The beginning of time? Evidence for catastrophic drought in Baringo in the early nineteenth century

ABSTRACT

New developments in the collection of palaeo-data over the past two decades have transformed our understanding of climate and environmental history in eastern Africa. This article utilises instrumental and proxy evidence of historical lake-level fluctuations from Baringo and Bogoria, along with other Rift Valley lakes, to document the timing and magnitude of hydroclimate variability at decadal to century time scales since 1750. These data allow us to construct a record of past climate variation not only for the Baringo basin proper, but also across a sizable portion of central and northern Kenya. This record is then set alongside historical evidence, from oral histories gathered amongst the peoples of northern Kenya and the Rift Valley and from contemporary observations recorded by travellers through the region, to offer a reinterpretation of human activity and its relationship to environmental history in the nineteenth century. The results reveal strong evidence of a catastrophic drought in the early nineteenth century, the effects of which radically alters our historical understanding of the character of settlement, mobility and identity within the Baringo–Bogoria basin.

KEYWORDS:

• Lake levels
• Baringo
• Bogoria
• palaeoecology
• oral history
• drought

Acknowledgements

I am grateful to Richard Waller, Dirk Verschuren, Rob Marchant, Paul Lane, and Nik Petek for their invaluable advice and assistance, but none bears any responsibility for the interpretations I have offered.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1 For Tugen and Il Chamus: Anderson, Eroding the Commons; Anderson, “Cultivating Pastoralists,” 241–260; For Il Chamus: Little, Elusive Granary; Spencer, Pastoral Continuum. For Pokot: Bollig, Die Krieger; Bollig and Österle. “The Political Ecology,” 289–315; Dietz, Pastoralists in Dire Straits; For Samburu: Spencer, Samburu; Spencer, Nomads; Sobania, “Historical Traditions,” ch 3.

2 Lamphear, “Aspects,” 87–104; Lamphear, “People,” 27–39; Lamphear, Traditional History; Lamphear, Scattering Time; Sobania, “Historical Traditions”; Sobania, “The Formation of Ethnic Identity,” 195–210; Bassi, “Primary Identities,” 125–57; Turton, “Movement,” 145–70.

3 Schlee, Identities on the Move; Robinson, “Gabbra”; Tiki and Oba, “Ciinna,” 479–508; Tiki, “The Dynamics”; Tiki et al., “An Indigenous Time-related Framework,” 33–43.

4 Hughes, Moving the Maasai; Sobania, “Defeat,” 105–19; Waller, “Lords”; Waller, “Interaction,” 243–84; Waller, “Ecology,” 347–70.

5 For the best overview, Waller, “Economic and Social,” 83–151.

6 Waller, “Lords,” 347–70; Sobania, “Defeat,” 105–19.

7 Anderson, Eroding the Commons, Passim.

8 Waller, “Ecology,” 347–70; Anderson, “Cultivating Pastoralists,” 241–60; Davies and Moore, “Landscape”; Davies, “Economic Specialisation.”

9 Verschuren, “Lake-based Climate Reconstruction,” 315.

10 Tierney et al., “Multidecadal Variability,” 388–9.

11 Verschuren and Charman, “Latitudinal Linkages,” 189–231; De Cort et al., “Late Holocene,” 69–80.

12 For the most recent overview, see Gelorini and Verschuren, “Historical Climate-human-ecosystem,” 409–21.

13 Verschuren et al., “The Environmental History,” 495; Bloszies and Forman. “Potential Relation,” 489–501.

14 De Cort et al., “Late Holocene,” 69–80. Verschuren, “Decadal and Century-Scale,” 139–58.

15 De Cort et al., “Late Holocene,” 69–74.

16 Ibid., 78. Verschuren et al., “The Environmental History,” 494–501.

17 Verschuren et al., “Rainfall and Drought,” 410–4; Verschuren, “Lake-based Climate,” 315–30; Verschuren, “Reconstructing Fluctuations,” 297–311.

18 De Cort et al., “Late Holocene,” 78.

19 Nicholson, “Environmental Change,” 60–87; Nicholson, “Historical Fluctuations,” 7–35.

20 Verschuren, “Decadal and Century-Scale,” 139–58.

21 Verschuren, “Reconstructing Fluctuations,” 307.

22 De Cort et al., “Late Holocene,” 78–9.

23 Bessems et al., “Palaeoliminological,” 107–20.

24 Ibid.; Kiage and Liu, “Palynological,” 60–72.

25 Ashley et al., “Sedimentation,” 1301–21.

26 Bessems et al., “Palaeoliminological,” 116. See also, Aynalem et al., “200 years,” 7.

27 Bessems et al., “Palaeoliminological,” 107.

28 Verschuren, “Influence of Depth,” 1103–13; Verschuren et al., “Rainfall and Drought,” 410–14.

29 Halfman et al., “New AMS Dates,” 83–98; Verschuren, “Decadal and Century-Scale,” 139–58.

30 Lamb et al., “Oxygen and Carbon,” 517–26.

31 Wolff et al., “Reduced Interannual Rainfall,” 743–7.

32 Stager et al., “Solar Variability,” 243–51.

33 Bessems et al., “Palaeoliminological,” 107.

34 De Cort et al., “Late Holocene,” 78–9.

35 Kiage and Liu, “Palynological,” 69–71. They speculate that this drought may have been accompanied by locust invasions, but no independent evidence supports this.

36 Kiage and Liu, “Palynological,” 71.

37 Olaka et al., “The Sensitivity,” 629–44; Tarits et al., “Geochemical,” 2027–55; Bessems et al., “Palaeoliminological,” 116.

38 Kiage and Liu, “Palynological,” 70–1.

39 This document is reproduced in Rubensen, Acta Aethiopica, vol 1, 7. See McCann, People of the Plow, 31–3, for a discussion of the dangers of making inferences about environmental change from such sources.

40 Webster, Chronology.

41 Webster, “Noi! Noi!,” 1–37.

42 Herring, “Hydrology and Chronology,” 39–86.

43 Mentioned in Bessems et al., “Palaeoliminological,” 118.

44 Webster, “Noi! Noi!,” 17.

45 Webster, “Noi! Noi!,” 17–18.

46 See Baxter and Almagor, Age, Generation.

47 Webster, “Noi! Noi!,” 1–17.

48 Waller, “Dating the Undatable,” 570.

49 Lamphear, Traditional History, 51–2; Lamphear, “Aspects,” 89–91.

50 Ssemmanda et al., “Sensitivity,” 1675–706.

51 Tiernay et al., “Multidecadal Variability,” 389–92; Gelorini and Verschuren, “Historical,” 409–21.

52 Tiki, “The Dynamics”; Tiki et al., “Human Stewardship,” 62–78; Tiki et al., “An Indigenous Time-related Framework.”

53 Tiki et al., “An Indigenous Time-related Framework,” 40.

54 For example, des Avanchers. “Esquisse Geographique”; Krapf, Vocabulary; Krapf, Travels; Farler, “Native Routes,” 730–42; Wakefield, “Routes of Native Caravans,” 303–38; Thomson, Through Masailand; Dundas, “Notes on the Tribes,” 49–72, though published later, contains many references to nineteenth-century conditions.

55 Anderson, “Agriculture and Irrigation,” 85–98; Anderson, “Cultivating Pastoralists,” 241–60.

56 This paragraph summarises Anderson, Eroding the Commons, 23–47.

57 Huntingford, Nandi, 53–5, is largely applicable to Tugen. Also Kettel, “Passing Like Flowers.” For Pokot, Peristiany, “The Age-set System.” For general discussion: Prins, East African Age-Class Systems.

58 Kettel, “What's in a Name?”

59 Peristiany, Social Institutions, l60–75; Huntingford, Nandi, 76–89.

60 For striking examples: Walter, “Territorial Expansion,” 4–8; Anacleti, “Serengeti,” 23–34. For commentary, Shetler, Telling our Own Stories, 18–19; Shetler, “Interpreting Rupture,” 387–93.

61 For a Tugen example, see Kipkulei, “Origin, Migration, and Settlement.”

62 Interviews, Cherutich arap Too, at Kisanana, July 1980, Baringo Historical Texts [BHT]/Tugen[TG]/22; Cherogong arap Chebeyator, Ol Kokwe Island, August 1980, BHT/TG/32; Kiperenge arap Kipsiamian, Nyalibuch, July 1980, BHT/TG/34; Chepikiyeng arap Ngetich, Emining, June 1980, BHT/TG/39. These and all cited interview texts are in the possession of the author.

63 Interviews, Chepkerio Chirchir, Kisanana, July 1980, BHT/TG/24; Kigen arap Kipsiabo, Waseges, December 1980, BHT/TG/33.

64 Anderson, Eroding the Commons, 48–69.

65 Bollig, Die Krieger, 51–6; Bollig, “Adaptive Cycles,” this volume.

66 For general discussion, Baxter and Almagor, Age, Generation; Spencer, Pastoral Continuum.

67 For examples: Hollis, Masai, 262–3; Fosbrooke, “An Administrative Survey.”

68 Ibid., 188–206. Jacobs introduced an erroneous foundational generation when using Fosbrooke's evidence: Jacobs, “A Chronology,” 10–32.

69 Fosbrooke, “Masai Age-group,” 205.

70 Spencer, Pastoral Continuum, 134–7, 152–8.

71 Ibid., 134–7, 162–5.

72 Interviews, Lekipapui Lekesio, March 1980, at Eldume, BHT/CH[Chamus]/1; Lelerupe, April 1980, at Eldume, BHT/CH/3.

73 Interviews, Lesukone Lenakure, April 1980, at Eldume, BHT/CH/7; Matayo Lentele and Parsalelo Lendaperna, April 1980, at Ngambo, BHT/CH/8; Matayo Lentele, April 1980, at Ngambo, BHT/CH/10.

74 Sobania, “Defeat,” 105–19. This was part of the Iloikop Wars: see Waller, “Economic and Social,” 114–20; Waller, “Lords,” 379–92.

75 Anderson, “Cultivating Pastoralists,” 248–51; Dundas, “Notes on the Tribes”; Sobania, “Historical Traditions,” ch 3.

76 Simpson and Waweru, “Becoming Samburu,” 175–97.

77 Sobania, “Historical Traditions,” 133–7. Spencer, Samburu, also provides several earlier age-generation names, but carefully explains why these cannot be added in sequence to the established list. However, Simpson and Waweru, “Becoming Samburu,” 175–97, erroneously add these earlier names to the age-generation sequence.

78 Sobania, “Defeat,” 105–17.

79 Sobania and Waller, “Oral history.”

80 Ibid.

81 Bassi, “Primary Identities,” 129–57.

82 Shetler, “Interpreting Rupture,” 385–412.

83 Waller, “Economic and Social,” 117–19.

84 Reproduced from Anderson, Eroding the Commons, 303.

85 Adapted from Fosbrooke, “Masai Age-group,” 194–5.

86 Adapted from Anderson, Eroding the Commons, 301.

87 Adapted from Sobania, “Historical Traditions,” 135.

Additional information

Funding

The research reported here received funding from the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme for research, technological development and demonstration, under grant agreement no. 606879, ‘Resilience in East African Landscapes: Identifying critical thresholds and sustainable trajectories – past, present and future' (REAL), coordinated by Paul Lane.