ABSTRACT
The major theme of this thesis is the growth and development of
the ethnic group and the ethnic awareness of the Chuka people of ~1t.
Kenya region. The thesis begins with the earliest recorded traditions
which have been dated c. 1400. It traces the origins and migrations of
the three cultural. and linguistic groups - Cushites, Paranilotes and
Bantu - which interacted and went into the Chuka amalgam. It demonstrates
that Chuka ethnicity which developed in the eighteenth and nineteenth
centuries was not tribal or an expansion of kinship loyalties.
Despite the "youth ful ness " of Central Kenyan historiography or
perhaps because of it, a number of half-truths and historical myths have
become a part of the literature of the area. The thesis seeks to demolish
or clarify a number of these including the pure tribe theory, the ancient
Bantu myth, assumptions of eastern origins, the Thagicu hypothesis and
the primitive aboriginal Chuka image.
Ethnicity arose out of interaction between the Chuka and the ring
of hostile peoples which surrounded them. Their neighbours were driven
to covet their well~watered land, their abundant almost self-sufficient
economy. The Chuka withdrew into a mountain fortress, perfected a military
barracks system which embraced the entire adult male population and
focussed their unity on the Mugwe spiritual authority. This occurred
over a remarkab ly short peri od in the ni neteenth century. The Chuka
came under colonialism as a proud, unique and peculiar people, something
of a mystery to their neighbours, the colonial authorities and modern
writers.
KABECA, H (2021). A Precolonial History Of The Chuka Of Mount Kenya C.1400-L908. Afribary. Retrieved from https://tracking.afribary.com/works/a-precolonial-history-of-the-chuka-of-mount-kenya-c-1400-l908
KABECA, HENRY "A Precolonial History Of The Chuka Of Mount Kenya C.1400-L908" Afribary. Afribary, 07 May. 2021, https://tracking.afribary.com/works/a-precolonial-history-of-the-chuka-of-mount-kenya-c-1400-l908. Accessed 23 Nov. 2024.
KABECA, HENRY . "A Precolonial History Of The Chuka Of Mount Kenya C.1400-L908". Afribary, Afribary, 07 May. 2021. Web. 23 Nov. 2024. < https://tracking.afribary.com/works/a-precolonial-history-of-the-chuka-of-mount-kenya-c-1400-l908 >.
KABECA, HENRY . "A Precolonial History Of The Chuka Of Mount Kenya C.1400-L908" Afribary (2021). Accessed November 23, 2024. https://tracking.afribary.com/works/a-precolonial-history-of-the-chuka-of-mount-kenya-c-1400-l908