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NANDI
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NANDI , an See also:East See also:African tribe of mixed Nilotic, See also:Bantu and Hamitic origin. With them are more or less closely allied the Lumbwa (correctly Kipsikis), Buret (or Puret) and Sotik (See also:Soot) tribes, as well as the Elgonyi (properly Kony) of See also:Mount See also:Elgon. They have also See also:affinities with the See also:Masai tribes. The Nandi-Lumbwa peoples inhabit the See also:country stretching See also:south from Mount Elgon to about 10 S. and bounded east by the escarpment of the eastern rift-valley and See also:west by the territory of the tribes, such as the See also:Kavirondo, dwelling See also:round the See also:Victoria See also:Nyanza. They have given their name to the Nandi See also:plateau. The Hamitic See also:strain in these allied tribes is derived from the Galla; they also exhibit See also:Pygmy elements. Their See also:original See also:home was in the See also:north, and they probably did not reach their See also:present home until the beginning of the 19th See also:century. They differ considerably
' The See also:battle raged in the See also:district to the S., E. and N. of the See also:town, the operations extending from St See also:Nicolas du See also:Port (S.) to the See also:bridge of Bouxieres (N.). The See also:chief struggle took See also:place on the See also:banks of the stream of Bon Secours, which now runs entirely underground, flowing from the S.W. into the Meurthe. Much of the battlefield is now covered by See also:modern buildings, but S.W. of the town a See also:cross marks the spot where the See also:body of See also: Like the Masai, Turkana and Suk, the Nandi-Lumbwa tribes were originally nomadic, but they have become agriculturists. They own large herds of See also:cattle. They have a See also:double administrative See also:system, the chief See also:medicine See also:man or Orkoiyot being supreme chief and regulating See also:war affairs, while representatives of the See also:people, called Kiruogik, See also:manage the See also:ordinary affairs of the tribe. The medicine men are of Masai origin and the See also:office is hereditary. The See also:young men See also:form a See also:separate See also:warrior class to whom is entrusted the care of the country. A See also:period of about 71 years is spent in this class, and the ceremony of handing over the country from one " See also:age " to the succeeding " age " is of See also:great importance. The arms of the warriors are a stabbing See also:spear, See also:shield, See also:sword and See also:club. Many also possess rifles. All the Nandi are divided into clans, each having its sacred See also:animal or totem. 'They have no towns, each See also:family living on the See also:land it cultivates. The huts are of circular See also:pattern. The Nandi believe in a supreme deity—Asis—who takes a benevolent See also:interest in their welfare, and to whom prayers are addressed daily. They also See also:worship ancestors and consider earthquakes to be caused by the See also:spirits moving in the underworld. They practise See also:circumcision, and girls undergo a similar operation. Spitting is a sign of blessing. Their scanty clothing consists chiefly of dressed skins. The tribal See also:mark is a small hole bored in the upper See also:part of the See also:ear. Their See also:language is Nilotic and in See also:general construction resembles the Masai. It has been slightly influenced by the Somali See also:tongue. The See also:primitive See also:hunting tribe known as the Wandorobo speak a See also:dialect closely resembling Nandi. The Nandi at one See also:time appear to have been subject to the Masai, but when the country was first known to Europeans they were See also:independent and occupied the plateau which bears their name. See also:Hardy mountaineers and skilful warriors, they closed their territory to all who did not get See also:special permission, and thus blocked the road from See also:Mombasa to See also:Uganda alike to Arab and See also:Swahili. Caravans that escaped the Masai frequently See also:fell victims to the Nandi, who were adepts at luring them to destruction. When the railway to the Victoria Nyanza was built it had to cross the Nandi country. The tribesmen, who had already shown hostility to the whites, attacked both the railway and the See also:telegraph See also:line and raided other tribes. Eventually (1905–1906) the Nandi were removed by the See also:British to reserves somewhat north of the railway See also:zone (see BRITISH EAST See also:AFRICA). The Lumbwa reserve lies south of the railway, and farther south still are the reserves of the Buret and Sotik. See A. C. Hollis, The Nandi: Their Language and Folk-See also:lore, with introduction by See also:Sir Charles See also:Eliot (See also:Oxford, 19o9), and the See also:works there cited. Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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