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drew up his men on the shore, and formed them into two lines: the first which consisted of 900 men, he gave to
Alphonso Albuquerque and he himself headed the second, in which there were 600 soldiers. In the city there was a garrison of 4000 men; of these 2000 immediately sallied forth...The conflict was severe, but the Portuguese charged the enemy with so much fury...The fight was continued with the utmost fury on both fides, till Cugna came up, whose approach struck such a damp into the enemy, that they fled with the greatest precipitation...
218:...elaborate plans were made for the flight. Specific clans were designated to carry and protect certain objects while on the march. The yam, for example, was carried by the clan now known as Abwekana (gikana: yam stem)... When night fell, every dwelling in the village was set afire, thereby providing the great glow in the sky...The warrior band set out immediately afterward, leaving by the light of the moon.
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Each carried a short sword of the scimitar type, of which the blade curved backwards and only the outer edge was honed. These narratives tend to portray a period of submission to the new rulers before which the islanders grew hostile, refusing to herd flocks and till fields as commanded. All these are congruent with present understanding of
Shungwaya traditions.
182:(1507). This city, present day Barawe in Somalia is located due east/north-east of where the people of Ngaa, who migrated west, would later end up. It is peopled today by the people of Somalia, with whom the people of Ngaa are said to have traded with. Further the general region is Cushitic speaking as the
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Fadiman's understanding of the narratives he took lead him to state that in his estimation, "...The Nguo Ntuni may originally have come merely to plunder, perhaps attracted by the occasional tusks the islanders brought to trade.". here too, the Meru narratives and
Fadiman's understanding of them find
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The city being plundered, vast booty was carried aboard the ships... The
Portuguese lost about fifty of their men, and several were dangerously wounded; eighteen more perished in the long boat, which through insatiable avarice they had loaded so immoderately...The city being plundered, Cugna ordered
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The history of the
Portuguese, during the reign of Emmanuel : containing all their discoveries, from the coast of Africk to the farthest parts of China; their battles by sea and land, their sieges, and other memorable exploits: with a description of those countries, and a particular account of
249:
There are narratives that give a picture of an invasion, as opposed to a single instance conflict. In these accounts, the residents did not immediately leave. Rather they refer to invaders who wore a single, red cloth, tied around the waist and at the shoulder, and bound another around their heads.
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Cugna having finished his business at
Melinda, now (sailed north). He steered next for Brava...Having anchored in this port, he immediately sent Leonel Coutign (on a long boat) to wait on the heads of this place...Cugna, having discovered this artifice, resolved immediately to assault the city...He
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Mukuna Ruku lived behind a log stockade that the Nguo Ntuni had constructed on the mainland. He had red skin, which he kept covered at all times with cloth, a fact the islanders found odd. Mukuna Ruku is described to have been unique in that he never appeared or spoke to the islanders. Instead, men
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They appeared in a large sailing vessel that landed on the mainland, opposite the island's western shore. The ship's crew then crossed the intervening waters on crude wooden rafts. The invaders are remembered as taller and lighter skinned than the islanders...Informants differ on the nature of the
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In all accounts, the people of Mbwaa were conquered by an invading people that appear to have a different way of life. Inconsistencies however are found in the description of the invaders. The conquest and invasion traditions contain within them a number of narratives that can and have been
27:
origin narrative. However it has been noted that a number of inconsistencies appear in the telling of this narrative. It thus may be, a conflation of two or more peoples origin narratives. Indeed subsequent events in the narrative lead up to the assimilation of two peoples, referred to as
332:
375:
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These accounts tend to refer to the invaders as
Nguruntune, or red-legs, a term that the Batu speaking peoples used in olden days to refer to non-Africans such as Europeans, Persians and Arabs. Writing on these traditions, Fadiman states...
98:
of Mbwaa left heavy loads of ivory at the narrow gate of the stockade. Then they beat upon a piece of wood that hung nearby (gakuna ruku: to beat a piece of wood) and having drawn attention they withdrew from view.
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In some accounts, the invaders arrive in a large sailing vessel that landed on the mainland opposite the islands western shore. Invaders from the ships then crossed the intervening waters on crude wooden rafts.
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Meru traditions agree that their identity formed on Mbwaa. According to traditions captured by
Fadiman (1960's), the last age-set recalled to have lived on Mbwaa were the Ntangi, a period dated to circa 1700.
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In the telling, the people of Mbwaa were traders. They sold ivory to a figure referred to as Mukuna Ruku around whom a body of related folklore has grown. According to certain traditions, this
190:) people are thought to have been. All these tangential links would seem to be affirmed by the apparent link between the early Mukunu Ruku narrative and the accounts of the
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was sourced from a group of people referred to as Nguo Ntuni who lived within small walled villages that were scattered at various points on the mainland and used as
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The narratives concerning the flight from Mbwaa, more so those that deal with the immediate escape also bear remarkable similarity to Osório's account.
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peoples of Kenya. It is a widely told tale that has been narrated for at least three centuries. These traditions have been widely linked to the
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The gate then opened, and Mukuna Ruku took the tusks, leaving prescribed amounts of beads in exchange ("placing tucu, marutia, and ngambi (
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141:. The wells also supported crops of millet and yams, supplemented by sugar cane, bananas, and sap from a palm that was brewed into beer.
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the religion, government, and customs of the natives; including also, their discovery of the
Brazils, and their wars with the Moors
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As told, the economy of the island was based largely on fishing. Men carved small wooden hooks to catch tiny fish along the reefs.
194:. Moreover, they are borne out by the remarkable similarity in narratives, set almost two centuries apart. Osório states that...
105:) into the horn"). He beat the wood once more to attract the islanders' attention, then left. No word was spoken on either side.
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The way of life practiced on Mbwaa includes practices of both communities. It is presently unclear to whom what pertains.
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it to be fired, and thus it was reduced to ashes, the enemy at a little distance beholding this dismal spectacle...
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Needham, Rodney (1960). "The Left Hand of the Mugwe: An
Analytical Note on the Structure of Meru Symbolism".
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conquest. Some state that there was a single battle in which the use of the guns proved decisive...
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Fadiman, J., When We Began There Were Witchmen, University of California Press, 1994, p.42-46
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Fadiman, J., When We Began There Were Witchmen, University of California Press, 1994, p.44
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Fadiman, J., When We Began There Were Witchmen, University of California Press, 1994, p.46
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Fadiman, J., When We Began There Were Witchmen, University of California Press, 1994, p.20
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Fadiman, J., When We Began There Were Witchmen, University of California Press, 1994, p.19
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Fadiman, J., When We Began There Were Witchmen, University of California Press, 1994, p.44
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The roleplayed by women in influencing female circumcision among the Meru of Kenya
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These elements of Fadiman's narrative bear similarity to Osório's account of
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We began on Mbwaa...It was the time when the men of Ntangi were warriors.
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from a people re-called as Cucu (Somali). The donkeys drew water from
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tangentially linked to either the Ngaa or Murutu communities.
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385:(PhD). Institute of African Studies: University of Nairobi
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Africa: Journal of the International African Institute
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333:"Resolving conflicts using indigenous institutions"
331:Mburugu, Dr. Kirema; Macharia, Prof. David (2016).
340:International Journal of Science Arts and Commerce
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229:exceptional congruence in Osório's narrative;
121:Accounts indicate that men of Mbwaa also kept
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409:When We Began There Were Witchmen
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192:Captaincy of the Malindi coast
133:. Through trade they acquired
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82:Captaincy of the Malindi coast
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19:is an origin narrative of the
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374:Mungiria, Nkumbuku (2003).
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180:The Battle of Brava
131:short-horned cattle
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117:Agriculture
68:Way of life
48:Time period
510:Categories
389:August 24,
350:August 24,
254:References
80:See also:
304:(1): 22.
30:Muku-Ngaa
25:Shungwaya
237:—
221:—
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171:—
60:—
346:(4): 20
318:1157738
135:donkeys
109:Fishing
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268:online
210:Flight
129:, and
34:Murutu
379:(PDF)
336:(PDF)
314:JSTOR
188:Yaaku
127:sheep
123:goats
103:beads
88:ivory
76:Trade
17:Mbwaa
516:Meru
413:ISBN
391:2019
352:2019
184:Ngaa
40:Name
32:and
21:Meru
376:"1"
306:doi
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