ORIGINS AND MOVEMENTS OF THE BANTU-SPEAKING PEOPLE

As part of History part of Social studies note summary, let us discuss the origins and movements of the Bantu-speaking people.

Meaning of Bantu

The term Bantu refers to ethic groups in Africa south of Sahara who share similar languages, customs and traditions.
• There over 500 ethic Bantu groups, which occupy much of central and southern Africa. They are called Bantu because of similarities in their languages.
• For example the prefix ‘ba’ and suffix ‘ntu’refer to people, and are common in languages that they speak.

Where the bantu-speaking people originally come from Middle East regions

• Historians believe that the Bantu speaking people came from the Middle East, during the Iron Age.
• They believe that these people settled along the banks of the Nile River, and later moved to what were then the grasslands of the Sahara.
• From there, they moved into West Africa and settled around Lake Chad and the Cameroon Highlands. Others moved further and settled in East Africa.

Spreading southwards and eastwards:

• From the Cameroon highlands, it is believed that the Bantu-speaking people moved down to the Katanga region in the south-east of what is now the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
• From Katanga, they gradually spread eastwards and southwards along the lower Congo and Kasai River.

Movements of the bantu-speaking people in Africa

Early movements of the Bantu-speaking people:

Historians believe that the first Bantu-speaking groups moved as follows:

• By 500 BC, the pioneering groups reached the savannah grasslands south of the Sahara, moving south into what is now the DRC, Angola and Zambia.
• Another group moved eastwards by 1000 BC and settled around the great lakes of East Africa.
• By 300 AD, these Eastern groups had moved southwards along the coast of Africa, establishing themselves in the eastern and northern parts of what is now South Africa around 500 AD.

Those who were there before the Bantu

• Archaeologists have found evidence that even before the Bantu speakers arrived, early people lived in Africa south of the equator.
• They believe these were ancestors of the pygmies (who lived in the tropical forests near the equator) and the Khoisan (who lived further south and in what is now Zambia).
• Khoisan is the name used to refer to two groups of early people: the khoi (early cattle herders) and the san (early hunter and gatherers).
• Archaeologists have found evidence in form of rock paintings showing that the san also lived in different parts of Zambia.
• Some of the sites with rock paintings are Nachikufu caves in Mpika and Gwisho hot spring on the Kafue flats.
• The san lived in small, scattered groups and mostly survived as hunters and gatherers of food from their environment.
• Over many centuries, most of the hunters and gatherers were displaced when the Bantu speakers arrived and absorbed them into their groups. The Bantu expansion happened over a long period.

Causes of the Bantu migration

Many different factors caused the Bantu migrations and these include:

Adventure: Some groups moved to new areas to explore.

Drying up the Sahara desert: Since the Bantu-speaking people were farmers, the environment forced them to migrate to look for new fertile lands for farming and water as the Sahara turned into a desert

Expansion of chiefdoms and kingdoms: Some rulers wanted to expand their kingdoms or chiefdoms over larger areas.

Fear: Some convicted people migrated to other distant areas to escape punishment or death. They often took close relatives or clan members with them to settle in new areas.

Population increase: This created pressure on land and other resources, leading some groups to migrate in search of new land.

Slave trade: Some groups scared to be attacked by armed slave traders and being sold as slaves.

Succession disputes: When a chief or king died, the members of the royal family often fought among themselves who should succeed the ruler.

Wars: Wars between tribes, and within tribes, forced the defeated groups to run away from the more powerful tribes to areas where they could be safe.

Evidence of Bantu migrations

Genetics: by comparing the genes of the people from different areas, anthropologists have been able to trace some groups back to communities in different areas.

Iron-working: Before the coming of Iron Age Bantu-speakers, there is no evidence of iron-working technology to the region.

Language: the languages spoken in eastern, central and southern Africa are very similar to the languages originally spoken in Western Africa. There are about 450 known Bantu languages that reflect similarities, including kikuyu in the east and Setswana in the south.

Pottery: The technology for clay pottery in eastern and southern Africa is very similar to that of West Africa. Decorations with grooves and patterns are very similar. Only related groups of people use similar styles and decorations.

Results effects of Bantu migrations Effects of the Bantu Migration

The results of the Bantu migration were both positive and negative.

Positive results

• The Bantu migrants also introduced farming. They introduced cultivation of crops such as millet and sorghum and keeping of animals such as cattle, sheep and goats.
• Iron smelting was also introduced in central Africa by the Bantu speaking people and iron tools replaced stone tools.
• The formation of Centralized government systems: Chiefdoms and Kingdoms were formed where people respected their rulers and paid tribute to them.
• Trade was also introduced in Central Africa by the Bantu. This involved local trade amongst themselves and long distance trade with the east and west coasts.
• Tribal identities also resulted from the Luba – Lunda migrations. People identified themselves with those that they migrated with and formed tribes whose languages were Slightly different from the original Bantu language.
• Introduced a system of building permanent homes: They opened new land to settlement in families, clans and villages.
• They led to a rise of large states and bigger tribes in East Africa.e.g, the Buganda, Kikuyu, and Nyamwezi. e.t.c

Negative effects

The Bantu migration led to depopulation:

• This was caused by the frequent attacks made by the Bantu against the people East Africa for land, through wars.
• Many people died through these wars, e.g. the Zimba would attack people at the coast, kill them, and eat their fresh (i.e. cannibalism).
• There was loss of culture due to cultural absorption: This was brought about due to Bantu intermarrying with the non- Bantu peoples, whom they came across.
• There was transformation of languages into new ones: This led to the dying down of some of the Bantu languages, while others remained.
• The coming of these migrants also led to the increase in the population of the areas they occupied, and the displacement of the Late Stone Age people by the Bantu. The Bushmen fled to the dry parts of the region