Online Encyclopedia

UNYAMWEZI

Online Encyclopedia
Originally appearing in Volume V27, Page 782 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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UNYAMWEZI  , a region of

German East Africa, lying S. of Victoria Nyanza and E. of Lake Tanganyika . It is mentioned as early as the 16th century by the Portuguese and by Antonio Pigafetta, under the name Munemugi or "
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Land of the Moon," which is the exact
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equivalent of the name—Wu-nya-mwezi—by which the land is known to its own
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people . It is
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part of the plateau between the two
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great rift-valleys of East Africa, is rich in woods and grass, and has many villages surrounded by well cultivated farms and gardens . The western portions, however, are somewhat swampy and unhealthy . The people of Unyamwezi, called Wanyamwezi, are
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Bantu-negroes of
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medium
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size and
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negroid features, but with long noses and curly rather than woolly hair, suggestive of mixed
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blood . Dwelling on the main road from
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Bagamoyo to Tanganyika, the route by which J . H . Speke, Richard Burton, J . A . Grant, H . M . Stanley and others travelled, and having from early times had commercial relations with the
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Arabs, the Wanyamwezi are more civilized than the neighbouring races .

They practise

tattooing,
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file or extract the upper incisor teeth, and load their legs and arms with brass wire rings . The men look after the flocks and poultry, while the
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women do the field-
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work . They often keep bees; in some cases the hives are inside the huts, and the bees form an efficient
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protection against intruders .
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Inheritance is to the
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direct issue, not as is often the case among Negro races to the
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nephew . In some parts, one of twins is always killed . On Stanley's first visit in 1871, the
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Zanzibar Arabs were predominant in the country, but later the natives rose and, under Mirambo, who from a
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common porter rose to be a conquering chief—earning for himself the title of the " Black
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Bonaparte "—a Negro
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kingdom was formed . Since 1890 the country has been under German control and the power of the native chiefs greatly curtailed . As a people the Wanyamwezi are extremely vigorous and have shown great capacity for expansion, being energetic and enterprising . See H . Brode, Tippoo Tib: the Story of his Career in Central Africa (1907);
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Sir H . H . Johnston, The
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Uganda
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Protectorate (1902); Sir Charles Eliot, The East Africa Protectorate (1905) .

End of Article: UNYAMWEZI
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UNTON (or UMPTON), SIR HENRY (c. 1557-1596)
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