GEOGRAPHY AND HISTORY

  The Ameru claim a place called Mbwa, which is somewhere at the coast (probably Manda island) as their area of origin. However, historians believe that this tradition of Mbwa fits very well with Bantu dispersal from Shungwaya. By late 15th century, ancestors of the Ameru had begun arriving in Meru. Ameru migration from the coast was mainly due to Oromo pressure. From Shungwaya, the Ameru moved westwards along the river Tana and pushed into Igembe and Tigania regions. Around 1400AD, the Ameru and other Mount Kenya groups were living as hunters and pastoralists. They moved farther into the interior, crossing river Tana. Some, especially the Tharaka, finally settled to the east of River Tana as others such as the Chuka, Muimbi, Imenti, Tigania and Igembe settled in the area west of the River Tana. The Ameru and Agikuyu are believed to have initially migrated as one group until the 15th and 16th centuries, when the Agikuyu took their separate direction. The traditions of the two group...

  The Agikuyu are the largest population of all the Eastern Bantu. They inhabit the Central province of Kenya. two legends or myths that refer to Gikuyu origin. That which presents the Agikuyu as having originated from Mukurwe Wa Gathanga, where their ancestors (Gikuyu and his wife mumbi) were settled after God created them. According to this legend, Gikuyu and mumbi begat nine daughters, who married and mothered the nine clans of the present Agikuyu. That which states that the Agikuyu may have descended from one of the four sons of a Mbeere man, the other three of which may have mothered the Akamba, Athi and Maasai. migration and settlement of the Agikuyu into Kenya. By 1200AD, The Bantu had already settled in the Central province of Kenya. However, the original inhabitants of the area were hunter-gatherers, such as the Athi (Dorobo) and the Gumba. These may have been the remnants of the original inhabitants. The Athi and the Gumba interacted with the Agikuyu, who later assimilate...