"Wakamba warriors are soldiers of the Queen": The evolution of the Kamba as a martial race, 1890-1970

British colonial officials considered the Kamba to be the premier martial race of Africa. The Kamba themselves appeared to embrace this label by enlisting in the colonial army in large numbers. This article explores the processes that transformed certain ethnic groups into martial races during the colonial era. It argues that the designation martial race had little to with specific cultural characteristics or precolonial military traditions. Martial stereotypes were an index of the changing political economy of recruitment. The willingness of an ethnic group like the Kamba to serve in the army was based on the extent of its integration into the colonial economy. African societies were most martial when in a transitional stage of economic development, operating under the constraints of colonial rule.