled b) Mpezeni W'as brought under the control ofthe British South Africa Compam in 1898, and the last fI'ee Ngoni losttheir independence.

Org.nlz.tlon and t.ctlcsTIle Ngoni inherilCd a very SlrOng milita'1 t1'adition from their oligins asa migrating ann)'. In the words of meir historian Y.M.Cibambo. 'To meNgoni war was like ..·:ork and his heart rejoiced to thinl of iL' At leastsome groups seem to han~ retained the Zulu system of organizing meir"''anion into regiments based on age, although most unilS ",'cre b.."lSed onterritorial di\isions, and warriors tended to live in their \illages r.l.lherthan in separate kraals as they did in the Zulu aml)'. In N)'aS.'lland, youngmen ",'ere often fonned en masse into a new regiment known as aMmuJla, of which each large \illage or prominent chief might havescveral. Each libwuJla was divided into companies called libu/o, whichvaried in strength up to 100 men 01' more, and would be allocated to oneof the twO m<tior divisions of the army - the younger men, or amajaha,and the \'cteran amadoda. Each regiment and company ",o:.lS led by anofficer known as an i"dlma, who was responsible to the overall leader or'war i"duno', appointed 1»' mc nkosi or chief.

An independent 31'my orany size continued to be kno....·n by thc Zulutenn Impi. There is lillie reliable infomlation on the size of N"goniannies, although it seems that at least in the fertile country' aroundbtke N")'aSa exceptionally large forces could be raised. The BrituhCf1Itral Africa GautU of December 189·' ""is no doubt exaggeratingwhen it claimed that the central Ngoni could put 50,000 men imo theficld, but in 1878 W.A.Elmslie reponed seeing a 1O,OOO-strong anny ofnorthern Ngoni. Burton gives an interesting account of the fightingmethods of the Tuta:

'Their thousands march in fOllr or five extt:nded lines, and auack b)'attempting LO envelop the enem)'. There is no shouting or ....<lr-cl)' todistrdct lJle attention of the comb..uants: iron .....histles are used for menecessary signals.' (Lugard, however. refers to tlle 'unearthl), rells,gnmlS, and gro.,ns with ....·hich they accompan)' their attack.') Whatsignals \\'ere actualh given in battle .....e arc not told, and Burton impliesthat there .....as \'en linJe in me wa) of centrdl control or discipline:'Ouring the bailie the sultan, or chief, .....hose ensign is :t brass stool,

Group of Ngonl ••rrloRpt,otog,.phed in tM ,.~,

(W,Elmltle, Antong theWild NrIOfI'I 15

,.

TUta Ngonl, showing a differentslyle of feather headgear whichwas particularly associated withthis tribe. Plate C3 Is basedon this drawing and on writtendescriptions by St.nley.(H,M.St.nley, Through tlHt

011'* Contlnllnt)

sits auended by his forty or fifty elders in ...herear; his authority is little morc than nominal, thetribe priding itself upon autonomy. The Watutararely run away, and L,ke no thought of their killedand wounded.'

It is generally agreed mal the secret of thedramat.ic success orthe Ngoni in Easi. Africa ....'aS theirimroduetion of close combat tactics, using the shortZulli iklwo or Slabbing assegai, illlo a region wherewarriors had traditionally thrown their spears from adistance. Perhaps more importaJll, however, was themoral ascendancy which they achic\'cd over most oftheir opponents. with what Lugard dcsClibed as ..heir'character for imincible courage', Nevertheless, bythe second half of the 19th century most accountssuggest that Ngoni \\-'<if parties were actually fairlycautious, and preferred ambushes and niglllattacks to open batik. The Tuta were VCIY wary offirearms; Burton says that thcy would 'decamp

without delay' if they encoulllered a caravan hcadcd by a red Zanzibarinag, knowing that it would be accompanied by askaris with muskets. It isprobably this fear of guns which accoullts for the fuct that Spekeand Stanley both traversed the Tuta country at the height of theirdepredations without having to fighl.

According to Cibambo, an allllY would march out to war very slowly,sending out scouts in all directions. Boys and brirls from the walliors'households accompanied them to can}' food and water, and senionsof men were detailed LO proLCCl them from attack. When they nearedan enemy dllage the men would sit and rest while their ;ndlmasrecollnoitred carefully, meanwhile taking snuff or smoking hemp, which'maddened the warriors and ga,'e them hearts \\1thout fear', Even if theenemy had detected them, preparations would not be hunied: 'In theenemy stockade the dnlms would be beating lO show that their enemieswere angry, but the army of the Ngoni sat and rested as though therewere no enemy.'

Eventually their commander callcd thcm to anns by perfollllinghis own praise-dance, and the companies deplored into their 'horn'formation, blowing borns and whistling to drown the sound of theenemy's dl1.1ms. At last the command was given - 'Let the bulls fight!'Then e\'eIY warrior would race to be the first over the stockade, becauseto do so earned not only brreat prestige but the first choice of thecaplllred h\'estock. Mler the fight each hldll1lll would report lO thecommander the namcs of those \Vho had been at lhe front, as well asthose of any other men who had especially distinguished themselves.These men were singled out for praise at lhe \~cLOry dance held beforethe IIkos; on their retlllll,

From tllC reports of European observers, however, it seems thatsurprise auacks under cO\'er of darkness were at least as common asset-piece assaults. Under these circumstances the viclims were usually tooterror.gtruck to offer any resistance, Lugard quotes a report of a raid onLake Nyasa in 1893, in which 'lhe Angoni came down to the lake shorein great numbers, and attacked the \~lIage of Kayuni. They entered the

\illage silently, and each warrior took up his position at the doorofa hut,and ordered the inmates to come forth. E\'e'1' man and 00) was spearedas he emerged, and c\·eO' woman was captured.' ~fanyoftheuibes li\i.ngalong the shoTe weTe forced to build their huts on stilts out in the lakefor feaT of such raids.

Pitched battles in the open were rarer, but the German trader CarlWiese describes one encounter which took place in nonhernM07..ambique in lhe late IBaOs, between an Ngoni raiding pan} and a400-strong Arnb car.l\"all. The Ngoni di\'ided themsel\·cs into lhreedi\isions: finn, the newly fonned Kabaenda regiment, which was made upof )'Olllhs between 14 and 18 years old; then the Mahor" and Mabemaregiments, comprising men in their t\\,enties; and finally the Amadoda or\'ctcmns. The Kabacnda opened the battle by charging the Arabs, but..fled when the lauer fired a \'olley from their Illuzzle-Ioading muskets.Wiese does not say so, but it is likel}' that this retreat was part of the Ngoniplan. TIle Arabs pursued the }'oungsters recklessly, nOt C\'cn stopping (0

relo.."ld, and were ambushed b}' lhe Mahora and ~Iabemawho \\'ere Iringin wail. The Kab..cnda then rerurned to the attack. and the Arabs weresurrounded. The Amadoda had been stationed in ambush along thero.."ld in the opposite direction in case the encm}· resumed lheir marchafter dri\ing off the auack, but no\\' hurried up and joined in theslaughter. Most of the Ngoni casualtics occurred among the }'oungstersof the K."lbaenda. Ve'1 fe\\' Ar-J.bs suni\'ed the battle, and those of theirleaders \\'ho escaped later committed suicide in disgr<lce.

THE HEHE

The Hehe weTe a confederation of about 30 small tribes li\ing in andaround the lringa Highlands in \\'hat is now southern Tall7.ania. Thename lIehe was not recorded until the 1860s, and is said to be derivedfrom their war-cry: 'H~! H~! 1Qtavagu twihoma./ Ehn./' TIle disparatetribes were wdded into a unified kingdom by two exceptional rulers,MlIIl}igumba and his son Mkwawa, \\ho reigned during the last third ofthe 19th (enmry. Burton S3}'S that in the late 1850s the Hehe \\'ere afmidof their neighbours the 5."lngo. and dared not face them in open\\'arfal'c, but by the middle 1870s this situation had changed. In 1873 LtVerney Cameron reported that 'Such is their reputation for cOlu'age andskill in the Lise of their weapons that none of thc tribes on whom theyhabitually make their raids ever dare to resist them'. During the Gennancolonial period thC}' became famous as the dominant milit.tll' power ofthe region, who at the Rugaro Rher in August 1891 inflicted on theGennans the worst defeat that U1C) ever suffered during their conquestof East Africa.

The campaigns of MkwawaDuring ule 1860s Mun)ibrtuuba had led the Hehe LO \ict0'1' against mostof their neighbours, including the s.-mgo. I lis last campaign, in the lateI870s, was against a band of Ngoni who had fought as allies of the Sango,and who now launched an iTwasion of I-Iehe LerrilOll' on their ownaccount. They were defeated at The baltic of Nyamulenge, which wasremembered for an epic single combat in which the I Iche king killed a 17

prominent ~goni chief. Chipeta. Soon afte""'ards Mun}igumba died.and after a bloody chil war his SOil Mk\\'awa succeeded to the throne.111e Ilche now began another series ofeXp<,nsionist campaigns. sendingout miding parties in all directions.

TIle main cam\~d.n route inland from Zanzibar was almost dosed b}the combined effecLS ofau.,cks on cam\'ans and the depopulation of lhe\iUagcs 011 ,\hich the)' depended for supplies. In about 1887 Mk",'a\\'afurther consolidated his position b) mming his C'dpital to a Ilew stollefort in the hills at Kalenga.

In 1890. in the aftermath of the recent war against tile coast.,l Ambs.lhe govcrnor of Gcnmlll East Africa est<lblished fans at Mp"':'lpwa andKilosa to protect the caravan route. The Hehe nevcrtheless continuedtheir raids, and the German authorities ",'erc e\'en afraid that they mightadvance as far as the coast. The governor tllcrefore opened peacenegotiations. but before Ihese could come to fruition an apparentl)'unauthoni'cd military adventure brought open conflict with :\1k"":'I\\':.I.

War with the GermansThe commander of the German Prot.ection Force or SchlllLtruppc.Ilauptmann \'on Zelcwski, was sent out in June 1891 on a limitedexpedition with the aim of pacifying a local Hehe chief who was raidingfor slaves. but then look mallers into his own hands and ad\':'ll1ced onKalenga. Zelewski's force consisted of five companies each comptisingabout 90 askaris. plus three field guns and a couple of ~laxim machineguns. There arc sc\'eral widely differing accounLS of whal happened inthe ensuing battle ncar the Rug:.lro Ri\'er.

Al dawn on 17 August lhe Gennans set Out in a long column throughan area of dense bush, ..•..ith Zclc\\'Ski at their head, ad\'ancing towards ahill covered with rocks and thicl vcgcL<uion. There appear to havc becnno scouts deplored. The artillel)' and the Maxims were being cartit.-d onpack animals. and some of tile ask.:.uis allegedly had not C"en loaded theirlines. Suddenly a single shot ....'as fired and sollle 3.000 Ilehe ....'arrioT5

18 chargt."tl Ollt of the bush. ovc""helming the leading companies. Zelc",'Ski

Th....te lew ..p....ntatlon.of Hehe werrlonl fl'om IMtfoIW the

lets 18iOs. end It Is likely thetmolt of them cionI)' IWIemblecltheir Ngonl or" Gogo I\Ifghbou....

This ltlust...tJon shows e pIItty

of Gogo 'P'<'nnen enc_ntetedbV Stanley In 1872. (Stan+ev,How I Fourtd LMngs'-)

-

was speared in the back as he fired at another group of 3l1ackers.Ilowe\er, because the ambush had apparently been triggeredpremalUrel}. those at the rear of the German column were able toorganize some resistance. The expedition's doctor and a handful ofaskarb got one ~laxim into action and fought oIT their assailants untilniglllfalJ. This rearguard retired LO a small hill and formed a defensiveposition there, which the enem, did not scliousl\' threaten, The\' waitedfOJ" t\\O dars to collect sun;\'OI"l>, then retreated to ~lpwap\\~d.Among thebodies len on the b,;mleficld were ten Gennans. 250 askaris, and around100 porters. About 260 Ilehe had been kil14..'<! or died of their wound...

TIl(~ Gennans were forced to go temporarih onto the defenshe. bllt~l1"......wa failed to folio..... up his a(h,Hll4lge, Instead he concentrated onstrengthening his fortress at Kalenga in preparation for the ine\;L.blecounter-olTensi\e, It appear.. that despite this \ictor)', Ilehe morale wassustained mainly by their confidence in the stn::nglh of their fan, which\\"<IS nicknamed Lipuli or 'Great Elephalll', It was probably inspired byAr'ab fortifications. as the king lilld at some unknO\m date sent an officerto the coast to study the buildings thel'e. Bv 1894 the Stone wallsllITounding K..lcnga was abollt 2 miles long. 8 feet in height. and up to1fectthick. TIle fan was not, ho\\c\"er. as strong as ~lk.....a .....a bclie\ed: theperimeter was tOO long for the 3,()()O..man garrison to defend properh.and the .....alls were \1,J1nerable to artillen.

Tom Prince, who sen'ed .....ith the Gcmlan expeditional} force, lateradmitted that if the} had made a Mand outside the fort the Hehe wouldprob••bl)' ha\'e won another victor}'. but ~Ikw;l\\" would nOt allow this. Byno....' he had a si/cable stock of capmred l·incs (as \\·ell as a ~IaXilll, \dlichlhe fiche pro\'cd Illlable to opcrale). but hc kept lhem all under his ownconu·ol, and had ani}' issued 100 weapons .....hen the German atLOckcame, One tradition s.'}'S Illat ~Ikwa.....a had gone lllad and laid hiswarriors to laad their guns \\;th blank charges, instCiid placing hisreliance on magic chalTllS laid on the palllS to StOp the Gennan ad\'3.nce.

A GelTllan column complising three companies of askaris and anumber of field gUllS arri\ed outside "alcnga in October 189--1 and builLa stockade 400 metres from the \\'llIs. For t\\o d;ws the ..rtiller}' fired onthe defences; then Tom rrince led a storming pan}' into the forl. Thewalls lhemsclvc~ were only lightly defended, but foUl· houl's of fightinginside the stronghold followed, with the Ilehe .shooting from t.he I'oofsand doorw;J,~ of the huts. One Gennan officer and eight ask;lris werekilled, and three Gennans and 29 askaris ....'ounded. According to the

A knife or short .-ord of typk;aI

E..! A~n type, .. b"ad~tly-... by Maul .nd~

w.frio.... witt! IU ...ther lIM.th.II .. und.llId. bYt the stl9ht

ridge runnl"'ll down the cenl,.of tho 13 \6 In bl.de Is • fe.tu,.

..soc::l.tecl with trlldltion.J

we'pons rehr !Non modemcopleL The short sword w...trudy in u.. by the Hehe in

the 185Os., when Richard Buttondescribed It .. 'from _ to two

feet lone. bnNode'n'"e out fromthe ....n, IItId .-.God on 10 sblunt point .1 the end'. It w_

usually cerried with the bl8de

protruding h.lf-way out of the

short scabbard - see Plat. D2.

IMarlr. Copplest_l

,.

20

German commandcr's report, 150 I-Iehe died in the fightingor ....·ere burm inside lhe huts. When he s..'l.W that the hattiewas lost, i\lkwawa apparentl)' tried 10 blow himself upinside one of the houses, but .....as led away by his advisors.Among the booty taken b) the Gem1ans were the roralstores of gllllpo....·der and ivoT)'.

Ne\'enheless, Hehe resistance was still nOI broken. On6 No\cmber, on its reUlm march, the Gennan column wasattacked b).' a force of 1,500 warriors, \\ho broke through thecolumn of porters but .....ere stopped b) the fire of the askaris,leaving behind 25 dead. In 1896 Prince returned 10 the Kalenga areaand built a fortified sl..'l.tiOn a fe..... miles away al lringa. TIle Ilehe no.....resorled 10 guerrilla warfare, ambushing patrols and car-millS, andauacking those villages that had already sun·endered. Prince took thefield \\ith two companies each consisting of 150 askaris. 10 fighl theenemy with his own methods. Several times they nearly capluredMkw'd\\'<1. and gradually their scorched earth lactics, togcther with afamine which swept the rcgion, wore down the enemy's will tofight. Then, in July 1898, a patrol intercepted Mkwawa's trailncar the River Ruaha and tracked him down. The king \\'l\S ill,and commiued suicide rather th:1I1 risk capture; with hisde.nh, all Ilehe resistance ceased.

Organization and tactic.Afler Ihe Gennan conquest il was estimaled lhal the Hehe'nation' numbered about 50,000 people altogether. bUIthis docs not include many non·llche who had beenincorporated illlo the realms of Mun}igumba and Mk\\~dwa, andwho sometimes foughl in their 0 .....,1 sl)les alongside the Ilehe proper.~hll\}igumba's kingdom included at least 15 pre\iousl)' independentchiefdoms, .....hose mlers eitl1er declared allegiance to him or .... erereplaced ....;th his appointees. These subordinate chiefs were known asl!{l'lUlglla, and ....·ere responsible for raising Lheir 0\\'11 regiments in timeof war. The king and many of these chiefs maintained small standingannies, which .....ere recmited from IWO categories of warriors: \cterdnsor lIatmnhuk, who served as subordinate officers, and the young menin training or vigendo. Munyigumba also established military coloniesof yOllllg men of betwecn 12 and 20 years of age in the territories ofsubjugatcd tribes.

These troops fanned thc nucleus of permanenl regiments or wajinga,into which all the ullmarried men .....ould be enrolled in time of war.Some of the Hehe regimental names, such as the Vanamwani. Valamboand V.uengelammwa, .....ere identical ....,ith those oftllc Sango, from whomthe Ilche warriors are thought to ha\'e borro.....ed lhe Zulu-5t)'le shieldand stabbing assegai, and so they mal' also have been the model for thisregimental organization. One senior unit, the Vatengclamlltwa, 'ThoseWho Stand Firn1 by their Chief, acted as a royal bodrgu.ml in baltiC.Regiments were subdi\ided into companies known as fipllka. E.'l.ch unitconsisted of the men of a particular age group, who were not allo",-ed10 malT} until lhe}' had pro\'ed themselves in battlc. Those whodislinb'l.lished themseh'es .....ere rewarded "';th cloth, slaves and caule.while cowards were humiliated by being forced to .....ork as poners.

Wooden ..,. clubs from

tM KltllrW"Jat'o ...... SImilar_pons ..... found ltvougt-.t:ttM ,...Ion, 8nd ..... lINd by ttM

...... N8nd1 .net AlIP-A~ ..

WiNI •• by IrW"V ottMf' bibeLlAtter M.F..-c:h-Sheldon)

Supply columns and medical services were also well organized. Ilchcamlies took the field in both the dry and wet seasons. and oftencampaigned in scveral thc;un::s silllullaneously. An expedition would bepreceded by scouts or v{/lallllis~ who might operale se'o'ernl days ahead ofthe main body. TI1Cli came an advance guard, the vandagandaga, whichmight cany Ollt surprise raids 0" pursue a neeing enemy on its mm, butcould be quickly supported by l.he main Ixxly in the evelll of seriousresistance. This main body would consist of one or more regiments.esconing lhc supply train. L.·uge numbers of prisoners of ""~dr orVllllyaun'lgi accompanied lhe annies as laoourers and porters. In Mkw3wa'sday' a commander was nOI nonnall) expected to lead the ann)' into lxllUcin per.>on. but remained in the rear ""ith his bodyguard, as the Hehe seemto have believed that the u'oops \\'ould be demoralized if the,' saw a chiefsblocxl spilt. Joseph TIlOmson pa~ tribute to the stamina of the warriors,and sal'S that if necessal"}' the,. could tra\'el at a trot for da)'S ",ithout focxl.

The Ilehc ~"(I at least some guns from the 18705 onwards, andJF.[hon describe5 them skinnishing ",ith muskets against thc Sango in1877, Ilo""cver, the) seem al",'3\'$ to ha\'e been in short supply, and weremosLly hoarded by the chiefs, ",ho distributed them when required tofa\'Oured followers. In a group of warriors encountered b)' Teltenbom inthc e'.s.rly 18905 a minoril',' carried muskets while the rest had only spears.At the Rugaro Rher ambush only one gun was fired - presumably by achief - as a signal for the auack, which was carried out entirely\\ith spears.

In Mk"~.l.wa·s reign the Hehe generally preferred to ad\-ance to closequarters in dense fOITnations, Zulu-5tyle, rather than attempting toskinnish. If musketeers ",'cre present, they would fire a single \'Olley atdose range before charging. Ilowe\'er [Iton, in his account of the "''3ragainst the s.'1ngo in 1877, describe5 much more cautious tactics. On thatoccasion a Hehe anll)' besieged a fortified \illage for several da)'S, tradingabuse and long·range musket'1', ad\'3ncing only under cover, and C\'enentrenching themselves for protection against the defenders' bullets.Each night they lit flres, apparently 10 make the Sango think that theyhad bumt their temporary hms and left. Mtcr a few days they reallybroke ofT the siege and retired, pUI'Sucd by the Sango, It may be that itwas their relative lack of aptitude for sieges that encouraged the Hehe to

rely on their own forti fica lions against the Gennans.

THE RUGA-RUGA

In 19th centur), [ast Africa the word 'Ruga-Ruga' was originally used todescribe the rooLless young hooligans - oflen orphaned or displaced bywar or sla\'e-raiding - who roamed the country making a precariousliving as mercenaries, bandits or elephant-hunlel'S. These first madetheir appearance among lhe Nyam",'czi, who inhabited the high plateauof what is now central Tanl..ania and became the principal long-distancetraders of the region. The tcnn also came to be used for the semi­professional militia of local origin which some N)'3mwezi groups raisedto defend their \illages.

Also referred to as Ruga-Ruga ",'ere the followers of leaders like~lirambo and Nrungu-ya-Ma""e, who during the second half of thecentury established the first centralized states among the N)'3.m",·czi and 21

22

TM Arab .ttack on Mlf1lmbo..

• tock.Ne .t 21mbbio,~t1811. Not. tM dln-..n« In

d""lM~ tM~ andthek" Sw.hHI foilowef'L ISt.n!ey,

How I FouDd LM'nsr-'_1

other tribes of me region. The explorer II.M.S13nley \\"as an admirer ofme N}'3mv..ezi, praising their 'great sU'ength and endurance, skill inwar, tenacity of purpose. and detennination to defend the rights of meirchiefs against foreigners', The-, therefore made excellelll soldiers, whoseready availabilit\ was one of the main foundations on .....hich mese stateswere built. The Olher ...."as gunpowder; both Mirambo and Swnguunderstood the \'alue of guns and acquired as man~ of them asthey could, so that evellluall) the name Ruga-Ruga became almostsplonrmous with hired gunman,

The warlord Mlrambo ('Heaps of Corpses')~tirambowas pelimJls the most f-amous of all Ule native militarv leadersof 19th celllury East Africa, both in his o...m lime and later. Hisbackground is obscure, but he was said to have been of N)'am.....ezi royalblood. Mirambo was not his real name but a nom de guerre, meaning'Heaps of Corpses', He firsl came to promincnce in 1871, when Sr..anlevwitnessed the opening mo\'es of his war against thc Arabs of Tabora. Bythis time Mirambo was already leading an army of several mOllS.'1ndRu&ta-Ruga, and was successfull)' disputing cOlllro] of the lr.J.de routeswith the Arabs who had previousl)' dominaled them,

Stanley, who was passing through Tabard on his expedition in searchof Livingstone, accompanied the Arab army when it marched to au.ack~lirambo's frontier village of Zimbi1.O. The \illage fell after a briefskinnish and Stanley and most of the Arabs then .....CIll home, ]ea,ingonly 20 Arabs and about 500 Swahilis to advance on Ulcir opponents'main base at Wil}'ankum. Mirambo, who had sc\'cral hundred men inWiI)'ankunJ, \\-ithdrew mem from the far side of the \illage, circledround, and concealed them in the tall grass on both sides of the pathleading back to\\'ards Zimbizo. TIle Arabs plundered me \illage, andwere sL.'1r1ing on their return journey, loaded do.....n ....im loot, ,,,hen meRuga-Ruga emerged from ambush and allacked them at dose quarterswith spears. There is no mcntion of ~lirambo's men using fireanns inthis engagement. although many of them cert.'1inl)' possessed memo Allthe Arabs and about half of me S.....ahilis .....ere lJlled in the ambush, andthe rest ned.

T"'o weelullalcr Mir.unbo adv.mced on Tabord \\ilh 2,000 Ruga-Rugaand .I ,000 Tuta Ngoni. On seeing 'the plain around Tabord filled wilhapproaching s.·wages·, as Sl.anle) pULS it. five Arabs and 80 anned slaves"'cnt out (0 meet them. Mirdmbo's men "'ere:1t first ordered to fall back,luring the enemy into a rash admIlce, btll whell the Ruga-Ruga finalhcharged all the slaves rdn awa)', lea\ing their Arab masters to be shotdown. After this Ihe war lapsed into SL,lemate, Mirambo continued10 disrupt the Arabs' trade, causing the price of i\'ory on the coast todouble, while in retaliation the Arabs cut off his supply of gunpowder.

Early in 1872 the Arabs were so hard pressed thai they asked IheSultan ofZ.,nzibar for aid, A small force was sent under Amir bin SuIL,n,but rivalry among the different Arab leaders prevellled them agreeingon a co-ordinated strategy, and so Amir was w;thdrdwn. Mimmbo hadsunived the miliL"'U) threat, but an embargo on gunpowder importsfrom the coast cmscd difficulties until he found a new source of supph,\;a the rortllguese in Mozambique. Tmde eventllall)- resumed, and bythe lime of Sianle)"s second \;sit in 1876 ~lir::lIl1bo and the Arabs ofTabora were al peace,

~lir.lInbo had 1I0t abandoned his warlike ambitions, however. Themissionary Southon, who \;sited him a few lean later, reported that heand his officers 'spend their whole time planning, prepaJ;ng for oractually engaging in a ""r of greater or lesser magnitude'. From hisGtpital at Urambo, west of Tabora, ~Iirambo's 'empire' was extended toco\'Cr the whole region between Lakes Victoria and Tang-<tn);ka, lieal"':l)'S tried to remain on good tenns "'ith Europeans: he made a friendh\isitto Stanlt") in 1876, and three rears later he claimed to ha\'e calledoffa planned attack on Ujiji when he discO\'ered thaI there were Englishmissionaries there. The British Consul al Zanzibar, John Kirk, wass)'llipathetic to him, and moves were begun to commence formalrelations with the British go\'emment.

These plans came to grief in 1880, when an exploring expeditionblundered into the middle ofone of~lirambo'swars and twO Englishmenwere killed b\ the Ruga-Ruga.Mirambo later expressed regretfor the killings, and wasgenuinely shocked to find thathe had alienated his Britishallies. One IheOl1' was thathis men had mistaken lheEnglishmen for the lIni\'ersall)'haled Belgians. Ne\'ertheless,Kirk immedialel) broke offrelations with him, and twOexpcxlitions set off from thecoast to a\'enge the \;ctims,One was despatched by theSult.,n of ZanJ.:ib.'I", who wasanxious to placate the British,bUI no fighling took placebecause most of the Zan7ibarisdescned when they realizedtJlat tht"), were being sent to

.. Ny-..zj tembe, In~

the Nyamwezl N11ed henlty

on ttleN tat.-I'K~building. Mlnoundlng a e.ntnoleourtyln:l. TM Wills could be

up 10 3ft thk:k Ind would .top

even. rltle bullet, ./thoughthe tilt thltched roofs we,..nlturally vulnlf1lble to tire.Ace", w.. by • nlnGW gateIn _ or two 01 the ..... while

ell the other doors end windowsopened Inwe. on to the

courtyard, TM IntericH ...divided Into _ smIiII

~ lttu. eonabIing edetermined defencIM to fighton even If the out... WIll. _,..bntllChed. Often en entl,..vllilge Ind Itl c.ttls W01.lId be

enclosed within one or more

larva lambe., (''''nley, HowI Fourtd LMngsl_J

23

24

Group of Rl.IlJa-Rug,photOV",phed ,t UlQr in the18to1. Note tM drums, ,net the

lNI'k _m by the _enth ftgu",fronI the righL (Fr1Id M~rl

fight ~'Iirambo. This episode put an end to an) hope thai Mirambo'sfledgling nation would be offidaH)' recognized b) the European po.....e~.In 1884 he became ill and handed over command of the aml) 10 hisbrother Kinmga, who succeeded him on his death in December ofthat }'ear.

Kinmga lacked his predecessor's military talents, and much of theempire \\·hich he had inherited broke awa)'. He was killed in 1890 fightingthe Ngoni, and \\-hen a German expedition arn\·ed soon afteno.'ards itenCOlInlered little resistance. LJrambo was occupied and the countr}'brought under German mle.

Nyungu-ya-MaweThe other oUl.'itanding leader of Ruga-Ruga was Mirambo's contem­porary, Nyungu-)'a-~Ia\,·e. Nyungu's fi~1 recorded camp,aign took placeal the same time as Mirambo's, in 1871, .....hen he ....-as the leader of aband of Ruga-Ruga based ncar Tabora. As a }'oung man he led his menpersonall)' in bailie, but in later life he preferred to remain at hisheadquarters and delegate opcnllions to his subordinates. Nyungu hada reputation for crueh)' and treachery, and a traditional African storywas told about him to illustrate this. He imited a rival chief inlo hiscamp, and persuaded him to sit on a stool .....hich had been placed overa hidden pitfall trap. When the dctim fell in, Nyungu ran up andSlabbed him to death ....ith a spear.

Like Mirambo, Nrungu lost any chance of an alliance ....ith the .....hitesthrough an attack on a party of explorers, although in his case there isliuJe doubt that the killings ....·ere deliberate. In December 1878, some400 of his Ruga-Ruga ambushed a party led by William Penrose. Thecara\'an ....-as escOrted by only six ask.aris, .....ho .....ere soon eimer killed orran awa},; Penrose made an heroic last stand ....ith his back to a tree,which ....-as riddled \\ith bullets before his gun was shot from his hand

(emu,","" l1li ptJgt 33)

MASAI RAID. 18571 & 2; MINII morIIn3, 'BaJuc:hi' mercenary

3

(

A

THE BATTLE Of ELBEJET. \8891: somali ukarl

2: Maul .lder3: Masal wltfrior

B

NGONI WARRIORS1; Gwangwara, SOYthero Tanganyika2: Angonl, Nyasaland3; Tula, northem Tangan!flka

3

2

c

D

THE HEHE1: Chlel2: W.rlnga spearman, c.18913: Wlinior, e.1880

MIRAMBO'S RUGA-RUGA. 1876I: Mlrambo2; OffICer 01 Mlrambo'. llrmy3: H.M.Stanley

,

3

E

F

NYUNGU-YA-MAWE'SRUGA~RUGA, c.18801,2 & 3: Ruga-Ruga warriors

2

THE NANDI, 18951 & 2: Nandi warrionl

3: Sudanese auari

3

G

H

THE TURKANA. 1885-1900I: Young warrior2: Middle-aged warrior

3: ehiel

32

and he W'dS over.....helm<.'<I. The Ruga-Ruga stripped the skinfrom his face as a trophy, .....hile N)'lmgu himself showed hisapprO\"31 of the murder by accepting Penrose's gun and donke)'as his share of the 100L

The old .....arlord died in December 188-1, and was succeededby his daughter Mgalula. It was a testament to the effectivenessof the administration ....·hich N)'lmgu had set lip thai the SL'ltesuni"cd his death for more than ten )'ears. It covered about20,000 square miles, .md carried on a thrhing trade in clothand imry. t.lgalula also maintained the efficiency of the anny,and in 1893 she succcedcd in defeating an invasion b)'~1kwawa's Hehe. When the Germans arrived in 1895 shewclcomcd them as pot.ential allies against their mulllal enelll)'Mkwawa, and so submitted .....ithout resisL'lnce.

Organization and tacticsThe basis of Mirambo's strateg) ""'as the eXlr:lordinar} speedat ....·hich his amlies could assemble and manoemTe. Villi!the last few years of his life he led his Ruga-Ruga in person,di tinguished by an umbrella which alwapi accompanied him,and ilwariabl) setting a punishing pace, As Southon wrote: "Iehimsclf has told me that he would frequenu) run 15 or 16miles, capture a \illage and \',ithout stopping for a rest makea rapid march of 30 miles more to anothcr place... he nc"erallowed anyone t.o olltrun him.' There were never manystragglers, as to fall behind meant t.o miss the fight.ing, andhence a share in the loot. Southon explaincd the effect of Ihismobility on Mirambo's enemies:

'The celerity of his mO\'ements, the s..'lgacity of his plans and theferocit)' ....ith which his onslaughts were made. struck terror into thehearts of all the people for man)' miles arollnd, No one could tell in,,·hal district he would appear next: today he was alone place. yelyesterday he "''as 40 miles south ofiL' ~Iirambo'spreferred Glmp..'ligningmethod was to make a forced march to the nearest enemy \illage, usingunfrequented routes and aiming to achieve surprise by arrhing at night.Then, an hour before dawn, the Rug<t4Ruga would storm the weakestsection of the defenccs. climbing O\·cr the palisades and tcating thegates from their hinges.

Although Mirambo \\'llS well aware of the value ofmuskcts, and madecfforts to equip as many of his men with them as possiblc, most accountSof his bauJes suggcSt that a rush to close quaners was his favourite t.lCtiC.All of the Ruga-Ruga \','ho accompanied Mirambo on his \isit to Stanle,in 1876 were equipped ....ith guns, but it is not cenain that the entireaml) possessed them at this date. Stanle{s account of I.he ambush atWilyankuru mentions only spean, though man)' waniors undoubtedl),carried both weapons.

Mter a \ict0'1. J\lirambo himself took control of all the loot. III" thenreturned half of it to his defeated enemies, and sharcd Out the restamong the bravest of his followers. The enemy chief was usuall)'executed and replaced \',ith a local puppet nile", but Southon belie\'cdlhat the conquered uibes were act.ually beller olTundcr t.lirambo, sincehe did nOt impose la.xes but required only rccruits for his army.

•

... Rue_-Rue- or $1_ ,.Id.,.from the ~Il_ Nyau region, Hec.rrles _ coli of rope for tyfng ~

...--. .M -.-. the h-.d .Mbull of • hombiU fbuM! to histurbM. T1'I'- flgu... '-__

kM" the~.tP1a~

f3. lJoMston)

33

'On thesc young mcn', he says,'Mirambo besLOwed considerablecare and attention; he armedthem with guns and taught themhow to usc them; he conspi·cuously rewarded the hnwe andthe loyal.'

Mirambo preferred to recruit\'el") )'oung men for his ann)'; hebelieved that the)' were moreprepared to risk their lives thanthe older men w·ith families. whoby cOntrast were steadier andbener suited to defence. He LOldStanIe)' that the unmarried)'ouths · ... have sharper eyes...and a few words ";11 gi\'e themthe hearts ofJions. In all Ill) warsw;lh the Arabs. it was an aml) ofyouths that gave me \;Ct0'1'. bo\'Swithout beards. Fifteen of m) young men died one day because I saidI muSt have a certain red cloth that W"aS thrown down as a challenge.No, no, give me )'ouths for war in the open field, and men for thestockaded \;lIage.'

Apart from the N)'amwezi who constituted the core of his armv,Mirambo made use of troops from various other sources. Ill' had apersonal bod)'gUard of amled slaves known as the wanillkuru, who mayha\'e been the same as the 100 uniformed men \,'hom Stanle>"s seOlllMabruki saw in 1875. The govemors of strategic frontier districts weredrawn from this unit; they "'ere called m'gahue, and wore as a b.adge ofrank a shell sllspended from their necks b)' a strip oflion skin. For mostof Mirambo's I'cign the Tuta wefe friendly, and they sent contingenL~ tosupport him on numerous occasions. However, in 1883 w;:lr broke outwith them, and he tumed instead to the Masai to suppl), him w;th allies.Cameron says that some Arabs defected to him during the war of1871-72, but he did not trust Lhem and so had them killed. After the war,however. he granted asylum to Said ibn Salim, the deposed governor ofTabora, and even planned to restore him t.o his position. l\'lirambo wasalso on good terms with the Zanzibari slaver Tippu Tib, and when anearlier displlle with the Tum in 1881 seemed about to lead to war, heeven negotiated unsuccessfully for support from Zanzibar.

Like Mirambo's, Nyungu's army consist.ed of professional Ruga-Ruga,who were mostly roung unmarried men. They were recmiled fromvarious sources, including runawa), sla\'es, deserters from caravans andprisoners ofwar, although most of t.hem were probably of local Nyamweziorigin. No estimate appears to exisl of their overall numbers, bUl theymust have been comparable to lhe forces of rivals like Mirambo, and soprobabl)' totalled SC\'cral thousand. They were organized into companieswhich \;:u;ed greatly in size. from ahoUl 20 to as man) as 500 men. Eachcompanr W'".lS led by an officer called a mutwak. and was known by itscommander's nom de guerre, ofwhich SC\'cral picturesque examples are

34 recorded: Kafupa Mugazi ("Spiuerof Blood'); Pundu)'a Mbogo ('Buffalo

Some of the .lltrrIepntIwlntyW _lated withttMo Ny-.d trtM_n who

pnwlcMcl mod of ttMo~01w~ Ilk. Mirwnbo.

(Alcluorod EkHton, The Uk.~ 01 CentrW AIrb)

Bull'); hm"ela ~lbesi ("feeder of Vultures'); Kadcle ka :\'simba ('LionSkin'); Nsikine ('Crinder'); and Nzwala Mino ga Yanhu ('Wearer ofHuman Teeth')" These militaf)' officers were distinct from the tcrritorialchiefs whom N)'ungu left in control of the districts of his empire - asystem of di\;ded command hich was illlendt.'<! to prevent an)' subjectchieffrorn becoming too po erful.

Discipline within the companies was very strict, and the loyahy of themen \0 their commanders was encouraged by their youth and lack offamily ties. Plunder taken after a victory could only be distributed byNyungu himself, as a reward for courage. Men were often executed forminor infringements of his orders, the signal for which .....as the droppingof a piece ofcloth. It .....as said that N)1.mgu ne\'er referred to a soldier asa man until he had distinguished himself b\ \<llom in battle; until then,recruits were called mapimpili or 'logs' - and when committing hisreserves to baule, he would call Out, 'Pile on more logs!' Reckless bra\'erywas encouraged by the smoking of hemp, and by the use of a warmedicine which was supposed 10 make men invulnerable.

Most of Nyungll's Ruga-Rllb1<l were armed with muskets, but in the18705 a proportion of them still lacked fireanns, and in 1878 the French\\11ite Fatllcrs saw Ruga-Ruga carrying bows and spears, either inaddition to or as a substitute for guns.

THE NANDI

The Nandi were one of a group of related tribes.... ho lived in the forested hills around MOllnt Elgonin northern Kenya. They called themselvesChemwal or 'caule-raiders'; the nallle Wa-nandi W'dS

a Swahili insult, meaning 'cormorants' andreferring to their rapacity. Few outsiders \;sited thearea before thc 1880s, although some Arab orS...."hili u-aders mav ha\'e arnvt.-d in the 1850s. Thetribe was not illlerested in foreign goods, howC\'er,and attacked the car-mans instead of trading withthem. KaIXhumba or 'place of the Swahili' was acommonplace name in the Nandi country, which....~IS Iklid to commemoratC locat.ions where theforeigners had been lured into ambushes andmassacred.

During the 1890s the Nandi began La raid thetelegrdph line ....·hich the British authorities werebuilding on their borders. mainl)' bealllse thC')'\<lllled lhe ",;re as omaments for their women, andlater tile he;ny iron bolts securing the rails of theUganda Railway ....·ere stolen for use as weapons. Thisled to a series of British punitive expeditions. lhefirst of which look place at the end of 1895. Itoperatcd as seveml independent company-sizedcolumns, which quanered Ule country \\~Ul lheintention of rounding up U1C cattle. LieutenantSC)1llour Vandelellr, who fought in the campaign,

A nlre phototlr1lph of • N8ndl

waniot', tak~ '" th8 .-ty )'Un

of the 20th qntury. The cW)opm.nt wom by N8ndI __•

the kipoIet, • longer -.ion of

th8 kld-skln Mu8I "lop', which

w.. m.o. from bUIck go8t orc.1f hld<t with the h8lr lett 0f'I.

This wss tl" over one ahcKlldSl'(usually, but not .Iw.ys, the

right) with ••trip of ...thei'. A

\eot)Ilrd" bll, with the white bllof • ColotKIa monkey fixed to Ita

tIp,_ -U"... S'.fllnded

from the shcKIldet' ... maftl of

~ (A.C.HoItIa, T1Ioa NMwII:

n..ir~Md~1

3.

gives a description ofa battJe on tJH' banks of the Kimonde Riycr which isprobabh the first ere....il1less account of the Nandi in b..·utJe. His compall\of Sudanese ....as attacked b} about 500 warriors, 'apparentJy excellentJyorganised. and fonned in tJuee sides of a square, above which a densetJlicket of long-bladed spears nashed in dIe sunlight'. 111C') charged ingood order, ....iped out an isolated detachment of 14 mcn, and tJlcnad\<lnced to within 30 yards of the main Sudanese line before the firc oftJle ~'!aI1.ini Ilenry rines and a Maxim gun finally broke lhem.

Vandeleur ....'as cert."lin tJlat if his unit had been surprised whilc incolumn of march it would have been ovelTI.ln. He commented that '111ischarge was a revelation to us... and at once accounted for tJ1C warlikereputation ... which tJle \Va-Nandi possessed'. The Nandi had Icamcd

Th. chlr'll. 0' 1h. Nlndl It theKlmond. RI....r, legIS. n.. BritI-.h

oMc.r commlndlng In thisac:11on, Lt s.ymour Vanclfifilr,confirmed thl1 this pletu,. gN"I '11rty lCCunl1. Impru.slon ofthe ftghtlng, TM Nlndl {tOt within

30 YlrdS 0' the Brltlsh llna",_ the chi.... WIS st09P'M!by Mlrtlnl Hanry I'i"- fI... IndI Mlltim gun. jS.VInHlMIr,

c.mp.Ignlnfl on tM Uppw

HI,. Md Hl1I<HI

3.

Group of Nlndl wamor. In bam.l<noy, Oflllnl:ted Into columns by

clln.. AlthoYgh thJs ..rty 20th

cantury pletu... Is 0'~ quality,11 Is In1.....Ung In that - eonnry10 tIM stat_II of moat~_f_o'~

men hi .oop~~ Maul

~ or the practice ofpaHiting their sftIelda. (Hollis)

from their defeat, and two days later they attacked me Blitish camp atnight. They reached the thorn fence surrounding it. but they wereunable to scale it in the face of the defenders' rine fire and were againrepulsed. Subsequentl) tile)' comented themselves \'tim shado\'ting thecolumn, cutting off stragglers, and rolling down boulders on to thetrack. The British burned a few ,mages, drm'e off the cattle, andproclaimed the area p..'lcified, In fact three more expeditions wererequired, in 1900, 1903 and 1905, before the tribe submitted, makingthe Nandi Wars as a whole the most seriOliS opposition which the Britishencountered in Ken),a.

Organization and tacticsDespite lheir small numbers (their total fighting strength was around5,000. but most war parties were far smaller lhan lhis) the Nandi had afearsome reputalion as figillers, and the Masai \'t'ere said to have beenthe ani)' people who dared to attack them. Traditional" t11eir warfareconsisted of small-sale "lids for cattle and prisoners. After me 1880s,when the}' seized the grazing grounds of the LJasin Gishu plateau fromthe Masai, the Nandi showed no further interest in territorial conquesL11ley did not keep slavcs: prisoners were usually ransomed for cattle,though ~lasai capti\'cs were sometimes adopted into the tribe.

An important strength of the Nandi militar), s}'Stem was the role of theo,*oiik (singular o'*o;yOI), pan-prophets and part-war leaders, who firstcame to prominence in the mid-19th centtll)', and ~\'ere undoubtedlyinspired by the Masai Illibons or medicine chiefs. The whole Nandipeople recognized the authority of a single OI*oi)'ot, or at most tWO al anyone time. They were fe,u"ed and respected for their magical powers, andmade use of this prestige 10 impose a degree of cohesion on me tribe.111is may be one reason wh)', despite their lack of fonnal political unity.the Nandi are never known to have fought among themseh·cs.

The main subdi,isions of the tribe were 15 territorial districts, eachnlled by a council of elders. Each raised its 0\'t11 regiment of warriors.\'thich was called a lukn (meaning literall) 'a raid'), and undenook its0~\'1 military operations, either alone or in alliance with other districts.Like the Masai the men were organized into age-sets. with the }'Olmgersets providing a class of more or less full-time warriors, Every seven rears01' so a ceremony was held. at which responsibility for the defence of melribe \'t~,lS formally handed over from one agt.'-Sct to anolher.

h was customary to fil'St ask the (Jrkoi)'ot for pem1issioll to send out araiding parry. Then a hom would be blown to summon the waniors; tlleallthoril)' of the o,*oi)"01 was s)'lubolized b)' a club which he had blessed,and which was carried at t11e head of the force, The Nandi believed mata prophet could de(.'lch his head from his bod)' and send it to keep ane\'e on the perfonnance of me warriors in battle - an idea which wasob\iollsl}' useful for maintaining discipline.

Each lukd was di,ided into a V3.f)ing number of sub-units or sirilaiiJr.,each comprising an)thing between 20 and 50 men. The leaders ofeachof the indi\idual SiritOlik held the title of It.,rlcit or 'bull', Parallel to theterritorial organization was a system of 17 clans or families. each oflhem associated with a particular rotelll animal. Some clans had specificmilitary roles; the lion clan, for example. ah',a)'s deployed on therighl Iving in baltic, The hyaena clan was responsible for providing a

Two typH of tradltlon8l Nandiape......nd (8t right) .n .ump"of the modem type 8doptlld

c.1 aoo - thl. I. yh1u.lly IdMltlcelto It. M...l .qul....l."t, .nd w...Imo.t c.rt.lnly copied fromthe M...!. (Aft., Huntlnefonll

3'

rearguard to co\"er a retreat. and for blocking the tracks Lhrough Lheforest to fnlSlrate an invader.

TIle preferred time for campaigning ....as in the dly season, whichbegan in October. Raids ....'ere carried OUI over distances of up to 100miles, and the people of this region were famous (as they still are to thisday) as long-distance nmners. A war pally would send out scouts tolocate the enemy \illages and reconnoitre the approach and escolperoutes. \\1\en the) retumed. the main bod)' was mustered by sounding ahom; the approach march was then made in silence, in single file andmaking use of co\'er. Ideally the scouts would have located a spot wherethey could deploy unobserved within easy reach of the target, in whichcase the Nandi preferred to wail until aft.er dark before auacking.

The war" pal·t)' then di\'ided into three groups; one would creatc adiversion, while the second broke into the enclosure where the cattlewere kept. ~'Iost of the Nandi's neighbours had leamed to keep theiranimals inside krnals protected by thorn bedges or mud walls, so this taskoften ilwol\'ed demolishing a scclion of wall or hedge, which \'-'dS likelylO alert the cnemy. This second party would then redeploy to covcr thewit.hdra\\~11 while the third group - made lip of t.he youngest and leastexperienced warriors - drove the callIe away.

THE TURKANA

The Turkana came originally from Lhe hills to Lhe north of Mount Elgon,in what is now 1I0nhem Uganda. During the 18th centulY Lhey migratedto......ards Lake Rudolf and took O\'cr most of Lhe territory east and southof the lake, \'o'hich they called Eturk.an. This was one of the driest regionsof East Africa, and it has been argued that Lhe wars of the Tllrka.na werenot intended to conquer territory - although this \'oas often the C"entual

38 outcome - but merel) to capture cattle LO replace their losses in the

N.~I qulll.r, sClbbllrd withI••thlr "It, .~ two s_rds.s.. .Iso pig. 46 for dnlwlngs

of~ .nc!.~ (Arter Hollis'

ABOVE LEFT A Turluma warrior

enc:ounle..-d b», Telekl and von

Honnel In 1888. This pictureahowa moat of the dlstinctIYel..tuNs of the Tum"".lnellldif'l the atmenect Noll' blot.110M and lip ornamenta, in>nnoeck rlnp, and the plitt......

0' raised _ ... on 1M right

ahoukSer. Note alao the circularwrtat 'knlte' with Its "athercow-.. to p.otect 1M razor.iJNorp

ectee· (Von HorIne!)

ABOVE RIGHT A 'mlddl..aged

TUrkana warrior' - ... Pla.e H2 ­

ahowlng a variation on the hall'bag, (Von Hohnel)

frequent droughts, Ne\'erthelcss, they drove olilthe original inhabil.'lntsof the arc;1 and quickly gained a reputation as deadly lighters, UnlikemOSt of their neighbours, the Turkana did not suffer much from thecattle plagues of the 1880s. probably because of their remOteness fromany t.rade routes along which the infections could have spread. HO""C\'er,their expansion was coming to a halt b)' this time. due mainl" to O\'er­extension of their limited manpower. which was made wo~ b\ anoutbreak of chil war.

The Iirst outsiders to pcnet.rate their territol)' were Ab)"SSinian andSwahili ivory lmders. who arri\'ed about 1884. followed by the IirstEuropeans - Count Te1eki and Lud\\"ig \'On Hollllel- in 1888. Exploringexpeditions often had to fight continual minor skirmishes with theisolated and sllspiciolls tribesmen, and although pitched battles wererare, the troops invariably suffered great hardships from lack offoocl andwater. This was the main reason why tlIe aUlhorityofthe British -who onpaper had annexed the Clllire region in 1890 - was not established inmany places until after World War I.

B)' 1900 the Turkana totalled around 30,000 people, and dominatedan area of about 24,000 square miles. The proceM of expansion hadactually led to a reduction in mililal)' acti,it}, as the tribesmen becametoo thinly spread o"er this vast region to be able to amass large annies.Furthennore, the aridit) of their territory made it of little inter t topotential invaders, so that there was no incenti\'e to maintain standingamlies for defence. One 20th century informant described thecamp,aigns undertaken by his predecessors in strictly pmctical terms: 'theTurkana fought to get foocl'. By this time, if not earlier, the ....'3morstended to prefer sk.innishing and slldden raids to massed battles, In their 39

40

ABOVE LEFT Thl, portrJolt I.described .. tn,l of • Turk.IY

youth, who hI' decorated hi.tIsl. wfttl .hort black I••tn.....tuck.1I a_It - ptate H1.It took meny y to llTOW .n<!

bingle tn. h.l. sufficiently to

produce the' 'b.g,' worn by thew.rrlo... In the two prevlOlJ'Iltu.lr.tlon•• (Yon Hohnel)

ABOVE RIGHT Thl. strikInglyo,lye dr,wlng publl.h~ In Wid.World "'t(laz/n. In 1lH)2 .how.the different helratyl. worn by

the TUrkana who ,ttaeked theBritl.h Austin IlIpeditlon. Tht tall

~ f.,the.. wert pld to be •.Ig" th.t the wurlo... we,. onthe w.rpeth. (M-.lOf' R.a.T.Brlllhll

careful usc of scouts, Lheir emphasis on surprise, and their desire to

minimize CdSualtics while emphasi7jng the capture of liveslock and otherboot)'. 1.11C)' mighl be compilred 10 the Apaches. They invariably resistedolllsiders passing through their Lenitary by raiding camps and cUltingofT stragglers Irtl..her !.han by large-scalc .macks. This approach wascncapsulated in the traditional saying that the sccret of success in warwas 'not power, but knowledge'.

Organization and leadershipWhat militLlry orb....nization existed was ba.~cd on age-sets or asaj>anu,which were sub-di\idcd il1lo terriLOrial scctions, and Illa)' once havefonned units on the bauldield on the rare occasions whcn large annieswcrc assembled. By the latc 19th century this systcm was gh-ing "'ay LO aloosc collection of locally based forces, and the authority of the elderswas declining.

Political leadership \'oWl provided by ritual divincrs or llgimurok. Eachof these men nonnally controlled onc territorial section, but a fewoutstanding figures rose to positions of influcnce in the uibc as a whole.This institution may ha\-e been inspired b)' the Mas<li lai/xms, blll amongthe Turkana the ngimurok had a much more clear!) defined military role.During the 19th centllt} three outstanding dhiners were recorded:Lokerio, who led the earl) "'ars of expansion and livcd until the 1880s;Lokorikeny, who nourished al"Ound the middlc of Lhe cenlU'1'; andLokorijam, who in lhe 1890s is s.;,id to ha\c cOllle closer Lhan an)' of hispredecessors to uniting Lhe Turkana.

J

Turtlan. ape.... and war club.

TM Mwar. S9fi1f nenlged.bout 8ft In length; the bladewa. ,.,a.ttv.Iy .......11 IMlt w••kept very Marp. 0rMI reason

given for the auperiority of tM1\irtlaNl _ tn.Ir _ies

... theW M:qut.ltion of blfttef"

~Ity...~ from tM'*8hboYring LabwM, wno_ .... known .. skilled

lronwo,bra. (Yon Hohnel)

SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY

Conlcmpomry sources:R.Bunon, TM!.aU &giont ofOntml Africa (London, 1860)M.Frcnch..sheldon, Sullon 10 Sill/an: AdVf'1ltum in East Africa

(Roslon, 1892)S.L & H.Hinde, TM lAst OJIM M(l$(Ii (London, 1901)Lvon Ilohnel (trans N.BeIl). DisaJun-j of I...aJus Rudolfand SUfan;,

(London. 1894)A.C.Hallis, TM Alasai, Thnr !.Angllagr and FoIAJOTP (Oxford, 1905)A.C.Hallis, rM Nandi, Thnr I..Imguagt mid FolA~ (Oxford. 19(9)Sir I-I,UT)' IIJohnston, British Ontral Africa (london, 1897)F.D.Lugard, The Rise oJOllr East AjriClltl £mp;'1! (Edinburgh &

London, 1893)C.PCICrs. Nf!W Light 011 Dark Africa (London, 1891)j.I-I.speke,jounlal oJlhe Ducowry of the SOl/fee oJthe Nik (Edinburgh

& London, 1863)II.M.Sumley, Haw I Faund UlJillgsIQIl' (London, 1872)II.M.Slanley, Through thl! Dark Q:mlill~ll (London, 1879)J.Thomson, '10 thl! Cmtral AJritall Lakes and &Ick (London, 1881)J. Thomson, Through Masai Land (London, 1885)S.Vandeleur, Campaigning on 1M Vppn- Nill! and Nil" (London, 1898)M.S.Wcllb)" Twixt Simar and Mmdlk (London, 1901)C.\\'iesc (trans D.Ramos, ed H.W.Langworthy), Exp«Iltlon in East

Cmtral Africa, 1888-J891 (London, 1983)Modem works:N.R.Bennett, MirambooJTnnzanin (Oxford, 1971)G.W.B.lluntingford, TIlL Nandi oJKnlJn (London, 1953)J.Lamphear, 'The People of the Grev Bull: The Origin and

Expansion of the Turkana' ,journal oJAfrican History, \'01 x..XIX

(1988)CJ.Peers, Armies oJ/hI! Ninl!/Mlth Cmtllry: East AftUa (Foundrr Books,

Nouingham, 2003)M.Rcad, The Ngrmi oJ I\)'asaland (London, 1956)A.Rcdmayne, 'Mkwawa and the Hebe Wars',journal ojAfrica" History,

Vol IX (1968)A.Shorter, 'Nyungu-ya-~bweand the Empire afthe RlIga-RlIgas',

journal ojAfrican History, Vol IX (1968)T.Spear & R.Waller (eds), &illg Masai (London, Dar es Salaam &

Nairobi, 1993)C.Spdng, African Anns and AnllOur (London, 1993)

41

42

THE PLATES

A: MASA' RAID, 1857The explorer Richard Burtoo described a Masal vietoty oyerthe BaJuchi mercenaries 01 the Sultan of zanzibar In 1857.which Is the basis lor this reconstruction.A1 & "'2: Masal moranMost Masal watTiors wore only a short garment made of kidskin, wtQ was normally worn tied 0Yf!J( one shouIdef. Whenon the warpath, however. it was rolled up around the waist tokeep the sword in place, lW'ld also in order not to impede thewarrior's legs when fUI'll'lIl"lg. The n1O"8n grew their hair long,coated it WIth red ochre, and plaited it Into plgtais - usuaIyone large one at the beck m two or ItY8e smaller ones at thefront. The most corrmon type of headdress was made frombIadl: lW'ld white ostrich feattlefs fixed into a leathef oval wtic:hframed the wanior's lace, Ike thaI of A1, but a variety of otherstyles were also used. In 1893 sr Gef8kj Portal encclU'Il:ered agroup of Masai among~ were men wearY"IQ 'an ecificelike a guatdsn'wI's beetsIw't made of hawk's fealher.L•. or insome cases the horns of an anleklpe. Of a~ of ironwn covered with wool in the shape of IfT1f1lIlnS8 buffalohorns', On his upper arm 1.1 wears an arm c:tamp made ofhom. wtic:h often fitted so~ that it was <*nosl: irnp:lssit:Jklto remove.. Red. wtvte and black beads, ~edtowlwds the end of the oentlA'y by blue, were extensivety usedfor decorabon. The iron bel strapped to hls thigh is alsoI1lElI'1tIOn8d by von Hohnei. It rT'lIght be stuffed with grass for asurpnse attack or a right raid. but when the warriors were onthe mateh their presence was often actvertJsed by the clangi"lgof these bells. Knee bands were made of white goat hair.The warrior A2. is wearing the wei-known 'busby' made froma lion's mane: thiS was primarily an Item of ceremonial dress,restricted to men wOO had kiOed a lion with the spear. butwas apparently sometimes worn in battle. A warrior wouldoften coYer his head and shoulders, the blade of his spear,and sometimes his whole body with a smeared layer of redochre mixed with fat, which was applied Otl top of atl theclothing and accoutrements and, in yon Hotlnel's words,'makes him look as if he W9I"9 dripping with blood'. Anillustration In Thomson's Through Masal I..Bnd shows theseunwieldy-looking backward projecllons of wIlite goat hairapparently fastened to the leg barlCls.The traditional war spear was about 5~ feet long, andconsisted of a shon wooden handle and a broad, heavy Ironblade. The exact shape of the blade varied from one clan toanother: aCCOl'dlng to Thomson, the northern Mesal usedlonger. narrower blades, while the southern clans preferred abroader pattern. Numerous slight variations in design arerecoroed; that carried by A2 has a small central grip and avery long butt spike, and Is derived from a drawing in MaryFrench-Sheldon's Sultan to Sultan. The moran were notallowed to carry bows or other missile weapons since it wasthought that these would make them reluctant to fight atclose quaners, but they frequently threw their clubs as theychatged. Swords Went usually about 181ns to 2ft in length,and were often manufactured by grinding down oldEuropean machete blades. The blade generally WIdened outtowards the tip Inlo a 'spoon' stIape, although lhe extentvaried considerably. Shields varied in size between about 3ftand 5ft tall. They were made of buffalo hkje, wNch is mochtt»cker and tougher than ordlflary cow hide, and must have

Tlda lIIualnUon deplct. the wupona of the Kikuyu tribe,

who weno nelihboura of the Manl and adopted mIlCh ofttl,"r military tachncHosJy. The .,.ara., awon!, club and ahleldano all very a.lmllar 10 Maaal typ.H, although the Klkll)'\l alaomade' mIlCh grealet" UN of the bow, (Von HoIlnel)

made formidable weapons In their own right when used toknock an enemy off balance before finishing him with aspear thrust.A3: 'Baluchi' mercenaryThe 'BalllChls' were mercenaries who fought for the SUltansof zanzibar. They came mostly from western Asia and theArabian Peninsula, but also Included Individuals from variousparts of Africa. Burton describes the typical mercenary of the18505, 'distinguished from the Arab by the silkiness and thesuperior length of his flowing beard... made glossy with hennaand indigo. He adheres to hiS primitive matchlock, a barrellengthened out to suit the weak powder in use, damascenedwith gold and silver. and fastened 10 the frail stock by moremetal rings than the old French -Brown Bess- fN&( had'.AccoI'ding to Bunon, 'the wildest and most picturesque' ofthe Baluchls, whose 'unkempt elf-locks fall In mightymasses', went Arabs from the western shotes of the Pt!rsianGu". One of these 0manIs Is reconstructed here, based onhis desaiption. They fallOUr8d a long saffTon-colotnd gown,wNch was often the arty garment they wore. ThIs implies thatthey ITlIght have gone bareheaded, as some Araba't tribesstill did, though no illustralJon from Africa appeat5 10 conmn

this. Big Indian-styte turbans, robes in red, blue Of white, andbaggy trousers were popular with men from other areas,Bu10n says that the offioets Of 'Jemadars' 'Nenl much betterdressed than u- men, and often appeared in scar1et coatsand silk turbans. ApIwt from u- matchlocks the DmanlsW8ftI armed with long. straight swords worn on a strap overthe left shoulder, and daggers on thelr right hips. TheIr smallround shields were made from the hide of the hippopotamus,rhlooceros, elephant or addax antelope - the latter beingpopular because 01 Its naturnl whiteness.

B; THE BATTLE OF ELBEJ.T, 1889this plate reconstructs some of the participants in thisbattle, in which Carl Peters' German expedition inflictedheavy casualties on the MasaI while extricating itself fromhostile territory.

Maul ahlekt ~ttems. '""-- uarnplH -"- on" • f_ ofthe enonnous v.rtety of poultHe ....... It--. ....r.,The er-t maioritY followed the b88k:~ The

sun..::e w.. stripped of heir, polished, MMl ~nted whit..tt w., theft dlvkled into two "-'- by • INIttem c.lled ..

Hgln, running fnHtl top to bottom, whletl- .I'thougtl VWyIng

in ttle debUt of it, dftlgn - w" filppoMd to~t

cowrie ,hell,. LIke the re,t of the ahleld, th. INIttem we.

pelnt~ In blllCk, whit., red, .nd occe,lonelly grey. On thelen helf of the .hleld .. viewed _re ell1pllcel dulgn,

Indleellng the cUin end ttge-MI of the bee""" which weN

lIIuelly In ted. On ttM right .Ide there weN eometlmMpIIttemI~I" In b&edt), which __ epecHk: to

1nd1Vld~w.mon., or NIated to IUb-cIenl or famllleL0thenriM the right helf might em- be left plein white,or repeet the pIlttem on the left skte. Shleld:l which __

plein white on .t '-It _ .Ide eppear to I'\rnl~

more common towerel' the IMd of the 18th century.

B1: Somali ask8rlThis man is based on Ulustrations in Peters' accoum NewUgh! on D8Ifc AIric8. and represents one of the elite corps ofSomalis recn.nted for this expeditlon. He is dressed in aunrlorm similar to that Issued to the askans of thecontemporary German East Afnca Company (note the btec:k.whrte and red tape trim on his wtwte smodQ, and is arme:tWith a breectl-Ioading rifle. Dt.ring his escape from EJbeteI,Peters also improvISed headgear fOf his porters 001 of r8dcloth In ordef to make them look like askaris and so increasethe apparent strength of hiS lorce.B2: Masal elderthis figure illustrates the appearance of those Massi menwho were no longer part of the wamor class, and now loughtonly In defence of their homes and property. After graduatingto elder status the members of each age-S4lI were no longer

Maul w..-rior'l oatrit;....'uther headd,... _... ptate. A a 8; end

V\lttu~faetherruff,

worn around the IMCk­... ~te A1. VJt...M.Frwncft...SMIdon 43

RCKlI'd Mll40ld with , eent...1 boss, prob,bly 0' elephant hide.Thl' type of Mlleld Ia usuelly auo<:lated with the Hom ofAfrk:_ and the SYdan, but. waa Introduced lnlo East Africa

by the ......ba and Somalis, and w.. earned by many of the

Baluch" 0' Omanl origin who kKlght tor the Sultan ofZ.ru:ibsr - _ Plate A3. The dl,met... of !hI, ..."'fl'le lan in<:hea. (Marlt~I

subfect to the rules which governed the moran, and were freeto adopt whatever hairstyle, mess and ornaments theychose. The IT\lljOnty of the elders shaved their heads, andprobably dressed like ttvs figure, In blankets acqUired bytrade WIth the Atabs. Unlike the young warriors, eldersfrequently fought with bows.83: Mas.1 warriorBased mainly on a photograph taken in the 18905 by ErnestGedge of the British East Africa Company, this figureillustrates a number of differences from the earlier figures onPlate A - notably the substitution of cloth for animal skins.Red cloth was available in fairly large quantities by the1870s, when Arab caravans began to penetrate Masailand,and moran olten swathed themselves in as much of this newmaterial as they coold get - though here, for war, it is limitedto the usual tightly wound piece around the waist. Thiswarrior's cloak or naibera is also made from trade cloth:these were almost Invariably white with a red central stnpe,as Just visible hef'e. The cape around hIS shouldefs is madefrom the fur of the black; and white CoIobus monkey. Thesize of his shield is unusual but by no means unique: andhis spear, reddened with ochre, is from an illustratIOn

by""""""'.

C: NOON I WARRIORSnus plate shows representatIves of ttvee of the ma;or sub­groups of the Ngoni, illustrating some of the wide range ofvariation in the appearance of thew" warriors. HooNever, thesegroups were not always eastIy distinguIShable hom eachother, and men resembling all of these rlQUlM might be foundin any Ngoni war party.

R""·R,,,a headdre....: (left) _ of Mirambo" bodyguard".n<:CKlnt.rect by Stanley In 1871!1; (eentrel_ Nyamwezl, alaoby Stanley; (rightla porter sketched by Burton In tha 185Oa.

Cl: Gwangwara from southern TanganyikaThis rlQure has been reconstructed mainly from a wnttenaccount by Joseph Thomson. He wears a headdress madefrom the mane of a zebra, tied around the head so that itstands up In a fan shape. This headgear was charactenstIC ofthe tribes of southern Tanganyika, betng also popular amongthe Gogo, Hehe, 5ango and Nyamwezi. He wears Zulu-stylewtvte goat hall' leg bands, and a cape made from the skin ofa servaI eat. Thomson describes some Ngoni as -w.g a'heap' of wildcat skins piled around their necks and hanglngdown their backs. The spear shown henl is a 00l"Mlltb0na1ZuIu-styte stabbing assegai.C2: Angoni from NyasalandBased on a photograph in Harry Johnston's BntlSh Centnl/AInc8 (1897), he wears the black cock's-fealher headdresswhich was the commonest distlngurstwng feature of theNgoni north of the lambezi. The traditlOnal Zulu head ringwas sometimes worn by married men of Zwangendaba'sgeneration, but had virtually disappeared by the 1880s.Round his neck is a fringe made of strips 01 leopard skin andred trade cloth; almost hidden here. wildcat skJns might be

attached round his waist; strips of monkey skin, plaited 10look like cats' tails, went sometimes used instead, andJohnston adds that a Strip of red cloth was commonty worntted around the W3lSt. This man's spear Is described in theoriginal source as a stabbing assegai, desprte the plume onthe shaft, whictl nvght seem 10 be more appropriate for athrowIog weapon. Shields were made from buI hide, and likethose 01 the Zulus usually retained the natural coIounng ofthe animal. It Is unlikely that the old Zulu system ofdistingUIshing regiments by shl8ld colour suMved amongthe Ngonl, but some war parties did carry shields 01 more Of

less uniform colour - a photograph of around 1900 shows agroup of about 20 warrio~ all 01 whom carry these all-blackshields with white stitching.C3: Tuta from northern TanganyikaReconstructed from a descripuon by H.M.Stanley, this manIs naked apart from a string of beads around his neck, and aheaddress consisting of fewer and longer feathers than thetype worn by C2. He Is armed with a crudely carved woodenknobI«wrie. Some sot.WCeS claim that the Tuta women carriedbows and fought alongside their men; If so, thelr costumewas probabty no more elaborate than that of thIS figure.

D: THE HEHE01: ChiefEminent Hene men wore a voluminous toga-like garment,the mugoJoIe, as Illustrated by this fIQure. This was basicallya length of cotton cloth wound 5eVercll limes around thebody, and could be very bulky. Mkwawa sometimes gavesuch mugoJole to his warriors as a reward IOf performance Inbattle, but they were not a formal sign of military rank, and Infact were also worn by women.Thomson says that the Hene oftenwore 'pounds' of blue beadsaround their necks. His weapon Isa flirIUOck trade musket.02: Wajlnga spearman,c.1891A oomposIIe reconstruction basedon German descripllOl"lS andilustratJOnS from the 1890s, this

man I9f)rtlS8r'rtS one of Mkwawa'swajinga regiments at the battle ofthe Rugaro Rivei'". A very wide variety

of headgear was In use at thisperiod: that wom here consists ofa cock's-feather plume sur­rourlded by a ring of pomponsin alternating coIou~. Alsopopular was a Masai-style'busby' made from either alion's mane or an imrtationmane made from the skinof a monkey or someother arwmal. The fur

A gourd of the lyJ)e used

by tM Rup-Rup andotll« gun-armed African,for ,torlng poWder, length,

14 lnehe,. (MarkCopple,tone)

apron shown here was almosl UI'livtnaI by this time; 11'1 some.ustrations it appears to cor1SlSt of a SIngle pl8CfI in the formof a short kilt extending half-way down the thigh. while inothen it looks like an ammgement of smaI stopS t\angIngfrom a bell - 9lther as shown here, or extending aI the wayaround the WlIISt.. The throwlng sp8lW" no Iongl!lr app8ln inaccounts of the W'i!I aganst the Germans and may havelargely gone out of use by this time, but broad-biadedstabbng spears were stia widely used. Vely Iatge shields Ikethat of D3 - some as tall as the bearer - went still 10 usealongside the smaller versions. It seems that in Mkwawa's dayunits could be distinguished by the coIou~ or patterns on !heirshields, and at least one of the elite Hehe regiments In thewars of the 18905 carried plain white shields.03: Warrior, c.1880This figure is derived malnly from an U1ustration by the Frenchtraveller Revolt dating from the early 1880s. Apart from I\tszebra-mane headdress he is naked. Verney Camerondescribes a group of Hehe he met in 1873 as weanng 'vetylrttIe cklthing', many being entirely naked apart from theoccasional string of beads around th.- necks or wnsts. Thespear is of a InIdibonaI type also used by the I'llllghbounngGogo. According to cameron and Thomson, each man waseqUipped with a heavy spear for use as a thrusting weaponat close quarters, and between six and eight lighter javeinsfor throwing. These are not desaibed in detail, but probabtyresembled the weapon carried by C2. Hehe shl8lds weresimilar in shape to those 01 the Ngonl, from whom they antthought to have been copled originally, but varied wIdety Insize. The warrio~ seen by Cameron carried huge bull-hideshields, up to 51t tall by 31t wide, with a plece of woodrunning down the centre as a stIffener and curved outwardsIn the middle 10 act as a handgrip. The face 01 the shield inthe Revell Nlustration Is plaJn, though other sotJfC8S show thatthe pattern of the ongmaI hide was often retalned.

&: MIRAMBO'S AUGA-AUGA, 1878In 1876 H.M.StanIey had an II'It9r'YIeW with the famousNyamwezi wartord Mlrambo, agBInst whom he had fought ona previous expedition while ac:c:ompanyWlg Arabs; thIS plateis based on the descnptlOnS in Stanley's TMlugh the OriContment.E1: MlramboAs described in Stanley's book, Mlrambo is dressed as awealthy Arab In a long embroidered coat and carries an Arabsword. According to Stanley's messenger Mabrukl: 'Hewea~ the turban, lez, and cloth coal 01 an Arab, and

carries a scimitar. He also wea~ slippers, and hiSclothes under his coat are vetY white.' AI that bme

Mlrambo wore a beard, and must have closetyresembled an Arab sheikh. A photograph andportrart from the early 1880s. howeYer, show twnclean-shaven and bareheaded, WJlh thIS UlYUtyshock of hair.E2: OHicer of MIr.mbo's armyThIs man is wearng the Arab-style costume ofMwambo's personal bodyguard. Stanley describesthree of the officers who visited him as'handsomety dressed in fine red and blue cloth

coats, and snowy white shirts, with ample turbansaround their heads'. It Is not clear whether he meant

'either red or blue coats', or whether eacn garment 45

"a;

! -;;;;;

~:=="",,=~C"C"

<; T'-e F"

Nandi bows and errowheada, withlrightJ the method of "-tchlng erroWLHollis Impfln tn.! only e mlnortty of

wfWriorl t;Mried bows. and wftI.. ItV r writ-. of _ b<eine ~tfrom 1MI&h, his _t. ofba~

In 1M 0fIeft ref... only to ~ra.hrty In the 20th centvry R1cn.rd~n persulldltd _ Nandi

_ to d.monstnt. the UN of UNolr

ml••II. w.epon•. H. found thet 1Mmaximum reng. of IMlr bow. we••nImp.....I...e 134 yerd•• whll. the clubOf' rvngu could be thrown to helf thetdlsume., Ind the speer (the mod.m....re4on. reUNor tn.n the Merier and

toes. well-bllienced old., typel to ebout40 yerd•• (After HolII'1

was patterned in both coleus. MabnJkj fePOJ'led that 'Wehave beheld the Ruga-Ruga, and theAl' are many of them...About a huldred are clothed in cnmson cloth and whiteshifts'. These descnptions do not qUIte amount 10 evidencelor a uniform, but It is obvlous that a section of MJl1lmbo'sarmy was disbnguishable from other Ruga-Ruga by its finedress, and that the predominant coat colours W1lfEI red. andperhaps to a lesser eKtent blue. Turban colours are not given,but - assuming that they lollowed Arab fashion - they wareprobably mostly white, or b1ue-and-white checked. Thisman's weapon Is a muzzle-loading 'three-band' Enfieldpercussion rifle, of which large numbers were imported intoEast Africa in the 18609-705. Other weapons which Stanleysaw in use in 1871 Included 'fIint-lock muskets, German andFrench double barrels... and American Springfl8lds'.E3: H.M.Stanl.yThis reconstruction of the famous expIonlr is derived from anillustration of tvs meeting WIth Livingstone ... 1871. and aseries of studio photographs taken about the same lime. Thecork sun helmet or 'solar topee' was a military fashion firstseen in India, whtctI began to appear in Africa dtxing the18705. These helmets came in numerous styles, differing inthe height of the crown and the WIdth of the brim. Stanley iswearing a cloth paggri wrapped around his helmet: this wasalso an Indian-Inspired lashlon, which was popular with theBritish but was less ollen adopted by eKplorers from otherEuropean countries. In anothef portrait Stanley Is shown witha Winchester repeater rather than this double-barrelled big­game rifle. of the class carried by most explorefs. Unlikemany of hIS contemporaries he was a firm believer In thenecessity lor two typeS of guns - a heavy one for hunting.and a lighter f9P88ter for defence against hostile tribesmen.

dyed red. Fea!llers ooukl also be worn stuck or lied intoturbans or other I'leadg6W (see F3). A neddace of humanteeth hangs around F1's I'l8dt. like the belts made !romnuman entrails, the caps made of the skin flayed from a deadenemy's face, and the other items of what was desaibed asthe 'ghastly linefy' 01 the Ruga.Ruga. these W1lfEI believed topossess magical powers to protect the wearer. apart frominspiring terror in the enemy. F1 has ivory bracelets on hiswrists: these, along with certain secret SC8lS or tattoos. wereoriginally the maries 01 elephant-hunters, which had come tobe associated with the Auga-Auga. His weapon is a flintlockmusket or gumeh-gumeh. Ally combination of musi<et, bowand cIose-combat weapon might be carried. Ruga'Ruga didnot generally carry shields - partly because they needed bothhands to use their bows or guns, but parity because of thereliance they placed on protectIVe magic.FIgIX8 F2's t1alrstY'e IS one of a WIde vanety of tl'aditionaINyamwezi styles illustnrted by Burton. Atound his head he Lsweanng a ngazia, a piece of bright red cloth which had animportant symbolic role, and may t1ave been the doses! thatmost Ruga-Ruga came to a uniform; they could also be wornas cloaks or loincloths. The warnOf would taunt hisopponents in battle by poinbng to the cloth and shouting'This is your blood!' This man's axe and dagger are bolhi1tustrated by Stanley in How I Found Livingstone. A favouriteploy 10 demoralize the enemy was to make a tremendousnoise with drums and the bells whlCfl the Ruga·Ruga ollenwore around their ankles.Another popular acc&SSOrY among some groups was a coil ofrope for tying up slaves, as carried by F3. This figunt is basedon a draWIng by Jotm;ton, and Is armed with a large ca1ibr8elephant gun. probably acqund by trade or force from aEuropean hunter.

,: NYUNQU·YA·MAWE'S AUGA-AUGA, c.1880ThIs scene reconstructs thnle of the kilIefs of the EngIistvnanWilliam Penrose and his party - an incidenI wtlic:h became acause ceIetxe. The figures illustrate onty a lew 8KlImples ofthe wide range of Auga-Ruga dress and equipment.The warriOf F1 wears a cock's-feather headdress of Ngonitype, as described by the French White Fathers who wafSattacked by Nyungu'S men In 1878. The leathers might be left

48 In their original black colour, but were probably more ollen

Q: THE NANDI, 1815This plate is based on a si<etch and written 8CCOU'It by LtVandeleur, whose company of Sudanese was attacked by aNandi war party dunng the campaign of 1895.G1 & G2: Nandi warriorsDuring the second half of the 19th century M8S8J Influencebecame Increasingly strong among the Nandi. Individualwarriors otten copied elements of Masai war dress, such as

the ostrich-feather headdress worn by G1, white monkey furanklets, horn 01' Ivory armlets, bells on the thighs 01' ankles,white 01' coloured cloaks and vulture-feather capes - all ofwhich would resemble those worn In Plates A and B. Nandiclothing was traditionalty made from black goat skin. Moogrew their hair long. and either dressed it in numerous smalltags hanging over their foreheads, or plaited It into pigtails­usualty one at the froot and either one large one or threesmaU ones behind. Richard Meinertzhagen, in his account ofthe 1905 campaJQn, mentions warriors wearing red andwhile body paint; note that G1's face and body are smearedin both colours. divided down the centre. The favouritecoIotK for trade beads among the Nandi was t~.Weapons were spears, swords and clubs - aI very SIITlilar toMasai types - as well as bows and snows. Note the long.triple-barbed snows earned by G2; the Nandi had oncebeen fOfBSl-dwelling hunters. and so had a long tradition ofarchery which persmed even after the adoption of Masal

"""""'""' """ tae1>OS.Shields were v«y swnilar in shape and construelJOn to thoseof the Masai. although according to V8ndeleur the ones hesaw in 1895 were pamted 'a dull red coIou'", and were not so'meIy ornamented' as the Masai ones. &wetaI survivingphotographs from the earty 20th century portray shields in a5lf1QIe sold dark coIotK (probably ftld), while other soun:essuggest that bold but rather crude approxmations of Masaipatterns in while. red, black, grey Of blue were equaltypopu"".03: Sudanese askarl in British serviceIn 1891 several units of Sudanese soldiers were recnJltedinto Bntish service from the Egyptian ganisons which hadbeen cut off In Central Africa by the Mahdist revolt. Thisman's red lez, blue jersey and white breeches wereregulation dress. though by this time he and hIS fellows hadnot been property AlSUpplied for several years, and oftentook the field in a bizarre 8SSOI'tment of nallve garments andworn-out uniforms. His Martini Henry rifle is one of aconsignment which llITived in 1895 to supplement the oldEgypllan Army Remingtons.

H: THE TURKANA, 1885-11100H1: Young warrIorH2: Mlddle·aged warrIorH3: ChiefDrawings by ludwIg von Hohnel and Major Powell-Cotton.who visited the Turkana In 1888 and 1904 respectively, showa wide variety 01 hairstyles. The very young man illustratedas H1, drawn by von Hohnel, Is distinguished by his croppedhair ornamented with short black feathers. He carries only awooden club and a throwing stick 01' aburo.The strikingly e:o:otic warrior H2 Is based on anotherillustration by von Hahne!. He wears his hair In a distinctive'bag' hanging doWn his back; this is formed from the man'sown hair. de/iberatety woven Inlo a dense mat, stiffened withgrey clay and ornamented With feathers and pieces of boneand metal. This mat 01 hair could provlde considerableprotection against a blow from a wooden club. This man hasa small brass peodant hanging from his nostrils, and a rod­shaped piece of the same metal protruding from his lowerHp; a piece of glass Of crystal might be used instead of thelip rod. He wears several iron earrings in each ear, andaround his neck a series of iron rings which force hlm to hold

Shield decorated with. bitt of oatrlch pt-. of • ~uHd byttM~,&uk,~ -.tel many au­peopIft, of .-them Keny., (VOft Hahne/)

his chirI high - and may have given casual observers a falseimpres5lOl'l of the warrior's height. Earty expIor8rs ottendescribed the Turkana as tall: 'men 01 prodigious SlZe, many01 them perfect giants In their build'. accotding to captWelby. who visited them in 1899. Von Hohne!, however,describes them as musculaf but not partJcularty tall. TheTurkana did not use body paint; but note the maSSIvedecorative scarification of this warrior's right shoulder.Popular weapons were long spears, akwara; and note aroundhis right wrist the 8f7J171ir or quoit-like wrist-knife. its sharpouter edge with a protective leather cover.The chief. H3. wears an elaborate cap With ostrich·featherplumes, and an entire leopard skin lor a cloak. He is basedmainly on a portrait painted In the 19505 by Joy Adamson,but 19th century witnesses confirm that similar costumeswere being worn then - although leopard skins were harderto come by then than they became after the Introduction offirearms, and were often reserved as the Insignia 01 high rank.A giraffe tail Is fastened to his left arm with a length of rope.CoIounId beads were not available until the mld-l880s, whenthe first Swahili tradEn brought them Into TurUna country,but hofn&.-made iroo and brass beads were used instead. Atthe Ilme of Wellby's 1899 expedition the Turkana were eagerfor red, while and blue beads, but were not interested inother colours. Shields were made of unpamted buffalo hide.They were someIlmes decorated with a tuft of blaclt feather.!;attached to the bottom of the wooden centtal rib. althougtlnot all illustrations show these. 47

48

INDEX

~,"""4;

\Jmr bu:l Sulgn :DAnfIo<U ,,- 14 16-17, +1--6. C!

""oc,",~1!-1.u

......1<10 44

anuoh <;co"tDl \("";1 1480..... [..c I\f C.-.panv +tBntoth C;o.."h Ai r"""p>J>v 148,..-..lUclw'd 12. ".l~I6.17.4!. "

(.;a,~ron. 1....U1~lQIll \"rmq li.:H. 4!>

auk.... 14Chlp"'~ 18Cih'UllOO, \ M l~. 16

F.....' Arm''''''I' ......rfa.... ~

FJhrjr•• Mil'" of (D<=n,~ 1889) ll-'J.1. t. ,,, B~]nl.I ... , II'.••. L'lUIlM'I,J t 21t:m,n raha 14

1tc'1orfDcpn:!lloon 11889) 8EnRrl1wd1, ('~n 14

r.......n.shrIdon..'obl1 42fo.alrl>om,c~ 14

GornIw> u.. ,"'-na Compan. 4'GomalIn I"n:Noro:Iion fon.. ISch..ozttupprl 18-:!O(;qf>~ 18.........~ .,,+t,e)

'ko.allM'" on <an'~ 18.-............. of Ill..,...... 17_18, 19-~

ch",r. ". D.~,.. 'tl

1m....." IIIOIlP"u,....'" ...,d~...,. ~1war ,mil c.;""""",. 18-20warriol> 4!>, 1)1. ll'

Ihldrbrandl,J-M. 7Ilnh"d.I.'ItI~i~ ....n ~. 42,'7

11l!:.A CO""I"'''' 101kl.oG(.lllbb"'~"""'1C:>i1 16lnnll" lI;ghlaoo. 17

I\1Imp 18, 19-~

"'-.~humbil M~1&-17

KWA.. W2f"l"" U....... 18.......... ltnn.baltlrolthrll8'»I36.""...._"IUrutIp !~

........... 'I~"'''''''' 1~14.1:!>.16

I~~ 7.:vIUkUnpm.b 1"'4Ul.c' \"onono. 7. .,

I~Dr BI~pul' I"Gn:I< E~pftann 19.......................L.o:>bJnu...- -10

Lug:ud. FD 4.15. 16, 16-17

\1........LJ ·0.46Ma<haL>o 10M»ill I'M~J1 MOj' Rcbo.1lion (I~l HM:u;u

......'..-m 10--11~ltKJ,., on Anb",,,,,.,,,,, 7.-8~n'" II", Rrilioli 10nltl" r~idi"g 6-7th.llactcr !H;thlef, 12,.... ,dd".. 8. 4~. B2and 1"00 121Indd~ 43

"'""'" I'K><a'1 ("u....til 6.7,10l>I'pOiDuon and t¥ti<> 12>lu<:1do II, 4j

"",an 12..~~7~(_l '.I~I%.~.+l.AI

.... M~ and equapmrnt I'............ "

Mbanam 12

"-".\41.--1>0 H. 21. 22. "5, £1and !he llnuYt !!

camp"p !!""'. n--l..~ 430-6.E!

\Ik..-::a Ii_Ill. 19-20. 21. 4!>

Moo"" IJgon M.:5lI\lp"..,m II\If'''''if'''''i 18.19Munlill"",1:>a 17--18.20

N.",tl

'Ilf'-Kl'l~,r", '7lx>wo an'" .m..... 46.11<1 Ihe 8nli>h ':'-7cb". 37-8organ....lK>n and _tics "-8qW\n'I :5lI

....... "w;Uri<)n ». " .......7. GI Gf

"'m.'uId>o... If

"'...... a...nc. ~'P"

~,..n. on AnI> an._ 17BnuoIt <_lIOI 14

dro_ I'....,.- If-H. ISoopwauon ~......,. 1-"-17w::amon u. 16, +l-~. C,.;un........'hauloo 0( 17-18',_ri I" II_f, S4... "

' ............~!l.ttampaognI f~. n, S4-.S

Pen "-....... f4, n. <te>rnc ean 7-8.8-10. I!. 43I"oNI. Sir GotnId 7.':~\..,.,..~7

J'nn<... T... 19, ~

1loab:I Rn..... 7. :!II.­...... ti

"'""'- ..""P""""lJO<l and _ .... :l."""<>rig;... 21-2>1:1..... l'aIdcn n"nder M,rambo !!""'. M-4under l\'''r1K'~M.w.. 2t. n.~..-.rnon 2~. oUi•••

IlUlC"ro 1!J."r. banI<- of (A"",... 1!l911 17. 1ll-19. 21

Sol,... ihn Salom S4&nJlO l!. 17. 20. 21'ihal.:a (Zulu km,1 12Somah ........ 8.4'. BI.........Southon lm---.n-I un.'1-4Sca>n. CapwD ~

Sunln'. H M. 14, 16, n.!!. n. S4, 4\. ..." D~a"-u 47.eS....WI_ 7.11,'»

T>bDn !!.!STdcl.i. Co..." !9~J<-pb S.7.8.!1,4%.4-4Tippu Tob S4T,_~..... ,...,dtic6I 4i. US

M'ncn ~......,... ....,.,.,. .....Of'pn'''''''''' 3I'..IIradr.....,p ~ohirldol 41tpran 41warrion st. 41 til II!

TIll" (w.,,,u) I~H 2', '"fightIng ",,,,hod. 1....16he:u:lgcar 16

"'Uno" 4.... 0

U,",,, Ciolin p1.I..." "Ulip" UL'1l"ll" 7L:J!i' U!4L'.--I>o !!.!of

~-"w~.CM1 17W.MnlW'U tt. ss

z.a.......1I Rn....- .,Zdrw>b.1-bupomum _ 18-19

Zambuo. Anbaaacl ... lAupo< 111711 ft. nZ.......... .,

""""Z~.,.U

The uniforms, equipment. history and organization

of the world's military forces. past and presentWarrior Peoplesof East Africa1840-1900

DraWIngs

OSPREYPUBLISHING

www.ospreypubJishing.com

Unrivalled detail

Although less well mown than

the Zulu of South Africa, the

warriors of East Africa had an

equally fearsome reputation.

The prowess of the lion-hunting

Masai deterred all foreign

peneuation for most of the

19th century; the r-:goni,

driven north by the Zulu,

revolutionized warfare in the

region; the HeHe put up fierce

resistance to Gennan coloniZers;

the Ruga-Ruga, who adorned

themselves with bloody trophies,

produced two formidable

warlords; the Nandi showed

reckless bravery even against

machine guns; and the Turkana

dominated one of the most

pitiless wildernesses in all of

Africa. This study, Illustrated

with rare early images and

meticulous colour plales, covers

these fascinating tribes.

ISBN 1-84176-778-6

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