The Nandi are a Kalenjin group of people occupying a section of western Kenya.  They are an example of African societies that resisted the establishment of colonial rule in Africa. The Nandi resisted the British occupation in their land.  They picked fire arms fought the British on many occasion until 1905 when they finally signed a peace treaty with the British.  Even after this, the British only effectively administered the Nandi in 1906.

Causes

The Nandi resisted for the following reasons:

The first factor the high spirit of nationalism among the Nandi.  They fought to defend their political independence. Therefore they were opposed to any interaction with foreigners.

Another factor was the Nandi feeling of cultural superiority over all people especially the Europeans.  The white colour of the Europeans and their ways of dressing resembled those of the Nandi devils.  This generally led to open resistance.   

The Nandi also feared mass loss of land to the British construction of the Uganda railway, many of them feared deprivation of land with out compensation.

The revival of the Orkoiyot ship united the Nandi behind their leaders and it also inspired them to resist in defence of their culture and independence. Orkoiyot were traditional leaders who possessed both religious and political powers in their respective areas within the Nandi society.  He could interpret whether the arms were favourable for a war the Nandi were generally a warrior society which resisted any strangers. They fought all their neighbours such as the Luo and the Luyia. They enjoyed raiding and looting hence when the railway line reached their country in 1894, it was just a blessing to them.

The Nandi resisted because of forced labour.  Most of these people were forced to work in plantations, carry the White man's goods and the Nandi saw this as slavery and rebelled.

The other was the influence of Kimanjole prophecy. Kimanjole Arap Samoeu was a Nandi leader who had prophesied that foreign people would come to rule the Nandi.  That one day a large snake will come from the East spitting fire and smoke going to quench its thirst on a western lake.  The coming of the white man and the railway construction were enough and to proof this prophecy.  For that reason therefore the Nandi resisted immediately.

Another factor was the Nandi pride.  The Nandi were generally a warrior society who were superior among other societies when a White man tried to take away their pride, they automatically resisted.

Another possible cause was harsh rule.  The British use harsh and forceful methods to promote their rule and wishes for example beatings and killings which angered the Nandi very much.

The cause of the Nandi resistance could have been as a result of the approach of the British in the colonisation of the Nandi.  The British used Swahili soldiers and mercenaries to bring colonialism to Nandi land.

The Nandi also wanted to protect and preserve their culture.  They were not happy with interference of their culture by the British.  The British didn't respect their culture and considered them backward.

The consequences of this rebellion had a major impact on both the Nandi and the British imperialists . It finally came to an end with the death of Koitalel, a Nandi leader and the signing of the peace terms with the British in Dec. 1905.

COURSE OF THE NANDI RESISTANCE

The Nandi resistance began in 1895.  A British trader, Andrew Dick quarrelled with the Nandi who killed another British trader called Peter West and most of his party.  They even made several attacks on the road to Uganda.

Immediately the British reached by sending a military expedition against the Nandi.  It comprised of six Europeans, several hundreds of Sudanese and Swahili mercenaries.  However, the Nandi remained strong the British lost about 30 men while the Nandi about 200 men.

In 1897, the Nandi again attacked and destroyed a British mail party.  This time the British added about 400 Masai Mercenaries to their forces and chief Odera of the Luo provided porters.  However, the impact against the Nandi was small since the same force was turned against Kabaka Mwanga's rebellion in Uganda.

In 1899, the Nandi made fresh attacks on the British up to 1900.  This was when the Uganda railway reached their country.  They killed the Indian railway workers and looted telegraph wires for making ornaments and weapons.

In the same year, the Nandi attacked British protected communities among the Luo and Luyia.  They further raided the caravans using the road to Uganda.

The British reacted by mobilising a larger force against the Nandi but with little success.  They used the Masai and Ganda mercenaries to reinforce the Swahili and Indian troops.

After the above failure, the British initiated peace and negotiations with the Nandi.  They wanted the construction work of the railway line to continue. Even the Nandi this time round were tired of war and living in forests.  Although the British never ruled the Nandi, at least, they opened up function centres in Kipture, Kaptume and Kapkolei.

However, soon after this peace arrangement, the Nandi resumed their resistance.  They attacked the railway, killed maintenance workers, and looted telegraph wires, rails and raided white settlers farms North - East of the Nandi - country.

By 1905, the British organised a large force of 1500 soldiers and police, largely Indian, Swahili and Somali mercenaries, 900 armed Masai porters, 10 machine guns and two armoured trains.

The British also planned to kill the Nandi leader called Koitalel.  Finally Koitalel was killed in the home of prophet Orkoiyot.  His death demoralised the Nandi between October and November 1905, the Nandi tried another attack but they were defeated with heavy losses.

In December 1905, the Nandi leaders eventually accepted peace terms with the British.  The clans of Kamelilo and Kapchepkendi were to move to the reserves in the North. But when people refused to move the British applied force and drove them out.  In 1906, the British built many forts in Nandi and effectively controlled the Nandi although there was continued passive resistance.

Koitalel Arap Samoei

Koitalel Arap Samoei was a Nandi leader and an orkoiyot, a diviner. He detested the invasion of the British into the Nandi territory while building the Kenya-Uganda Railway.

He prophesied that a black snake would tear through Nandiland and it would be spitting fire and would make its way into peoples' life. The construction of the railway saw this as a fulfillment of this prophecy. 

He led the Nandi people into a fight against the builders of the Railway line for ten years. The British were determined to build the railway line and they tricked the orkoiyot into a meeting for an agreement, where a British commander shot Samoei and killed him during the conference. Without a leader, the Nandi were finally defeated in 1905 and the construction of the railway line continued without resistance. 

Reasons why the Nandi were able to resist for long

The wet and cool climate of the Nandi country negatively affected the health of the British white forces.  Therefore poor health weakened and often slowed down the advances of the British forces.

The geography of the Nandi country was ideal for guerrilla warfare and unsuitable for British use of Maxim gun.  It was mountainous with steep valleys and little flat open land.

The British were ignorant of the country they were fighting in.  They were at times misguided.

British underestimated the Nandi ability to resist and only sent minor forces against them.

The Nandi practised mixed economy.  This reduced the British effect of burning crop gardens and confiscation of property because the Nandi could always survive on their livestock.  Thus their resistance remained strong because of constant food supply.

The British forces were immobile.  The mobility was reduced by the large number of porters who had to carry food. Hence they were unable to get the relevant information from all corners and this negatively affected their advances.

The Nandi had a well-organised, disciplined and efficient army.  This army had considerable experience since it had fought so many neighbours like Masai, Luo, and Luyia.  The Nandi also fought in separate companies according to their clan and resistance.

The traditional Nandi military tactics involving night fights and ambush took the British by surprise and easily weakened their advances.  The Nandi also lacked defensive strong points that would have been ideal targets.

The Nandi were also united in their resistance by the role of Orkoiyot.  He was a ritual expert who acted as a religious, political and military leader.

Effects of the Nandi resistance

Many people died.  Both the British and the Nandi were killed during wars of resistance.

The Nandi eventually lost the war with heavy losses.

The wars were destructive for example a lot of property was destroyed.  Villages were burnt to the ground and cattle were looted.

Most of the Nandi's better land was lost to the British.  This was used for both white settlement and construction of the railway line.  The most affected clans included Kamelilo, and Kapchepkendi.

The British won the war although with heavy costs.  This resulted into the loss of the Nandi political independence.

The defeat of the Nandi scared off her neighbours from resisting the British.  The societies such as the Luo, the Luyia simply collaborated having realised the military superiority of the British.

The Uganda railway was finally extended to Kisumu and then Uganda following the defeat of the Nandi.

Reasons why the Nandi resistance was defeated

The military superiority of the British.  The white men were better armed with the better guns while the Nandi mostly used traditional spears, arrow and bows and only a handful of outdated guns.

They had no unified military front and they fought in separate groups according to their clans.

The British had better trained soldiers and re- enforcement from the Swahili, Masai, Baganda, Indians among other.

Some African societies co-operated with the British against the Nandi. Eg the Masai, Abaluya, Baganda among others. The death of the Nandi leader, Orkoiyot Koitale, demoralised the Nandi and were defeated by the British.

The economy of the Nandi was not very strong to hold or support the war for a long time. Therefore the British were able to defeat the Nandi.

They were submissive to their traditional religion and did not care to strengthen their armies. They had inferior weapons such as spears, arrows and bows and a few guns.

The Nandi lacked constant supply of arms.

They lacked defence barriers to protect them against the Europeans.

They lacked military tactics i.e. they attacked or went forward in mass formation.