Ethnic group from Kigoma Region of Tanzania and eastern DRC
Manyema settlement in 1876
Manyema (WaManyema) (Una-Ma-Nyema, eaters of flesh)[1] are a Bantu ethnic group, described in the past as powerful and warlike,[1] in the African Great Lakes region of Eastern Africa and Central Africa .
Many Manyema , like many Nyamwezi , are the descendants of porters who emerged during the height of the Swahili-Arab trade in the Sultanate of Utetera .[2] WaManyema , as well as the area, was extensively incorporated into Swahili economy and culture.[3]
During the early to mid-1800s, many Manyema traversed, back and forth, across Lake Tanganyika towards the Swahili coast in larger numbers as caravan porters , merchants, mercenaries , war refugees (emphasised in Manyema memories), slaves (emphasised by missionaries and colonial officials), and to some extent as slave traders (emphasised by explorers like Henry Morton Stanley , David Livingstone and John Speke ).[4]
Many Manyema merchants traded slaves,[5] [6] ivory and gold.
The New York Times reported that the Manyema “allied themselves with the Arabs ”,[7] a misnomer applied to Waungwana .
Usually, a Manyema man would typically have children who are also identified as Manyema from birth. Similarly, children of Arab men would be identified as Arab . However, a female Manyema would often give birth to a child of various ethnicities, such as Swahili , Zaramo , Shihiri , or Arab . Thus, she may have multiple children, each with a different ethnicity that differs from her own[8]
WaSwahili in Ujiji town on the border between Tanzania & Democratic Republic of Congo , many of whom originally Manyema , identified themselves as Swahili .[9]
In Tanzania , the Manyema include various smaller ethnic groups of Congolese origin of which are independent culturally but with some resemblance due to intermarriages. These ethnic groups include the Goma , Bwari ,[10] Buyu ,[11] Masanze , Bangubangu ,[12] Bembe ,[13] Songoora [14] and many others of Congolese origin.
^ a b Chisholm, Hugh , ed. (1911). "Manyema" . Encyclopædia Britannica . Vol. 17 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 626.
^ Nimtz, August H. (1980). Islam and Politics in East Africa: The Sufi Order in Tanzania . U of Minnesota Press. p. 9. ISBN 978-0-8166-5836-7 .
^ Fage, J. D.; Oliver, Roland; Oliver, Roland Anthony; Sanderson, G. N. (1975). The Cambridge History of Africa . Cambridge University Press. p. 553. ISBN 978-0-521-22803-9 .
^ Zöller, Katharina (June 2019). "Crossing Multiple Borders: 'The Manyema' in Colonial East Central Africa". History in Africa . 46 : 299–326. doi :10.1017/hia.2019.6 . S2CID 166482195 .
^ Chappatte, André; Freitag, Ulrike; Lafi, Nora (2017-07-28). Understanding the City through its Margins: Pluridisciplinary Perspectives from Case Studies in Africa, Asia and the Middle East . Routledge. ISBN 978-1-351-69568-8 .
^ Mounteney-Jephson, A J (July 1891). "The Manyema Slave-Hunters". The Anti-Slavery Reporter . 11 (4): 201–202. ProQuest 2947517 .
^ "Article 17 -- No Title" . The New York Times . 9 February 1890.
^ Decker, Corrie (2014). "Introduction". Mobilizing Zanzibari Women . pp. 1–20. doi :10.1057/9781137472632_1 . ISBN 978-1-349-69080-0 .
^ Lindström, Jan (2019). Muted Memories: Heritage-Making, Bagamoyo, and the East African Caravan Trade . Berghahn Books. p. 266. ISBN 978-1-78920-173-4 .
^ Lemarchand, Rene (1996-01-26). Burundi: Ethnic Conflict and Genocide . Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-56623-0 .
^ Hendrix, Valeene (2019-04-10). "Buyu (Basikasingo) People - Discover African Art" . Retrieved 2022-07-11 .
^ PeopleGroups.org. "PeopleGroups.org - Bangobango of Congo (Kinshasa)" . peoplegroups.org . Retrieved 2022-07-11 .
^ Stellaractive (2017-05-25). "Bembe People - Discover African Art" . Retrieved 2022-07-11 .
^ McCurdy, Sheryl (2006). "Fashioning Sexuality: Desire, Manyema Ethnicity, and the Creation of the Kanga, ca . 1880-1900". The International Journal of African Historical Studies . 39 (3): 441–469. JSTOR 40034826 .