Mbatian: The Great Maasai Laibon

For over to 200 years the Supeet, a family dynasty of Maasai legends, ruled the Maasai land. The Laibons (spiritual leaders) are believed to have ruled between 1850 and 1866, though not much is known about the origin of this ritual power that was passed from one generation to another.

Among the Maa community a Laibon held a special high place in the hierarchy of the Maasai population. A Laibon’s position was not political but it wielded supreme influence and power through its role as chief medicine-man, diviner, and prophet for the Maasai people.

Mbatian Ole Supeet was the greatest of them all. He inherited the mantle of leadership from his father in 1866. Mbatian was the most prominent Laibon ever to rule in the Maasai nation and after whom the summit of Mount Kenya is named. It’s believed that Mbatian hailed from Matapato in Kajiado County. He ruled for 24 years, from 1866 to 1890.

Mbatian’s tenure marked a period of tranquility, prosperity, expansion and great unity among the Maasai. During his time, the colonial settlers considered Maasai’s as the Lords of East Africa covering about 80,000 square miles from the shores of Lake Turkana in Kenya to Mount Meru, near Arusha in Tanzania. He had managed to unite Maa communities that previously did not see eye to eye. He united the Ilnkisongo, living in present day Tanzania and parts of Kenya with Ilpurko living in Narok and Kajiado Counties.
Mbatian prophesied the advent of colonization by the white man and the coming of an iron snake (railway line) that would split Maasai land into two, a prophecy that would be fulfilled before his death in 1890. He also cautioned his people not to move from their ancestral lands. He told them that if they did so they would die of smallpox and their cattle would perish. In addition, they would have to fight a powerful enemy who would defeat them. He emphasied that he was about to die and if they stayed put on their lands, he would send them cattle from heaven.

Mbatian was married to two wives who bore him two of the most famous Maasai legends, Senteu (Sendeyo) the eldest, and Lenana (Olanana). The story of these two brothers, told through history, relays a history of division among the Maasai triggered by Lenana who disinherited Senteu by tricking their father.

In 1890 Mbatian died and was buried at Oldonyo Orok, currently known as Namanga hills. Upon his death Lenana was proclaimed the principal medicine man but his rivalry with his brother led to loss of lives in endless civil war that reduced the Maasai population by half.

Bonus Information:
The Maasai community lifestyle is mainly pastoralism, which has been compatible with wildlife conservation. For example, traditionally the Maasai people did not eat wild animals. Today however, when there is human-wildlife conflict, pastoralists sometimes try to poison predators. Scavenging animals and birds such as vultures are also poisoned. Then we lose the crucial work they do of keeping the environment clean. Let’s recognize the traditional Maasai values of letting wildlife live!