Kimnyole Arap Turkat (c.1840s -1890) was the
Nandi
Nandi may refer to:
People
* Nandy (surname), Indian surname
* Nandi (mother of Shaka) (1760–1827), daughter of Bhebe of the Langeni tribe
* Onandi Lowe (born 1974), Jamaican footballer nicknamed Nandi
* Nandi Bushell (born 2010), South Afri ...
Orkoiyot The Orkoiyot occupied a sacred and special role within the Nandi and Kipsigis people of Kenya. He held the dual roles of chief spiritual and military leader, and had the authority to make decisions regarding security particularly the waging of war. ...
who predicted the arrival of Europeans ("the white tribe") and the
railways
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...
("the Iron Snake"); two events that were to forever alter the history of the Nandi.
He is noted for the prophesies he made and is famous for being the father of
Koitalel Arap Samoei
Koitaleel Arap Samoei (c.1870 - 19 October 1905) was an Orkoiyot who led the Nandi people from 1890 until his death in 1905. The Orkoiyot occupied a sacred and special role within the Nandi and Kipsigis people of Kenya. He held the dual roles ...
, the leader of the
Nandi Resistance. He was also the father of
Kipchomber Arap Koilege, the first
Kipsigis Kipsigis may refer to:
*the Kipsigis people of Kenya
*Kipsigis language
Kipsigis (or Kipsikii, Kipsikiis) is part of the Kenyan Kalenjin dialect cluster, It is spoken mainly in Kericho and Bomet counties in Kenya. The Kipsigis people are the m ...
Orkoioyot, and grandfather of
Barsirian Arap Manyei, Kenya's longest serving political detainee.
Early life
Kimnyole was born to Talai Arap
Turukat, the third Nandi Orkoiyot. He belonged to the Sawe age-set group of the Nandi.
[A. C. Hollis. ]
The Nandi: Their Language and Folklore
'. Clarendon Press: Oxford 1909, p. 50
Reconquest of Uasin Gishu
During Kimnyole's reign, internecine conflicts of the 1870s and 80s between the various
Maasai Maasai may refer to:
* Maasai people
*Maasai language
* Maasai mythology
* MAASAI (band)
See also
* Masai (disambiguation)
* Massai
Massai (also known as: Masai, Massey, Massi, Mah–sii, Massa, Wasse, Wassil or by the nickname "Big Foot" Mas ...
factions saw the routing of the
Uasin Gishu Maasai by a combined force of the Naivasha and Laikipia Maasai. The Nandi then defeated the remnants of the Uasin Gishu at a battle in the Kipkaren Valley, as the Maasai had tried to re-assert their claim to the plateau.
Shortly after, the Laikipiak were defeated by the Naivasha such that the latter were left as the only military power strong enough to contest the grazing rights to the
Uasin Gishu plateau with the rising Nandi.
Several inconclusive skirmishes took place between the two until eventually, the Naivasha were routed at Ziwa and chased back into the Rift Valley. Thus the Nandi had unchallenged access to the pastures and salt licks throughout the vast Uasin Gishu plateau. Cattle and captives swelled the Nandi animal and human populations.
[Arap Lagat, A.K]
The Historical Process of Nandi Movement into the Uasin Gishu District of the Kenya Highlands: 1906-1963.
University of Nairobi, 1995
Kimnyole's death
Trouble began for Kimnyole in the late 1880s, starting about 1888, when disaster struck the Nandi in the form of
rinderpest
Rinderpest (also cattle plague or steppe murrain) was an infectious viral disease of cattle, domestic buffalo, and many other species of even-toed ungulates, including gaurs, buffaloes, large antelope, deer, giraffes, wildebeests, and warthogs ...
cattle disease which was spreading round Kenya at this time.
Kimnyole was blamed for not having warned the warriors who went out to raid and brought back rinderpest infected cattle. It was noted that only his cattle had not died. He was also accused of sanctioning a combined raid of Nandi
bororiosiek that had resulted in disaster when large numbers of Nandi warriors were killed.
Kimnyole Arap Turukat was thus sentenced to death in 1890 and was stoned to death by representatives of some bororiosiek.
[
]
Succession
Kimnyole's death led to a succession dispute between his two sons; Koitalel Arap Samoei
Koitaleel Arap Samoei (c.1870 - 19 October 1905) was an Orkoiyot who led the Nandi people from 1890 until his death in 1905. The Orkoiyot occupied a sacred and special role within the Nandi and Kipsigis people of Kenya. He held the dual roles ...
and Kipchomber Arap Koilege. Factions formed around the two aspirants and minor skirmishes took place between their supporters but this did not extend to full-scale war. The dispute ended with the defeat of Kipchomber Arap Koilege in 1895, after which he fled to the Kipsigis Kipsigis may refer to:
*the Kipsigis people of Kenya
*Kipsigis language
Kipsigis (or Kipsikii, Kipsikiis) is part of the Kenyan Kalenjin dialect cluster, It is spoken mainly in Kericho and Bomet counties in Kenya. The Kipsigis people are the m ...
with his supporters, becoming the first Kipsigis Orgoiyot.[
]
References
{{Reflist
1890 deaths
Maasai people
Prophets
Kenyan prisoners sentenced to death
Deaths by beating
1840s births