Bantu Languages And The Languages - 940 Words

Bantu The word ‘Bantu† which means people in many Bantu languages, refers to a group of about five hundred African languages and to their speakers, today numbering ninety million. The Bantu people of Sub-Saharan Africa, lived about one thousand CE. They shifted from hunting and gathering to settle agriculture about four thousand years ago. The Bantu people traveled in to West Africa and Southward into the present day Congo. As the Bantu people migrated evidence shows that they absorbed most of the hunting and gathering population that originally inhabited the areas they migrated to. The farming techniques used by the Bantu required them to move every few years. The technique is called slash and burn. A patch of the forest is cut down and burned. They cut down the vegetation using their machetes and billhooks, then the ashes are mixed into the soil creating a fertile garden area. However, this process caused the land to lose its fertility quickly and is abandoned for ano ther plot in a new location. When they moved, the Bantu speakers shared their skills with the people they met, adapted their methods to suit each new environment, and learned new customs. They followed the Congo River through the rain forests. There they farmed the riverbanks, the only place that received enough sunlight to support agriculture. As they moved eastward into the savannas, they adapted their techniques for herding goats and sheep to raising cattle. Passing through what is now Kenya andShow MoreRelatedThe Origin Of Ancient Africa1082 Words   |  5 Pagesexamining the people of ancient Africa, historians identified the fact that many groups migrated throughout the continent. It became evident that the different societies had some similarities and influences from one another. The Bantu people shared a common foundational language, which was a main factor in their expansion to the west as well as the south. In the northern part of the continent there was a colonial powerh ouse forming. The Egyptian empire migrated along the Nile River in search for tradeRead MoreFactors For Why People Migrate782 Words   |  3 Pagesinterrelated reasons for the Bantu migrations. The most significant include drought, famine, population increases, attacks, and diseases. Overcrowding and climatic conditions together created famines. Changes to the demographics of North Africa, namely the migrations of Arabs into North Africa, led to more frequent attacks on Bantu settlements. There were also internal conflicts among different clans of Bantu. The rapid spread of infectious diseases might also have pushed the Bantu away to seek new placesRead MoreFactors For Why People Migrate: Mongols1113 Words   |  4 PagesKorea in the East and Europe in the west. 4. Drought, famine, population increases, attacks, diseases. 5. They spread their language and culture throughout the continent. 6. The positive effects include the introduction of iron, new crops, and centralized government to new places. The negative effects included depopulation, loss of culture/homogenization, and loss of language/homogenization. 7. Because of the Assyrian invasions 8a. From the Middle East, Jews migrated through the Magreb, and thenRead MoreAn Inside Look at Rwanda Essays1195 Words   |  5 Pagesmajority of Central and Western Rwanda, its Eastern border, however consists of swamps, savannas and plains. Rwanda is bordered by Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The country is home to various cultures and languages such as Kinyarwanda (Bantu) and French. Although mostly recovered, the devastation of the 1994 genocide still plagues the country. This included the mass killings of Rwandans led by the political elite name Akazu. 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Just like Meroe, Axum also traded with its neighbors which reflectRead MoreImportance of Oral Tradition963 Words   |  4 PagesQUESTION: Assess the significance of Oral tradition in Bantu Religion. In your view, does oral tradition have a future in the midst of modernity and social change? In African Traditional Religion, morals, values, beliefs and culture among other things play a critical role in society. The upholding of societal norms and values is a sacred affair especially that in African society religion is a way of life. In addition, the younger generation is also inquisitive about the history of the