Ties That Bind: Palm Wine and Blood-Brotherhood at the Kenya Coast during the 19th Century

Abstract

It is time to broaden our approach to the study of African history. For much of the last twenty years Africa's past has been discussed often by focusing only on the local history of particular ethnic groups. Now there exist enough local histories to draw upon that we can begin to write the history of Africa from a more regional perspective. Indeed, Thomas Spear suggests that we take such an approach in examining the history of Kenya during the precolonial era.l One region in particular for which there is a considerable body of literature is the Kenya coast. Building upon foundations established by previous studies, this article will discuss the economic and social ties that bound the peoples of the Kenya coast together during the nineteenth century. In particular this is a case study of the economic link created by the demand for palm wine and other commodities, and the social cohesion sustained by bloodbrotherhood and intermarriage among the Mijikenda peoples and their neighbors, the Swahili, Arabs, Waata (Sanye or Ariangulo), Orma (Galla), Akamba, and Taita. Previous studies of the Kenya coast have emphasized that there was a shift in regional trading patterns after 1837 when the Busaidi took control of Mombasa. These scholars argue that as the Akamba and Swahili merchants began to engage in long-distance trade, the importance of Mijikenda brokers in such regional commerce declined.2 However, there is some evidence which suggests that although the Mijikenda lost their predominant position in long-distance trade, many Mijikenda entrepeneurs continued to participate actively in regional commerce until the late nineteenth century. Furthermore, the pivotal role which the Mijikenda occupied in local patterns of commerce, upon which long-distance trade depended, never really diminished until the mid-twentieth century. Indeed, increasing specialization among some coastal residents made them even more dependent on local and regional trade after 1840 or 1850 than they

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