4. E. Huxley and M. Perhain: Race and Politics in Kenya, London, 1944 >
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observers comment extensively on ICikuyu-Maasai hostilities, there is surprisingly little comment on the equally fierce raiding between the various Kikuyu localities in the same period. To the north, for example, it appears that Meru, Ndia, Gicugu and Embu were not so seriously affected by the epidemic as Nyeri was. In the event they became the target of various raids by warriors from some parts of Nyeri, such as Mathira Division. But no sooner had some of the Mathira
acquired the coveted livestock than they too became the target of raids mounted by their neighbours. In Mathira itself there was a spate of local raids such as the ones between IConyu and Magutu, Iria-ini and Kirimukuyu. As late as 1903 > Konyu was reported to have x^obbed
Tumutumu and ’Mazeras1 of their goats, which they then took to Nyeri Town as payment of the hut tax.^ These internal conflicts, however, did not deter them from uniting to make major raids on their other neighbours. They made a particularly large raid on the Ndia in September 1891. The raid was the brainchild of Wang’ombe Ihura, a man who was closely associa ted with the Maasai warriors. It appears that,finding himself unable to command the loyalty of all the warriors from Mathira, he decided to bolster up one of their sections, which he could trust, with MaaSai mercenaries, in order to raid the Ndia for livestock. Several raids were made on the Ndia, but this appears to have been the largest and most famous of the raids of the period. It is estimated that more
1. See historical notes on Iria-ini and Fort Hall in Mackinder op cit. pp 459> 462,
2. E. Gedge: ”A Recent Exploration under Capt. F.G. Dundas, R.N. up the River Tana to Mount Kenya” in the Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society, vol. 14, 1892, pp 527*8; Kikuyu Historical Texts, op cit,, pp 225-9*
than 500 Maasai and Kikuyu warriors took part. The raid itself was symptomatic of the general deterioration of tranquility throughout the
1
highlands of Kenya as a result of the rinderpest. But the situation was aggravated by Wang'ombe, who was not slow to exploit the situation. Ultimately his tactics made his presence in Mathira insxifferable and it was not surprising that he was forced to flee from Mathira to Tetu, despite his Maasai mercenaries. Before this episode however he had masterminded yet another major raid, this time against his fellow Kikuyu in Uthaya, Mukurue-ini and the contiguous parts of the Murang*a District* Once again he had enlisted the aid of Maasai mercenaries who, together with the Tetu and Mathira warriors, combed the region from Uthaya Division to the banks of the Maragua River. This took place sometime
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between 1892 and 1894* Incidentally this was the only occasion when the Maasai are known to have conducted such a big raid in those parts, otherwise hitherto the inhabitants of the region claim that they did not experience any organised Maasai raids apart from isolated cases of cattle thefts by small groups of Maasai morans ♦ In due course ¥ang*ombe turned against his own allies, leading Kikuyu warriors to attack the
Maasai and vice versa. In January and February 1902, he is reputed to have attacked the Konyu on three separate occasions assisted by the
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friendly Maasai warriors. All the same the mood prevailing in Uyeri
pi 1^ 11— ii— 11 i w i w ■ ■■in m iw^Mimi'dniiK^iTWinifpw, !>*■!■! ■ mii" nan —r iiiH it- i----1 ~i ibiuii> i trn n Tut ~ i 1 ~mran~Ti
1* Kikuyu Historical Texts, op cit., pp 223-5.
2. See Kikuyu Historical Texts, op cit, pp 2-1-5 and Cagnolo. op cit.-, pp 101-3.
3. See historical notes on Iria-ini and Fort Hall in KNA/FC/GP/l/l/l an& KUA/DO/FH/6/1 respectively.
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District was not an isolated case. To the east of Kikuyuland, Kutu, like Wanglombe, was harrassing his neighbours, while at the same time Ndia people were raiding their neighbours to the west as well as the Embu. The Meru too were attacking the Cuka and Embu, And to the south-east of Kikuyuland, the inhabitants of Murulca, Kandara Division of Murang*a,were in feud with the Kamba.^
Turning to the southern frontier, the situation was similar in many ways to that pertaining in the north. Here the Kikuyu did not come across the Maasai in any appreciable numbers until the second half of the 18th century, when Kikuyu expansion brought them into the vicinity of the Maasai habitat, the ICaputie plains. And in times of adversity the Maasai took refuge among the ICabete in the same way as they had done to the north. This occurred for instance after the great rinderpest epidemic of 1889-9 0, during the outbreak of the small pox and the ensuing famine, as well as during the civil wars between the Sendeyo and Lenana factions. Lenana and Sendeyo were the sons of
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the great Maasai laibon, Mbatian. But even among the southern Kikuyu the absorption of Maasai elements pre-dates these disasters. Take for example the Waiyalci family. Waiyaki’s father, Kumale ole Lemotaka or
tsammmn i ^ h m h w i w i n i i h k « * a m r * »*■*»m u m f K W M w m i » ■ h h m i k i i h m
1. See historical notes on Embu in KMA/PC/QP/l/l/l; and A. Arkell- Hardwick, op cit., chapters III and IV.
2. The evidence on the Maasai refugees is quite extensive but the most authoritative is to be found in the evidence to the Kenya Land
Commission of 1952-3 KLC, vol. 1, op cit.,: pp 167-70, 244-6, 740, 746, 950-2; Reports to the Imperial British East African Company and the diaries of F.G. Hall and J. Ainsworth housed in Rhodes House, Oxford; and the ICikuvu Historical Texts, op cit., pp 2395 245? 247*
Hinga according to the Kilcuyu, sought refuge in the home of Gatheca Ngelcenya while that family was still at Thare (Kiria) in Kandara
Division, Murang'a District, and before they had crossed the Southern Gania River to settle in Ge/fcundu. This probably occurred during the First Iloikop Wars of the Maasai tribes which took place in the early
1
part of the 19th century. There are other Kikuyu and Maasai families which had assimilated Maasai blood and vice versa before the rinderpest epidemic* In particular the An jiru of the mbari ya Gathirimu, who were noted medicinemen, had very close ties with the Maasai, especially the laibon family of Mbatian. There Is even a considerable body of evidence which very explicitly suggests that Subet (Thubi according to the Kikuyu), the first Maasai laibon, might have been a descendant of the mbari ya
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Gathirimu. Indeed, the Maasai respected Kikuyu medicinemen whose help they frequently sought not only in Kabete but also in Nyeri.^ This would be a further important factor contributing to peaceful relations between the two peoples. Here too joint Maasai-Kikuyu raids were also a familiar feature similar to those observed by Boyes along the northern frontier.^' Ainsworth reported joint Maasai-Kikuyu raids against the Kamba in 1894? and Kenyatta was informed by his grandfather that this
1. The word hinga, hypocrite or dissembler, was applied to anyone living among the Kikuyu who spoke Maasai language or who had lived among them. 2. Kilcuyu Historical Texts, op cit., pp 145 ; Unsorted Miscellaneous
File in Barlow Papers; KLG, vol. 1, op cit., pp 170; Leakey mss, op cit*, chapter 3*
3. In Nyeri the Maasai are reputed to have consulted Njiri from Magutu. See KLG, vol. 1, op cit.pp 527*
4. Tetu warriors were rumoured to have threatened to call their Maasai allies to fight against Boyes. See Boyes, op cit. pp 110.
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custom was fairly common, joint raids being directed against a section of either the Kikuyu or one of the Maasai tribes. It is also sxigges- ted that some of the Kikuyu warriors assisted Lenana during his quarrels
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