Modern ethnicities
70-601: Diaspora Performing arts Government agencies Television Radio Newspapers The Wanga kingdom is a Bantu kingdom within Kenya , consisting of the Wanga (Abawanga) tribe of the Luhya people (Abaluyia). At its peak the kingdom covered an expansive area from Jinja in west to Naivasha in the East African Rift . The Wanga kingdom was a significant African empire and
140-674: A Muslim and died a Muslim. He was appointed heir on the eve of his father's death. Mumia occupied a prominent place in British colonial administration from 1908 to 1926 and was recognised as the Paramount Chief. He ruled the Kingdom for 67 years from 1882 to 1949 in one of the longest reigns in African history. The Wanga Kingdom was the most highly developed and centralised kingdom in Kenyan history before
210-471: A mausoleum containing the graves of previous Wanga kings . The opening was attended by Nabongo Peter Mumia II , Prime Minister Raila Odinga , Deputy Prime Minister Musalia Mudavadi , and ministers James Orengo and Fred Gumo . Bantu peoples The Bantu peoples are an indigenous ethnolinguistic grouping of approximately 400 distinct native African ethnic groups who speak Bantu languages . The languages are native to countries spread over
280-562: A paramount chief in 1913 legitimized his rule as a king of the Wanga and paramount chief . In 1926, the British colonial government regazetted his region of management to North kavirondo equivalent to western region of Kenya today. This regazetement led to the eventual loss of political relevance of the Wanga Kingdom, although Nabongo Mumia remained a powerful and influential figure until his death in 1949. His prominence, power and influence
350-455: A publication now in the public domain : Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). " Hottentots ". Catholic Encyclopedia . New York: Robert Appleton Company. Nabongo Mumia Nabongo Mumia Shiundu (c. 1849 – 1949) was a prince who became 17th King of the Wanga Kingdom , a pre-colonial kingdom in Kenya and Uganda prominent for being a centralised, highly organised kingdom and
420-576: A result of these interactions. The Bantu migrations, and centuries later the Indian Ocean slave trade, brought Bantu influence to Madagascar , the Malagasy people showing Bantu admixture, and their Malagasy language Bantu loans. Toward the 18th and 19th centuries, the flow of Zanj slaves from Southeast Africa increased with the rise of the Sultanate of Zanzibar . With the arrival of European colonialists,
490-833: A significant clustered variation of genetic traits among Bantu language speakers by region, suggesting admixture from prior local populations. Bantu speakers of South Africa (Xhosa, Venda) showed substantial levels of the SAK and Western African Bantu AACs and low levels of the East African Bantu AAC (the latter is also present in Bantu speakers from the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda). The results indicate distinct East African Bantu migration into southern Africa and are consistent with linguistic and archeological evidence of East African Bantu migration from an area west of Lake Victoria and
560-436: A vast area from West Africa, to Central Africa, Southeast Africa and into Southern Africa. Bantu people also inhabit southern areas of Northeast African states. There are several hundred Bantu languages. Depending on the definition of "language" or "dialect" , it is estimated that there are between 440 and 680 distinct languages. The total number of speakers is in the hundreds of millions, ranging at roughly 350 million in
630-429: A vast genomic analysis of more than 2,000 samples taken from individuals in 57 populations throughout Sub-Saharan Africa to trace the Bantu expansion. During a wave of expansion that began 4,000 to 5,000 years ago, Bantu-speaking populations – some 310 million people as of 2023 – gradually left their original homeland West-Central Africa and travelled to the eastern and southern regions of the African continent. During
700-687: Is inhabited predominantly by Wanga people - one of 17 sub-ethnic groups of the Abaluyia of Western Kenya. In recent times Mumias has been dominated by the sugar cane industry , with the Mumias Sugar Company Limited being the largest sugar manufacturer in Kenya, producing around 42% Kenyas annual sugarcane output. In 2008 the Nabongo Cultural Centre and shrine was opened, preserving cultural traditions and artifacts. The grounds also house
770-471: Is no native term for the people who speak Bantu languages because they are not an ethnic group . People speaking Bantu languages refer to their languages by ethnic endonyms, which did not have an indigenous concept prior to European contact for the larger ethnolinguistic phylum named by 19th-century European linguists. Bleek's coinage was inspired by the anthropological observation of groups self-identifying as "people" or "the true people". That is, idiomatically
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#1732858180532840-618: Is said to have struck an accord with the Uasin Gishu trading cattle and grazing land in exchange for Maasai military assistance. The death of Netya, c.1787 ushered in a period of increased external conflicts with the Maasai. Nabongo Osundwa made peace with the Maasai and consolidated power in Mumias making it the administrative centre of Wanga while Matungu became the Nabongo's primary residence. Following
910-854: The Baganda people of Uganda (5.5 million as of 2014), the Shona of Zimbabwe (17.6 million as of 2020), the Zulu of South Africa (14.2 million as of 2016 ), the Luba of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (28.8 million as of 2010 ), the Sukuma of Tanzania (10.2 million as of 2016 ), the Kikuyu of Kenya (8.1 million as of 2019 ), the Xhosa people of Southern Africa (9.6 million as of 2011), batswana of Southern Africa (8.2 Million as of 2020) and
980-497: The British who made him a paramount chief of an expansive region of East Africa with various chiefs reporting to him such as Chief Chabasinga who managed Jinja Busonga , Lenan Tenai who managed the Maasai and chief Odera Akang'o who managed Luo Nyanza . At the time the Wanga Kingdom extended from present day Jinja, Uganda to present day Naivasha , Kenya with the main ruling town present day Mumias . Nabongo Mumia's gazetement as
1050-440: The British who made him a paramount chief of an expansive region of East Africa with various chiefs reporting to him such as Chief Chabasinga who managed Jinja, Uganda , Lenan Tenai who managed the Maasai and chief Odera Akang'o who managed Luo Nyanza . In 1926, the new Colony and Protectorate of Kenya redefined the Wanga Kingdom's territory to be the equivalent of the modern Western Provence in Kenya today. This act led to
1120-888: The Congo rainforest by about 1500 BC and the southern savannas by 500 BC, while the eastward dispersal reached the Great Lakes by 1000 BC, expanding further from there as the rich environment supported dense populations. Possible movements by small groups to the southeast from the Great Lakes region could have been more rapid, with initial settlements widely dispersed near the coast and near rivers, because of comparatively harsh farming conditions in areas farther from water. Recent archeological and linguistic evidence about population movements suggests that pioneering groups would have had reached parts of modern KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa sometime prior to
1190-667: The Indian Ocean slave trade . The Swahili culture that emerged from these exchanges evinces many Arab and Islamic influences not seen in traditional Bantu culture, as do the many Afro-Arab members of the Bantu Swahili people . With its original speech community centered on the coastal parts of Zanzibar, Kenya, and Tanzania – a seaboard referred to as the Swahili Coast – the Bantu Swahili language contains many Arabic loanwords as
1260-713: The Kabaka of Buganda for many generations before relocating to Lela in the present-day Nyanza around the 10th century. The kingdom was founded in the 16th century by Nabongo Wanga, a descendant of the rulers of the Buganda Kingdom. The Nabongo Wanga initially settled in Nyanza Province before moving the capital to Mumias , Western Province . After the death of Wanga, there was a dispute between his sons over succession. Wabala, Wanga's appointed successor quarreled with his elder brother, Murono over succession rights. Wabala
1330-676: The Kingdom of Matamba the Kuba Kingdom , the Lunda Empire , the Luba Empire , Barotse Empire , Kazembe Kingdom , Mbunda Kingdom , Yeke Kingdom , Kasanje Kingdom , Empire of Kitara, Butooro , Bunyoro , Buganda , Busoga , Rwanda , Burundi , Ankole , the Kingdom of Mpororo , the Kingdom of Igara , the Kingdom of Kooki , the Kingdom of Karagwe , Swahili city states , the Mutapa Empire ,
1400-521: The National Party governments adopted that usage officially, while the growing African nationalist movement and its liberal allies turned to the term "African" instead, so that "Bantu" became identified with the policies of apartheid . By the 1970s this so discredited "Bantu" as an ethnic-racial designation that the apartheid government switched to the term "Black" in its official racial categorizations, restricting it to Bantu-speaking Africans , at about
1470-494: The Pedi of South Africa (7 million as of 2018). Abantu is the Xhosa and Zulu word for people. It is the plural of the word 'umuntu', meaning 'person', and is based on the stem '--ntu', plus the plural prefix 'aba'. In linguistics, the word Bantu , for the language families and its speakers, is an artificial term based on the reconstructed Proto-Bantu term for "people" or "humans" . It
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#17328581805321540-570: The Zulu Kingdom , the Ndebele Kingdom , Mthethwa Empire , Tswana city states , Mapungubwe , Kingdom of Eswatini , the Kingdom of Butua , Maravi , Danamombe , Khami , Naletale , Kingdom of Zimbabwe and the Rozwi Empire . On the coastal section of East Africa, a mixed Bantu community developed through contact with Muslim Arab and Persian traders, Zanzibar being an important part of
1610-786: The 1850s and these are the years in which the Arab-Swahili traders arrived in Buluyia land. At the same, the situation was no better at Eshimuli where Kweyu had paved way for his son, Nabongo Sakwa to rule. Here, Nabongo Sakwa's main enemies included the Abanyala, and Ababukusu with whom the Wanga occasionally clashed over grazing land. Earlier during the reign of Kweyu, Wanga Mukulu had been repulsed from extending her authority over Abanyala and their Abatsotso allies. Thus, Sakwa fled to seek refuge in Kabras from where he
1680-595: The 20th century. He led a kingdom that was famous for trade with Arabs in slaves at a time when the Wanga Kingdom was under extreme military pressure from the Luo-Nyanza . This slave trade between the Arab and the Wanga led to capturing of non-Wanga tribes into slavery such as Luo-Nyanza and Bukusu who were also enemies of the Wanga kingdom because of their repeated insurgents against the kingdom. This constant insurgents and military attacks led Nabongo Mumia to collaborate with
1750-412: The 3rd century AD along the coast and the modern Northern Cape by AD 500. Cattle terminology in use amongst the relatively few modern Bantu pastoralist groups suggests that the acquisition of cattle may have been from Central Sudanic , Kuliak and Cushitic -speaking neighbors. Linguistic evidence also indicates that the customs of milking cattle were also directly modeled from Cushitic cultures in
1820-795: The 9th and 15th centuries, Bantu-speaking states began to emerge in the Great Lakes region and in the savanna south of the Central African rainforests. The Monomotapa kings built the Great Zimbabwe complex, a civilisation ancestral to the Shona people. Comparable sites in Southern Africa include Bumbusi in Zimbabwe and Manyikeni in Mozambique. From the 12th century onward, the processes of state formation amongst Bantu peoples increased in frequency. This
1890-562: The Bantu expansion, Bantu-speaking peoples extirpated and displaced many earlier inhabitants, with only a few modern peoples such as Pygmy groups in Central Africa, the Hadza people in northern Tanzania, and various Khoisan populations across southern Africa remaining in existence into the era of European contact. Archaeological evidence attests to their presence in areas subsequently occupied by Bantu speakers. Researchers have demonstrated that
1960-452: The British and accepting to collaborate with the British many years before other communities in Kenya had an interaction with foreigners or participated in international trade. This foresight eventually paid off when he was appointed paramount chief in a gazetted appointment that legitimately made chiefs of different regions that previously repeatedly resisted Wanga kingdom leadership eventually submit to him. Previous failed military conquests of
2030-495: The British did not extend comparable influence in colonial Kenya during the Scramble for Africa, the British alliance thus led to the prominence of the Wanga kingdom. The Anglo-Wanga collaboration and trade with Arab/Swahili slavers became profound at a time when most communities of north and central interior of east Africa were not affected by international trade. Other Kenyan tribes did not have any direct dealings with foreigners from
2100-614: The Khoisan of the Kalahari are remnants of a huge ancestral population that may have been the most populous group on the planet prior to the Bantu expansion. Biochemist Stephan Schuster of Nanyang Technological University in Singapore and colleagues found that the Khoisan population began a drastic decline when the Bantu farmers spread through Africa 4,000 years ago. Before the Bantu expansion had been definitively traced starting from their origins in
2170-536: The Luo-ugenya lands. The Arabs were able to capture slaves from the Luo and Bukusu by directly participating in fighting enemies of the Wanga Kingdom. These repeated interactions with the Arab later made the Wanga predominantly Islam . Around 1890, when Fredick Lugard met Nabongo Mumia, he observed that he spoke pretty good Swahili and the larger Wanga community had Islamic regalia and demeanour. Nabongo Mumia became
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2240-550: The Wanga Kingdom of lands and communities that previously aggressively threatened the stability and supremacy of the kingdom now were forced to report to him. Some of the chiefs that were appointed and reported to him included: Chief Chabasinga who managed Uganda region of Jinja Busonga, Lenan Tenai of Maasai and chief Odera Akang'o who managed Luo Nyanza among others who managed Maragoli , Bukusu , Kisa , Butsoso, Kabras , Busia among others. Nabongo Mumia had completely annihilated military and territorial threats against
2310-404: The Wanga Kingdom political relevance and economic development, because the Wanga Kingdom and regions that were peopled by the Wanga Kingdom remained underdeveloped and were not involved in major political developments such as independence , and subsequent political formations after independence. Another chance at political relevance was wasted during the coronation of King Edward . Nabongo Mumia
2380-471: The Wanga Kingdom. This victory made Nabongo Mumia a legend among the Abaluya , communities that were conquered and larger Kenya to this day. Because of his intelligence he had managed to win century-old military wars without any bloodshed despite the fact that he was illiterate. Between 1913 and 1926, the Wanga Kingdom experienced exponential growth of its economy. It was during this time that Nabongo Mumia became
2450-605: The Zanzibar Sultanate came into direct trade conflict and competition with Portuguese and other Europeans along the Swahili Coast, leading eventually to the fall of the Sultanate and the end of slave trading on the Swahili Coast in the mid-20th century. In the 1920s, relatively liberal South Africans, missionaries, and the native African intelligentsia began to use the term "Bantu" in preference to "Native". After World War II ,
2520-428: The administration. For instance when the British regazetted the geographical region previously under Nabongo Mumia as paramount chief, he still thought that he exercised authority in regions regazetted out of his region. Although he still had personal influence before and after the regazettement, he did not utilize it for political relevance. This inability to distinguish technicalities of his personal influence and that of
2590-541: The advent of British colonialism. When the British arrived in Western Kenya in 1883, they found the Wanga Kingdom as the only organised state with a centralised hereditary monarch in the whole of what later came to be known as Kenya. Mumia had heard stories that the British colonial administration appointed colonial paramount chiefs in their quest to seek assistance in imposition of colonial rule. Nabongo Mumia used foresight and intelligence in initiating relations with
2660-555: The area. Cattle terminology in southern African Bantu languages differs from that found among more northerly Bantu-speaking peoples. One recent suggestion is that Cushitic speakers had moved south earlier and interacted with the most northerly of Khoisan speakers who acquired cattle from them and that the earliest arriving Bantu speakers, in turn, got their initial cattle from Cushitic-influenced Khwe-speaking people. Under this hypothesis, larger later Bantu-speaking immigration subsequently displaced or assimilated that southernmost extension of
2730-442: The coast, and in most cases many were unwilling to welcome these foreigners into their societies. The prominence of the Wanga kingdom led to rapid territorial and political expansion by the British in the later years of the 20th century in their quest to conquer Kenya. The British, in their later conquest of the region, found the centrally organized political and social structures attractive and supported them in order to get allies in
2800-583: The death of Nabongo Osundwa, a succession dispute arose between Osundwa's sons, Kweyu and Wamukoya, around 1814. It is claimed that Osundwa's choice of Kweyu as a successor was actively contested by elders because they did not like him. They therefore enthroned Wamukoya in Kweyu's absence, a decision which Kweyu rejected and seceded to Eshimuli with his followers. Here, Kweyu established another center for his new Wanga Mukulu confederacy (upper Wanga). Nabongo Shiundu inherited leadership from his father Nabongo Wamukoya in
2870-598: The eventual loss of any meaningful political power the Wanga Kingdom had possessed, although Nabongo Mumia remained powerful and influential until his death in 1949. During the colonial period, other tribes in Kenya such as the Kikuyu people , the Kamba people , the Kalenjin people under Koitalel Arap Samoei , and the Giriama people under Mekatilili Wa Menza all initially resisted British rule . Due to their resistance to colonial rule
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2940-688: The fierce debate among linguists about the word "Bantu", Seidensticker (2024) indicates that there has been a "profound conceptual trend in which a "purely technical [term] without any non-linguistic connotations was transformed into a designation referring indiscriminately to language, culture, society, and race"." Bantu languages derive from the Proto-Bantu reconstructed language, estimated to have been spoken about 4,000 to 3,000 years ago in West / Central Africa (the area of modern-day Cameroon). They were supposedly spread across Central, East and Southern Africa in
3010-705: The first ever Luhya to own a vehicle and a motor cycle. During this time when the American Singer Corporation was expanding its products around the world, its first products were sold in the Wanga Kingdom in East Africa. By 1926, when the British were beginning to get concerned about Nabongo Mumia's influence on their conflicting interests with their leadership direction about the colonial administration management, they retired him and regazetted his administrative region of management. The colonial administration continued to pay his salary until his death. At
3080-502: The imposition of colonial rule. In 1926, Nabongo Mumia was forced to retire by the British colonial government, he refused to take a 250 shilling monthly pension he was offered as compensation by the British until the colonial leaders threatened to arrest him. Nabongo Mumia died in 1949 and was succeeded by his son Nabongo Shitawa . Mumias was originally known as Lureko, but was renamed in Nabongo Mumia's honour. Today Kakamega District
3150-469: The incorporation of Khoekhoe ancestry into several of the Southeast Bantu populations ~1500 to 1000 years ago. Bantu-speaking migrants would have also interacted with some Afro-Asiatic outlier groups in the southeast (mainly Cushitic ), as well as Nilotic and Central Sudanic speaking groups. According to the early-split scenario as hypothesized in the 1990s, the southward dispersal had reached
3220-420: The kingdom and even manoeuvered against other members of the family who were in line to the throne in lieu for Nabongo Mumia. This made Nabongo Mumia King by circumstance as opposed to the tradition of kingdom inheritance based on clan members who are in line of succession. The king then had a total of 13 wives and 18 sons who all had equal chances of becoming king. Nabongo Mumia married multiple wives. Polygamy
3290-431: The kingdom directly. The Arabs were in search for land to hunt for game and slaves. Nabongo Mumia changed strategy from that employed by previous Wanga kings by employing Arabs directly in the military wars against neighboring communities of Luo-Nyanza and Bukusu . This change of tact gave the Wanga Kingdom an upper hand in the military's invasion against insurgents but never solved the repeated threat of insurgents of
3360-445: The kingdom eventually led to the loss of political relevance of the Wanga Kingdom. Another instance when Jomo Kenyatta , Kenya's first president initiated contact in the talk of decolonization, Nabongo Mumia described the talks as premature and did not support Jomo Kenyatta. Because Mumia was illiterate, he failed to realize the progress experienced in the kingdom was short lived and there was need to evolve. In later years, this cost
3430-400: The kingdom until the gazettement of administrative region of leadership which he was appointed paramount chief during the inquest of the British. The Anglo-Arab collaboration still did not alleviate military pressure of the Wanga Kingdom especially because of repeated conflicts on matters of territorial boundaries against the Luo-ugenya, failed conquests of additional lands and territories within
3500-544: The mid-2010s (roughly 30% of the population of Africa , or roughly 5% of the total world population ). About 60 million speakers (2015), divided into some 200 ethnic or tribal groups, are found in the Democratic Republic of the Congo alone. The larger of the individual Bantu groups have populations of several million, e.g.the large majority of West Africa, notably the most populous African nation Nigeria , Rwanda , Tanzania , Uganda , Kenya , Burundi (25 million),
3570-470: The most advanced form of government in terms of politics, economy and military in pre-colonial Kenya . He later became paramount chief of an expansive region of Kenya and Uganda at the beginning of British imposition of colonial rule in East Africa . He is regarded as the greatest ruler of the Wanga Kingdom for his management of the British colonial transition leading to British occupation in Kenya in
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#17328581805323640-599: The most organized structure of government in pre-colonial Kenya politically, economically, and militarily. In 2016 the Wanga numbered around 700,000, mostly occupying the Kakamega County , Western Province, Kenya . The seat of power is located in Mumias . The Wanga are one of 19 tribes of the Luhya people . There are 22 clans that comprise the Wanga tribe. The Wanga retain the Nabongo , as their monarch. The Abashitse clan holds
3710-983: The range of Cushitic speakers. Based on dental evidence, Irish (2016) concluded: Proto-Bantu peoples may have originated in the western region of the Sahara , amid the Kiffian period at Gobero , and may have migrated southward, from the Sahara into various parts of West Africa (e.g., Benin , Cameroon , Ghana , Nigeria , Togo ), as a result of desertification of the Green Sahara in 7000 BCE. From Nigeria and Cameroon, agricultural Proto-Bantu peoples began to migrate , and amid migration, diverged into East Bantu peoples (e.g., Democratic Republic of Congo ) and West Bantu peoples (e.g., Congo, Gabon ) between 2500 BCE and 1200 BCE. Irish (2016) also views Igbo people and Yoruba people as being possibly back-migrated Bantu peoples. Between
3780-1117: The reflexes of * bantʊ in the numerous languages often have connotations of personal character traits as encompassed under the values system of ubuntu , also known as hunhu in Chishona or botho in Sesotho , rather than just referring to all human beings. The root in Proto-Bantu is reconstructed as *-ntʊ́ . Versions of the word Bantu (that is, the root plus the class 2 noun class prefix *ba- ) occur in all Bantu languages: for example, as bantu in Kikongo , Kituba , Tshiluba and Kiluba ; watu in Swahili ; ŵanthu in Tumbuka ; anthu in Chichewa ; batu in Lingala ; bato in Duala ; abanto in Gusii ; andũ in Kamba and Kikuyu ; abantu in Kirundi , Lusoga , Zulu , Xhosa , Runyoro and Luganda ; wandru in Shingazidja ; abantru in Mpondo and Ndebele ; bãthfu in Phuthi ; bantfu in Swati and Bhaca ; banhu in kisukuma ; banu in Lala ; vanhu in Shona and Tsonga ; batho in Sesotho , Tswana and Sepedi ; antu in Meru ; andu in Embu ; vandu in some Luhya dialects; vhathu in Venda and bhandu in Nyakyusa . Within
3850-460: The region between Cameroon and Nigeria, two main scenarios of the Bantu expansion were hypothesized: an early expansion to Central Africa and a single origin of the dispersal radiating from there, or an early separation into an eastward and a southward wave of dispersal, with one wave moving across the Congo Basin toward East Africa, and another moving south along the African coast and the Congo River system toward Angola. Genetic analysis shows
3920-409: The right bank of River Nzoia, Abamuima's clan at Imanga (Between modern day Mumias and Butere ) another at Matungu and Netya's in Elureko (modern day Mumias). Netya attempted to bring all these centers under his control with varying degrees of success. During the reign of Nabongo Netya, land disputes lead to conflict between the Wanga and their neighbors like the Teso, Bukusu, Jougenya. Nabongo Netya
3990-428: The royal lineage of the Nabongo. The current Nabongo is Peter Mumia II . The name Wanga is eponymous, originating from the name of the kingdom's founder, Nabongo Wanga . The name Wanga refers to the people as well as their descent and geographical location. The origin of the title Nabongo is uncertain, however Kenyan Historian, Prof. Gideon Were refers to the pre-Wanga ruler, Muima as "Nabongo Muima" indicating that
4060-450: The same time that the Black Consciousness Movement led by Steve Biko and others were defining "Black" to mean all non-European South Africans (Bantus, Khoisan, Coloureds and Indians ). In modern South Africa, the word's connection to apartheid has become so discredited that it is only used in its original linguistic meaning. Examples of South African usages of "Bantu" include: [REDACTED] This article incorporates text from
4130-413: The so-called Bantu expansion , comparatively rapid dissemination taking roughly two millennia and dozens of human generations during the 1st millennium BC and the 1st millennium AD. Scientists from the Institut Pasteur and the CNRS, together with a broad international consortium, retraced the migratory routes of the Bantu populations, which were previously a source of debate. The scientists used data from
4200-478: The time Nabongo Mumia received a monthly salary of sh250 that amounts to US$ 7000 monthly pension (in 2020 dollars; inflation-adjusted). This was at a time when poverty levels were exacerbated , and his individual economic might was non-comparable to many in East Africa while supporting a huge polygamous family. Because Nabongo Mumia was illiterate, he failed to lead the kingdom in making changes and adapting to new political developments in regard to technicalities of
4270-438: The title may predate the formation of the Wanga Kingdom. The early history of the Wanga Kingdom is unclear, with various conflicting traditions as to their origins. One tradition holds that they are descendants of ancient Egyptians . Their ancestors are said to have migrated, from Egypt to Ethiopia, where they were under the leadership of Simbi and Nangwera before moving to help form the Buganda Kingdom where they were ruled by
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#17328581805324340-426: Was assassinated in Bukhayo, allegedly at Murono's instigation. Murono was briefly Nabongo before Wabala's son, Musui defeated him in battle. Following his defeat, Murono crossed Nzoia River and established a separate centre near present-day Matungu around 1679–1706. Nabongo Netya reigned over the Wanga Kingdom c.1760-1787. During this time there were several clans in the Wanga kingdom. They included Murono's clan on
4410-572: Was evident in during his burial in 1949 when high-ranking members of the colonial government were in attendance. Nabongo Mumia was born a prince between 1849 and 1852. His parents were Nabongo Shiundu Wamukoya and Wamanya. Nabongo Mumia was born into the abashitstes, one of the 22 clans that comprises the Wanga tribe. The abashitse is the clan that formed the royal lineage that produced the Nabongos (Wanga Kings). He grew up as an ordinary Wanga child participating in domestic animal herding, farming, hunting and gathering and his most notable achievement
4480-465: Was first introduced into modern academia (as Bâ-ntu ) by Wilhelm Bleek in 1857 or 1858 and popularised in his Comparative Grammar of 1862. The name was said to be coined to represent the word for "people" in loosely reconstructed Proto-Bantu, from the plural noun class prefix *ba- categorizing "people", and the root *ntʊ̀ - "some (entity), any" (e.g. Xhosa umntu "person" abantu "people", Zulu umuntu "person", abantu "people"). There
4550-415: Was heavily influenced by an alliance with Arab/Swahili slave traders and conflict with the neighbouring Luo peoples which escalated after the completion of the Uganda Railway by British colonisers. Arab/Swahili slave traders formed an aliance with Wanga to raid neighboring tribes to be sold into the Atlantic slave trade including the Luo and Bukusu Constant conflict led Nabongo Mumia to collaborate with
4620-464: Was invited to England , but he refused to travel to England under the advice of the Arabs who cautioned that he was likely to be captured. An action that was repeated by Jomo Kenyatta years later when he moved to England with similar concerns and fears, but eventually persuasively achieved diplomatic agreements that contributed in him being later the first president of Kenya at independence. Despite cognisance of his floundering influence and that of
4690-424: Was killing a lion and leopard by the time he was 18 years old. His physique of being thin, having a deep voice and his shyness towards strangers made his father Nabongo Wamukoya repeatedly loath him for being an unlikely candidate for the Nabongoship (kingship). Nevertheless, his father eventually appointed him heir reluctantly. Nabongo Mumia's mother Queen Wamanya supported Nabongo Mumia's quest of inheritance of
4760-406: Was largely practised by the Wanga Kingdom to ensure stability with other communities through inter-marriage. The Arabs began dealing and had traded with the Wanga Kingdom since early 19th century. It was not until the change of leadership at the Wanga Kingdom, at the beginning of the reign of Nabongo Mumia, that the Wanga Kingdom began to employ the Arabs and Swahili traders in fighting enemies of
4830-449: Was the result of several factors such as a denser population (which led to more specialized divisions of labor, including military power while making emigration more difficult); technological developments in economic activity; and new techniques in the political-spiritual ritualisation of royalty as the source of national strength and health. Examples of such Bantu states include: the Kingdom of Kongo , Anziku Kingdom , Kingdom of Ndongo ,
4900-433: Was to be bailed by the Abarama. Nabongo Mumia Shiundu (Nabongo Mumia) was the 17th Nabongo and became king ( paramount chief ) of an expansive region of Kenya at the beginning of British imposition of colonial rule in East Africa . Nabongo Mumia is regarded as the most powerful and well known ruler of the Wanga Kingdom, coming to power during the East Africa Protectorate in the 20th century. Nabongo Mumia Shiundu's rule
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