Warrior Peoples of

East Africa 1840-1900

~.
.

1fItt>..

at

PEEM w born In
1 Me
'bHIled hlatot)' ,t
CaInbrtdge 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.

CONTENTS
3

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

12

~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 of courage - nigh I raidsambush 011 a car.n'lI1

THE HEHE

17

Strength from unification

RAFfAELE RUGGERI

I~

end

- u In Iologne, 1~1y. and

tIM I/kII:nled number of

o.prey tldM. Most reflect

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

'"- pattIcuIwlnle,...ta In
In. ",lUota", hltltory of AMe.

THE RUGA-RUGA

and of thoI ottoman Emplr

BandilS, militia and 'hired gUlls'

'nle warlord r-.lirambo ('I-leaps of CorVses') - the treacherous

21

N}'unI:Pl)'<I.~lawe

Organizalion and tactics: Nyungu's company cOlllmandersrUlhless discipline

THE NANDI

35

Iioslilily 10 foreign tradel'S

The British cx~dition of 1895
Organization and tactics

THE TURKANA

38

The military limitations of climate

Organi7..ation and leadership

SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY

41

THE PLATES

42

INDEX

48

Men-at-Arms 41 1

OSPREY
PUBLISHING

Warrior Peoples of
East Africa 1840-1900

Chris Peers Illustrated by Raffae

Senes editor Marton Wllld~ow

fCQI ~ .. ~ by o.p., PI-.g

MdwIcl ~. WlIIl Wri. Bolley. 0><10nl 0X2 llPH, UK
U3 fin """-- SouIh. New Y!;lrk, NY 10011, l.ISA

Artl.t'. Note

---------

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

,., ~ -...a. ~ ..... q " ~ b " ~ 01 pr;v-......".

-m.~or-'.~""'N~o.v-n

*'-'Ukt. ,-" no PI"! 0I_~....,. bf ~ _

..

................. or....-ad .. q ....... orDyony--.-.:.

...,.".,.,., -.ca. IIIeCI.-.:IIII, optocIII, plotICClpyIrog. ~ or - - .
. ......

_lIwptlor_....-oIN~_.E"'P'*
1llI_ION~

Edllor ",.,.,

o.ogn: "-' Val (nphic ~ c.ntlfIclga, UK

~b'I'o.W;l ...... ~.",,101
0rtgInm.a by The ElectRri: " - CofnIwrr. Cwmbran, UK
Po'IrrIad .. CtIIna tnroo.og;I WMd Pm! Ltd.

0508070809

--M_.....

10981654321

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

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

&nil: UO.Up....
PC ' """11

-.-eow

....

' .

RatI. . Ruggeri. "" .ldllpelodel'llII 22 .t0121

The P!.tJWIcIn; regret IhId hIy
upon Itw metter.

can

enter

~ rt.Iy

no no

WARRIOR PEOPLES
OF EAST AFRICA

1840-1900
INTRODUCTION
liE seBJECTSorTHlS BOOK are

.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 heN
tNIt put an end to the cIoml~
of the tr8dlUO-I E..t Afrk8;n
w.rriot" peoples. (Joseph
1lIcHnson, Through ",.-1 Und)

me six warrior peoples ....ho dominated

E..'lS1 Africa during the second half of the 19th centlll"\, The\
include fh'e traditional 'tribes' (a teml used here forcoll\'enience,
....i thout an) claim 10 a precise meaning) - the .\Ias."li, ~goni, Hehe,
Nandi and Turkana; and one group ....' hich mighl be better described as
a warrior caste - the Ruga-Ruga, These peoples ",ere not, of course, the
onh nOlable fighlers in the region, and .... ere far from the onh ones who
resisted the European conquesL Howe\cr, me\ were regarded rn
contemporaries as me most skilled, the most n1thless and me mosl
feared 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 the
region v:as fought over b) Arab slavers and European explorers as well
as b) iLS indigenous human predators, who logether gave ila reputation
fOl' \lolence and la..,:lcssncss, By 1900 il had been partitioned between
Ihe empires of Britain and Gennany, and all of its inhabitanl.'l had
lost Iheir independence (although it was 10
take nearl)' (WO more decades before me Turkana
of Ken)<l's remote northern frontier finally
accepted 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 to
the conditions under .."hich they operaled, and
were often organi1ed with considerable sophislicalion. Warfare here was differenl from that
in most other pans of the world in a number of
respects, Becausc of infcnile soils and unpredictable climate it was seldom possible 10 collect
the food surpluses which were needed LO sustain
large annies. This problem ....-as compounded by
the difficult terrain, the lack of na\igable ri ers,
and me e\-cr-present thrcat of disease, hich
made it almost impossible to maintain huge
bodies of European troops in Ihe field for an~
length of time, Disease made the deployment of
cavall")' impossible, and onh thc lightest of field
artillel")' could be manhandled o\er the Ullc\cn
tracks. The outcomc of all these factors was thai
....'ar was waged on a ...e.... small scale; e\-en the most
powerful of the peoples discussed here could not

r----~-,-------/~r---_;:=====:::;'
~

L. Rudolf

.~

\,1,'

EAST AFRICA
IN THE 19"
CENTUR Y

rlJ
I?/(A....A

ShQ""ng ~1 ions of
the peopIt'5 di!lCUS.'lC:d
intne 101.

AM. EJgon

niTA

I,\'DIA r
OCEAA

~BU
NGONI

.i

KaIenga

~LNyau

~Pbttnames
~ thoK in eonunon

in 1M 19" cmtun
taLe Rudulris no",'

llV

lno>-n 8:'i lIlk" T

and 1.&<: r.}"UlI
l.a.ld.lab",i

II!>

put forces of more than a couple of thousand men imo the field for
more than a fewda)'S. Both Bliush and Gelman E.."\St Africa were brought
under 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 almost
permanent state of low-inlcnsit)' hostiJitk-s. 'In Africa', said C'1plain Stairs
of the Royal Engineers in 1891. 'lhe on I)' CdllSC of war is simply fear.' Often
this ....~.lS true, but economic moti\'cs were also important. With so few
resources lO go round, connie! with neighbours \\'as inevitable. In most
cases it look the f0l111 of raids for callie, which wcrc the only significam
f0l111 ofmovcable wealth, The economics ofallthc w.uTior tribes discussed
here were based La a great extent on callIe, and for lllC Ma.....i especially
lhey were a national obsession, NOl all Easl Aflic.1ns, howt:vcr, were equally
adepl at war; travellers noticed a sharp distinclion belween the ordinary
\iJlagers, who li\'ed in a conslant st.:..te of insecllIil}', and the minority of
llibes which mighl be regarded as 'nel exponcrs of fear'. For one reason
or anolher some peoples had become a source of lerror to their
neighbours, in the process incidelllally guaral1tccing lheir mm security.
F.D,Lugard writes of the 'illlolerable t}'fanny of lhe dominant tribe' in
each area as being as great a menace as the Arab slave-raiders. They
achiC\'ed this dominance for a variety of reasons. The Turkana of the
northern deserts, for example. depended lot."lll) on their li\'t:SlOCk. which
was exu-cmely nJinerable 10 drought., so had no choice bUl to replace
lheir 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 descended
from migrant conquerors .....ho for generations had dC'-elopcd aggressh'e
......a rfare illlo a ....'a)' of life. The Hehe and Ruga-Ruga ofTangan)ika o ed
their \ictories to the leadership of a handful of remarkable men ho
consciousl)" set out to turn them into fighting nations. WhatC"er the
reasons for taking the course they did, this handful of ....'anior peoples
sloo<l largel), aloof from the chaos which engulfed most of late 19th
ccntury East Africa. The Arab slave-raidcrs g;we them a wide benh, the
white explorers treatcd them with rcspect, and evcn whcn the)' .....ere
flna1J)' brought under colonial allthorit)' thc)' often continued to rcgard
themseh'es as allics !"alhcr limn subjects of their new o\'crlords. TI1C
Mas....i, Ngoni and Hehe especiall)' pro\idcd man)' of dlC nalive soldiers
or auxiliaries which lhe new colonial armics deplo)cd againsl
ncighbouring tribes, lhus pcrpeUiating the old pattems of .....arfare under
different nags for at Icast another gcncration.

CHRONOLOGY
1835

Thc Ngoni under Zwangcndaba cross the Zambczi into

East Africa.
1848
Dcadt of Z....' angendaba. Ngoni split up into numcrous
independcnt bands.
Explorcrs Hunan and Speke discover dlC route to
1857
Lake Tanganyika.
1859
The ~'Iasai S<1.ck Mombasa.
1871
Rise to po....'er of the Ruga-Ruga leaders Mirambo and
Nyu ngu-)'a-~1 a.....e.
H.M.slanley in\"Oh'cd in Arab campaign against ~'!irambo.
187~77 Stanley's trans-Africa expedition.
1883
Thomson makes the first successful crossing of Masailand
b)' a European.
1884
Deaths of Mirambo and Nyungu-)'a-Ma.....e.
Genn:m)' annexes the coastal region ofTangan)"ib.
1885
Berlin Conference prccipil<'ues thc 'Scramblc for Africa'.
1888
First European cnCOlllllcr with thc Turkana.
1890
Anglo-Cennan agrecment panitions East Africa bet.....cen
the t.....o po.....ers.
1891-98 Hehe war of resistancc against the Germans.
First British campaign against dlC Nandi.
1895
Ngoni of N)'asaJand brought under British control.
1896
Final conquest of Ngoni in German East Africa.
1897

THE MASAI
The Masai .....ere uniquc among the tribes of East Africa in the fear that
thL")' inspired in Europeans, Arabs and othcr Africans alikc. In the .....ords
of Charles New.....ho encountered thcm in thc earl)' 18iOs, 'Ph)"Sicall)'
thcy are a splendid peoplc; and for cncrb'Y, intrepidit), and dash they are
without 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 lete

tltttl c:entury M...l wentOf' In full
wer 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.1
eden.io"e (... Pletes A end 8J.
The we. pons of the moren
w.nio... were the speer. the
ol.lem .hort eword .nd th.
club or knobkel'l1e,

Another of Thomson"
ilIustJ1ltlons of M...l w.nio....
this time b.Md 0I'l phologreph
teken I" t 883. showing men
of the L.lklptek cl.n In their
ordirYry d.yto-dey .ttl,...
The w.rrionI In"erl.bly (:limed
their spea... even when 1101 0I'l
the we1JNlth. bee8U" of the
C:OI'l$l8nt nMd to protlKt their
hMds from lJons .nd other
wild enlme'"

last degree,' They had migr:lled illlO East Africa

frolll the north about 300 yem-s earlier, suIT
jugating or driving out the earlier inhabilallls of
tile region, and now occupied the prime grazing
lands of the Kem';\ llighlands, extending south
into what is now Tanlania.
Nineteenth CCntu .... writcrs belic\'ed that there
were twO major subdhisions of the ~Iasai nationthe Masai proper, and the 'Kwa\'i'. The lauer
tenu, howe\'er, did nat refer to a di.uinCl people,
but was used to describe those tribesmen who had
lost their callie and been forced - usualh'
lemporarih -10 ...,1..e up famling. In fact the :\Iasai
were di\ided il1lo 16 major clans. of which fourthe Kapllliei. Loitai, Purko and Kisongo - .....ere
predominant, and fonned the cores of loose,
semi~pennanel11 power blocs.
Br tJle beginning oCthe 19th centu.... the main
phase of Mas.1.i territorial e'pansion \'t'aS o\'er, but
all tJle dans fought constanth against each other
as well as their non-~fasai neighbour'S. In fact the
people suffered far more casualties in these chil
wars than in all their elo:temal campaigns put
togetJler. The main moti\e for this \'o-arfare \'o'as
caule-raiding: according to Ma.sai myth, Cod had
originall)' given their people o\\uership of all the
cattle in the world. so il follo\\'ed that all the beasts
now in the possession of others were descended from herds stolen from
the Masai. It was therefore nOI JUSt a quick wa) of gaining \\'eahh. but
almost a religious dUlY, LO lr)' to get them back. TIlese raids affected
almost 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 borders
of the Hehe kingdom beyond thc Ruaha Rivcr.
The Masai were not alwa)'s \;ctOl;OUS, howC\'cr, and south of Mount
Kilima..~jaro a series of disasten had prevcntcd thcm expanding funher
in lhal direction. Joseph 1110111son s.,} that in about 1830 a raid b)' the
Wa-k",...fi' into Ugogo mel "';th defeal, ",;th 'great numhen' ofwarrion
slaughtered. Fifty yean later thc)' suffered another major setback al the
hands of the Hehe. Masai fighting l<lctics ",ere best suited 10 the open
plains, so where\'er their enemies could find a refuge in difficult coumry
lhey managed to hold lheir own. Thus the Kiku}'u, K.,mba and Chaga
held out in the mOlllllains and forests on the edges of Masailand until
lhc colonial period. On the eastern fromier lhere was less resistance
from the un...."ilrlike u;bes, and the raiding parties were obstmcted only
by scauered Zanzibari garrisons.
The first Arab and S.....ahili traders had managed 10 l.r3verse the Masai
coulllr)' as far as lake Baringo as early as the 1840s, but this was b)' far the
mosl dangerolls of the three main routes from the coast into the imerior.
From the 1850s white explorers accepted that the direct route 10 Lake
Victoria was imp.'\SSable Ix.'cause of the Masai. Some suspected thai
lhe Arab pioneers had exaggerated the I;sks in order to discoumge
competitors 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 be
had been im;led 10join a camvan of 2,000 ivory Irdders travelling to Lake
Victoria, bUI had declined -luckily for him, since 'A year laler Ileanu that
lhis \'el1' cara\';lll was attacked b)' the Masai, and that \'ery few of the
number escaped'. Al the beginning of 1877 the same writer was forced
to tum back on I}' three da}'S' march from Mount Ken).... because 'a short
time before m} arrival Lhe Wak.....afi [pro!>.,bl)' Laikipiak Mas..~i, whom
Thomson also refers 10 as kK.....avi..l had to the last man destroyed a
caravan of 1,500 armed men'.
In 1893Sil' Gerald Ponal, on his way to Ubranda, saw the site ofa baulc
12 ycars before, in .....hich 300 Swahilis had held ofT thc .....arrio..s until
lheir ammunition ran OUI and had then been massacred, lea\'ing only
three 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. Met
the way In which meny of the
_rrtCH. .,.. holding their ."....
_
UIeft" heed.. Hwe th" "
probllbly bel", ~ to pnMde
ahade! from the -.un, but other
ob. .r'I'.... conflrm !:hilt tn.V
could be hfid In thlll wav when
In IeUon to ",ent off ~
(LudwIg II'On Hohnel, The

~o''''''"RudoIr

and

Sr.,-,-,

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 each
man's gun across his shouldcr', Evcn !.hose parties \\-hich did get through
S(':ldom did so \\ithout fighting, Thomson was told thai the laM three
caravans to altempt the joume)' before his own 1883 expedition had
each 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 adminislrators
felt that most of the attacks on the Arabs and Swahilis had
been provoked b)' the traders, "rho, belie\ing that their
guns "'Ollid intimidate Ihe uibcsmen, had looted Masai
villages and ;-ntCl'llptt.'<I 10 abduct the ,,'omen.

Conflict with Europe.n.

It was 110t untit 1883 that Joseph Thomson made the
first successful crossing of the country. He expelienced
no serious resistance, although bands of warriors
repeatedly appeared to demand 'presents' or impose
arbitrary fines. They showed no fcar of the white men's
weapons, and Thomson latcr admiued thai he had been
lucky, as many of thc most intransigelll bands were away
raiding at the time of his visit.
The "lOSt clash bct,,'een the Masai and the whites
came in 1889, ,,'hen the German [min Pasha Relief
Expedition, led by Carl Peters, crossed northern
Mas.'liland on its way to Uganda. I-lis force comprised
twO white men, 21 Somali ask.aris (nine of whom had
repealing rifles), and 85 poners, an unk.nmm number
of whom \\'ere amled. Peters \\'as determined to provoke
conflict \\ilh the i\lasai. lie refused to pal' tribute. and
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 on
o.,*A~1

'.
/

A Maul eM t Elbejet. In this

and the ~ drawing, most
wanion _ Mown c.rrying
1dentig,11y p"emed ,hle'ds,
bIrt photooraphk:
never
atNn thi' uniformity. It Is 'lmoat
certaInly an error on the part
of the Illustrator, who pemaps
had only one shield 10 work
from, (Pets,.)

-.n::..

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 of

ElbcjCl earh on a cold morning, \\hen most of the ....<Inial'S .... ere still
asleep. HO\\'el"cr, a sel1ll"} was shot when he challenged the attad.en. and
the sound woke the people in me 'illage. The "'omen and children ned
down 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 men
to defend the cncampmCIll. "'hen his ammunition began to run low, he
ordered the camp lO be stmck and retreated into a nearby foresL
The C<lra\-an had been marching for onlva few minutes when hundreds
of Mas:li were seen approaching. Peters I'emarks that the u-ibc<;men had
ne...er before seen repeating guns, .... hich 'must haH" appeared to them
supemaUlrar. Several times the atlaclers hesitated in the face of his
rdpid fire. gi\ing his men time to reload, although the} ...1".... quickh
adapted 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 the
expedition's re,lrguard \l!iL'l also under auack. but held on long enough
for the armed porters to deploy into line and support them. The Masai
e\'entuall)' withdrew, leaving 43 dead behind them. PClers had lost seven
men, and most of the ammunition had been used up.
O...er the next fe\\' da...s he led a fighting retreat, shadowed b\ large
bodies ofwaniors. Two daY5 later the ~tasai attacked his c-.unp at nighL
They ....ere onh beaten offm firing a S:;llm of signal rockets. which failed
to break their morale as intended but prO\ided the defenders "'ithjust
enough light to shoot b\, Finalh the expedition reached safer. at the
A1-ab trading post of Kamasia. In fact the encounter had been al best a
qualified victory for Peters. He did bring away some caule. but he had
only s,wed his expedition by a hurried withdrawal, and e\'en this was only
possible because the Masai had been weakened by an epidemic of caule
disease. probably il11roduced br U1C whites. On thc rctreat from Elbcjel
the expedition had passed numerous deserted kra.ds, and Peters found

A pond group of W.kw.t1 or

agrk:ultu,.t M..... photographed
In u,. 18l1Os. wrm.n accounbl
confl"" tNIt .nield, of ttIft alze
WeN not uncommon!though
the ~ were only eround
3ft In height. MuM buffalo-hkM
.tIieId, were often tt'Ild< ~
to ,top ~ blllI. Durlng
tnelr t\rtt ene_ten wtth
E u ~ tnelr contldenc::e In
theM .n.... ---eed the
M.... to take defiant
wh~h qukkly dl. .l~ted wNft

.ttitl.Kte.

they encountered brMch-lo.cIlng

an. w.mor chilleneed

Count Telekl to UN hi, .nleld
fOf' brget practlce, only to retl,.
dlKomflted when the fIBt bYllet
went right through It.
(E,,""t Oedge)
rIfl....

thai many arcas which had becn densely populatcd in Thomson's day
were now uninhabitcd. If hc had launchcd a similar rash atlacl:. only a
fcw rears bcfore his pari}' would probably ha\'e becn swirlly annihilated.
B) the earl)' 1890s the Mas.....i were reco\'eling
thcir strength, but openl}' admittcd that the)' did
flat want to fight the whites, as b)' now the)' had
learncd 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. A
more scrious war scare brien) followed a clash
\\ith some unruly poners in British emplO)' in
1895, but during thc ) 890s man) Masai were
recruited to fight alongsidc thc British, especially
for their campaigns against the Kikuru. In
COlltr.lSt. the Gennans on the other side of the
fromier were oftcn on bad temu with the Masai,
and most of those who found themsch'es in
Gcnuan tcrritory C\'clllllally mo\'ed north and
made peace with the British.

Organization and tactics

10

Like most of the related lribes of the northcrn

part of East Africa, thc Masai based thcir military
organi7.ation all the age-set s)'Stem. The roung
men were initiated into these SCIS en masse, at a
ceremony which "'''as held about evcry SC\'en
real'S, so that an entire age group ""ould go
through the process together. The} ",'ere
initiated as moran, or warriors, in about their late
teens, Because herding the cauJe on which thC)
depended "'as not labour intensive and the "'ork
"'as easil) perfonned hr' the young bo\'S and
older men, it "'as possible to spare the entire

M.... warrlon ~Intlng tttelr

I.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 ncxt
15 rears or so tJ1(~y would fonn what was in effect a professional smnding
anny, \'I'hose only emplovmclH was fighting.
The knO\'l'l age-selS from which the moran \'I'ere recruited during the
19th celllu..,, ",ith their approximate dales, ,:ere:
Ti)ioki
Merishari
Kidotu
Tuati [- 'The Rich Ones'
Nyangusi I - 'Those \Vho Take FOI' Thcmselves'
Laimer - 'The Pursuers'
Talala
Tuati II

LEFT Maul w_pons end wer

e-r, The speem.Mt In the

_tre ttl 6eserlbMI . . ~
of the southern c'-o wN.. the
Iongef' and _rTOWef' types on
either side belonged to the
northern 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 ellled
Oorobo trlbes_ for huntlng
eleph.8nts. (ThoIn"'"1

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

Each of tht."Se selS was dhided into two sections - thc 'right hand' or
senior group, and the 'left hand' or junior. Each se<:tion ~'ould lake a
name, and some of those recorded include: II-Kup-,i, meaning 'The
While Swords'; II-Kieku, 'The Long-Bladed Spears'; II-Ghunmre, 'Those
Who Fight By Day'; II-Ngarbut, 'The Glllttons'; and II-Meitaroni, 'The
Unconquerables' .
Each ofl.hcse groups was flmher subdi,;ded inlo l.hree parts, according
to the precise dates on which their members had been circumcised.
TI1ese subdi\;sions were knO\'l'l as JI-Changen-opir, or 'The Big Osuich
Feathers': II-Tareto, 'The Helpers'; and II-Paringotwa-Iang, or 'Our Swift
Runners'. This system could idelllif' each warrior fairly prec~"
according to seniorit)" It is not clear, howC'o'er, whether these di'isions
deployed and foughllOgether in battle, or whether dan or ..i llage.oosed
units wcre more usual.
The IJ/oran slept in their own wanior camps or IJ/anytltlas, and lived on
beef, 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 senior
men, Another means employed to induce courage was the use ofa brew

11

Mual ~ Of u.dltional
thIo blade of th
.......jMe .. 17~n long .nd "In
MeN. TlHl author's a.perlmenls
wlth th apon ,~t that
~n;

altMlugh It appears unw~

and poorly balaneed, It would

12

" v.......ftactlve 'or d.lIvering

an underarm thruat to
dl..mbow.' an oppon.nt.
A crsn,man who made auch
w.apona demonatrsled a aim liar
manoeuvra to Mrs FlWnChsn.Jdon, cOflflrmlng that M....
apear1I ..... normally employed
In th.. way, The apaar auocNotad
wlth thIo Me.... In ~ racant
times .. 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 HUh
century. (Marti: Coppl.,tonel

made from bark and herbs. which was sometimes drunk before a battle
and 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 MJanis
or chil chicfs, and the heredi ...., ,, lailxnu, ~'ho combined the roles of
dhiners and medicine men. An influentiallaioon like ~Ibatiany, ",ho held
office from about 1866 to 1890, might organiLc large coalitions of clans,
but these medicine chiefs do not seem to have had a fonnal militarv
command function. In fact there was liltle lrace of any command s}'Stem
in Masai armies, although the organiz..,tion by age-sets did provide a
rough hicrarch)'. Each camp had a group of nnbikas, picked "'arriot's who
aCled as a sort of military police to impose nldirnentary disciplinc in Camp
and on lhc march, Nevcrtheless, lhere appear lO have been no fonnal
sanctions preventing thc warriors from nlllning awa)" and no S)'Stem of
punishments apart from the cOlllempt of their peers. TIle ad\ice of
respected ciders might be sought, but their orders were not binding.
The usuallilcnc in a pitched b.,ttle ~'aS for the bravest warriors to form
a wedge in the centre, supponed b) a rearguard and a nank guard on
each side. and charge straight through the enelll\ line. This fonnation
"''as knO~'l as the 'eagle's ~ing', L:nlike most African armies the '-Iasai
did 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, but
came to appreciate their disadvantages after a baltle in 1857 in ..,:hich
800 1/I0mll had defeated 148 Arab and Baluchi matchlock men, The
Masai allegedly fled at lhe first volle}', but when the Ar.lbs n1shed fOT\\'anl
to round up lheir cattle the tribesmen turned and routed them, 'Until
this )'ear they have shunned meeting '-loslems and musketeers in the
field,' wrote Burton: 'ha\ing won the da),. they will, it is feared, repeat the
experimelll', In fact it sounds as if the Mas."l.i had already understood
that 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 European
expeditions anned ,\itll breechloaders - almost alwavs successfull}, Carl
Petcrs 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 second
discharge, he bas come bounding up, to finish the malter with a thrust
of his lance.. , Generally, in fact. the caravans fil'e tllcir guns once, and
then immediately take 10 night, whereupon they are regl.llarl}' massacred
to 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 of
the refomu which had been introduced b), lhe Zulu king Shaka at the
beginning of tllC cenmr)'. TIle Ngoni were originall)' a splinter gl"OuJ> of the
Ndl\'andl\'c, nortllem neigh bolli's of the Zulus, who had been defeated by
Shak.a's il/llJisin the 1820s and driven north into what is now Mozambiquc.

~lost of them settled in that

region. bUl one nlrosi or
chief, Zwangendaba. led
his section of the tribe on
an even more ambitious
march. MO';ng through
Mashonaland, me}' crossed
the Zambezi Rh'cr in Nmember 1835. The Ngoni. as
tllt."y now came to be known.
then split into f\','O groups
and advanced nonhwards
along both shores of L"lke
Nyasa. Their Zulu-inspired
baule (actics gave them a
crucial ad"U1l.age o\'cr the
local tribes, most of \\ hom
either fled illlo lllounl.ain
refuges, were defeated and
incorporated into the Ngoni
forces, or c\'cmuall) copied
these tactics themselves.

R""""

INDIAN
OCEAN

R. lambezr

ZW3ngendaba himself Look

the wcstcm roule and sclded

on the fenilc plateau of
Ufipa. east of the southern
tip of Lake Tanganyika,
where he presided over a
relatively stable kingdom
until his dealh in 1848.
TIlcreafter his successors
qualTelled. and sc\eral
groups resumed their
wanderings. Those who
remained in Ufipa were
known as me Manti, Maviti
01" MaziLu. A second group
sculed in thc mountains on
ZULU LAND r)
the westem shore of Lake
Nyasa, where they .....ere
often refelTed to as Angoni.
There mey founded 1\\'0 large and t.....o smaller kingdoms, the most
powerful ones being at the north end of the lake and half-way up the
westem 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)'. and
in 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 the
north, and arrived on the southem shore of Lake Victoria eady in the
18505. According to Richard Burton, they were originally imiLed illlo
the region to help a local chief against his Sango enemies, The Sango
drove Lhe TUfa off, whereupon the thwarted invaders cmbarked on an

THE
MIGRATIONS
OFTHE
NGONI
c. 1825 - 1875

13

An Antoni from the ahonts of

L.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 the

region. The Tuta finally seuled into a seminomadic wa) of life, living on callie acquired
from the N)'amwezi and other tribes, and
augmenting them by raids on \'illages and passing
cara\'am. nleir raiding parties often numbered
in thousands, and would besiege a \illage for
months if the)' were unable to L.1.~e it bo,. MSaulL
In 1876 H.M.Stanle), found the counu....- east of
Lake Tangan)ika entirely ruined b) their
depredations. He says that the rniders were hated
by all their neighbours, and that to the Arabs
killing onc of them was 'far more nece5SaT) than
killing a snake'. I-Iowever, the Arabs occasionall)'
hired the Tum as mercenaries; and groups of
Ngoni frequently fought alongside the Nyamwezi
warlord Mirambo and his Ruga-Ruga (see
below), Some ofZwangendaba's ol"iginal \'ctcrans
were still 10 bc found among these Ngoni b.mds
well into the I 870s, but they now included many
local tribesmen who had been capllll'ed and
assimilated, and othcrs who had \'oluntarilr
adopted their dress and style of fighting.
The Ngoni of Tanganyika came under
German control during the 18905. There \\'as
some fierce fighting in the south in 1897 before
Lhey submitted to an expedition under Captains
Engelhardt and Fulebom. The stronghold of
Songea onl)' fell after a number of Ngoni chief:<
were lured Ollt under a nag of truce and
arrested. It \\'as not until the Maji ~Iaji Rebellion
of 1905 thaI the tribe made a serious attempt
to a\cnge this U'eachen'. The TuUt \\'ere nominall) subjugated by
another German expedition under Emin Pasha in 1890, but escaped
military defeat by \'oiding contact, and continued their customary
raids for se\'eral more rears until the)' were forcibly settled sOlllh of
Lake Victoria.
The L....ke Nyasa kingdoms came within what became known as Uritish
Cemral Africa, and were brought under British rule dllring the I890s,
The nonhern kingdom \\"IS fliendly to the British, main I)' thanks to the
innuence of the Commissioner, Dr Laws. They welcomed missionaries
and \'DIlIm....rily gave up raiding. In the cenlral kingdom, a chief named
Chikusi accepted Bl"itish protection in 1890, but during the reign of his
successor Gomani a group of anti-British headmen gaint.-d influence. In
a puniti\-e
1896 they attacked a mission mtion, and in respon
expedition defeated an Ngoni IInpi and sacked Gomani's \illage. The
central :-.l'goni lost most of their cattle and submitted to the British
administration. Funher w'esl, on the plateau between the lake and
the luan~<1 Rh-er in what i now north-eastem Zambia, the
smaller kingdom mled b) Mpezeni W'as brought under the control of
the British South Africa Compam in 1898, and the last fI'ee Ngoni lost
their independence.

Org.nlz.tlon and t.ctlcs

TIle Ngoni inherilCd a very SlrOng milita'1 t1'adition from their oligins as
a migrating ann)'. In the words of meir historian Y.M.Cibambo. 'To me
Ngoni war was like ..:ork and his heart rejoiced to thinl of iL' At least
some groups seem to han~ retained the Zulu system of organizing meir
"''anion into regiments based on age, although most unilS ",'cre b.."lSed on
territorial di\isions, and warriors tended to live in their \illages r.l.lher
than in separate kraals as they did in the Zulu aml)'. In N)'aS.'lland, young
men ",'ere often fonned en masse into a new regiment known as a
MmuJla, of which each large \illage or prominent chief might have
scveral. Each libwuJla was divided into companies called libu/o, which
varied in strength up to 100 men 01' more, and would be allocated to one
of 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 an
officer 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 or any size continued to be kno....n by thc Zulu
tenn Impi. There is lillie reliable infomlation on the size of N"goni
annies, although it seems that at least in the fertile country' around
btke N")'aSa exceptionally large forces could be raised. The Brituh
Cf1Itral Africa GautU of December 189' ""is no doubt exaggerating
when it claimed that the central Ngoni could put 50,000 men imo the
ficld, but in 1878 W.A.Elmslie reponed seeing a 1O,OOO-strong anny of
northern Ngoni. Burton gives an interesting account of the fighting
methods 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)' to
distrdct lJle attention of the comb..uants: iron .....histles are used for me
necessary signals.' (Lugard, however. refers to tlle 'unearthl), rells,
gnmlS, and gro.,ns with ....hich they accompan)' their attack.') What
signals \\'ere actualh given in battle .....e arc not told, and Burton implies
that 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 rrloR

pt,otog,.phed in tM ,.~,
(W,Elmltle, Antong the
Wild NrIOfI'I

15

TUta Ngonl, showing a different

slyle of feather headgear which
was particularly associated with
this tribe. Plate C3 Is based
on this drawing and on written
descriptions by St.nley.
(H,M.St.nley, Through tlHt
011'* Contlnllnt)

,.

sits auended by his forty or fifty elders in ...he

rear; his authority is little morc than nominal, the
tribe priding itself upon autonomy. The Watuta
rarely run away, and L,ke no thought of their killed
and wounded.'
It is generally agreed mal the secret of the
dramat.ic success orthe Ngoni in Easi. Africa ....'aS their
imroduetion of close combat tactics, using the short
Zulli iklwo or Slabbing assegai, illlo a region where
warriors had traditionally thrown their spears from a
distance. Perhaps more importaJll, however, was the
moral ascendancy which they achic\'cd over most of
their opponents. with what Lugard dcsClibed as ..heir
'character for imincible courage', Nevertheless, by
the second half of the 19th century most accounts
suggest that Ngoni \\-'<if parties were actually fairly
cautious, and preferred ambushes and niglll
attacks to open batik. The Tuta were VCIY wary of
firearms; Burton says that thcy would 'decamp
without delay' if they encoulllered a caravan hcadcd by a red Zanzibari
nag, knowing that it would be accompanied by askaris with muskets. It is
probably this fear of guns which accoullts for the fuct that Speke
and Stanley both traversed the Tuta country at the height of their
depredations 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 senions
of men were detailed LO proLCCl them from attack. When they neared
an enemy dllage the men would sit and rest while their ;ndlmas
recollnoitred carefully, meanwhile taking snuff or smoking hemp, which
'maddened the warriors and ga,'e them hearts \\1thout fear', Even if the
enemy had detected them, preparations would not be hunied: 'In the
enemy stockade the dnlms would be beating lO show that their enemies
were angry, but the army of the Ngoni sat and rested as though there
were no enemy.'
Eventually their commander callcd thcm to anns by perfolllling
his own praise-dance, and the companies deplored into their 'horn'
formation, blowing borns and whistling to drown the sound of the
enemy'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, because
to do so earned not only brreat prestige but the first choice of the
caplllred h\'estock. Mler the fight each hldll1lll would report lO the
commander the namcs of those \Vho had been at lhe front, as well as
those of any other men who had especially distinguished themselves.
These men were singled out for praise at lhe \~cLOry dance held before
the IIkos; on their retlllll,
From tllC reports of European observers, however, it seems that
surprise auacks under cO\'er of darkness were at least as common as
set-piece assaults. Under these circumstances the viclims were usually too
terror.gtruck to offer any resistance, Lugard quotes a report of a raid on
Lake Nyasa in 1893, in which 'lhe Angoni came down to the lake shore
in 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 speared
as he emerged, and c\eO' woman was captured.' ~fanyofthe uibes li\i.ng
along the shoTe weTe forced to build their huts on stilts out in the lake
for feaT of such raids.
Pitched battles in the open were rarer, but the German trader Carl
Wiese describes one encounter which took place in nonhern
M07..ambique in lhe late IBaOs, between an Ngoni raiding pan} and a
400-strong Arnb car.l\"all. The Ngoni di\'ided themsel\cs into lhree
di\isions: finn, the newly fonned Kabaenda regiment, which was made up
of )'Olllhs between 14 and 18 years old; then the Mahor" and Mabema
regiments, 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 Ngoni
plan. TIle Arabs pursued the }'oungsters recklessly, nOt C\'cn stopping (0
relo.."ld, and were ambushed b}' lhe Mahora and ~Iabema who \\'ere Iring
in wail. The Kab..cnda then rerurned to the attack. and the Arabs were
surrounded. The Amadoda had been stationed in ambush along the
ro.."ld in the opposite direction in case the encm} resumed lheir march
after dri\ing off the auack, but no\\' hurried up and joined in the
slaughter. Most of the Ngoni casualtics occurred among the }'oungsters
of the K."lbaenda. Ve'1 fe\\' Ar-J.bs suni\'ed the battle, and those of their
leaders \\'ho escaped later committed suicide in disgr<lce.

THE HEHE
The Hehe weTe a confederation of about 30 small tribes li\ing in and
around the lringa Highlands in \\'hat is now southern Tall7.ania. The
name lIehe was not recorded until the 1860s, and is said to be derived
from their war-cry: 'H~! H~! 1Qtavagu twihoma./ Ehn./' TIle disparate
tribes were wdded into a unified kingdom by two exceptional rulers,
MlIIl}igumba and his son Mkwawa, \\ho reigned during the last third of
the 19th (enmry. Burton S3}'S that in the late 1850s the Hehe \\'ere afmid
of 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 Lt
Verney Cameron reported that 'Such is their reputation for cOlu'age and
skill in the Lise of their weapons that none of thc tribes on whom they
habitually make their raids ever dare to resist them'. During the Gennan
colonial period thC}' became famous as the dominant milit.tll' power of
the region, who at the Rugaro Rher in August 1891 inflicted on the
Gennans the worst defeat that U1C) ever suffered during their conquest
of East Africa.
The campaigns of Mkwawa

During ule 1860s Mun)ibrtuuba had led the Hehe LO \ict0'1' against most
of their neighbours, including the s.-mgo. I lis last campaign, in the late
I870s, 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 own
account. They were defeated at The baltic of Nyamulenge, which was
remembered for an epic single combat in which the I Iche king killed a

17

Th. . . .te lew ..p....ntatlon.

of Hehe werrlonl fl'om IMtfoIW the
lets 18iOs. end It Is likely thet
molt of them cionI)' IWIemblecl
their Ngonl or" Gogo I\Ifghbou....
This ltlust... tJon shows e pIItty
of Gogo 'P'<'nnen enc_nteted
bV Stanley In 1872. (Stan+ev,
How I Fourtd LMngs'-)

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 of eXp<,nsionist campaigns. sending
out 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\\'a
further consolidated his position b) mming his C'dpital to a Ilew stolle
fort 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 and
Kilosa to protect the caravan route. The Hehe nevcrtheless continued
their raids, and the German authorities ",'erc e\'en afraid that they might
advance as far as the coast. The governor tllcrefore opened peace
negotiations. but before Ihese could come to fruition an apparentl)'
unauthoni'cd military adventure brought open conflict with :\1k"":'I\\':.I.
War with the Germans

18

The commander of the German Prot.ection Force or SchlllLtruppc.

Ilauptmann \'on Zelcwski, was sent out in June 1891 on a limited
expedition with the aim of pacifying a local Hehe chief who was raiding
for slaves. but then look mallers into his own hands and ad\':'ll1ced on
Kalenga. Zelewski's force consisted of five companies each comptising
about 90 askaris. plus three field guns and a couple of ~laxim machine
guns. There arc sc\'eral widely differing accounLS of whal happened in
the ensuing battle ncar the Rug:.lro Ri\'er.
Al dawn on 17 August lhe Gennans set Out in a long column through
an area of dense bush, ....ith Zclc\\'Ski at their head, ad\'ancing towards a
hill covered with rocks and thicl vcgcL<uion. There appear to havc becn
no scouts deplored. The artillel)' and the Maxims were being cartit.-d on
pack animals. and some of tile ask.:.uis allegedly had not C"en loaded their
lines. Suddenly a single shot ....'as fired and sollle 3.000 Ilehe ....'arrioT5
chargt."tl Ollt of the bush. ovc""helming the leading companies. Zelc",'Ski

was speared in the back as he fired at another group of 3l1ackers.

Ilowe\er, because the ambush had apparently been triggered
premalUrel}. those at the rear of the German column were able to
organize some resistance. The expedition's doctor and a handful of
askarb got one ~laxim into action and fought oIT their assailants until
niglllfalJ. This rearguard retired LO a small hill and formed a defensive
position there, which the enem, did not scliousl\' threaten, The\' waited
fOJ" t\\O dars to collect sun;\'OI"l>, then retreated to ~lpwap\\~d. Among the
bodies len on the b,;mleficld were ten Gennans. 250 askaris, and around
100 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 on
strengthening his fortress at Kalenga in preparation for the ine\;L.ble
counter-olTensi\e, It appear.. that despite this \ictor)', Ilehe morale was
sustained mainly by their confidence in the stn::nglh of their fan, which
\\"<IS nicknamed Lipuli or 'Great Elephalll', It was probably inspired by
Ar'ab fortifications. as the king lilld at some unknO\m date sent an officer
to the coast to study the buildings thel'e. Bv 1894 the Stone wall
sllITounding K..lcnga was abollt 2 miles long. 8 feet in height. and up to
1 fectthick. TIle fan was not, ho\\c\"er. as strong as ~lk.....a.....a bclie\ed: the
perimeter 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, later
admitted that if the} had made a Mand outside the fort the Hehe would
probbl)' ha\'e won another victor}'. but ~Ikw;l\\" would nOt allow this. By
no....' he had a si/cable stock of capmred lincs (as \\ell as a ~IaXilll, \dlich
lhe fiche pro\'cd Illlable to opcrale). but hc kept lhem all under his own
conuol, and had ani}' issued 100 weapons .....hen the German atLOck
came, One tradition s.'}'S Illat ~Ikwa.....a had gone lllad and laid his
warriors to laad their guns \\;th blank charges, instCiid placing his
reliance on magic chalTllS laid on the palllS to StOp the Gennan ad\'3.nce.
A GelTllan column complising three companies of askaris and a
number of field gUllS arri\ed outside "alcnga in October 189--1 and builL
a stockade 400 metres from the \\'llIs. For t\\o d;ws the ..rtiller}' fired on
the defences; then Tom rrince led a storming pan}' into the forl. The
walls lhemsclvc~ were only lightly defended, but foUl houl's of fighting
inside the stronghold followed, with the Ilehe .shooting from t.he I'oofs
and doorw;J,~ of the huts. One Gennan officer and eight ask;lris were
killed, 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 modem
copleL The short sword w..
.trudy in u.. by the Hehe in

the 185Os., when Richard Button

described It .. 'from _
to two
feet lone. bnNode'n'"e out from
the .... n, IItId .-.God on 10 s
blunt 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

,.

German commandcr's report, 150 I-Iehe died in the fighting

or ....ere burm inside lhe huts. When he s..'l.W that the hattie
was lost, i\lkwawa apparentl)' tried 10 blow himself up
inside one of the houses, but .....as led away by his advisors.
Among the booty taken b) the Gem1ans were the roral
stores of gllllpo....der and ivoT)'.
Ne\'enheless, Hehe resistance was still nOI broken. On
6 No\cmber, on its reUlm march, the Gennan column was
attacked b).' a force of 1,500 warriors, \\ho broke through the
column of porters but .....ere stopped b) the fire of the askaris,
leaving behind 25 dead. In 1896 Prince returned 10 the Kalenga area
and built a fortified sl..'l.tiOn a fe..... miles away al lringa. TIle Ilehe no.....
resorled 10 guerrilla warfare, ambushing patrols and car-millS, and
auacking those villages that had already sunendered. Prince took the
field \\ith two companies each consisting of 150 askaris. 10 fighl the
enemy with his own methods. Several times they nearly caplured
Mkw'd\\'<1. and gradually their scorched earth lactics, togcther with a
famine which swept the rcgion, wore down the enemy's will to
fight. Then, in July 1898, a patrol intercepted Mkwawa's trail
ncar the River Ruaha and tracked him down. The king \\'l\S ill,
and commiued suicide rather th:1I1 risk capture; with his
de.nh, all Ilehe resistance ceased.

20

Organization and tactic.

Afler Ihe Gennan conquest il was estimaled lhal the Hehe
'nation' numbered about 50,000 people altogether. bUI
this docs not include many nonllche who had been
incorporated illlo the realms of Mun}igumba and Mk\\~dwa, and
who sometimes foughl in their 0.....,1 sl)les alongside the Ilehe proper.
~hll\}igumba's kingdom included at least 15 pre\iousl)' independent
chiefdoms, .....hose mlers eitl1er declared allegiance to him or .... ere
replaced ....;th his appointees. These subordinate chiefs were known as
l!{l'lUlglla, and ....ere responsible for raising Lheir 0\\'11 regiments in time
of war. The king and many of these chiefs maintained small standing
annies, which .....ere recmited from IWO categories of warriors: \cterdns
or lIatmnhuk, who served as subordinate officers, and the young men
in training or vigendo. Munyigumba also established military colonies
of yOllllg men of betwecn 12 and 20 years of age in the territories of
subjugatcd 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. Valambo
and V.uengelammwa, .....ere identical ....,ith those oftllc Sango, from whom
the Ilche warriors are thought to ha\'e borro.....ed lhe Zulu-5t)'le shield
and stabbing assegai, and so they mal' also have been the model for this
regimental organization. One senior unit, the Vatengclamlltwa, 'Those
Who 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 unit
consisted of the men of a particular age group, who were not allo",-ed
10 malT} until lhe}' had pro\'ed themselves in battlc. Those who
dislinb'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' bibeL
lAtter M.F..-c:h-Sheldon)

Supply columns and medical services were also well organized. Ilchc
amlies took the field in both the dry and wet seasons. and often
campaigned in scveral thc;un::s silllullaneously. An expedition would be
preceded by scouts or v{/lallllis~ who might operale se'o'ernl days ahead of
the main body. TI1Cli came an advance guard, the vandagandaga, which
might cany Ollt surprise raids 0" pursue a neeing enemy on its mm, but
could be quickly supported by l.he main Ixxly in the evelll of serious
resistance. This main body would consist of one or more regiments.
esconing lhc supply train. L.uge numbers of prisoners of ""~dr or
Vllllyaun'lgi accompanied lhe annies as laoourers and porters. In Mkw3wa's
day' a commander was nOI nonnall) expected to lead the ann)' into lxllUc
in per.>on. but remained in the rear ""ith his bodyguard, as the Hehe seem
to have believed that the u'oops \\'ould be demoralized if the,' saw a chiefs
blocxl 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, and
JF.[hon describe5 them skinnishing ",ith muskets against thc Sango in
1877, Ilo""cver, the) seem al",'3\'$ to ha\'e been in short supply, and were
mosLly hoarded by the chiefs, ",ho distributed them when required to
fa\'Oured followers. In a group of warriors encountered b)' Teltenbom in
thc 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 a
chief - as a signal for the auack, which was carried out entirely\\ith spears.
In Mk"~.l.was reign the Hehe generally preferred to ad\-ance to close
quarters in dense fOITnations, Zulu-5tyle, rather than attempting to
skinnish. If musketeers ",'cre present, they would fire a single \'Olley at
dose range before charging. Ilowe\'er [Iton, in his account of the "''3r
against the s.'1ngo in 1877, describe5 much more cautious tactics. On that
occasion a Hehe anll)' besieged a fortified \illage for several da)'S, trading
abuse and longrange musket'1', ad\'3ncing only under cover, and C\'en
entrenching themselves for protection against the defenders' bullets.
Each night they lit flres, apparently 10 make the Sango think that they
had bumt their temporary hms and left. Mtcr a few days they really
broke ofT the siege and retired, pUI'Sucd by the Sango, It may be that it
was 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 to
describe the rooLless young hooligans - oflen orphaned or displaced by
war or sla\'e-raiding - who roamed the country making a precarious
living as mercenaries, bandits or elephant-hunlel'S. These first made
their appearance among lhe Nyam",'czi, who inhabited the high plateau
of what is now central Tanl..a nia and became the principal long-distance
traders of the region. The tcnn also came to be used for the semiprofessional militia of local origin which some N)'3mwezi groups raised
to 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 the
century established the first centralized states among the N)'3.m",czi and

21

TM Arab .ttack on Mlf1lmbo..

tock.Ne .t 21mbbio, ~t
1811. Not. tM dln-..n In
d""lM~ tM ~ and
thek" 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 of

me N}'3mv..ezi, praising their 'great sU'ength and endurance, skill in
war, tenacity of purpose. and detennination to defend the rights of meir
chiefs against foreigners', The-, therefore made excellelll soldiers, whose
ready availabilit\ was one of the main foundations on .....hich mese states
were built. The Olher ...."as gunpowder; both Mirambo and Swngu
understood the \'alue of guns and acquired as man~ of them as
they could, so that evellluall) the name Ruga-Ruga became almost
splonrmous with hired gunman,
The warlord Mlrambo ('Heaps of Corpses')

22

~tirambo was pelimJls the most f-amous of all Ule native militarv leaders
of 19th celllury East Africa, both in his o...m lime and later. His
background is obscure, but he was said to have been of N)'am.....ezi royal
blood. Mirambo was not his real name but a nom de guerre, meaning
'Heaps of Corpses', He firsl came to promincnce in 1871, when Sr..anlev
witnessed the opening mo\'es of his war against thc Arabs of Tabora. By
this time Mirambo was already leading an army of several mOllS.'1nd
Ru&ta-Ruga, and was successfull)' disputing cOlllro] of the lr.J.de routes
with the Arabs who had previousl)' dominaled them,
Stanley, who was passing through Tabard on his expedition in search
of Livingstone, accompanied the Arab army when it marched to au.ack
~lirambo's frontier village of Zimbi1.O. The \illage fell after a brief
skinnish and Stanley and most of the Arabs then .....CIll home, ]ea,ing
only 20 Arabs and about 500 Swahilis to advance on Ulcir opponents'
main base at Wil}'ankum. Mirambo, who had sc\'cral hundred men in
WiI)'ankunJ, \\-ithdrew mem from the far side of the \illage, circled
round, and concealed them in the tall grass on both sides of the path
leading back to\\'ards Zimbizo. TIle Arabs plundered me \illage, and
were sL.'1r1ing on their return journey, loaded do.....n ....im loot, ,,,hen me
Ruga-Ruga emerged from ambush and allacked them at dose quarters
with spears. There is no mcntion of ~lirambo's men using fireanns in
this engagement. although many of them cert.'1inl)' possessed memo All
the Arabs and about half of me S.....ahilis .....ere lJlled in the ambush, and
the rest ned.

T"'o weelullalcr Mir.unbo adv.mced on Tabord \\ilh 2,000 Ruga-Ruga

and .I ,000 Tuta Ngoni. On seeing 'the plain around Tabord filled wilh
approaching 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 finalh
charged all the slaves rdn awa)', lea\ing their Arab masters to be shot
down. After this Ihe war lapsed into SL,lemate, Mirambo continued
10 disrupt the Arabs' trade, causing the price of i\'ory on the coast to
double, while in retaliation the Arabs cut off his supply of gunpowder.
Early in 1872 the Arabs were so hard pressed thai they asked Ihe
Sultan ofZ.,nzibar for aid, A small force was sent under Amir bin SuIL,n,
but rivalry among the different Arab leaders prevellled them agreeing
on a co-ordinated strategy, and so Amir was w;thdrdwn. Mimmbo had
sunived the miliL"'U) threat, but an embargo on gunpowder imports
from the coast cmscd difficulties until he found a new source of supph,
\;a the rortllguese in Mozambique. Tmde eventllall)- resumed, and by
the lime of Sianle)"s second \;sit in 1876 ~lir::lIl1bo and the Arabs of
Tabora were al peace,
~lir.lInbo had 1I0t abandoned his warlike ambitions, however. The
missionary Southon, who \;sited him a few lean later, reported that he
and his officers 'spend their whole time planning, prepaJ;ng for or
actually engaging in a ""r of greater or lesser magnitude'. From his
Gtpital at Urambo, west of Tabora, ~Iirambo's 'empire' was extended to
co\'Cr the whole region between Lakes Victoria and Tang-<tn);ka, lie
al"':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 called
offa planned attack on Ujiji when he discO\'ered thaI there were English
missionaries there. The British Consul al Zanzibar, John Kirk, was
s)'llipathetic to him, and moves were begun to commence formal
relations with the British go\'emment.
These plans came to grief in 1880, when an exploring expedition
blundered into the middle of one of~lirambo'swars and twO Englishmen
were killed b\ the Ruga-Ruga.
Mirambo later expressed regret
for the killings, and was
genuinely shocked to find that
he had alienated his British
allies. One IheOl1' was that
his men had mistaken lhe
Englishmen for the lIni\'ersall)'
haled Belgians. Ne\'ertheless,
Kirk immedialel) broke off
relations with him, and twO
expcxlitions set off from the
coast to a\'enge the \;ctims,
One was despatched by the
Sult.,n of ZanJ.:ib.'I", who was
anxious to placate the British,
bUI no fighling took place
because most of the Zan7ibaris
descned when they realized
tJlat tht"), were being sent to

.. Ny-..zj tembe, In

the Nyamwezl N11ed henlty

on ttleN tat.- I'K~
building. Mlnoundlng a e.ntnol
eourtyln:l. TM Wills could be
up 10 3ft thk:k Ind would .top
even. rltle bullet, ./though
the tilt thltched roofs we,..
nlturally vulnlf1lble to tire.
Ace", w.. by nlnGW gate
In _
or two 01 the . . . . . while

ell the other doors end windows

opened Inwe. on to the
courtyard, TM IntericH . . .
divided Into _
smIiII
~ lttu. eonabIing e
determined defencIM to fight
on 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, How
I Fourtd LMngsl_J

23

Group of Rl.IlJa-Rug,
photOV",phed ,t UlQr in the
18to1. 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's
fledgling nation would be offidaH)' recognized b) the European po.....e~.
In 1884 he became ill and handed over command of the aml) 10 his
brother Kinmga, who succeeded him on his death in December of
that }'ear.
Kinmga lacked his predecessor's military talents, and much of the
empire \\hich he had inherited broke awa)'. He was killed in 1890 fighting
the Ngoni, and \\-hen a German expedition arn\ed soon afteno.'ards it
enCOlInlered little resistance. LJrambo was occupied and the countr}'
brought under German mle.
Nyungu-ya-Mawe

The other oUl.'itanding leader of Ruga-Ruga was Mirambo's contemporary, Nyungu-)'a-~Ia\,e. Nyungu's fi~1 recorded camp,aign took place
al the same time as Mirambo's, in 1871, .....hen he ....-as the leader of a
band of Ruga-Ruga based ncar Tabora. As a }'oung man he led his men
personall)' in bailie, but in later life he preferred to remain at his
headquarters and delegate opcnllions to his subordinates. Nyungu had
a reputation for crueh)' and treachery, and a traditional African story
was told about him to illustrate this. He imited a rival chief inlo his
camp, and persuaded him to sit on a stool .....hich had been placed over
a hidden pitfall trap. When the dctim fell in, Nyungu ran up and
Slabbed him to death ....ith a spear.
Like Mirambo, Nrungu lost any chance of an alliance ....ith the .....hites
through an attack on a party of explorers, although in his case there is
liuJe doubt that the killings ....ere deliberate. In December 1878, some
400 of his Ruga-Ruga ambushed a party led by William Penrose. The
cara\'an ....-as escOrted by only six ask.aris, .....ho .....ere soon eimer killed or
ran awa},; Penrose made an heroic last stand ....i th his back to a tree,
which ....-as riddled \\ith bullets before his gun was shot from his hand
24

(emu,","" l1li ptJgt 33)

MASAI RAID. 1857

1 & 2; MINII morIIn
3, 'BaJuc:hi' mercenary

THE BATTLE Of ELBEJET. \889

1: somali ukarl

2: Maul .lder
3: Masal wltfrior

NGONI WARRIORS
1; Gwangwara, SOYthero Tanganyika
2: Angonl, Nyasaland
3; Tula, northem Tangan!flka

THE HEHE
1: Chlel

2: W.rlnga spearman, c.1891

3: Wlinior, e.1880

MIRAMBO'S RUGA-RUGA. 1876

I: Mlrambo
2; OffICer 01 Mlrambo'. llrmy
3: H.M.Stanley

NYUNGU-YA-MAWE'S
RUGA~RUGA, c.1880
1,2 & 3: Ruga-Ruga warriors

THE NANDI, 1895

1 & 2: Nandi warrionl
3: Sudanese auari

THE TURKANA. 1885-1900

I: Young warrior
2: Middle-aged warrior
3: ehiel

3
2

and he W'dS over.....helm<.'<I. The Ruga-Ruga stripped the skin

from his face as a trophy, .....hile N)'lmgu himself showed his
apprO\"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 succeeded
by his daughter Mgalula. It was a testament to the effectiveness
of the administration ....hich N)'lmgu had set lip thai the SL'lte
suni"cd his death for more than ten )'ears. It covered about
20,000 square miles, .md carried on a thrhing trade in cloth
and 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 she
wclcomcd them as pot.ential allies against their mulllal enelll)'
Mkwawa, and so submitted .....ithout resisL'lnce.
Organization and tactics
The basis of Mirambo's strateg) ""'as the eXlr:lordinar} speed
at ....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: "Ie
himsclf has told me that he would frequenu) run 15 or 16
miles, capture a \illage and \',ithout stopping for a rest make
a rapid march of 30 miles more to anothcr place... he nc"er
allowed anyone t.o olltrun him.' There were never many
stragglers, as to fall behind meant t.o miss the fight.ing, and
hence a share in the loot. Southon explaincd the effect of Ihis
mobility on Mirambo's enemies:
'The celerity of his mO\'ements, the s..'lgacity of his plans and the
ferocit)' ....ith which his onslaughts were made. struck terror into the
hearts of all the people for man)' miles arollnd, No one could tell in
,,hal district he would appear next: today he was alone place. yel
yesterday he "''as 40 miles south ofiL' ~Iirambo's preferred Glmp..'ligning
method was to make a forced march to the nearest enemy \illage, using
unfrequented routes and aiming to achieve surprise by arrhing at night.
Then, an hour before dawn, the Rug<t4Ruga would storm the weakest
section of the defenccs. climbing O\cr the palisades and tcating the
gates from their hinges.
Although Mirambo \\'llS well aware of the value ofmuskcts, and made
cfforts to equip as many of his men with them as possiblc, most accountS
of 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 entire
aml) possessed them at this date. Stanle{s account of I.he ambush at
Wilyankuru mentions only spean, though man)' waniors undoubtedl),
carried both weapons.
Mter a \ict0'1. J\lirambo himself took control of all the loot. III" then
returned half of it to his defeated enemies, and sharcd Out the rest
among the bravest of his followers. The enemy chief was usuall)'
executed and replaced \',ith a local puppet nile", but Southon belie\'cd
lhat the conquered uibes were act.ually beller olTundcr t.lirambo, since
he did nOt impose la.xes but required only rccruits for his army.

... Rue_-Rue- or $1_ ,.Id.,.

from the ~Il_ Nyau region, He
c.rrles _ coli of rope for tyfng ~

...--. .M - . - . the h-.d .M

bull of hombiU fbuM! to his
turbM. T1'I'- flgu... '- _ _
kM" the ~ . t P1a~

f3. lJoMston)

33

34

'On thesc young mcn', he says,

'Mirambo besLOwed considerable
care and attention; he armed
them with guns and taught them
how to usc them; he conspi
cuously rewarded the hnwe and
the loyal.'
Mirambo preferred to recruit
\'el") )'oung men for his ann)'; he
believed that the)' were more
prepared to risk their lives than
the older men with families. who
by cOntrast were steadier and
bener suited to defence. He LOld
Stan Ie)' that the unmarried
)'ouths ... have sharper eyes...
and a few words ";11 gi\'e them
the hearts ofJions. In all Ill) wars
w;lh the Arabs. it was an aml) of
youths that gave me \;Ct0'1'. bo\'S
without beards. Fifteen of m) young men died one day because I said
I 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 the
stockaded \;lIage.'
Apart from the N)'amwezi who constituted the core of his armv,
Mirambo made use of troops from various other sources. Ill' had a
personal bod)'gUard of amled slaves known as the wanillkuru, who may
ha\'e been the same as the 100 uniformed men \,'hom Stanle>"s seOlll
Mabruki saw in 1875. The govemors of strategic frontier districts were
drawn from this unit; they "'ere called m 'gahue, and wore as a b.adge of
rank a shell sllspended from their necks b)' a strip oflion skin. For most
of Mirambo's I'cign the Tuta wefe friendly, and they sent contingenL~ to
support him on numerous occasions. However, in 1883 w;:lr broke out
with 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 of
1871-72, 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 of
Tabora, and even planned to restore him t.o his position. l\'lirambo was
also on good terms with the Zanzibari slaver Tippu Tib, and when an
earlier displlle with the Tum in 1881 seemed about to lead to war, he
even 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 from
various sources, including runawa), sla\'es, deserters from caravans and
prisoners of war, although most of t.hem were probably of local Nyamwezi
origin. No estimate appears to exisl of their overall numbers, bUl they
must have been comparable to lhe forces of rivals like Mirambo, and so
probabl)' totalled SC\'cral thousand. They were organized into companies
which \;:u;ed greatly in size. from ahoUl 20 to as man) as 500 men. Each
companr W'".lS led by an officer called a mutwak. and was known by its
commander's nom de guerre, of which SC\'cral picturesque examples are
recorded: Kafupa Mugazi ("Spiuerof Blood'); Pundu)'a Mbogo ('Buffalo

Some of the .lltrrIepnt

IwlntyW _lated with
ttMo N y - . d trtM_n who
pnwlcMcl mod of ttMo ~
01 w~ Ilk. Mirwnbo.
(Alcluorod EkHton, The Uk.
~ 01 CentrW AIrb)

Bull'); hm"ela ~lbesi ("feeder of Vultures'); Kadcle ka :\'simba ('Lion

Skin'); Nsikine ('Crinder'); and Nzwala Mino ga Yanhu ('Wearer of
Human Teeth')" These militaf)' officers were distinct from the tcrritorial
chiefs whom N)'ungu left in control of the districts of his empire - a
system of di\;ded command hich was illlendt.'<! to prevent an)' subject
chieffrorn becoming too po erful.
Discipline within the companies was very strict, and the loyahy of the
men \0 their commanders was encouraged by their youth and lack of
family ties. Plunder taken after a victory could only be distributed by
Nyungu himself, as a reward for courage. Men were often executed for
minor infringements of his orders, the signal for which .....as the dropping
of a piece of cloth. It .....as said that N)1.mgu ne\'er referred to a soldier as
a man until he had distinguished himself b\ \<llom in battle; until then,
recruits were called mapimpili or 'logs' - and when committing his
reserves to baule, he would call Out, 'Pile on more logs!' Reckless bra\'ery
was encouraged by the smoking of hemp, and by the use of a war
medicine which was supposed 10 make men invulnerable.
Most of Nyungll's Ruga-Rllb1<l were armed with muskets, but in the
18705 a proportion of them still lacked fireanns, and in 1878 the French
\\11ite Fatllcrs saw Ruga-Ruga carrying bows and spears, either in
addition 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 Elgon
in northern Kenya. They called themselves
Chemwal or 'caule-raiders'; the nallle Wa-nandi W'dS
a Swahili insult, meaning 'cormorants' and
referring to their rapacity. Few outsiders \;sited the
area before thc 1880s, although some Arab or
S...." hili u-aders mav ha\'e arnvt.-d in the 1850s. The
tribe was not illlerested in foreign goods, howC\'er,
and attacked the car-mans instead of trading with
them. KaIXhumba or 'place of the Swahili' was a
commonplace name in the Nandi country, which
....~IS Iklid to commemoratC locat.ions where the
foreigners had been lured into ambushes and
massacred.
During the 1890s the Nandi began La raid the
telegrdph line ....hich the British authorities were
building on their borders. mainl)' bealllse thC')'
\<lllled lhe ",;re as omaments for their women, and
later tile he;ny iron bolts securing the rails of the
Uganda Railway ....ere stolen for use as weapons. This
led to a series of British punitive expeditions. lhe
first of which look place at the end of 1895. It
operatcd as seveml independent company-sized
columns, which quanered Ule country \\~Ul lhe
intention of rounding up U1C cattle. Lieutenant
SC)1llour Vandelellr, who fought in the campaign,

A nlre phototlr1lph of N8ndl

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

of the 20th qntury. The cW)o
pm.nt wom by N8ndI _ _
the kipoIet, longer -.ion of
th8 kld-skln Mu8I "lop', which
w.. m.o. from bUIck go8t or
c.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 bll
of ColotKIa monkey fixed to Ita
tIp,_ - U " . . . S'.fllnded
from the shcKIldet' . . . maftl of
~ (A.C.HoItIa, T1Ioa NMwII:
n..ir~Md~1

3.

Th. chlr'll. 0' 1h. Nlndl It the

Klmond. RI.... r, legIS. n.. BritI-.h
oMc.r commlndlng In this
ac:11on, Lt s.ymour Vanclfifilr,
confirmed thl1 this pletu,. gN"
I '11rty lCCunl1. Impru.slon of
the ftghtlng, TM Nlndl {tOt within
30 YlrdS 0' the Brltlsh llna
" , _ the chi.... WIS st09P'M!
by Mlrtlnl Hanry I'i"- fI... Ind
I Mlltim gun. jS.VInHlMIr,
c.mp.Ignlnfl on tM Uppw
HI,. Md Hl1I<HI

gives a description ofa battJe on tJH' banks of the Kimonde Riycr which is
probabh the first ere....il1less account of the Nandi in b..utJe. His compall\
of Sudanese ....as attacked b} about 500 warriors, 'apparentJy excellentJy
organised. and fonned in tJuee sides of a square, above which a dense
tJlicket of long-bladed spears nashed in dIe sunlight'. 111C') charged in
good order, ....iped out an isolated detachment of 14 mcn, and tJlcn
ad\<lnced to within 30 yards of the main Sudanese line before the firc of
tJle ~'!aI1.ini Ilenry rines and a Maxim gun finally broke lhem.
Vandeleur ....'as cert."lin tJlat if his unit had been surprised whilc in
column of march it would have been ovelTI.ln. He commented that '111is
charge was a revelation to us... and at once accounted for tJ1C warlike
reputation ... which tJle \Va-Nandi possessed'. The Nandi had Icamcd

Group of Nlndl wamor. In bam.

l<noy, Oflllnl:ted Into columns by
clln.. AlthoYgh thJs . .rty 20th
cantury pletu... Is
~ quality,
11 Is In1.....Ung In that - eonnry
10 tIM stat_II of moat

0'

~_f_o'~

men hi

3.

.oop~ ~

Maul

or the practice of
paHiting their sftIelda. (Hollis)

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

Organization and tactics

Despite lheir small numbers (their total fighting strength was around
5,000. but most war parties were far smaller lhan lhis) the Nandi had a
fearsome reputalion as figillers, and the Masai \'t'ere said to have been
the ani)' people who dared to attack them. Traditional" t11eir warfare
consisted of small-sale "lids for cattle and prisoners. After me 1880s,
when the}' seized the grazing grounds of the LJasin Gishu plateau from
the Masai, the Nandi showed no further interest in territorial conquesL
11ley 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 the
o,*oiik (singular o'*o;yOI), pan-prophets and part-war leaders, who first
came to prominence in the mid-19th centtll)', and ~\'ere undoubtedly
inspired by the Masai Illibons or medicine chiefs. The whole Nandi
people recognized the authority of a single OI*oi)'ot, or at most tWO al any
one time. They were fe,u"ed and respected for their magical powers, and
made 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 themsehcs.
The main subdi,isions of the tribe were 15 territorial districts, each
nlled by a council of elders. Each raised its 0\'t11 regiment of warriors.
\'thich was called a lukn (meaning literall) 'a raid'), and undenook its
0~\'1 military operations, either alone or in alliance with other districts.
Like the Masai the men were organized into age-sets. with the }'Olmger
sets providing a class of more or less full-time warriors, Every seven rears
01' so a ceremony was held. at which responsibility for the defence of me
lribe \'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 a
raiding parry. Then a hom would be blown to summon the waniors; tlle
allthoril)' 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 mat
a prophet could de(.'lch his head from his bod)' and send it to keep an
e\'e on the perfonnance of me warriors in battle - an idea which was
ob\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 of each
of the indi\idual SiritOlik held the title of It.,rlcit or 'bull', Parallel to the
territorial organization was a system of 17 clans or families. each of
lhem associated with a particular rotelll animal. Some clans had specific
military roles; the lion clan, for example. ah',a)'s deployed on the
righl Iving in baltic, The hyaena clan was responsible for providing a

Two typH of tradltlon8l Nandi

ape...... nd (8t right) .n .ump"

of the modem type 8doptlld
c.1 aoo - thl. I. yh1u.lly IdMltlcel
to It. M...l .qul....l."t, .nd w..
.Imo.t c.rt.lnly copied from
the M...!. (Aft., Huntlnefonll

3'

N.~I qulll.r, sClbbllrd with

Ithlr "It, .~ two s_rds.
s.. .Iso pig. 46 for dnlwlngs

of

rearguard to co\"er a retreat. and for blocking the tracks Lhrough Lhe
forest to fnlSlrate an invader.
TIle preferred time for campaigning ....as in the dly season, which
began in October. Raids ....'ere carried OUI over distances of up to 100
miles, and the people of this region were famous (as they still are to this
day) as long-distance nmners. A war pally would send out scouts to
locate the enemy \illages and reconnoitre the approach and escolpe
routes. \\1\en the) retumed. the main bod)' was mustered by sounding a
hom; the approach march was then made in silence, in single file and
making use of co\'er. Ideally the scouts would have located a spot where
they could deploy unobserved within easy reach of the target, in which
case the Nandi preferred to wail until aft.er dark before auacking.
The war" palt)' then di\'ided into three groups; one would creatc a
diversion, while the second broke into the enclosure where the cattle
were kept. ~'Iost of the Nandi's neighbours had leamed to keep their
animals inside krnals protected by thorn bedges or mud walls, so this task
often ilwol\'ed demolishing a scclion of wall or hedge, which \'-'dS likely
lO alert the cnemy. This second party would then redeploy to covcr the
wit.hdra\\~11 while the third group - made lip of t.he youngest and least
experienced warriors - drove the callIe away.

THE TURKANA

38

The Turkana came originally from Lhe hills to Lhe north of Mount Elgon,
in what is now 1I0nhem Uganda. During the 18th centulY Lhey migrated
to......a rds Lake Rudolf and took O\'cr most of Lhe territory east and south
of the lake, \'o'hich they called Eturk.an. This was one of the driest regions
of East Africa, and it has been argued that Lhe wars of the Tllrka.na were
not intended to conquer territory - although this \'oas often the C"entual
outcome - but merel) to capture cattle LO replace their losses in the

.nc!

.~

(Arter Hollis'

ABOVE LEFT A Turluma warrior

enc:ounle..-d b, Telekl and von
Honnel In 1888. This picture
ahowa moat of the dlstinctIYe
l..tuNs of the Tum"".
lnellldif'l the atmenect Noll' blot.
110M and lip ornamenta, in>n
noeck rlnp, and the plitt......
0' raised _ ... on 1M right

ahoukSer. Note alao the circular

wrtat 'knlte' with Its "ather
cow-.. 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.'lnts

of the arc;1 and quickly gained a reputation as deadly lighters, Unlike
mOSt of their neighbours, the Turkana did not suffer much from the
cattle plagues of the 1880s. probably because of their remOteness from
any 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\ an
outbreak of chil war.
The Iirst outsiders to pcnet.rate their territol)' were Ab)"SSinian and
Swahili ivory lmders. who arri\'ed about 1884. followed by the Iirst
Europeans - Count Te1eki and Lud\\"ig \'On Hollllel- in 1888. Exploring
expeditions often had to fight continual minor skirmishes with the
isolated and sllspiciolls tribesmen, and although pitched battles were
rare, the troops invariably suffered great hardships from lack offoocl and
water. This was the main reason why tlIe aUlhorityofthe British -who on
paper had annexed the Clllire region in 1890 - was not established in
many places until after World War I.
B)' 1900 the Turkana totalled around 30,000 people, and dominated
an area of about 24,000 square miles. The proceM of expansion had
actually led to a reduction in mililal)' acti,it}, as the tribesmen became
too 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 to
potential invaders, so that there was no incenti\'e to maintain standing
amlies for defence. One 20th century informant described the
camp,aigns undertaken by his predecessors in strictly pmctical terms: 'the
Turkana fought to get foocl'. By this time, if not earlier, the ....'3mors
tended to prefer sk.innishing and slldden raids to massed battles, In their

39

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 the

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

minimize CdSualtics while emphasi7jng the capture of liveslock and other
boot)'. 1.11C)' mighl be compilred 10 the Apaches. They invariably resisted
olllsiders passing through their Lenitary by raiding camps and cUlting
ofT stragglers Irtl..her !.han by large-scalc .macks. This approach was
cncapsulated in the traditional saying that the sccret of success in war
was 'not power, but knowledge'.

w.rrlo... In the two prevlOlJ'

Iltu.lr.tlon (Yon Hohnel)

ABOVE RIGHT Thl. strikIngly

o,lye dr,wlng publl.h~ In Wid.
World "'t(laz/n. In 1lH)2 .how.
the different helratyl. worn by
the TUrkana who ,ttaeked the
Britl.h Austin IlIpeditlon. Tht tall
~ f.,the.. wert pld to be
.Ig" th.t the wurlo... we,. on
the w.rpeth. (M-.lOf' R.a. T.Brlllhll

40

Organization and leadership

What militLlry orb....nization existed was ba.~cd on age-sets or asaj>anu,

which were sub-di\idcd il1lo terriLOrial scctions, and Illa)' once have
fonned units on the bauldield on the rare occasions whcn large annies
wcrc assembled. By the latc 19th century this systcm was gh-ing "'ay LO a
loosc collection of locally based forces, and the authority of the elders
was declining.
Political leadership \'oWl provided by ritual divincrs or llgimurok. Each
of these men nonnally controlled onc territorial section, but a few
outstanding 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 among
the 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'; and
Lokorijam, who in lhe 1890s is s.;,id to ha\c cOllle closer Lhan an)' of his
predecessors to uniting Lhe Turkana.

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), ExpIltlon in East
Cmtral Africa, 1888-J891 (London, 1983)
Modem works:
N.R.Bennett, MirambooJTnnzanin (Oxford, 1971)
G.W.B.lluntingford, TIlL Nandi oJ KnlJn (London, 1953)
J.Lamphear, 'The People of the Grev Bull: The Origin and
Expansion of the Turkana' ,journal oJAfrican History, \'01 x..XIX

Turtlan. ape.... and war club.

TM Mwar. S9fi1f nenlged

.bout 8ft In length; the blade
wa. ,.,a.ttv.Iy .......11 IMlt w
kept very Marp. 0rMI reason
given for the auperiority of tM
1\irtlaNl _

(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 oj Africa" History,
Vol IX (1968)
A.Shorter, 'Nyungu-ya-~bwe and 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)

tn.Ir _ i e s

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

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

lronwo,bra. (Yon Hohnel)

41

THE PLATES
A: MASA' RAID, 1857
The explorer Richard Burtoo described a Masal vietoty oyer
the BaJuchi mercenaries 01 the Sultan of zanzibar In 1857.
which Is the basis lor this reconstruction.
A1 & "'2: Masal moran
Most Masal watTiors wore only a short garment made of kid
skin, wtQ was normally worn tied 0Yf!J( one shouIdef. When
on the warpath, however. it was rolled up around the waist to
keep the sword in place, lW'ld also in order not to impede the
warrior's legs when fUI'll'lIl"lg. The n1O"8n grew their hair long,
coated it WIth red ochre, and plaited it Into plgtais - usuaIy
one large one at the beck m two or ItY8e smaller ones at the
front. The most corrmon type of headdress was made from
bIadl: lW'ld white ostrich feattlefs fixed into a leathef oval wtic:h
framed the wanior's lace, Ike thaI of A1, but a variety of other
styles were also used. In 1893 sr Gef8kj Portal encclU'Il:ered a
group of Masai among ~ were men wearY"IQ 'an ecifice
like a guatdsn'wI's beetsIw't made of hawk's fealher.L. or in
some cases the horns of an anleklpe. Of a ~ of iron
wn covered with wool in the shape of IfT1f1lIlnS8 buffalo
horns', On his upper arm 1.1 wears an arm c:tamp made of
hom. wtic:h often fitted so ~ that it was <*nosl: irnp:lssit:Jkl
to remove.. Red. wtvte and black beads, ~ed
towlwds the end of the oentlA'y by blue, were extensivety used
for decorabon. The iron bel strapped to hls thigh is also
I1lElI'1tIOn8d by von Hohnei. It rT'lIght be stuffed with grass for a
surpnse attack or a right raid. but when the warriors were on
the mateh their presence was often actvertJsed by the clangi"lg
of these bells. Knee bands were made of white goat hair.
The warrior A2. is wearing the wei-known 'busby' made from
a lion's mane: thiS was primarily an Item of ceremonial dress,
restricted to men wOO had kiOed a lion with the spear. but
was apparently sometimes worn in battle. A warrior would
often coYer his head and shoulders, the blade of his spear,
and sometimes his whole body with a smeared layer of red
ochre mixed with fat, which was applied Otl top of atl the
clothing and accoutrements and, in yon Hotlnel's words,
'makes him look as if he W9I"9 dripping with blood'. An
illustration In Thomson's Through Masal I..Bnd shows these

42

unwieldy-looking backward projecllons of wIlite goat hair

apparently fastened to the leg barlCls.
The traditional war spear was about 5~ feet long, and
consisted of a shon wooden handle and a broad, heavy Iron
blade. The exact shape of the blade varied from one clan to
another: aCCOl'dlng to Thomson, the northern Mesal used
longer. narrower blades, while the southern clans preferred a
broader pattern. Numerous slight variations in design are
recoroed; that carried by A2 has a small central grip and a
very long butt spike, and Is derived from a drawing in Mary
French-Sheldon's Sultan to Sultan. The moran were not
allowed to carry bows or other missile weapons since it was
thought that these would make them reluctant to fight at
close quaners, but they frequently threw their clubs as they
chatged. Swords Went usually about 181ns to 2ft in length,
and were often manufactured by grinding down old
European machete blades. The blade generally WIdened out
towards the tip Inlo a 'spoon' stIape, although lhe extent
varied considerably. Shields varied in size between about 3ft
and 5ft tall. They were made of buffalo hkje, wNch is moch
ttcker 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 of
ttl,"r military tachncHosJy. The .,.ara., awon!, club and ahleld
ano all very a.lmllar 10 Maaal typ.H, although the Klkll)'\l alao
made' mIlCh grealet" UN of the bow, (Von HoIlnel)

made formidable weapons In their own right when used to

knock an enemy off balance before finishing him with a
spear thrust.
A3: 'Baluchi' mercenary
The 'BalllChls' were mercenaries who fought for the SUltans
of zanzibar. They came mostly from western Asia and the
Arabian Peninsula, but also Included Individuals from various
parts of Africa. Burton describes the typical mercenary of the
18505, 'distinguished from the Arab by the silkiness and the
superior length of his flowing beard... made glossy with henna
and indigo. He adheres to hiS primitive matchlock, a barrel
lengthened out to suit the weak powder in use, damascened
with gold and silver. and fastened 10 the frail stock by more
metal rings than the old French -Brown Bess- fN&( had'.
AccoI'ding to Bunon, 'the wildest and most picturesque' of
the Baluchls, whose 'unkempt elf-locks fall In mighty
masses', went Arabs from the western shotes of the Pt!rsian
Gu". One of these 0manIs Is reconstructed here, based on
his desaiption. They fallOUr8d a long saffTon-colotnd gown,
wNch was often the arty garment they wore. ThIs implies that
they ITlIght have gone bareheaded, as some Araba't tribes
still did, though no illustralJon from Africa appeat5 10 conmn

Maul ahlekt ~ttems. '""-- uarnplH - " - on" f _ of

the 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
theft dlvkled into two " - ' - by INIttem c.lled . .
Hgln, running fnHtl top to bottom, whletl- .I'thougtl VWyIng
in ttle debUt of it, dftlgn 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 the
len 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 eometlmM
pIIttemI ~ I " In b&edt), which _ _ epecHk: to

w.,

w"

1nd1Vld~ w.mon., or NIated to IUb-cIenl or famllleL

0thenriM 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.

this. Big Indian-styte turbans, robes in red, blue Of white, and

baggy trousers were popular with men from other areas,
Bu10n says that the offioets Of 'Jemadars' 'Nenl much better
dressed than u- men, and often appeared in scar1et coats
and silk turbans. ApIwt from u- matchlocks the Dmanls
W8ftI armed with long. straight swords worn on a strap over
the left shoulder, and daggers on thelr right hips. TheIr small
round shields were made from the hide of the hippopotamus,
rhlooceros, elephant or addax antelope - the latter being
popular because 01 Its naturnl whiteness.

B; THE BATTLE OF ELBEJ.T, 1889

this plate reconstructs some of the participants in this

battle, in which Carl Peters' German expedition inflicted
heavy casualties on the MasaI while extricating itself from
hostile territory.

B1: Somali ask8rl

This man is based on Ulustrations in Peters' accoum New
Ugh! on D8Ifc AIric8. and represents one of the elite corps of
Somalis recn.nted for this expeditlon. He is dressed in a
unrlorm similar to that Issued to the askans of the
contemporary German East Afnca Company (note the btec:k.
whrte and red tape trim on his wtwte smodQ, and is arme:t
With a breectl-Ioading rifle. Dt.ring his escape from EJbeteI,
Peters also improvISed headgear fOf his porters 001 of r8d

cloth In ordef to make them look like askaris and so increase

the apparent strength of hiS lorce.
B2: Masal elder
this figure illustrates the appearance of those Massi men
who were no longer part of the wamor class, and now lought
only In defence of their homes and property. After graduating
to elder status the members of each age-S4lI were no longer

Maul w..-rior'l oatrit;....

'uther headd,... _
... ptate. A

8; end

V\lttu~faether ruff,

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 of
Afrk:_ and the SYdan, but. waa Introduced lnlo East Africa
by the ...... ba and Somalis, and w.. earned by many of the
Baluch"
Omanl origin who kKlght tor the Sultan of
Z.ru:ibsr - _ Plate A3. The dl,met... of !hI, ..."'fl'le la
n in<:hea. (Marlt ~I

0'

subfect to the rules which governed the moran, and were free
to adopt whatever hairstyle, mess and ornaments they
chose. The IT\lljOnty of the elders shaved their heads, and
probably dressed like ttvs figure, In blankets acqUired by
trade WIth the Atabs. Unlike the young warriors, elders
frequently fought with bows.
83: Mas.1 warrior
Based mainly on a photograph taken in the 18905 by Ernest
Gedge of the British East Africa Company, this figure
illustrates a number of differences from the earlier figures on
Plate A - notably the substitution of cloth for animal skins.
Red cloth was available in fairly large quantities by the
1870s, when Arab caravans began to penetrate Masailand,
and moran olten swathed themselves in as much of this new
material as they coold get - though here, for war, it is limited
to the usual tightly wound piece around the waist. This
warrior'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 made
from the fur of the black; and white CoIobus monkey. The
size of his shield is unusual but by no means unique: and
his spear, reddened with ochre, is from an illustratIOn

by""""""'.

C: NOON I WARRIORS

nus plate shows representatIves of ttvee of the ma;or subgroups of the Ngoni, illustrating some of the wide range of
variation in the appearance of thew" warriors. HooNever, these
groups were not always eastIy distinguIShable hom each
other, and men resembling all of these rlQUlM might be found
in any Ngoni war party.
R""R,,,a headdre....: (left) _
of Mirambo" bodyguard"
.n<:CKlnt.rect by Stanley In 1871!1; (eentrel_ Nyamwezl, alao
by Stanley; (rightla porter sketched by Burton In tha 185Oa.

Cl: Gwangwara from southern Tanganyika

This rlQure has been reconstructed mainly from a wntten
account by Joseph Thomson. He wears a headdress made
from the mane of a zebra, tied around the head so that it
stands up In a fan shape. This headgear was charactenstIC of
the tribes of southern Tanganyika, betng also popular among
the Gogo, Hehe, 5ango and Nyamwezi. He wears Zulu-style
wtvte goat hall' leg bands, and a cape made from the skin of
a servaI eat. Thomson describes some Ngoni as -w.g a
'heap' of wildcat skins piled around their necks and hanglng
down their backs. The spear shown henl is a 00l"Mlltb0na1
ZuIu-styte stabbing assegai.
C2: Angoni from Nyasaland
Based on a photograph in Harry Johnston's BntlSh Centnl/
AInc8 (1897), he wears the black cock's-fealher headdress
which was the commonest distlngurstwng feature of the
Ngoni north of the lambezi. The traditlOnal Zulu head ring
was sometimes worn by married men of Zwangendaba's
generation, but had virtually disappeared by the 1880s.
Round his neck is a fringe made of strips 01 leopard skin and
red trade cloth; almost hidden here. wildcat skJns might be

attached round his waist; strips of monkey skin, plaited 10

look like cats' tails, went sometimes used instead, and
Johnston adds that a Strip of red cloth was commonty worn
tted around the W3lSt. This man's spear Is described in the
original source as a stabbing assegai, desprte the plume on
the shaft, whictl nvght seem 10 be more appropriate for a
throwIog weapon. Shields were made from buI hide, and like
those 01 the Zulus usually retained the natural coIounng of
the animal. It Is unlikely that the old Zulu system of
distingUIshing regiments by shl8ld colour suMved among
the Ngonl, but some war parties did carry shields 01 more Of
less uniform colour - a photograph of around 1900 shows a
group of about 20 warrio~ all 01 whom carry these all-black
shields with white stitching.
C3: Tuta from northern Tanganyika
Reconstructed from a descripuon by H.M.Stanley, this man
Is naked apart from a string of beads around his neck, and a
headdress consisting of fewer and longer feathers than the
type worn by C2. He Is armed with a crudely carved wooden
knobIwrie. Some sot.WCeS claim that the Tuta women carried
bows and fought alongside their men; If so, thelr costume
was probabty no more elaborate than that of thIS figure.
D: THE HEHE
01: Chief
Eminent Hene men wore a voluminous toga-like garment,
the mugoJoIe, as Illustrated by this fIQure. This was basically
a length of cotton cloth wound 5eVercll limes around the
body, and could be very bulky. Mkwawa sometimes gave
such mugoJole to his warriors as a reward IOf performance In
battle, but they were not a formal sign of military rank, and In
fact were also worn by women.
Thomson says that the Hene often
wore 'pounds' of blue beads
around their necks. His weapon Is
a flirIUOck trade musket.
02: Wajlnga spearman,
c.1891
A oomposIIe reconstruction based
on German descripllOl"lS and
ilustratJOnS from the 1890s, this
man I9f)rtlS8r'rtS one of Mkwawa's
wajinga regiments at the battle of
the Rugaro Rivei'". A very wide variety
of headgear was In use at this
period: that wom here consists of
a cock's-feather plume surrourlded by a ring of pompons
in alternating coIou~. Also
popular was a Masai-style
'busby' made from either a
lion's mane or an imrtation
mane made from the skin
of a monkey or some
other arwmal. The fur
A gourd of the lyJ)e used
by tM Rup-Rup and

otll gun-armed African,

for ,torlng poWder, length,
14 lnehe,. (Mark
Copple,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 form
of a short kilt extending half-way down the thigh. while in
othen it looks like an ammgement of smaI stopS t\angIng
from a bell - 9lther as shown here, or extending aI the way
around the WlIISt.. The throwlng sp8lW" no Iongl!lr app8ln in
accounts of the W'i!I aganst the Germans and may have
largely gone out of use by this time, but broad-biaded
stabbng spears were stia widely used. Vely Iatge shields Ike
that of D3 - some as tall as the bearer - went still 10 use
alongside the smaller versions. It seems that in Mkwawa's day
units could be distinguished by the coIou~ or patterns on !heir
shields, and at least one of the elite Hehe regiments In the
wars of the 18905 carried plain white shields.

03: Warrior, c.1880

This figure is derived malnly from an U1ustration by the French
traveller Revolt dating from the early 1880s. Apart from I\ts
zebra-mane headdress he is naked. Verney Cameron
describes a group of Hehe he met in 1873 as weanng 'vety
lrttIe cklthing', many being entirely naked apart from the
occasional string of beads around th.- necks or wnsts. The
spear is of a InIdibonaI type also used by the I'llllghbounng
Gogo. According to cameron and Thomson, each man was
eqUipped with a heavy spear for use as a thrusting weapon
at close quarters, and between six and eight lighter javeins
for throwing. These are not desaibed in detail, but probabty
resembled the weapon carried by C2. Hehe shl8lds were
similar in shape to those 01 the Ngonl, from whom they ant
thought to have been copled originally, but varied wIdety In
size. The warrio~ seen by Cameron carried huge bull-hide
shields, up to 51t tall by 31t wide, with a plece of wood
running down the centre as a stIffener and curved outwards
In the middle 10 act as a handgrip. The face 01 the shield in
the Revell Nlustration Is plaJn, though other sotJfC8S show that
the pattern of the ongmaI hide was often retalned.
&: MIRAMBO'S AUGA-AUGA, 1878
In 1876 H.M.StanIey had an II'It9r'YIeW with the famous
Nyamwezi wartord Mlrambo, agBInst whom he had fought on
a previous expedition while ac:c:ompanyWlg Arabs; thIS plate
is based on the descnptlOnS in Stanley's TMlugh the Ori

Contment.
E1: Mlrambo
As described in Stanley's book, Mlrambo is dressed as a
wealthy Arab In a long embroidered coat and carries an Arab
sword. According to Stanley's messenger Mabrukl: 'He
wea~ the turban, lez, and cloth coal 01 an Arab, and
carries a scimitar. He also wea~ slippers, and hiS
clothes under his coat are vetY white.' AI that bme
Mlrambo wore a beard, and must have closety
resembled an Arab sheikh. A photograph and
portrart from the early 1880s. howeYer, show twn
clean-shaven and bareheaded, WJlh thIS UlYUty
shock of hair.
E2: OHicer of MIr.mbo's army
ThIs man is wearng the Arab-style costume of
Mwambo's personal bodyguard. Stanley describes
three of the officers who visited him as
'handsomety dressed in fine red and blue cloth
coats, and snowy white shirts, with ample turbans
around their heads'. It Is not clear whether he meant
'either red or blue coats', or whether eacn garment

45

Nandi bows and errowheada, with

method of "-tchlng erroWL
Hollis Impfln tn.! only e mlnortty of

lrightJ the

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

wfWriorl t;Mried bows. and wftI.. It

V
r writ-. of _
b<eine ~t

from
1MI&h, his _ t . of ba~
In 1M 0fIeft ref... only to ~ra.
hrty In the 20th centvry R1cn.rd
~ n persulldltd _
Nandi
_

to

-e

F"

<;

T'

-;;;;;

"a;

d.monstnt. the UN of UNolr

mlII. w.epon. H. found thet 1M

maximum reng. of IMlr bow. wen
Imp.....I... e 134 yerd whll. the club
Of' rvngu could be thrown to helf thet
dlsume., Ind the speer (the mod.m
....re4on. reUNor tn.n the Merier and
toes. well-bllienced old., typel to ebout
40 yerd (After HolII'1

was patterned in both coleus.

MabnJkj fePOJ'led that 'We

have beheld the Ruga-Ruga, and theAl' are many of them...
About a huldred are clothed in cnmson cloth and white
shifts'. These descnptions do not qUIte amount 10 evidence
lor a uniform, but It is obvlous that a section of MJl1lmbo's
army was disbnguishable from other Ruga-Ruga by its fine
dress, and that the predominant coat colours W1lfEI red. and
perhaps to a lesser eKtent blue. Turban colours are not given,
but - assuming that they lollowed Arab fashion - they ware

probably mostly white, or b1ue-and-white checked. This

man's weapon Is a muzzle-loading 'three-band' Enfield
percussion rifle, of which large numbers were imported into
East Africa in the 18609-705. Other weapons which Stanley
saw in use in 1871 Included 'fIint-lock muskets, German and
French double barrels... and American Springfl8lds'.
E3: H.M.Stanl.y
This reconstruction of the famous expIonlr is derived from an
illustration of tvs meeting WIth Livingstone ... 1871. and a
series of studio photographs taken about the same lime. The
cork sun helmet or 'solar topee' was a military fashion first
seen in India, whtctI began to appear in Africa dtxing the
18705. These helmets came in numerous styles, differing in
the height of the crown and the WIdth of the brim. Stanley is
wearing a cloth paggri wrapped around his helmet: this was
also an Indian-Inspired lashlon, which was popular with the
British but was less ollen adopted by eKplorers from other
European countries. In anothef portrait Stanley Is shown with
a Winchester repeater rather than this double-barrelled biggame rifle. of the class carried by most explorefs. Unlike
many of hIS contemporaries he was a firm believer In the
necessity 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 into

turbans or other I'leadg6W (see F3). A neddace of human
teeth hangs around F1's I'l8dt. like the belts made !rom
numan entrails, the caps made of the skin flayed from a dead
enemy's face, and the other items of what was desaibed as
the 'ghastly linefy' 01 the Ruga.Ruga. these W1lfEI believed to
possess magical powers to protect the wearer. apart from
inspiring terror in the enemy. F1 has ivory bracelets on his
wrists: these, along with certain secret SC8lS or tattoos. were
originally the maries 01 elephant-hunters, which had come to
be associated with the Auga-Auga. His weapon is a flintlock
musket or gumeh-gumeh. Ally combination of musi<et, bow
and cIose-combat weapon might be carried. Ruga'Ruga did
not generally carry shields - partly because they needed both
hands to use their bows or guns, but parity because of the
reliance they placed on protectIVe magic.
FIgIX8 F2's t1alrstY'e IS one of a WIde vanety of tl'aditionaI
Nyamwezi styles illustnrted by Burton. Atound his head he Ls
weanng a ngazia, a piece of bright red cloth which had an
important symbolic role, and may t1ave been the doses! that
most Ruga-Ruga came to a uniform; they could also be worn
as cloaks or loincloths. The warnOf would taunt his
opponents in battle by poinbng to the cloth and shouting
'This is your blood!' This man's axe and dagger are bolh
i1tustrated by Stanley in How I Found Livingstone. A favourite
ploy 10 demoralize the enemy was to make a tremendous
noise with drums and the bells whlCfl the RugaRuga ollen

wore around their ankles.

Another popular acc&SSOrY among some groups was a coil of
rope for tying up slaves, as carried by F3. This figunt is based
on a draWIng by Jotm;ton, and Is armed with a large ca1ibr8
elephant gun. probably acqund by trade or force from a

European hunter.

48

,: NYUNQUYAMAWE'S AUGA-AUGA, c.1880

ThIs scene reconstructs thnle of the kilIefs of the EngIistvnan
William Penrose and his party - an incidenI wtlic:h became a
cause ceIetxe. The figures illustrate onty a lew 8KlImples of
the wide range of Auga-Ruga dress and equipment.
The warriOf F1 wears a cock's-feather headdress of Ngoni
type, as described by the French White Fathers who wafS
attacked by Nyungu'S men In 1878. The leathers might be left
In their original black colour, but were probably more ollen

Q: THE NANDI, 1815

This plate is based on a si<etch and written 8CCOU'It by Lt

Vandeleur, whose company of Sudanese was attacked by a
Nandi war party dunng the campaign of 1895.
G1 & G2: Nandi warriors
During the second half of the 19th century M8S8J Influence
became Increasingly strong among the Nandi. Individual
warriors otten copied elements of Masai war dress, such as

the ostrich-feather headdress worn by G1, white monkey fur

anklets, horn 01' Ivory armlets, bells on the thighs 01' ankles,
white 01' coloured cloaks and vulture-feather capes - all of
which would resemble those worn In Plates A and B. Nandi
clothing was traditionalty made from black goat skin. Moo
grew their hair long. and either dressed it in numerous small
tags hanging over their foreheads, or plaited It into pigtailsusualty one at the froot and either one large one or three
smaU ones behind. Richard Meinertzhagen, in his account of
the 1905 campaJQn, mentions warriors wearing red and
while body paint; note that G1's face and body are smeared
in both colours. divided down the centre. The favourite
coIotK for trade beads among the Nandi was t~.
Weapons were spears, swords and clubs - aI very SIITlilar to
Masai types - as well as bows and snows. Note the long.
triple-barbed snows earned by G2; the Nandi had once
been fOfBSl-dwelling hunters. and so had a long tradition of
archery which persmed even after the adoption of Masal
"""""'""' """ tae1>OS.
Shields
were vy swnilar in shape and construelJOn to those
of the Masai. although according to V8ndeleur the ones he
saw in 1895 were pamted 'a dull red coIou'", and were not so
'meIy ornamented' as the Masai ones. &wetaI surviving
photographs from the earty 20th century portray shields in a
5lf1QIe sold dark coIotK (probably ftld), while other soun:es
suggest that bold but rather crude approxmations of Masai
patterns in while. red, black, grey Of blue were equalty

popu"".
03: Sudanese askarl in British service
In 1891 several units of Sudanese soldiers were recnJlted
into Bntish service from the Egyptian ganisons which had
been cut off In Central Africa by the Mahdist revolt. This
man's red lez, blue jersey and white breeches were
regulation dress. though by this time he and hIS fellows had
not been property AlSUpplied for several years, and often
took the field in a bizarre 8SSOI'tment of nallve garments and
worn-out uniforms. His Martini Henry rifle is one of a
consignment which llITived in 1895 to supplement the old
Egypllan Army Remingtons.
H: THE TURKANA, 1885-11100
H1: Young warrIor
H2: Mlddleaged warrIor
H3: Chief
Drawings by ludwIg von Hohnel and Major Powell-Cotton.
who visited the Turkana In 1888 and 1904 respectively, show
a wide variety 01 hairstyles. The very young man illustrated
as H1, drawn by von Hohnel, Is distinguished by his cropped
hair ornamented with short black feathers. He carries only a
wooden club and a throwing stick 01' aburo.
The strikingly e:o:otic warrior H2 Is based on another
illustration by von Hahne!. He wears his hair In a distinctive
'bag' hanging doWn his back; this is formed from the man's
own hair. de/iberatety woven Inlo a dense mat, stiffened with
grey clay and ornamented With feathers and pieces of bone
and metal. This mat 01 hair could provlde considerable
protection against a blow from a wooden club. This man has
a small brass peodant hanging from his nostrils, and a rodshaped piece of the same metal protruding from his lower
Hp; a piece of glass Of crystal might be used instead of the
lip rod. He wears several iron earrings in each ear, and
around his neck a series of iron rings which force hlm to hold

Shield decorated with. bitt of oatrlch p t - . of ~

uHd by ttM~, &uk, ~ -.tel many aupeopIft, of .-them Keny., (VOft Hahne/)

his chirI high - and may have given casual observers a false
impres5lOl'l of the warrior's height. Earty expIor8rs otten
described the Turkana as tall: 'men 01 prodigious SlZe, many
01 them perfect giants In their build'. accotding to capt
Welby. who visited them in 1899. Von Hohne!, however,
describes them as musculaf but not partJcularty tall. The
Turkana did not use body paint; but note the maSSIve
decorative scarification of this warrior's right shoulder.
Popular weapons were long spears, akwara; and note around
his right wrist the 8f7J171ir or quoit-like wrist-knife. its sharp
outer edge with a protective leather cover.
The chief. H3. wears an elaborate cap With ostrichfeather
plumes, and an entire leopard skin lor a cloak. He is based
mainly on a portrait painted In the 19505 by Joy Adamson,
but 19th century witnesses confirm that similar costumes
were being worn then - although leopard skins were harder
to come by then than they became after the Introduction of
firearms, 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, when
the first Swahili tradEn brought them Into TurUna country,
but hofn&.-made iroo and brass beads were used instead. At
the Ilme of Wellby's 1899 expedition the Turkana were eager
for red, while and blue beads, but were not interested in
other 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. althougtl
not all illustrations show these.

47

INDEX
I~~

' ............~!l.tt

7.:vI

ampaognI f~.

UkUnpm.b 1"'4
~,"""4;

\Jmr bu:l Sulgn :D

I~Dr

I~pul'

""oc,",
......1<10 44
anuoh <;co"tDl \("";1 14
80 ..... [..c I\f
C.-.panv +t
Bntoth C;o.."h Ai
r"""p>J>v 14
8,..-..lUclw'd 12. ".l~I6.17.4!. "
(.;a,~ron.

1.... U1~lQIll \"rmq li.:H. 4!>

auk.... 14
Chlp"'~ 18

Cih'UllOO, \ M l~. 16

Arm

''''''I' ..

....rfa.... ~
FJhrjr Mil'" of (D<=n,~ 1889) ll-'J.1. t. ,,, B
~]nl.I ..., II'.. L'l

c~

19

42

14

.........

.,,+t,e)

Ma<haL>o 10
Mill I'
M~J1 MOj' Rcbo.1lion (I~l H
M:u;u

......'..-m

10--11
on Anb",,,,,.,,,,, 7.-8
~n'" II", Rrilioli 10
nltl" r~idi"g 6-7
th.llactcr !H;
thlef, 12
~ltKJ,.,

.... ,

dd".. 8. 4~. B2
and 1"00 12

"'""'""P""""lJO<l

and _ .... :l."""

<>rig;... 21-2

>1:1..... l'aIdcn n

.... M
~ and equapmrnt

............ "

I'

..-.rnon

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 12

.........

Southon lm---.n-I un.'1-4

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

T>bDn !!.!S
Tdcl.i. Co..." !9
~J<-pb

..... ,...,

..

dtic6I 4i. US

ch",r. ". D.

.......,...
.,.,.,. .....

~,..

Moo"" IJgon M.:5lI

ohirldol 41

'tl

1m....." III
OIlP"u,....'" ...,d~...,. ~ 1
war ,mil
18-20
warriol> 4!>, 1)1. ll'
Ihldrbrandl,J-M. 7

c.;""""",.

Ilnh"d.I.'ItI~i~

....n ~. 42,'7

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

N.",tl
'Ilf'-Kl'l~,r",

lx>wo
11l!:.A CO""I"'''' 10
1kl.oG(.lllbb"'~"""'1C:>i1

16

lnnll" lI;ghlaoo. 17

'7

an'" .m..... 46

.11<1 Ihe 8nli>h ':'-7

cb". 37-8
organ.... lK>n and _tics "-8
qW\n'I :5lI

....... ". " .......

19-~

~humbil

"'-.

~1&-17

_"

....
........... '
!~

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

Of'pn'''''''''' 3I'. .IIradr.....,p

tpran 41
warrion st. 41 til II!
TIll" (w.,,,u) I~H 2', '"
fightIng ",,,,hod. 1.... 16
he:u:lgcar 16
4.... 0

"'Uno"

U,",,, Ciolin p1.I..." "

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

'P"

AnI> an._ 17
BnuoIt <_lIOI 14
dro_ I'
... . , . - If-H. IS
oopwauon ~......,. 1-"-17
w::amon u. 16, +l-~. C
hauloo 0( 17-18
~,..n. on

,.;un........'
',_ri

... "

If

"'...... a...nc.

KWA.. W2f"l"" U
....... 18
.......... ltnn.baltlrolthrll8'I36.""

IUrutIp

"'m.'uId>o...

M'ncn

7. GI Gf

w;Uri<)n

I\1Imp 18,

S.7.8.!1,4%.4-4

Tob S4

!!""'.

19-~

2~.

Tippu
T,_

.\41.--1>0 H. 21. 22. "5, 1

and !he llnuYt !!
camp"p
n--l

18

!!""'.

"nder M,rambo
M-4
under l\'''r1K'~M.w.. 2t. n.

..~ 430-6.E!
\Ik..-::a Ii_Ill. 19-20. 21. 4!>

<an'~

allM'" on

.-............. of Ill..,...... 17_18,

48

. ..... t i

Somah ........ 8.4'. BI

43

"-"

'ko.

1loab:I Rn..... 7. :!II

\1........LJ 0.46

Mbanam 12

.- .

~\..,.,..~7

~ ( _ l '.I~I%.~.+l.AI

GornIw> u.. ,"'-na Compan. 4'

GomalIn I"n:Noro:Iion fon.. ISch..ozttupprl 18-:!O
(;qf>~ 18

"-....... f4, n. <te>

ean 7-8.8-10. I!. 43
I"oNI. Sir GotnId 7.':
Pen
rnc

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

"'""'" I'
K><a'1 ("u....til 6.7,10
l>I'pOiDuon and tti<> 12
>lu<:1do II, 4j
"",an 12
..~ ~ 7

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

r.......n.shrIdon..'obl1

E~pftann

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

1Indd~

21

t:m,n raha 14

fo.alrl>om,

I"Gn:I<

L.o:>bJnu...- -10

~1!-1.u

UIlM'I,J t

..........
.............

AnfIo<U ,,- 14 16-17, +1--6. C!

F.....'

n, S4-.S

Ul.c' \"onono. 7. .,

I" II_f, S4

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

tt. ss

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

18-19

Zambuo. Anbaaacl ... lAupo< 111711 ft. n

Z.......... .,

""""

Z~.,.U

The uniforms, equipment. history and organization

of the world's military forces. past and present

Warrior Peoples
of East Africa

1840-1900
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
DraWIngs

OSPREY
PUBLISHING

www.ospreypubJishing.com

Unrivalled detail

meticulous colour plales, covers

these fascinating tribes.

ISBN 1-84176-778-6

JUIJI1LJ~