THE RISE OF BOMBAY AFRICANS

The name ‘Bombay Africans‘ was given to Africans who had been rescued from the slave ships operating in the Indian Ocean. The exhibition examined the roles of these men in the anti-slavery movement and in Christian organisations like the Church Missionary Society.

Bombay is the third (3^rd) most respected city in India after New Delhi and Calcutta.

Bombay Africans were Africans ex-slaves who were rescued by the British anti-slave patrol ship on the Indian ocean and they were taken to Saharanpur near Bombay for rehabilitation.

During their stay in India, they were converted to Protestantism and were trained in different schools, trade and theology.

Some of the Bombay Africans who returned to African included William Jones, David George, Ishmael Semler etc.

They mainly worked among the freed states, Frere town and those who came back also worked with Rebmann at Rabai -mpya.

Prominent Bombay Africans

William Jones

William Jones was the most prominent Bombay African who worked at Rabai Mpya with Rebmann for some good time.

In 1880, he was sent to Taita to help in doing missionary work among fellow Africans.

In 1885, Bishop Hannington ordained him as a deacon at Rabai Mpya

After his ordination, he was told to accompany Bishop Hanginton to Uganda.

Unfortunately, Bishop Hannington was arrested and imprisoned in Busoga for four days and then killed on orders of Mwanga before he reached Buganda kingdom.

Willam Jones escaped and went back to Rabai mpya and told them of the Bishops murder in Busoga.

He then became a pastor at Rabai Mpya and ministered to fellow Africans

He is remembered for his accommodating spirit of the slaves who were escaping from their slave masters to Rabai

BY 1888, Jones had resettled around 1000 ex-slaves at Rabai Mpya.

In 1896, William Jones has ordained the archdeacon of Rabai.

Roles played by Bombay Africans in the spread of Christianity in East Africa

Bombay Africans led to the spread of the church both at the coast and in the interior of East Africa as shown below

They preached Christianity among fellow Africans at Rabai Mpya and Frere town hence converting many pagans to Christianity.

They carried out missionary journeys into the interior of East Africa which also promoted wider coverage of Christianity in different centers

They engaged the ex-slaves in a Christian life style of repentance, prayers, monogamy and baptism which also promoted Christianity in East Africa.

Bombay Africans were easily accepted and listened to by fellow Africans hence easy understanding of the gospel message.

They worked with the missionaries to translate the gospel into some local languages like Kiswahili, Luo and luganda which were easily understood by the Africans.

Bombay Africans knew some local languages like Luo, Kiswahili, Luganda etc which they used in spreading the gospel to fellow Africans where the missionaries had experienced problems. They also knew some local places in the interior of East Africa where they easily reached out and proclaimed the good news.

Bombay Africans condemned slave trade and slavery whose torture they had faced. This made them get a lot of support from fellow Africans who later got converted to Christianity.

They boosted the missionary manpower in East Africa that was not enough hence increasing the speed at which the gospel was spread.

They guided the missionaries in the interior of East Africa in the spread of Christianity e.g. Bishop Hannington was led by William Jones to Uganda.

They provided charity services to the needy Africans especially the freed slaves at Rabai Mpya.

Some Bombay Africans served as church leaders. E.g.William Jones served as a church leader at Rabai Mpya

Being employed and paid by the missionaries, Bombay Africans were admired by the Africans who also got converted to Christianity hoping to enjoy like the Bombay Africans.

They established some churches and mission centres in the interior of East Africa such as the sagula mission station which acted as the evangelical centre.

They played the role of the mediators between Africans and Europeans which made missionaries to be accepted by Africans. E.g.William Jones introduced William prince of the C.M.S to the Taita people who had previously rejected him.

They worked hand in hand with the missionaries complementing one another in the spread of the gospel. E.g. David George closely worked with Rebmann at Rabai Mpya.

Bombay Africans knew the Africans likes and dislikes which made them plan accordingly to convert them to Christianity. Jones knew the Taita people which enabled him to penetrate them with the gospel with out much resistance.

They encouraged the formation of Christianity education centre and they are credited to have been the forerunners of St. Paul’s theological college at Limuru.

Bombay Africans opposed and condemned the missionary harsh treatment of the Africans in the camps which improved the African welfare and attracted many Africans to join Christianity.

Bombay Africans had respect for some African cultural practices like circumcision among the Kikuyu which made some Africans confident of joining the church.

In conclusion, Bombay Africans did a lot as far as spreading the church was concerned. That’s why William Prince of the CMS commented that they were spiritually minded, faithful, and confident and had respect for the native Christianity.

Problems faced by Bombay Africans

Just as the missionaries, Bombay Africans also faced hostility from slave raiders at the coast and in the interior of East Africa which made their work difficult.

Language barrier also challenged many of them in spreading the good news to different tribes especially those who did not know the local languages.

They faced a challenge of stiff competition from Islam which had already been established in East Africa.

Some of them were mistaken to be European collaborators who wanted to colonize the East Africans.

They suffered racial segregation from the missionaries as they were denied top leadership positions in the church because they were seen as inferior.

Some African communities didn’t welcome the Africans and so they became hostile to them and turned them into food e.g. the Nandi man eaters.

They encountered geographical barriers in their work characterized by rivers, mountains and forests which were very hard to penetrate so as to spread good news.

Some of them suffered from tropical diseases like malaria, smallpox etc which frustrated their work of spreading Christianity.

They were faced with conservative African cultural beliefs which made many Africans not to get converted to Christianity especially the Nandi.

They faced a problem of inadequate facilitation to do their work effectively. E.g. they were not well paid in terms of money by missionaries at sometimes missionaries delayed to supply them with food.

Bombay Africans were very few in number and therefore were over worked and suffered from fatigue and this affected their progress.

They were always unhappy due to the missionary harsh and hostile treatment of Africans in the camps especially in the Frere town which caused conflicts between them and missionaries.

Bombay Africans were highly frustrated by the poor rewards or remunerations given to them by missionaries given the too much work they were doing.

Missionaries didn’t trust Bombay Africans in that those in positions of responsibility were closely monitored which annoyed the Bombay Africans and they reduced their spirit of serving the church.

Missionaries and Bombay Africans always conflicted over African culture i.e. Bombay Africans supported some practices like circumcision which the missionaries opposed which affected the church negatively.

The hostile relationship between Bombay Africans and the missionaries

At first, the relationship between the Bombay Africans and the missionaries was so smooth in the proclaiming of the good news.

However, from 1870s and on, the relationship between the two groups started to get bitter and it deteriorated to the extent that they completely fell apart.

Causes of the poor relationship between the two groups

The denial of Bombay Africans leadership opportunities in the church and Frere town something that was condemned by William.

Bombay Africans were subjected to too much work by the missionaries which exhausted them and started disobeying the missionaries.

The missionaries used to take themselves as superior and considered the Bombay Africans as inferior which also caused the bitter relationship.

The missionaries always treated the Bombay Africans as children whom they had helped to raise up which also annoyed the Africans

Missionaries mistrusted the Bombay Africans whom they gave position of responsibility in the church i.e. they strictly supervised them which demoralized the Bombay Africans.

Bombay Africans were never happy with the missionary hostile treatment of Africans at Frere town i.e. they always caned, imprisoned and given little food as punishments to the crimes committed.

Some Bombay Africans were frustrated by the poor payments they were given yet they were doing a lot of work. They looked at it as a sign of no appreciation to the great services they offered.

The two groups also conflicted over some African cultures especially circumcision among the Kikuyu and Nandi i.e. the missionaries opposed it yet Bombay Africans supported it hence the disagreement.

The discriminatory tendencies of missionaries towards Africans non-converts made some Bombay Africans uncomfortable with the missionary journeys also led to the poor relationship between the two groups.

The influence of Bishop Hannington at the coast who saw how the services of the Bombay Africans were under looked and discredited by the missionaries caused the bitter relationship.

Suspicion, mistrust and discomfort between the two groups also caused the conflicts that led to the division of the two groups.

The departure of Sir Bartle Frere the only understanding European who highly appreciated and respected the services of Bombay Africans led to increased conflicts between missionaries and Bombay Africans.

The untidy death of Bishop Hannington in 1885 in Busoga who was being escorted by a Bombay African called William Jones who wasn’t killed caused suspicion between the two groups.

The missionaries at Frere town overworked the African ex-slaves which the Bombay Africans interpreted as racial segregation causing poor relationships.

Bombay Africans felt cheated due to the missionary refusal to leave the coastal mission centers to also go to the interior to preach i.e. they always made the Bombay Africans to go to the interior and remote areas.

Missionaries disregarded almost all African norms and values for example Africans were meant to lose their cultural norms and only adopt European Christian norms.

Efforts made to unite back the two groups

The existence of such poor relations between missionaries and Bombay Africans greatly affected the expansion of the church.

The missionaries, therefore, feared to shame the church and therefore started working out ways of harmonizing the two groups in order to enhance the spreading of the gospel.

The following are the efforts/ steps taken to unite back Bombay Africans with the Christian missionaries.

Sir Bartle Frere came up and appreciated as well as respected the services of the Bombay Africans and called upon his fellow missionaries to respect the Bombay Africans.

William Prince of the CMS also condemned his fellow missionaries for not putting Bombay Africans in responsible offices and positions in the church.

William Prince further condemned racial discrimination that the white missionaries practiced through under looking Africans as inferior.

Attempts were made to give Bombay Africans important positions in the church e.g. William Jones was made a pastor at Rabai and archdeacon in 1896 hence bring back the lost relationship.

Africans were now trained as catechists and the African priests were given the freedom to establish churches and run them according to the principles of the mission church.

Missionaries started Africanizing the church by accepting some African cultures like baptizing Africans with African names and even circumcision later.

Missionaries also started offering literacy and practical education to the Africans hence preparing them to the life a head and this made Bombay Africans very happy.

Missionaries further increased on the charity works to the poor Africans i.e. they gave the frustrated Africans food, shelter, clothes and health facilities especially at Frere town which bridged the gap between them and the Bombay Africans.

Missionaries put pressure on the colonial authorities to consider African interests like allowing Africans to have representatives to the legislative councils from 1923.

Missionaries carried out efforts for ecumenism i.e. they tried to bring unity and co-operation in the church which restored the trust and confidence of masses to the church.

The CMS appealed to other missionaries to come to East Africa to work with Bombay Africans something that reduced the too much workload of Bombay Africans.

Missionaries encouraged peasant farming in order to improve on the income of the Africans and stop them from complaining for positions of the church e.g. K.Borup distributed seedling and fertilizers to Africans.

Torture and heavy punishments to the indiscipline ex-slaves was replaced by guidance and counseling which impressed the Bombay Africans.

There was an increase in the rate of facilitation to the Bombay Africans in terms of food which was being harvested from farms of the re-habilitation centers thus making Bombay Africans happy.

Missionaries adopted a motivation spirit of thanking the Bombay Africans who had done great work, rather than despising their contributions.

Some Bombay Africans were allowed to lead commercial campaigns like supervising farms and carrying out transactions from which they got some money.