Origins

Linguistic evidence points to the eastern Middle Nile Basin south of the Abbai River, as the nursery of the Nilotic languages. That is to say south-east of present-day Khartoum.^[7]

It is thought that beginning in the second millennium B.C., particular Nilotic speaking communities began to move southward into present-day South Sudan where most settled and that the societies today referred to as the Southern Nilotes pushed further on, reaching what is present-day north-eastern Uganda by 1000 B.C.^[7]

Linguist Christopher Ehret proposes that between 1000 and 700 BC, the Southern Nilotic speaking communities, who kept domestic stock and possibly cultivated sorghum and finger millet,^[8] lived next to an Eastern Cushitic speaking community with whom they had significant cultural interaction. The general location of this point of cultural exchange being somewhere near the common border between Sudan, Uganda, Kenya, and Ethiopia.

Ehret suggests that the cultural exchange perceived in borrowed loan words, adoption of the practice of circumcision and the cyclical system of age-set organisation dates to this period.^[6]

Neolithic

The arrival of the Southern Nilotes on the East African archaeological scene is correlated with the appearance of the prehistoric lithic industry and pottery tradition referred to as the Elmenteitan culture.^[9] The bearers of the Elmenteitan culture developed a distinct pattern of land use, hunting and pastoralism on the western plains of Kenya during the East African Pastoral Neolithic. Its earliest recorded appearance dates to the ninth century BC.^[10]

Certain distinct traits of the Southern Nilotes, notably in pottery styles, lithic industry and burial practices, are evident in the archaeological record.^[11][12][13]

Ehret suggests that around the fifth and sixth centuries BC, the speakers of the Southern Nilotic languages split into two major divisions – the proto-Kalenjin and the proto-Datooga. The former took shape among those residing to the north of the Mau range while the latter took shape among sections that moved into the Mara and Loita plains south of the western highlands.^[14]

Pastoral iron age

Pre-19th century

A body of oral traditions from various East African communities points to the presence of at least four significant Kalenjin-speaking population groups present prior to the 19th century. The earliest mention appears to be of the Lumbwa. Meru oral history describes the arrival of their ancestors at Mount Kenya where they interacted with this community. The Lumbwa occupied the lower reaches of Mount Kenya though the extent of their territory is presently unclear.^[22]

North-east of this community, across the Rift Valley, a community known as the Chok (later Suk) occupied the Elgeyo escarpment. Pokot oral history describes their way of life, as that of the Chemwal whose country may have been known as Chemngal, a community that appears to have lived in association with the Chok. The Chemwal appear to have been referred to as Siger by the Karamojong on account of a distinctive cowrie shell adornment favored by the women of this community. The area occupied by the Chemwal stretched between Mount Elgon and present day Uasin Gishu as well as into a number of surrounding counties.^[23]

Far west, a community known as the Maliri occupied present-day Jie and Dodoth country in Uganda. The Karamojong would eject them from this region over the course of the century and their traditions describe these encounters with the Maliri. The arrival in the district of the latter community is thought by some to be in the region of six to eight centuries ago.^[24]

To the north of Chemngal were the Oropom (Orupoi), a late neolithic society whose expansive territory is said to have stretched across Turkana and the surrounding region as well as into Uganda and Sudan. Wilson (1970) who collected traditions relating to the Oropom observed that the corpus of oral literature suggested that, at its tail end, the society "had become effete, after enjoying for a long period the fruits of a highly developed culture".^[25] Bordering the Maliri in Uganda were the Karamojong, an Iron Age community that practiced a pastoral way of life.^[26]

Towards the end of 18th century and through the 19th century, a series of droughts, plagues of locusts, epidemics, and in the final decades of the 19th century, a rapid succession of sub-continental epizootics affected these communities. There is an early record of the great Laparanat drought c.1785 that affected the Karamajong.^[27] However, for communities then resident in what is present-day Kenya many disaster narratives relate the start with the Aoyate, an acute meteorological drought that affected much of East and Southern Africa. Nile records distinctly indicate a start about 1800 while oral narratives and the few written records indicate peak aridity during the 1830s resulting in a notable famine in 1836. This arid period, and the consequent series of events, have been referred to as (the first) Mutai.^[28]

A feature of the Mutai was increased conflict between neighboring communities, most noted of these has been the Iloikop wars.

19th century

Cultural changes, particularly the innovation of heavier and deadlier spears amongst the Loikop are seen to have led to significant changes in methods and scale of raiding during the 19th century. The change in methods introduced by the Loikop also consisted of fundamental differences of strategy, in fighting and defense, and also in organization of settlements and of political life.^[19]

The cultural changes played a part in significant southward expansion of Loikop territory from a base east of Lake Turkana. This expansion led to the development of three groupings within Loikop society. The Samburu who occupied the 'original' country east of Lake Turkana as well as the Laikipia plateau. The Uasin Gishu occupied the grass plateaus now known as the Uasin Gishu and Mau while the Maasai territory extended from Naivasha to Kilimanjaro.^[29] This expansion was subsequently followed by the Iloikop wars.^[30]

The expansion of Turkana and Loikop societies led to significant change within the Kalenjin-speaking society. Some communities were annihilated by the combined effects of the Mutai of the 19th century while others adapted to the new era.

Members of collapsing communities were usually assimilated into ascending identities.

Significant cultural change also occurred. Guarding cattle on the plateaus depended less on elaborate defenses and more on mobility and cooperation. Both of these requiring new grazing and herd-management strategies. The practice of the later Kalenjin – that is, after they had abandoned the Sirikwa pattern and had ceased in effect to be Sirikwa – illustrates this change vividly. On their reduced pastures, notably on the borders of the Uasin Gishu plateau, when bodies of raiders approached they would relay the alarm from ridge to ridge, so that the herds could be combined and rushed to the cover of the forests. There, the approaches to the glades would be defended by concealed archers, and the advantage would be turned against the spears of the plains warriors.^[31]

More than any of the other sections, the Nandi and Kipsigis, in response to Maasai expansion, borrowed from the Maasai some of the traits that would distinguish them from other Kalenjin: large-scale economic dependence on herding, military organization and aggressive cattle raiding, as well as centralized religious-political leadership. By the mid-nineteenth century, both these communities were expanding at the expense of the Maasai.^[32]

The Iloikop wars ended in the 1870s with the defeat and dispersal of the Laikipiak. However, the new territory acquired by the Maasai was vast and left them overextended thus unable to occupy it effectively.^[33] This left them open to encroachment by other communities. By the early 1880s, Kamba, Kikuyu and Kalenjin raiders were making inroads into Maasai territory, and the Maasai were struggling to control their resources of cattle and grazing land.^[34]

Around this time, two instances of epizootics broke out in the Rift Valley region. In 1883, bovine Pleuro-Pneumonia spread from the north and lingered for several years. The effect of this was to cause the Loikop to regroup and to go out raiding more aggressively to replenish their herds. This was followed by a far more serious outbreak of Rinderpest which occurred in 1891.^[35]

This period – characterized by disasters, including a rinderpest epidemic, other stock diseases, drought, mass starvation, and smallpox was referred to as (a second) Mutai.

Traditional way of life

The nineteenth century saw massive upheaval among the Sirikwa societies, old identities such as the Maliri and the Chok were annihilated or assimilated giving way to new identities such as the Pokot. Others like the Sengwer and Lumbwa acculturated to the new reality, merging and dropping their old identities to become Nandi and Kipsigis. These new societies retained many elements of their old way of life – like the iron-age Sirikwa societies they were primarily semi-nomadic pastoralists. Their economy revolved around raising livestock and cultivating sorghum and pearl millet on the western highlands of Kenya as it had since at least the last millennium B.C.^[36][37]

There appear to have been areas of specialization across different regions, communities living on the Elgeyo escarpment for instance traditionally focused on irrigated cultivation. A variety of crops had been borrowed from the neighboring Bantu communities and New World foods introduced following the arrival of the Portuguese on the Swahili coast during the fifteenth century. Of these, indigenous vegetables and herbs, beans, pumpkins, sweet potatoes and tobacco were grown widely while maize and bananas were also cultivated though in small quantities.^[38]

They traded locally for goods such as honey, pottery, tobacco pipes and weaponry as well as medical and magical services while connections to international markets supplied foreign goods such as iron wire and cloth in exchange for ivory. The long tradition of beadwork benefited from the introduction of a variety of beads from European markets.^[39]

Their territory was not as a whole recognized as a geographic locality. However, there was a standardized set of classifications for geographic localities across the respective territories. Of these geographic classifications, the Kokwet was the most significant political and judicial unit among the Kalenjin. The governing body of each kokwet was its kokwet council; the word kokwet was in fact variously used to mean the whole neighbourhood, its council and the place where the council met. The head of kokwet was poyop kok (village elder).

Social order was regulated by Kamuratanet and cultural life largely revolved around its teaching through folklore and observation of the various tumwek (rituals/customs), the important one's being Tumdo (Initiation) and the tumwek of marriage such as Koito. The Saget'ab eito ceremony was held every number of years to mark the change of 'ages' and the Kipsundet festivals celebrated every September (Kipsunde) and October (Kipsunde oeng) to mark the change in seasons.

To a significant extent however, the Maasai era fundamentally changed the character of the Sirikwa/Kalenjin-speaking communities, the magnitude of which still remains unclear.

20th century

The latter decades of the nineteenth century, saw the early European explorers start advancing into the interior of Kenya.^[40] By this time, the Kalenjin – more so the Nandi, had acquired a fearsome reputation. Thompson was warned in 1883 to avoid the country of the Nandi, who were known for attacks on strangers and caravans that would attempt to scale the great massif of the Mau.^[41]

Nonetheless, trade relations were established between the Kalenjin and incoming British. This was tempered on the Kalenjin side by the prophesies of various seers. Among the Nandi, Kimnyole had warned that contact with the Europeans would have a significant impact on the Nandi while Mongo was said to have warned against fighting the Europeans.^[42]

Matson, in his account of the resistance, shows 'how the irresponsible actions of two British traders, Dick and West, quickly upset the precarious modus vivendi between the Nandi and incoming British'.^[43] Conflict, led on the Nandi side by Koitalel Arap Samoei – Nandi Orkoiyot at the time, was triggered by West's killing in 1895.

The East Africa Protectorate, Foreign Office, and missionary societies administrations reacted to West's death by organizing invasions of Nandi in 1895 and 1897.^[44] Invading forces were able to inflict sporadic losses upon Nandi warriors, steal hundreds of livestock, and burn villages, but were not able to end Nandi resistance.^[44]

1897 also saw the colonial government set up base in Eldama Ravine under the leadership of certain Messrs. Ternan and Grant, an intrusion that was not taken to kindly by the Lembus community. This triggered conflict between the Lembus and the British, the latter of whom fielded Maasai and Nubian soldiers and porters.^{[citation needed]}

The British eventually overcame the Lembus following which Grant and Lembus elders negotiated a peace agreement. During the negotiations, the Lembus were prevailed upon by Grant to state what they would not harm nor kill, to which the response was women. As such, they exchanged a girl from the Kimeito clan while Grant offered a white bull as a gesture of peace and friendship. This agreement was known as the Kerkwony Agreement. The negotiations were held where Kerkwony Stadium stands today.^[45]

On 19 October 1905, on the grounds of what is now Nandi Bears Club, Arap Samoei was asked to meet Col Richard Meinertzhagen for a truce. A grand-nephew of one of Arap Samoei's bodyguards later noted that "There were about 22 of them who went for a meeting with the (European) that day. Koitalel Arap Samoei had been advised not to shake hands because if he did, that would give him away as the leader. But he extended his hand and was shot immediately".^[46] Koitalel's death led to the end of the Nandi resistance.

Colonial period

Demographics

According to Kenya's 2019 census, Kalenjin people number 6,358,113 individuals, making it the third-largest ethnic group in Kenya after the Kikuyu and the Luhya.^[1]

Economic activity

A significant majority of Kalenjin speakers are primarily subsistence farmers, they cultivate grains such as maize and wheat and, to a lesser extent, sorghum and millet or practice a pastoralist lifestyle; rearing beef, goats and sheep for meat production. Equally large numbers practice a combination of both farming and livestock (often dairy cattle) rearing.^[56] The counties of Uasin Gishu, Trans Nzoia and to a lesser extent Nakuru are often referred to as Kenya's grain-basket counties and are responsible for supplying much of the country's grain requirements.

Meat products from the northern areas of West Pokot and Baringo are particularly appreciated for their flavor and are favored in the Rift for the preparation of nyama choma.^[57]

A significant number of Kalenjin have moved to Kenya's cities where large numbers are employed in the Kenyan Government, the Army, Police Force, the banking and finance industry as well as in business.

Politics

Since independence, Kenyan politics have largely been dominated by the 'big' five tribes (including Kikuyu, Luhya, Kalenjin, Luo, and Kamba) which constitute about 72% of Kenya population. Kenya's second and longest-serving president to date was Daniel Toroitich Araap Moi who was Tugen. Kenya's incumbent president, Dr. William Samoei Araap Ruto, is also Kalenjin, coming from the Nandi ethnicity.

In 2007 a disputed election in Kenya erupted into a two-month political crisis that led to the deaths of more than a thousand people and the displacement of almost seven hundred thousand. Much of the violence fell along ethnic lines, the principal perpetrators of which were the Kalenjin, who lashed out at other communities in the Rift Valley. What makes this episode remarkable compared to many other instances of ethnic violence is that the Kalenjin community is a recent construct: the group has only existed since the mid-twentieth century.^[58]

Language

The Kalenjin speak Kalenjin languages as mother tongues. The language grouping belongs to the Nilotic family. The majority of Kalenjin speakers are found in Kenya with smaller populations in Tanzania (e.g., Akie) and Uganda (e.g., Kupsabiny).^[59]

Kiswahili and English, both Kenyan national languages are widely spoken as second and third languages by most Kalenjin speakers and as first and second languages by some Kalenjin.^[56]

Names

Kalenjin names are primarily used by the Kalenjin people of Kenya and Kalenjin language-speaking communities such as the Sebei of Uganda and the Akie of Tanzania.

The Kalenjin traditionally had two primary names for the individual though in contemporary times a Christian or Arabic name is also given at birth such that most Kalenjin today have three names with the patronym Arap in some cases being acquired later in life e.g. Alfred Kirwa Yego and Daniel Toroitch arap Moi.^[60]

Customs

Religion

Almost all modern Kalenjin are members of an organised religion with the vast majority being Christian and a few identifying as Muslim.^{[citation needed]}

Elders

The Kalenjin have a council of elders composed of members of the various Kalenjin clans and sub-clans and known as the Myoot Council of Elders. This council was formed in the Kenyan post-independence period.^[67][68]

Folklore

Like all oral societies, the Kalenjin developed a rich collection of folklore. Folk narratives were told to pass on a message and a number featured the Chemosit, known in Marakwet as Chebokeri, the dreaded monster that devoured the brains of disobedient children.^[69]

The Legend of Cheptalel is fairly common among the Kipsigis and Nandi and the name was adopted from Kalenjin mythology into modern tradition. The fall of the Long'ole Clan is another popular tale based on a true story and is told to warn against pride. In the story, the Long'ole warriors believing they were the mightiest in the land goaded their distant rivals the Maasai into battle. The Maasai, though at first reluctant eventually attacked wiping out the Long'ole clan.^[70]

As with other East African communities, the colonial period Misri myth has over time become popular among the Kalenjin and aspects of it have influenced the direction of folkloric and academic studies.^[71]

Arts & crafts

The use of arts and crafts form part of Kalenjin culture with decorative bead-work being the most highly developed visual art.^[72] The Kalenjin are generally not well known for their handicraft's however, though women do make and locally sell decorated calabashes made from gourds. These gourd calabashes known as sotet are rubbed with oil and adorned with small colored beads and are essentially the same type of calabashes that are used for storing mursik.^[73]

Radio, television, and film

Up until the early 21st century, vernacular radio and television stations were essentially banned in Kenya. The liberalization of the media sector in Kenya which began in the 1990s has seen the growth of Kalenjin language content across most modern mediums.^[74] This period has seen the establishment of Kalenjin language media companies such as Kass Media Group, a Kenyan radio and television company, as well as Kalenjin language stations within diverse media groups e.g. Chamgei FM (Royal Media Services) and Kitwek FM (Kenya Broadcasting Corporation). There has been a concurrent proliferation of Kalenjin music, television programs and more recently the premier of the first Kalenjin language film, Ngebe Gaa, at the 2019 Eldoret Film Festival.^[75]

Music

Contemporary Kalenjin music has long been influenced by the Kipsigis leading to Kericho's perception as a cultural innovation center.^[76] Musical innovation and regional styles, however, abound across all Kalenjin speaking areas.^[77] Popular musicians include Pastor Joel Kimetto (father of Kalenjin Gospel), Mike Rotich, Emmy Kosgei, Maggy Cheruiyot, Josphat Koech Karanja, Lilian Rotich and Barbra Chepkoech.^[78] Msupa S and Kipsang represent an emerging generation of Kalenjin pop musicians.^[79] Notable stars who have passed on include Diana Chemutai Musila (Chelele), Junior Kotestes and Weldon Cheruiyot (Kenene).^[78]

Literature

A number of writers have documented Kalenjin history and culture, notably B. E. Kipkorir,^[80][81] Paul Kipchumba, and Ciarunji Chesaina.^[82]

Cuisine

Ugali, known in Kalenjin as kimnyet, served with cooked vegetables such as isageek (African cabbage) or sochot (African nightshade), and milk form the staples of the Kalenjin diet. Less often ugali, rice or chapati, is served with roast meat, usually beef or goat, and occasionally chicken. The traditional ugali is made of millet and sorghum and is known as psong'iot. It is considered healthier than ugali made of maize flour (similar to brown bread/white bread) and has seen a resurgence in popularity in tandem with global trends towards healthier eating. The traditional snack moriot (somewhat similar to corn tortillas) is obtained from the crust after cooking ugali and is still quite enjoyed.^[83] Similarly, the traditional drink mursik, and honey, both considered delicacies (karise/kariseyuek) for a long time remain quite popular.^[84]

Extensive use is made of dairy produce in traditional recipes such as socheek (a vegetable relish made with greens, milk and cream) as well as contemporary meals such as Mcheleng (rice with milk – a creamy smooth dish made as a delicacy for children but usually enjoyed by the entire family) and Bean stew with milk and cream.^[85]

Combination dishes/mixtures while not considered traditionally Kalenjin are encountered in more cosmopolitan areas. The most common of these is kwankwaniek, a mixture of maize and beans boiled together (githeri).

Milk or tea may be drunk by adults and children with any meal or snack. Tea (chaiik) averages 40% milk by volume and is usually liberally sweetened. If no milk is available tea may be drunk black with sugar though taking tea without milk is considered genuine hardship.^[86]

In addition to bread, people routinely buy foodstuffs such as sugar, tea leaves, cooking fat, sodas, and other items that they do not produce themselves.^[87]

Health & science

Traditional Kalenjin knowledge was fairly comprehensive in the study and usage of plants for medicinal purposes and a significant trend among some contemporary Kalenjin scientists is the study of this aspect of traditional knowledge.^[88] In more recent times, commercial enterprises have started blending and packaging traditional herbal remedies for the urban Kenyan market. Most noted of these is Harriet's Botanicals which packages Arorwet and Tendwet alternative remedies and distributes them via a number of shops spread across the country.^[89][90]

One of the more notable Kalenjin scientists is Prof Richard Mibey whose work on the Tami dye helped revive the textile industry in Eldoret and western Kenya in general.^[91]

Sport

The Kalenjin have been called by some "the running tribe." Since the mid-1960s, Kenyan men have earned the largest share of major honours in international athletics at distances from 800 meters to the marathon; the vast majority of these Kenyan running stars have been Kalenjin.^[92] From 1980 on, about 40% of the top honours available to men in international athletics at these distances (Olympic medals, World Championships medals, and World Cross Country Championships honours) have been earned by Kalenjin.

In 2008, Pamela Jelimo became the first Kenyan woman to win a gold medal at the Olympics; she also became the first Kenyan to win the Golden League jackpot in the same year.^[93] Since then, Kenyan women have become a major presence in international athletics at the distances; most of these women are Kalenjin.^[92] Amby Burfoot of Runner's World stated that the odds of Kenya achieving the success they did at the 1988 Olympics were below 1:160 billion. Kenya had an even more successful Olympics in 2008.^{[citation needed]}

A number of theories explaining the unusual athletic prowess among people from the Kalenjin-speaking people have been proposed. These include many explanations that apply equally well to other Kenyans or people living elsewhere who are not disproportionately successful athletes, such as that they run to school every day, that they live at relatively high altitude, and that the prize money from races is large compared to typical yearly earnings. One theory is that the Kalenjin have relatively thin legs and therefore do not have to lift as much leg weight when running long distances.^[94]