Mbatian

…laibons, or ritual leaders—among whom Mbatian, who succeeded his father, Subet, in 1866, was the most famous—in a succession of internecine conflicts largely over cattle and grazing grounds. Their wars denuded the Laikipia and Uasin Gishu plateaus of their former Maasai, the so-called Wakwavi, who, being deprived of their cattle,…

Simultaneously, the death of Mbatian, their great laibon, split the group into warring factions, and it was some time before his younger son, Lenana, was able to restore order. Power was never revived, however, because their problems coincided with the arrival of European traders and administrators who eventually gained…