The Bantu

LESSON PLAN GRADE 11 HISTORY. TOPIC BANTU MIGRATIONS INTO primaeval AFRICA BEFORE 1800. OBJECTIVES Pupils should be able to Define the term Bantu Define the term Migration Explain the origin of the Bantu. Explain the causes of the migration and settlement of the Bantu Describe the ship canal of life of the Bantu. ORIGIN Bantu is a common term used to refer to the over 400 different ethnic groups of Africa stretching from south of the Sahara resign to South Africa that have similar languages and to some extent customs. Their movements are called migrations their large scale movements over long distances.It is important however to understand that these movement did non occur at once. They took place in phases. The Bantu speaking people were part of the Iron Age people from the Middle East. They settled along the banks of the River Nile. Later, they move to North Africa and occupied some areas in the Sahara grasslands. From here, they moved to the area around Lake Chad, Nigeria a nd the Cameroon highlands area called the Benue-Cross region. However, some settled in the great lakes region in eastbound Africa. These people were given the name Bantu because of the imilarities that were noticed in their languages. For example, the prefix ba- and the suffix -ntu was common among the languages they spoke. To illustrate this, look at the table below which shows translations of the raillery person and people into some Zambian Bantu languages 1 Language Lozi Tonga Bemba Kaonde Tumbuka Singular Mutu Muntu Umuntu Muntu muntu Plural Batu Bantu Abantu Bantu antu CAUSES The drying up of the Sahara grasslands. This led the groups that practiced land to migrate in lookup of new fertile land and water for farming. There was population increase.This created pressure on the causing others to migrate in search for new land. Occupation, agriculture, hunting, blacksmith etc. Succession disputes in some cases led to the migration of some groups. This normally happened when a k ing died and members of the royal family quarreled about who should succeed. Convicted people or criminals migrated in order to run away from being punished or killed. Tribal wars caused migrations as defeated tribes ran away from powerful ones for safety. Slave trade contributed to the migrations in that in order to avoid being ttacked and sold as slaves, some groups were forced to migrate to new areas. Some groups or individuals migrated merely for adventure. They did this so that they could explore and check what other lands were analogous.Ambition Another reason that led to the Bantu migrations was that of expansion. Some rulers wanted to expand their kingdoms and therefore migrated in search of new areas. 2 THE COURSE AND EXAMPLES OF THE GROUPS THAT MIGRATED 1. = 3000 1500 BC origin 2 = ca. 1500 BC first migrations 2. a = Eastern Bantu, 2. b = Western Bantu 3. = 1000 500 BC Urewe nuclus of Eastern Bantu . 7. siemens advance 9. = 500 BC 0 Congo nucleus 10. = 0 1000 AD la st phase 3 First group Passed by means of Congo Forest, avoided Zaire River and settled in Katanga or Shaba. This was about the 5th century. They settled here because of the fertile land, good rainfall, minerals, and grazing land. Interacted with the Portuguese who introduced them to new crops like, maize, wise potatoes, and bananas. Second group Migrated around the 14th century. Settled western side of Lake Malawi. The descendants of this group are the Tumbuka, Nsenga, Kamanga and Tonga of Malawi.Another group of the Shona, Rozwi, and Karanga took a short cut, crossed the Zambezi River and settled in Mashonland. Third group This group had the Sotho and Nguni and went north east via Tanzania through the western side of Lake Malawi. They settled in Mashonaland. Here, they were forced out by the Rozwi, Shona and the Karanga. The group went to settle in South Africa. This was between 9th and the 14th century. 4 WAYS OF LIFE Economic The Bantu were agriculturists who grew crops like s orghum, millet, beans, maize, and sweet potatoes.They were pastoralists who kept animals like cattle, pigs, goats. They were hunters who hunted wild game for meat. They were also smelters and also made farming implements Pottery makers, made channel decorated type. Made baskets and mats. 5 Social Lived in small households. Households were made of pole and daga. Roof was thatched with grass. Huts built in a secular form Kraal built in the middle for protection of the cattle. Diet include fish, meat, and vegetables. Bark of the tree used as cloth. Political Family household under eldest male member.Family formed clans which formed villages. Villages headed by a headman. Villages formed a chiefdom or kingdom. Headed by a chief or king respectively. Religious Believed in a superior being. They called their superior being by different names. Their theology would be approached by leaders who were semi-divine. Had different spirits for different problems. Religious ceremonies held on tomb s, under the msoro tree or any other sacred place. cows and/or other animals would be killed only during such ceremonies. One World Africa (Zambia) 2007 6