The history of Kenya is very long and complex. From the "Cradle of Civilization" to present date, Kenya's long history has been both varied and fascinating.
East Africa is the cradle of mankind. According to palaeontologists, the history of human beings began in the region in what is now known as Kenya and Tanzania. The fossils at Olduvai Gorge, Koobi Fora and Olorgesaillic have changed the previously held ideas on the origins of humankind.
It all started in 1911 when Professor Kattwinkil, a German entomologist, fell into an immense rock-strewn gorge. Having survived the fall, the scientist noticed that there were a remarkable number of fossils on the exposed rock face. The gorge was called Olduvai by the Masai and the fossils were found to push back the history of man back by 2 million years.
It all started in 1911 when Professor Kattwinkil, a German entomologist, fell into an immense rock-strewn gorge. Having survived the fall, the scientist noticed that there were a remarkable number of fossils on the exposed rock face. The gorge was called Olduvai by the Masai and the fossils were found to push back the history of man back by 2 million years.
The main feature of this period was movement. Some people migrated out of the cradle of mankind while others stayed behind. Those who went out of Africa altogether were slowly changed by new climates and different environments to become Arabs, Europeans, Indians, Chinese, Indonesians and so on.
Out of this interaction of peoples with their migrations, invasions and counter-invasions over many thousands of years, have come the modern inhabitants of East Africa. As we come nearer to our own time the story remains one of invasions, this time not so much by land as by sea, which is why so much of the hard history of these years is found at the coast. Around 500 BC the huge outrigger Indonesian boats dominated the vast sweeps of the Indian Ocean. Their most important impact in Africa, in terms of people, language and culture was on Madagascar. But a few came to East Africa and they left us the coconut, the banana, some words, some music and improvements in our boats.
They were followed by the Arabs who probably first came to the coast about 500 AD. Their legacy is in some elements of the Swahili culture and the Kiswahili language which has become the lingua franca of over 100 million people in East and Central Africa.
Then came the Persians, the Chinese and the Malaysians all of whom were traders around the Indian Ocean. Most of the Asians living in Kenya today are descendants of the laborers brought in by the British to build the Uganda Railway or to work on farms or industries, and they include Hindus, Sikhs, Muslims and Goans.
The first sporadic European contacts seem to have been with early travelers from the Eastern Mediterranean but more lasting were the voyages of the Portuguese Vasco da Gama and the construction of the massive Fort Jesus at Mombasa in the late sixteenth century.
Out of this interaction of peoples with their migrations, invasions and counter-invasions over many thousands of years, have come the modern inhabitants of East Africa. As we come nearer to our own time the story remains one of invasions, this time not so much by land as by sea, which is why so much of the hard history of these years is found at the coast. Around 500 BC the huge outrigger Indonesian boats dominated the vast sweeps of the Indian Ocean. Their most important impact in Africa, in terms of people, language and culture was on Madagascar. But a few came to East Africa and they left us the coconut, the banana, some words, some music and improvements in our boats.
They were followed by the Arabs who probably first came to the coast about 500 AD. Their legacy is in some elements of the Swahili culture and the Kiswahili language which has become the lingua franca of over 100 million people in East and Central Africa.
Then came the Persians, the Chinese and the Malaysians all of whom were traders around the Indian Ocean. Most of the Asians living in Kenya today are descendants of the laborers brought in by the British to build the Uganda Railway or to work on farms or industries, and they include Hindus, Sikhs, Muslims and Goans.
The first sporadic European contacts seem to have been with early travelers from the Eastern Mediterranean but more lasting were the voyages of the Portuguese Vasco da Gama and the construction of the massive Fort Jesus at Mombasa in the late sixteenth century.
