Kotoko people explained

Group:Kotoko
Pop:90,000 people
Popplace:northern Cameroon, Chad and Nigeria
Langs:Lagwan and other Mandage languages
Rels:Islam

The Kotoko people, also called Mser, Moria, Bara and Makari,[1] are a Chadic ethnic group located in northern Cameroon, Chad and Nigeria.[2] The Kotoko population is composed of approximately 90,000 people of which the majority live in Cameroon. The Kotoko form part of the Chadic people. Their mother tongue is Lagwan and other Mandage languages. Most of the Kotoko are Sunni Muslims.

History

They founded the Kotoko kingdom in,[3] and are considered to be descendants of the Sao civilization.[4]

Culture

The Kotoko engage in fishing (with the aid of their long canoes) and in agriculture. The fish they catch is subsequently smoked or dried then sold in local markets. Wealthier families also raise cattle.[5]

Most Kotoko profess Islam and are Sunni Muslims. While the Kotoko began adopting the religion around the 16th century, other communities did not convert until the 18th century.[6] The Kotoko converted to Islam due to the growing presence of Muslim merchants and clerics from the Bornu Empire. Many traditional beliefs and practices are incorporated into the Islamic practices of the Kotoko.

External links

Notes and References

  1. http://www.peoplegroups.org/Explore/groupdetails.aspx?peid=12650 People Groups
  2. http://www.refworld.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/rwmain?page=category&category=COI&publisher=IRBC&type=QUERYRESPONSE&coi=CMR&docid=3ae6ad4544&skip=0. UNHCR. Cameroon: The Kotoko ethnic group including its homeland and relationship with the National Union for Democracy and Progress (UNDP)
  3. Web site: Depetris-Chauvin . Emilio . State History And Contemporary Conflict: Evidence From Sub-Saharan Africa . University of California Berkeley . Universidad de Los Andes . 2019-06-30 . 2019-06-30 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190630135005/http://cega.berkeley.edu/assets/miscellaneous_files/61-ABCA_-State_History_and_Conflict_Depetris_Chauvin_2015.pdf . live .
  4. Web site: Gritzner . Jeffrey Allman . Lake Chad . Encyclopedia Britannica . 2019-06-30 . 2019-07-22 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190722235543/https://www.britannica.com/place/Lake-Chad . live .
  5. Book: Azevedo. Mario J.. Historical Dictionary of Chad. Decalo. Samuel. Rowman & Littlefield. 2018. 978-1-5381-1437-7. 303–304. en. 2020-12-12. 2022-04-07. https://web.archive.org/web/20220407103359/https://books.google.com/books?id=Xd9jDwAAQBAJ&q=kotoko+chad&pg=PA304. live.
  6. Book: Weekes, Richard V. . Muslim Peoples [2 Volumes]

    A World Ethnographic Survey ]

    . 1984 . Bloomsbury Academic . 978-0-313-23392-0 . 416 . en.