Arusha people
Waarusha | |
---|---|
Total population | |
Unknown | |
Regions with significant populations | |
Tanzania
African indigenous religion & Christianity
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Related ethnic groups | |
Maasai, Meru, People of the Kilimanjaro Corridor. |
The Arusha (Waarusha, in
Origins
The Arusha people are said to be of Pare origin from the Arusha Chini area of the Kilimanjaro Region. In about 1830 they settled in the Selian area on the southwestern slopes of Mount Meru under Maasai authority. However, the inhabitants reveal migration occurred back and forth throughout the history of this region, and the Arusha people should be viewed as a part of the bigger population inhabiting the entire Kilimanjaro Corridor. The Arusha are distinct from, but related to, the Maasai. They speak the Maasai language, but unlike other Maasai communities, the Arusha people are mostly agriculturalists.[2]
Late 19th century
During the 1880s a series of disasters forced the Arusha further up Mount Meru. Bovine pleuropneumonia and Rinderpest swept the lands, killing many of the Waarusha livestock and the famines and droughts of 1883-6, 1891-2 and 1897-1900 were especially hard of the people, thus weakening them. During the German occupation of Tanganyika, German colonial administrator Kurt Johannes declared war on the Arusha people (who were resistant to the foreign invasion) in 1895. On October 19, 1896, the Arusha retaliated at attacked Johannes and two German missionaries were killed. In revenge Johannes with the help of the Mangi Rindi of the
20th century
After the defeat and pacification of the Arusha and Meru populations, the Germans confiscated much of the best land from the people and allocated it to a number of German settlers and 100 Afrikaner families from South Africa. During the first world war the British managed to capture Arusha territory in 1916. By 1917 the British expelled the German settlers, confiscating their farms and redistributing them to Greek and British settlers. Under the British controlled Tanganyika territory, through indirect rule the United Waarusha Community was founded and
The initiation rite(Jando) of both looks similar but they are different, the Waarusha do not accept Masai to participate in initiation rite education, the education involves tricks to win a Masai in normal life, tricks of how to identify the presence of Masai between the Waarusha group. .[5]
The city of Arusha and the Arusha Region was named after The Waarusha people.
Notable people
- Chief Simeon Laiseri