The Cushitic- speaking people originating from the North of Africa moved and settled into the area currently Kenya (Ahluwalia, 1996). This was around 2000 BC. Around the first century AD, the Arab trader frequented the coast of Kenya. Arabian Peninsula is near the Kenyan coast. This facilitated the process of colonization (Elkins, 2005). By the eighth century, the Persians and Arabs settled along the Kenyan coast. The Bantu and Nilotic population moved into Kenya during the first millennium AD (Throup and Hornsby, 1998). The latter currently comprises three- quarter of the population of Kenya (Elkins, 2005).
In the years proceeding colonization, the Kenyan coast was part of East African area. This zone traded with India and Arabs specifically for slaves and ivory (Throup and Hornsby, 1998). Elkins confirms that the Ameru originated from the slave trade (2005). They are the slaves that escaped from the Arabs in the year 1700. The constant trading activities by the Arabs and Swahili led to the development of a common trading language, Lingua franca (Ahluwalia, 1996). The Luo community of Kenya descends from the herding and agricultural communities of western Kenya. They have a historic root in the Lake Victoria region. The chiefs were the most powerful authority among the Luo (Elkins, 2005). Leaders of the Kenyan communities intermarried with their neighbors. Through the wars and intermarriages, the Kenyan communities are part of the admixture that includes the entire East African ethnic group (Ahluwalia, 1996).
The Kenyan coastal zone was an increasing trading partner of the Southern Arabia from the tenth century. Swahili speaking traders and caravans of Arabs traders trading in ivory and precious commodities moved and settled along and into the interior of the Kenyan coast (Ahluwalia, 1996). The Swahili and Arab traders co- existed peacefully with the nomadic and pastoral interior tribes like the Luhya, Kikuyu and Luo. The Maasai subjected these communities with constant aggression (Throup and Hornsby, 1998). The Maasai attacked the agriculturist Kikuyu. These communities attacked each other for access to water, farming land and superiority. The Maasai attacked them from the North and South (Elkins, 2005). The constant war led to famine in the country. During the nineteenth century, famine and constant diseases weakened the communities. Their lack of internal cohesion made the communities vulnerable to the Arab and European traders who arrived and settled at that time (Throup and Hornsby, 1998).
References
Ahluwalia, P. D. (1996). Pre-Colonialism and the Politics of Kenya. London: Nova Science Pub Inc.
Elkins, C. (2005). Imperial Reckoning: Untold Story of Britain's Gulag in Kenya. London: Owl Books.
Throup, D., & Hornsby, C. (1998). Multi-party Politics in Kenya:. London: James Currey Publishers.
