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The Historical Background of Textiles in Kenya

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The Historical Background of Textiles in Kenya THE HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF TEXTILES IN KENYA by Manoharlal Mavji Gohil THIS THESIS TT\S BE THE DEO HER uF »M«N I AND A C'OI V \\\Y RE BLACED IN 1HE University library. [JKiyERSTTY OF NAIROBI l i b r a r y A Thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Design in the Department of Desian University of Nairobi December 1983 DECLARATION I Manoharlai Mavji Gohil, do hereby declare that this thesis is my original work and has not been presented for a degree in any University. DECLARATION OF THE SUPERVISORS This Thesis has been submitted for examination with our approval as University ^Supervisors. Prof. S . (Chairman - Depart! ign) Prof. Henry VJood ACKNOWLEDGEMENT My special gratitude goes to Prof. S.M.A. Sagaaf, Prof. Henry Wood and Mr. J. Kariru, Chairman, Department of Fine Art, Kenyatta University, for their guidance and advice on the subject. My special thanks to the library staff of Kenya National Archives, University of Nairobi, MacMillan Library, Institute of African Studies, University of Nairobi, and the School of Oriental and African Studies, London University, for their services which made it possible for me to have access to the information which I have used in this thesis. I also wish to thank the curator and staff of Lamu Museum who willingly assisted in the collection of the information and photographs for coastal Swahili, and the Institute of African Studies which 1 assisted in photographs of ethnic collections related to my thesis. Lastly, I wish to thank all those who made it possible for me to write this thesis. M.M. GOHIL (i) ABSTRACT The Historical Background of Textiles in Kenya This study was undertaken in an attempt to trace the history behind the introduction of a commodity of Textiles in Kenya. The aim was to establish the significance and the validity of the past and to bring to the attention, wherever possible, many facts about textile substitutes in form of traditional dresses of various ethnic groups of Kenya. The challenge was of probing the past so as to understand and assess the reaction, of the country as a whole, to an innovation like textiles which was presented to the indigenous people by the foreigners who visited the country in its early history. For the purpose of seeing a cross section of the distribution of textiles into the country a selection was made of seven ethnic groups in Kenya, representing the areas from the coast to the western and north eastern regions of the country. The study is divided into nine chapters starting with an introduction which mainly deals with the early history of the coast in an (ii) attempt to stress various activities taking place as early as the 15th century while the interior of the country being left unexplored to as late as 1840. Since textiles were introduced at the coast, the Swahili people of the coast form the basis of the second chapter and it marks the starting point of the study. Detailed early history of the region is entered into with an aim of emphasising, who the earliest settleis on the coast were, how they associated with local inhabitants and what the results of their interactions were. The social and cultural conditions that prevailed with the foreigners settling at the coast as well as the trade and commerce which flourished, became responsible for introduction of textiles which through a system of caravan trade found its way to the interior of the country. This activity marked a change in the history of the people of the interior who until early 1800, were interacting only at local levels. The chapters on theethnic groups are based on, in order of their contacts, with the (iii) coastal people. Thus the study moves from the Kenya coast to the interior in stages with the Giriyama people, who were the immediate neighbours of the Swahili, forming chapter four The Akamba people who were heavily engaged in trade, as the middlemen, between the people of the interior and the coastal people form the basis for chapter five The Maasai constitute the sixth chapter and the Abaluyia and the Luo people constitute the seventh and eighth chapters respectively. The north eastern section of the country is looked at under the Somali group which makes up for information in chapter nine. All the above chapters are looked at under headings such as: (i) History of the people where stress is laid on the origins of the people, migratory movements and circumstances under which they settled into specific areas; (ii) The people whereby traits and peculiarities of the people are looked at; (iv) (iii) Clothing whereby traditional form of dressing for men, women and children is investigated through comments made by various explorers and missionaries, with particular emphasis on their reaction to cloth which they encountered under different circumstances; (iv) Trade whereby the earlier form of trading is outlined and recent trade in items of textiles is locked into, with onphasis on the value attached to textiles to the point of them becoming a primitive form of currency in the barter trade. The last section in each chapter is made up of photographic plates of the traditional items of dressing of the ethnic groups. Chapter ten which is the final chapter in the study is entitled "The impetus of change". The chapter is made up of a summary of information from chapters two to nine and lays emphasis on how the commodity of textiles has been responsible for changing patterns of everyday economic activities in the traditional Kenyan societies and how it has helped to establish a (V) significant interaction between different ethnic groups. The chapter goes through the early history of the British interest in Kenya and the colonial era in Kenya whereby the British attitude and policies towards textiles and textile industry are outlined. The import situation of the British colony is traced and shows a diversity in origins of various textile goods. The serious competition which arose as a result, gave way to the British demands for consumption of only British textile goods. The increasing demand, as seen from statistical figures created a need for locally produced raw materials which gave rise to the local cotton growing and the first phase of industrialization. The second phase of development of the textile industry is marked by the early days in independent Kenya whereby the Government measures, distribution, expansion and protection are emphasized. The whole of chapter nine, which is the concluding chapter, is devoted to emphasize the speed at which the textile goods, which I (vi) were a new innovation to the indigenous people, have taken off towards its industrialization, and local production and thus becoming a vital factor in the economy of Kenya. (vii) CONTENTS Page LIST OF MAPS................................... (*) LIST OF TABLES................................. (xii) LIST OF FIGURES............................... (xiii) LIST OF PLATES............................... (xiv) CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION.......................... 1 1.1 Background........................... 1 1.2 Objectives of the Study............. 2 1.3 Design of the Study................. 3 1.4 Scope of the Study.................. 7 1.5 Limitation of the Study............. 9 1.6 Defination of Textile Terms........ 12 2 HISTORY OF THE EAST AFRICAN COAST... 21 2.1 East African Coast.................. 23 2.2 Native Tribes, Early History and Description....................... 32 2.3 Classification of Tribes............ 35 2.3.1 Bantu (Coastal)..................... 36 2.3.2 Bantu (Central Kenya)............... 36 2.3.3 Bantu (Western Kenya)............... 37 2.3.4 The Nilotics........................ 38 2.3.5 Nilo Hamites........................ 38 2.3.6 Hamitic.............................. 39 2.3.7 The Swahili......................... 39 2.3.8 Footnotes............................ 41 3 SWAHILI.............................. 42 3.1 Early History....................... 41 3.2 Swahili Settlements................. 57 3.2.1 Mombasa.............................. 59 3.2.2 Malindi............................. 64 3.2.3 Lamu Archipelago.................... 67 3.3 People............................... 75 I (viii) Religion..................... 87 Dress......................... 89 Clothing for Men............. 93 Clothing for Women.......... 99 Importance of Cloth in Social Life of Swahili............ 110 Trade........................ 114 Plates....................... 125 Footnotes.................... 137 GIRIYAMA...................... 142 History of the Giriyama People 147 The People.................... 151 Clothing...................... 158 Trade.......................... 169 Plates........................ 174 Footnotes..................... 176 AKAMBA....................... 180 Theories of Origin of Wakamba People..................... 182 The People................... 185 Clothing..................... 187 Traditional Dress............ 190 Trade........................ 196 Plates....................... 209 Footnotes.................... 220 MAASAI............... 224 History of the Maasai 230 The People........... 242 Clothing............. 253 Trade................ 263 Plates............... 270 Footnotes............ 273 ABALUYIA.......... 276 History of Abaluyia 280 The People......... 284 Clothing.......... 288 Trade.............. 293 Plates............. 300 Footnotes......... 302 (ix) Page 8 THE LUO............................. 30 4 8.1 History of Luo...................... 309 8.2 The People.......................... 311 8.3 Clothing............................ 316 8.4
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