SOMALI BANTU - Their History and Culture

Industrialization in the 18^th century increased the demand for cheap labor around the world. Although slavery in east Africa predates the Sultanate of Zanzibar, widespread plantation and industrial slave operations in the early 19^th century increased the need for labor. To take advantage of this business opportunity, the Sultan of Oman, Sayyid Said, relocated his seat of power from Oman to the east African island of Zanzibar in 1840. The Sultanate's sovereignty extended from northern Mozambique to southern Somalia. Africans from these areas were abducted into the slave trade. Tanzania, which now includes Zanzibar, was particularly terrorized by the slave trade. A majority of the Somali Bantu refugees slated for resettlement to the United States trace their ancestral origins to Tanzania.

The slave trade from Mozambique and southern Tanzania was carried out by agents of the Sultanate of Zanzibar in cooperation with some African tribes. Raids and prisoners of war were the typical sources of slaves. Written accounts from the time describe how slave traders marched African slaves 400 miles from the area around Lake Malawi in the interior to the Tanzanian coastal city of Kilwa Kivinje on the Indian Ocean. This written history corresponds exactly with the oral history of the Somali Bantu elders with origins in Mozambique. Bantu refugees with ancestral origins in northeast Tanzania, primarily the Zigua and Zaramo, similarly describe how their ancestors were transported by sea from the Tanzanian port city of Bagamoyo to southern Somalia.

Although many slaves were sold to European buyers with destinations beyond Africa, some slaves were sold to Africans to work on plantations on the continent. Some Africans slaves from Kilwa were transported to the Somali port cities of Merka and Brava where they were forced to work plantations near the Indian Ocean coast and in the Shabelle River valley.

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2010	2011	2015


SCROLL TO: Colonial Period Slavery Social Impact of Slavery After Slavery 20th Century Civil War In Refugee Camps Post Civil War �	History Persian and Arab traders established business contacts with east Africans over 1,000 years ago. These relations, coupled with refugees who fled the turmoil in Arabia after the death of the prophet Muhammad in the 7^th century, resulted in a significant number of Arab immigrants residing on the coast of east Africa. The mixing of the coastal Bantu-speaking African peoples with these Arab immigrants led to the emergence of the Swahili people and language. The Swahili people lived and worked for the next seven centuries with the indigenous African population. During this time, the Swahili people expanded their trade and communication further inland and to the south with other African groups, including ancestral tribes of the Somali Bantu. Colonial Period By the time the Portuguese arrived in the 15^th century, there existed a modern economy and advanced society on the east coast of Africa that some claim rivaled those in Europe. Portuguese colonial rule, however, disrupted the traditional local economic networks on the east African coast, resulting in a general breakdown of the once prosperous Swahili economy. The Portuguese were finally ousted in 1730 from the east African coast (north of Mozambique) by forces loyal to the Sultanate of Oman. Omani Arab dominion adversely affected the Swahili but was disastrous to the inland African tribes as slavery expanded to become a major economic enterprise of the Sultanate. While Somali coastal cities were included in the Sultanate, local clans there enjoyed greater freedom over their internal affairs than did the Swahili people in Kenya and Tanzania.	�
� *The slave trade from Mozambique and southern Tanzania was carried out by agents of the Sultanate of Zanzibar in cooperation with some African tribes.*	� Slavery Industrialization in the 18^th century increased the demand for cheap labor around the world. Although slavery in east Africa predates the Sultanate of Zanzibar, widespread plantation and industrial slave operations in the early 19^th century increased the need for labor. To take advantage of this business opportunity, the Sultan of Oman, Sayyid Said, relocated his seat of power from Oman to the east African island of Zanzibar in 1840. The Sultanate's sovereignty extended from northern Mozambique to southern Somalia. Africans from these areas were abducted into the slave trade. Tanzania, which now includes Zanzibar, was particularly terrorized by the slave trade. A majority of the Somali Bantu refugees slated for resettlement to the United States trace their ancestral origins to Tanzania. The slave trade from Mozambique and southern Tanzania was carried out by agents of the Sultanate of Zanzibar in cooperation with some African tribes. Raids and prisoners of war were the typical sources of slaves. Written accounts from the time describe how slave traders marched African slaves 400 miles from the area around Lake Malawi in the interior to the Tanzanian coastal city of Kilwa Kivinje on the Indian Ocean. This written history corresponds exactly with the oral history of the Somali Bantu elders with origins in Mozambique. Bantu refugees with ancestral origins in northeast Tanzania, primarily the Zigua and Zaramo, similarly describe how their ancestors were transported by sea from the Tanzanian port city of Bagamoyo to southern Somalia. Although many slaves were sold to European buyers with destinations beyond Africa, some slaves were sold to Africans to work on plantations on the continent. Some Africans slaves from Kilwa were transported to the Somali port cities of Merka and Brava where they were forced to work plantations near the Indian Ocean coast and in the Shabelle River valley.	top
� *Between 25,000 and 50,000 slaves were absorbed into the Somali riverine areas from 1800 to1890.*	Social Impact of Slavery The introduction of the modern cash economy at about the same time, and with it the practice of slavery, contributed to the breakdown of traditional intertribal economic and social safety networks. As a result, many indigenous Africans lost the customary coping methods that had formerly protected them in times of severe drought. This was particularly true for tribes that were located near the Indian Ocean coast, such as the Zaramo and Zigua, both of which have descendants represented among the Somali Bantu refugees today. In the late 1830s, there were several years of consecutive drought in Tanzania that resulted in widespread starvation and death. In the hope of averting their families' starvation, Africans without means to weather this terrible period were reduced to accepting Omani Arab promises of wage labor in a distant land. The Bantu claim that, once their ancestors landed in Somalia, they were sold as slaves on the Benediri coast and, later, to nomadic Somalis. The African slaves from northeast Tanzania generally worked in the same southeastern Somali regions as those slaves from Mozambique. Between 25,000 and 50,000 slaves were absorbed into the Somali riverine areas from 1800 to1890. During this period of expanded agricultural production in the Shabelle River valley, the more remote and forested Juba River valley remained largely uninhabited. In the 1840s, the first fugitive slaves from the Shabelle valley arrived and settled along the Juba River. By the early 1900s, an estimated 35,000 ex-slaves were living in communities in the Juba River valley, in many cases settling in villages according to their east African tribe. In the mid-19^th century, an influential female Zigua leader, Wanankhucha, led many of her people out of slavery in a well-orchestrated escape aimed at returning to Tanzania. Upon arriving in the lower Juba River valley, where the fugitive slaves were eventually able to farm and protect themselves from hostile Somalis, Wanankhucha determined that a recent earthquake in the valley was a sign that they should settle rather than continue their journey. Another factor hindering the ex-slaves' return to southeast Africa was the perilous social and physical environments in eastern Kenya and southern Somalia. At the time, the indigenous tribes of east Kenya were more hostile to runaway slaves than Arab slave owners. The physical landscape of the Kenyan frontier with Somalia is one of the more inhospitable areas in east Africa. Nonnatives trying to cross this area on foot place themselves at great physical risk. In 1895, the first 45 slaves were freed by the Italian colonial authority under the administration of the chartered company, V. Filonardi. Massive emancipation of slaves in Somalia only began after the antislavery activist Robecchi Bricchetti informed the Italian public about the slave trade in Somalia and the indifferent attitude of the Italian colonial government toward the trade. Slavery in southern Somalia lasted until early into the 20^th century when it was abolished by the Italian colonial authority in accordance with the Belgium protocol. Some inland groups remained in slavery until the 1930s, however.	top
� *The emancipated Bantu were expected to work solely as farm laborers on plantations owned by the Italian colonial government.*	� After Slavery Fugitive slaves who settled in the lower Juba River valley with others from their east African tribes were able to retain their ancestral languages and cultures. Later Bantu arrivals, who had begun to assimilate into Somali society while living in the Shabelle River valley, found the lower Juba River valley densely populated and were therefore forced to settle farther north in the middle Juba River valley. While the Bantu of the middle Juba River valley generally lost their ancestral languages and culture, they faced discrimination similar to that levelled against the Bantu living in the lower Juba River valley. Many of these Bantu adopted dominant Somali clan attachment and names as a means of social organization and identity. While slavery in southern Somalia was abolished in the early part of the 20^th century, the same Italian authority that had abolished slavery reintroduced coerced labor laws and the conscription of the freed slaves for economic purposes in the agricultural industry in the mid-1930s. Italy had established over 100 plantations in the river valleys, and an Italian official suggested to the Italian administration that it establish villages for emancipated slaves who would be organized into labor brigades to work on the Italian plantations. The emancipated Bantu were expected to work solely as farm laborers on plantations owned by the Italian colonial government. The Italian agricultural schemes would not have succeeded without the collaboration of individuals from non-Bantu ethnic groups who themselves were former slave owners. The Bantu were forced to abandon their own farms in order to dwell in the established villages around the Italian plantations. As a British official in east Africa noted, "The conception of these agricultural enterprises as exploitation concessions engendered under the [Italian] fascist regime a labour policy of considerable severity in theory and actual brutality in practice. It was in fact indistinguishable from slavery."	top
� *Over time, some Bantu migrated to large Somali cities where they found jobs as manual laborers and occasionally as semi-skilled tradesman.*	� 20^th Century In spite of attacks from rogue slave traders and the coercive labor practices of the Italian colonial regime, the Bantu were able to establish themselves as farmers and live in a relatively stable manner. Over time, some Bantu migrated to large Somali cities where they found jobs as manual laborers and occasionally as semi-skilled tradesmen. Bantu refugee elders recall the British occupation of Somalia between the early 1940s and 1950 as more just than either the Italian colonial regime or the independent Somali government. Bantu refugees complain that life became more difficult once Somalia became independent in 1960. Although the Somali government made declarations in the 1970s that tribalism and mention of clan differences should be abolished, overt discrimination against the Bantu continued. From the late 1970s until the early 1980s, the Somali government forcibly conscripted Bantu into the military in its fight against Ethiopia. The Bantu made ideal soldiers because, as the scholar Catherine Besteman notes, they were visually identifiable as comrades by other government soldiers and they were more easily caught if they tried to escape in the northern countryside where they would clearly be out of place.	top
� *Civil war broke out in the wake of the 1991 collapse of Siyaad Barre's regime*	� Civil War Civil war broke out in the wake of the 1991 collapse of Siyaad Barre's regime, and clan competition for power had disastrous results for the civilian population in general and the Bantu people in particular. The Bantu were the backbone of agricultural production in southern Somalia, and consequently had large stocks of food on their property. As Somali civil society broke down in 1991 and 1992, agricultural marketing networks also began to cease normal operations. As hunger among the Somali population increased, stocks of food gained value and importance among not only the starving populace but also the bandits and rogue militias. Because the Bantu were excluded from the traditional Somali clan protection network, bandits and militias were able to attack the Bantu with impunity. In the process of stealing food stocks, the bandits also robbed, raped, and murdered Bantu farmers. As the war progressed, control of the lower Juba River valley shifted among various warlords, with each wreaking havoc on the Bantu farming communities. In October of 1992, the Bantu began to flee southern Somalia en masse for refugee camps located approximately 40 miles from the Somali border in Kenya's arid and often hostile Northeastern Province. By January of 1994, an estimated 10,000 Bantu were living in the Dagahaley, Ifo, Liboi, and Hagadera Refugee Camps; 75% of these refugees expressed the desire to resettle in Tanzania and to not return to Somalia. Several thousand Bantu refugees also fled Somalia directly by sea to the Marafa refugee camp near Malindi, Kenya, and also to the Mkuyu refugee camp near Handeni in northern Tanzania.	top
� Beginning in 2002, over 12,000 Somali Bantu will be moved to the Kakuma refugee camp in northwest Kenya to be interviewed by the U.S. Immigration and Naturalizations Service.	� In Refugee Camps Refugees from southern Somalia, especially those who originated west of the Indian Ocean coastal cities, sought refuge by crossing into Kenya at the border town of Liboi (roughly located on the equator 10 miles west of the Kenya-Somalia frontier). Most refugees in Dadaab (located another 30 miles west of Liboi) today were received at Liboi, which also served as the original United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) camp in this area. As Liboi grew to over 40,000 refugees, the UNHCR established additional camps: First Ifo, then Dagahaley, and, lastly, Hagadera, all of which are located in the Dadaab Division of Garissa District in Northeastern Province. The three camps are situated within 10 miles of the Dadaab Division town center, which is also called Dadaab. At their height, the four refugee camps in Kenya held over 160,000 refugees. With the closing of Liboi, the UNHCR estimates in 2002 that approximately 135,000 refugees remain in the three Dadaab camps. The Dadaab camps are administered by the UNHCR with the main implementing partners, CARE International and Doctors Without Borders, providing general camp support and medical care respectively. A number of other nongovernmental agencies such as Caritas, UNICEF, and local Kenyan groups have also provided support. The Government of Kenya (GOK) established police posts in each camp and occasionally provides security backup through the Kenyan Army. Dadaab is located in Kenya's inhospitable north. The area's flat, semi-arid, and sandy terrain supports mostly scrub brush and is home to an array of wildlife including giraffe, small antelope known as Dik Dik, various cats such as the East African Serval, hyena, the carnivorous Marabou stork, and Vulterine guinea fowl. The Somali Wild Ass is also prevalent in and around the refugee camps. Both flora and fauna in the Dadaab refugee area have suffered due to habitat destruction, mainly from the cutting and collection of firewood. Dadaab is a small frontier town with sandy streets, some concrete buildings, and erratic water and electrical service. Along with refugees and the local Kenyan Somali inhabitants, nomads and bandits use Dadaab as a rest and resupply destination. Caution must be used when walking through town at night. Gunfire and banditry in Dadaab force aid workers to live in secure compounds. In the refugee camps, the Bantu settled in the most distant locations (blocks or sections housing approximately 600 people each) where they, along with other refugees on the periphery of the camp, are more vulnerable to bandit attacks than refugees living near the center of the camps. Settlement of the Bantu in these camp locations was partly a result of their date of arrival in the camps and partly a result of the discrimination against them by the other Somali refugees. Each refugee family in the Dadaab camps is issued a large canvas tent, basic cooking utensils, and a jerry can for collecting potable water from spigots located throughout the camps. Cooking of UNHCR-supplied wheat, beans, salt, sugar, and oil (which are distributed once every two weeks), along with various produce and canned food available in the refugee camp markets, is usually done over an open fire. Refugees dig their own latrines with UNHCR-supplied building materials and supervision. Doctors Without Borders mans the hospitals and many health posts that are located in each refugee camp. They, along with CARE International social workers, provide various forms of outreach to the refugees. In order to protect themselves against nighttime bandit attacks, the Bantu have constructed fortified compounds guarded by armed sentries. Since security for all people living in the refugee camps is inadequate, other refugees have also built protective fencing around their sections. In the first years of the camp, the Bantu suffered violent attacks at a rate that was disproportionate to their population in the wider refugee camp community. Before a U.S.-sponsored firewood collection program was established, refugee women were particularly vulnerable to rape while collecting firewood in the surrounding bush. Rape was often committed by men from one clan against women from a different clan. In some cases, refugees who were raped claimed that their attackers first asked them what clan they belonged to. Bantu women were especially vulnerable. Rapists could be virtually assured that they were not attacking a fellow clan member or even someone who belonged to a clan that had a security agreement with their clan. In the ensuing anger and confusion of these rapes, the Bantu accused the dominant clans of this crime. When women from the dominant clans were raped, they sometimes accused Bantu men as the attackers. With accusations being hurled against each community, hostilities occasionally broke out. Despite this difficult environment, the Bantu have managed to carve out a niche for themselves in small-scale agriculture, operating a tree nursery at one camp and growing produce for local markets in and outside of the refugee camps. The Bantu have also been employed by nongovernmental organizations in the building trades and as laborers. Beginning in 2002, over 12,000 Somali Bantu will be moved to the Kakuma refugee camp in northwest Kenya to be interviewed by the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service.	top
� *These bandits extort protection money from the Bantu in return for not harming them or allowing other bandits to harm them.*	� Post-Civil War As militia fighting in southern Somalia stabilized in the mid-1990s, the Bantu who remained in Somalia were once again able to resume farming. Since this time, however, armed dominant clan bandits have taken control of the valuable agricultural regions of southern Somalia. These bandits extort protection money from the Bantu in return for not harming them or allowing other bandits to harm them. Today, the Bantu in Somalia again exist in a state someplace between sharecropping and slavery. Here is how Cassanelli describes the situation: The war is now concentrated in key resource areas of the south, which are largely, although not exclusively, inhabited by minorities. While planting and harvesting have resumed in many districts of the south, the larger economy is one based on extortion of surpluses from the unarmed to the armed. Because no social contract based on clan affiliation exists between the occupying forces and the villagers, there is no assurance that benefits in the form of relief aid will reach the villagers themselves.	top

Colonial Period

Slavery

Social Impact of Slavery

After Slavery

20th Century

Civil War

In Refugee Camps

Post-Civil War

20^th Century