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Kikuyu (Agĩkũyũ)

1500 – 1895
CultureAfrica

Bantu-speaking cultivators of the ridge country between Mount Kenya and the Aberdare Range, descended from the Thagicu; organised by ridge, clan and age-set rather than by kings. They cleared the highland forest southwards from Murang'a into Kiambu through the 18th and 19th centuries and traded grain and livestock with the Maasai of the plains and the Akamba to the south-east.

Not an ending: the Kikuyu are Kenya's largest people, still centred on Murang'a, Nyeri and Kiambu. The map hands off to the East Africa Protectorate declared in 1895, which covers the highlands continuously thereafter.

Borders in 1500 · drawn from 1 sourced border frame
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Further reading

Sources