The Iraqw people () are a
Cushitic ethnic group inhabiting the northern
Tanzanian regions. They dwell in southwestern
Arusha
Arusha is a city in Tanzania. The city is the Capital city, capital of the Arusha Region. It has a population of 617,631 people. and
Manyara regions of
Tanzania
Tanzania, officially the United Republic of Tanzania, is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It is bordered by Uganda to the northwest; Kenya to the northeast; the Indian Ocean to the east; Mozambique and Malawi to t ...
, near the
Rift Valley
A rift valley is a linear shaped lowland between several highlands or mountain ranges produced by the action of a geologic rift. Rifts are formed as a result of the pulling apart of the lithosphere due to extensional tectonics. The linear ...
. The Iraqw people then settled in the southeast of
Ngorongoro Crater
Ngorongoro Conservation Area (, ) is a protected area and a UNESCO World Heritage Site located in Ngorongoro District, west of Arusha City in Arusha Region, within the Crater Highlands geological area of northeastern Tanzania. The area is name ...
in northern
Karatu District
Karatu District (''Wilaya ya Karatu'', in Swahili language, Swahili) is one of seven Districts of Tanzania, districts of the Arusha Region of Tanzania. The district is bordered to the north by the Ngorongoro District and to the west by the Meatu ...
, Arusha Region, where the majority of them still reside. In the Manyara region, the Iraqw are a major ethnic group, specifically in
Mbulu District,
Babati District and
Hanang District.
History
Kerio Valley, Kenya
The Iraqw have traditionally been viewed as remnants of
Afro-Asiatic
The Afroasiatic languages (also known as Afro-Asiatic, Afrasian, Hamito-Semitic, or Semito-Hamitic) are a language family (or "phylum") of about 400 languages spoken predominantly in West Asia, North Africa, the Horn of Africa, and parts of th ...
peoples who practiced
agriculture
Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...
and
animal husbandry
Animal husbandry is the branch of agriculture concerned with animals that are raised for meat, animal fiber, fibre, milk, or other products. It includes day-to-day care, management, production, nutrition, selective breeding, and the raising ...
in the
Great Lakes region
The Great Lakes region of Northern America is a binational Canadian– American region centered on the Great Lakes that includes the U.S. states of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin and the Ca ...
— a succession of societies collectively known as the
''Stone Bowl'' cultural complex.
Most of these early northern migrants are believed to have been absorbed by later movements of
Nilotic
The Nilotic peoples are peoples Indigenous people of Africa, indigenous to South Sudan and the Nile Valley who speak Nilotic languages. They inhabit South Sudan and the Gambela Region of Ethiopia, while also being a large minority in Kenya, Uga ...
and
Bantu peoples. In the
Kerio Valley of
Kenya
Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...
, among other neighboring areas, there are vestiges of the Neolithic tillers' civilization in the form of elaborate irrigation systems. Although these particular structures are today maintained by the
Marakwet subgroup of the
Nandi Kalenjin Nilotes
The Nilotic peoples are peoples indigenous to South Sudan and the Nile Valley who speak Nilotic languages. They inhabit South Sudan and the Gambela Region of Ethiopia, while also being a large minority in Kenya, Uganda, the north eastern borde ...
, the latter aver that they were the work of a northern people of peculiar language called the
Sirikwa, who were later decimated by pestilence. According to the Marakwet, the Sirikwa "built the furrows, but they did not teach us how to build them; we only know how to keep them as they are."
Iraqw oral tradition also refers
Lake Manyara as "Tlawta Moyar tsar" meaning "Second Lake Moya." The legend says the first Lake Moya is far north probably
Lake Turkana
Lake Turkana () is a saline lake in the Kenyan Rift Valley, in northern Kenya, with its far northern end crossing into Ethiopia. It is the world's largest permanent desert lake and the world's largest alkaline lake. By volume it is the world ...
of western
Moyale around
Kenya
Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...
-
Ethiopia
Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...
border.
Engaruka, Monduli District
Additionally, the Iraqw's ancestors are often credited with having constructed the sprawling
Engaruka complex in
Monduli District
'Monduli District (''Wilaya ya Monduli'', in Swahili language, Swahili) is one of seven Districts of Tanzania, districts of the Arusha Region of Tanzania. It is bordered to the north by Longido District, to the east by Arusha Rural District, to t ...
, Arusha Region, Tanzania. The modern Iraqw practice an intensive form of self-contained agriculture that bears a remarkable similarity to the ruins of
stone-walled canal
Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface ...
s,
dam
A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use, aqua ...
s and furrows that are found at Engaruka. Iraqw historical traditions likewise relate that their last significant migration to their present area of inhabitation occurred about two or three centuries ago after conflicts with the
Barbaig sub-group of the
Datog Nilotes, herders who are known to have occupied the
Crater Highlands above Engaruka prior to the arrival of the
Maasai. This population movement is reportedly consistent with the date of the Engaruka site's desertion, which is estimated at somewhere between 1700 and 1750. It also roughly coincides with the start of the diminishment of the Engaruka River's flow as well as those of other streams descending from the
Ngorongoro highlands; water sources around which Engaruka's irrigation practices were centered.
According to the
Maasai Nilotes, who are the present-day occupants of Engaruka, the Iraqw also already inhabited the site when their own ancestors first entered the region during the 18th century.
Distribution

In 2001, the Iraqw population was estimated to number around 462,000 individuals. Current estimates suggest the population of Iraqw people to the region of 1,000,000.
Their core area of inhabitation is Iraqw’ar Da/aw (or Mama Issara) in the
Mbulu Highlands The Mbulu Highlands is a plateau in north-central Tanzania.
Geography
The Mbulu Highlands lie between the basins of Lake Eyasi to the west and Lake Manyara to the east. The plateau ranges from 1500 to 2300 meters in elevation. The highlands exte ...
in northern Manyara Region. It has long been known for its intensive cultivation, and referred to as an "island" within a matrix of less intensive cultivation.
The areas surrounding
Karatu
Karatu District (''Wilaya ya Karatu'', in Swahili language, Swahili) is one of seven Districts of Tanzania, districts of the Arusha Region of Tanzania. The district is bordered to the north by the Ngorongoro District and to the west by the Meatu ...
town in the
Arusha region
Arusha Region () is one of Tanzania's 31 administrative Regions of Tanzania, regions and is located in the northeast of the country. The region's capital and largest city is the city of Arusha. The region is bordered by Kajiado County and Narok C ...
are also predominantly settled by the Iraqw.
Culture

Based on articles about the Mbulu area of Tanzania, some Iraqw traditions are similar to those of
Jewish people.
Comprehensive anthropological analyses of the ethnic Iraqw by Ikeda et al. (1982) suggests that they share significant affinities with other Cushitic-speaking populations generally. However, due to intermarriage with the surrounding Tanzanian populations, the Iraqw also have some
morphological ties with local Bantu groups.
Language
The Iraqw speak the
Iraqw language, which belongs to the
South Cushitic branch of the
Afro-Asiatic
The Afroasiatic languages (also known as Afro-Asiatic, Afrasian, Hamito-Semitic, or Semito-Hamitic) are a language family (or "phylum") of about 400 languages spoken predominantly in West Asia, North Africa, the Horn of Africa, and parts of th ...
family. Iraqw speakers also speak
Swahili, the national language of
Tanzania
Tanzania, officially the United Republic of Tanzania, is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It is bordered by Uganda to the northwest; Kenya to the northeast; the Indian Ocean to the east; Mozambique and Malawi to t ...
.
Genetics
Recent advances in genetic analyses have helped shed some light on the
ethnogenesis
Ethnogenesis (; ) is the formation and development of an ethnic group. This can originate by group self-identification or by outside identification.
The term ''ethnogenesis'' was originally a mid-19th-century neologism that was later introduce ...
of the Iraqw people.
Genetic genealogy
Genetic genealogy is the use of genealogical DNA tests, i.e., DNA profiling and DNA testing, in combination with traditional genealogical methods, to infer genetic relationships between individuals. This application of genetics came to be use ...
, although a novel tool that uses the genes of modern populations to trace their ethnic and geographic origins, has also helped clarify the possible background of the modern Iraqw.
Y DNA
A
Y-chromosome study by Wood et al. (2005) tested various populations in Africa for paternal lineages, including 9 Iraqw males from Tanzania. The authors observed the
E1b1b haplogroup in 56% of the studied Iraqw, which is typical of Afro-Asiatic males from North and Northeast Africa, who possess the haplogroup at high frequencies.
[Elizabeth T Wood, Daryn A Stover, Christopher Ehret ''et al.'',]
Contrasting patterns of Y chromosome and mtDNA variation in Africa: evidence for sex-biased demographic processes
", ''European Journal of Human Genetics'' (2005) 13, 867–876. (cf
Appendix A: Y Chromosome Haplotype Frequencies
The second most frequent paternal lineage among the Iraqw was
Haplogroup B, which is commonly found in Nilotic populations;
it was observed in 22% of Iraqw males. The third most frequently observed paternal DNA marker in the Iraqw was the
E1b1a haplogroup (E-P1), which is now very common among Bantus; it was found in 11% of the Iraqw samples.
IN a larger sample haplogroup T y-dna was found in 11% of Iraqw.
irbo et al.
Autosomal DNA
The Iraqw's
autosomal
An autosome is any chromosome that is not a sex chromosome. The members of an autosome pair in a diploid cell have the same morphology, unlike those in allosomal (sex chromosome) pairs, which may have different structures. The DNA in autosome ...
DNA
Deoxyribonucleic acid (; DNA) is a polymer composed of two polynucleotide chains that coil around each other to form a double helix. The polymer carries genetic instructions for the development, functioning, growth and reproduction of al ...
has been examined in a comprehensive study by Tishkoff et al. (2009) on the genetic affiliations of various populations in Africa. According to Bayesian clustering analysis, the Iraqw generally grouped with other Afroasiatic-speaking populations inhabiting the Great Lakes region, with these lacustrine groups forming a cluster distinct from that of the Afroasiatic-speaking populations in the Horn of Africa, North Africa and the Sahara. This difference was attributed to marked genetic exchanges between the Iraqw and neighboring
Nilo-Saharan
The Nilo-Saharan languages are a proposed family of around 210 African languages spoken by somewhere around 70 million speakers, mainly in the upper parts of the Chari and Nile rivers, including historic Nubia, north of where the two tributari ...
and
Bantu communities over the past 5,000 or so years.
[ Also se]
Supplementary Data
Notable Iraqw
Politicians
*
Willibrod Slaa - Politician and Diplomat
*
Mary Nagu - Former Minister and Member of the parliament
*
Philip Marmo - Former Ambassador of Tanzania to China
Statespeople
*
Frederick Sumaye, Former Prime Minister of Tanzania
Sportsmen and entertainment
*
Filbert Bayi
*
John Stephen Akhwari
*
Gabriel Gerald Geay
*
Vanessa Mdee
Religious People
*
Wolfgang Pisa - President of the Catholic's
Tanzania Episcopal Conference
The Tanzania Episcopal Conference (TEC) is the conference of bishops of the Roman Catholic Church in Tanzania. Founded in 1956, the Episcopal Conference was officially recognized by the government in 1957. It includes all the Catholic bishops of ...
*
Saigilo - Iraqw Folk Religion's
Prophet
In religion, a prophet or prophetess is an individual who is regarded as being in contact with a divinity, divine being and is said to speak on behalf of that being, serving as an intermediary with humanity by delivering messages or teachings ...
Notes
References
*Mous, Maarten. 1993. ''A Grammar of Iraqw''. Hamburg: Buske.
{{authority control
Ethnic groups in Tanzania
Indigenous peoples of East Africa
Indigenous peoples of Arusha Region
.
Cushitic-speaking peoples