The ridge-and-valley topography, which is such a predominant feature of the Kikuyuland, had great influence on the nature of the original
1. Mackinder, op cit., pp 457» 460-2; von Hohnel, op cit., pp 302, 315, 352, 335J Gregory, op cit., pp 192; Bishop A.R. Tucker: an extract ^ from f,The Times” of 24 January, 1892 in NO 2/57? Sir Gerald Portal
to Lord Rosebery, 24 May, 1893 i& NO 2/57: N.D. Lugard: The Rise of our East African Iftnnire. vol. 1, Edinburgh, 1893, PP 323> 328, 416-9? M. Perham (ed), op cit., pp 285, 314, 316? Thomson, op cit., pp 307,
309? J.R.L. MacDonald: Soldiering and Surveying in British East Africa. 1891-4. London, 1897> PP 109, 111, 115? A. Arkell-Hardwiclc: An Ivory Trader in North Kenia. London, 1903, pp 50-4, 345*
2. Middleton and Kershaw, op cit., pp 17-22; Cagnolo. op cit;, pp 31-41? Routledge. op cit., pp 36-46, 66-102, 105-7? ICenyatta. op cit.,
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settlement, the acquisition of land and the subsequent land tenure. In turn, the original settlement pattern had considerable influence on the nature and interplay of forces within the social and political organiza tions that emerged in the course of time. The immigration into and settlement of the Kikuyu plateau was a slow process, which was spear headed either by individual pioneers or small family groups who staked claims to particular ridges. Consequently land was occupied ridge by ridge by the pioneers, who were later joined by their kinsmen or alterna tively attracted diverse elements into their sphere. The chief bases of claim to land were either the first clearance of the virgin forest, kuna, or the initial hunting rights. This, however, did not apply to most parts of Kabete* where most of the inhabitants claim to have bought their land from the Athi.
Being primarily an agricultural people, the Kikuyu have been deeply attached to their land, which has been regarded by them as more than a mere economic asset. Largely because of the mode of migration and the topography, both of which conditioned the ensuing settlement
pattern, there developed neither the tribal nor the individual ownership of land as we shall see in chapter 2.^ Land was owned by the
1, Nor a discussion of the Kikuyu land tenure, see M.P.K. Sorrenson: Land Reform in the Kikuyu Country, op cit., Chapter 1; Kenyatta. op cit., Chapter 11; Middleton and Kershaw, op cit., pp 48-52; Lambert 1950. op cit., chapters 4-6? Routledge, op cit., pp 3-7? evidence by
various informants to be found in Barlow Papers? M.H. Beech: "Kikuyu System of Land Tenure" in Journal of African Society, vol. 17, 6 5, 197 pp 46-59 and no. 66, 1918, pp 136-4 4? Kenya: Native Land Tenure in Kikuvu Province, op cit.; J. Nisher: The Anatomy of Kikuvu Domesticity and Husbandry. London, 1964, PP 177-226; L.S.B. Leakey: "Land Tenure in the Native Reserves" in the East African Standard of September 8 and 15, 1939 &nd A.R. Barlow: "Kikuyu Land Tenure and Inheritance" in the Journal of East Africa and Uganda Natural History, no* 45-6, 1932, pp 56-66.
l
mbari and its administration was entrusted to a muramati. guardian or custodian, who was the nominal head of the mbari. The mbari ownership of land was further reinforced by the religious beliefs, especially ancestor worship# This led to deep attachment to the ancestral land and the mbari land tenure was a safeguard against exploitation by any one member of the clan however strong or influential he might have been, Nevertheless, in a society that had strong community spirit, the welfare of the less fortunate was catered for by the rest of the community.
Anyone without land, for example, could always be a muhoi. tenant-at- will, on someone elsefs land, with the assurance that save for misconduct his tenancy would be secure. Indeed the ahoi, tenants-at-will, were always welcome mainly near the frontiers, where manpower was in great demand for performing various tasks. It was the ahoi phenomenon, among other factors, that led, at the turn of the century, to the dis persal of the ten clans all over the country. This has been instrumental in obscuring the original pattern of settlement in many cases, and in spite of the mbari ownership of the »*» Mill# -*• land* But there was little con- flict between the mbari and their ahoi; there was a delicate balance between the apparently competing interests of the ahoi and the mbari - both were under the microscope of a strict customary code that safe guarded their respective interests. When the white man and the cash economy came on the scene, however, they both contributed to the
upsetting of this balance of interests * in the long run, the ahoi
1. A lineage or a sub-clan, depending on numbers, tracing its origin to a common male ancestor a number of generations back. See Kikuyu' Historical Texts.
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wer© seriously affected and posed grave social and administrative prob lems in the 20th. century as an uprooted peasantry.
Finally, the ridge, besides being the basis of mbari land, was an important link in the political and social chain that cut across the kinship ties. The elementary family, nyumba, consisting of a man, his wife or wives, and their children, was the core of the Kikuyu society. Those nyumba. which traced their origin to a common male ancestor
several generations back, formed a mbari which may have numbered anything from a few hundred to several thousands. The various mbari traced their ancestry to the original ten mihiriga, clans. But although the nyumba formed the primary unit in the social framework, it was also the poli tical unit. Each nyumba formed a mucii (sing.; pi. micli), homestead, and the various homesteads were grouped together into an itura (sing.; pi, matura), a collection of dispersed homesteads. The itura was them w n K w m r a o
focus of the social and political interaction of everyday life, and was in many ways a closely-knit community. The matura were, in turn, linked
1
together to form a bigger administrative unit, the mwaki which in turn would be part of a rugongo (sing,; pi. ngfongo), a ridge. The ridge was by far the largest administrative unit under normal circumstances. None the less, in times of crisis, mutual need or country-wide ceremonies, an ad hoc alliance of several ridges might emerge and act in concert.
This grouping was designated a bururi, an indeterminate term which could have meant anything from the whole of Kikuyu country to a mere handful
1. The unit occupied by those who assisted each other with hot embers to light fires. Mwaki (sing.) means fire; plural Miaki.
of ridges* A particular mbari or even clan might have been predominant in one administrative unit, such as an itura or ridge, but this was not always the case since the various clans and mbari were widely dispersed.1
1- Middleton and Kershaw* op cit., pp 25-^2; Kenyatta. op cit., pp 1-2, Cagnolo« op cit., pp 20-2; Fisher, op cit., pp 5-20.
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