Mbatian: The Story of The Great Maasai Laibon

Mbatian the Greatest Spiritual Leader of the Maasai
For around 200 years the Maasai were ruled by spiritual leaders known as Iloibono or Laibons. Though not much is known about the origin of their ritual power it is believed that it was passed on between generations of the ole Supeet family dynasty.

An Oloiboni or Laibon held the highest place in the social hierarchy of the Maasai . A Laibon’s position was not political but he wielded supreme influence and power through his role as chief medicine-man, diviner, and prophet of the people.

Mbatian Ole Supeet was the greatest of them all. He inherited the mantle of leadership from his father in 1866. Mbatian came 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 the Maasai to be the Lords of East Africa. Their land covered 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 had previously not seen eye to eye, namely Ilnkisongo, living in present day Tanzania and parts of Kenya with the Ilpurko living in Narok and Kajiado Counties.

Mbatian prophesied the advent of colonization by the white man and the coming of an iron snake – a railway line - that would split Maasailand 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 which would defeat them. He emphasized that he was about to die and if they stayed put on their lands, he would send them cattle from heaven.