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educated and most literate group in
the land.
In an interesting twist on the
slave trade (for indentured labor
was virtually the same thing), 32,000
Indians were imported to build the
“lunatic line,” as detractors called it,
this being the railway from
Mombasa to Kisumu on the eastern
side of Lake Victoria, not the least of
their problems being the man-eating
lions of Tsavo, which had to be shot
before work could proceed. The
work was carried out between 1896
and 1901 and replaced ox carts, the
previous means of transport. The
railway was costly, however, and
made no economic sense. The Asians
were subsequently involved in the
development of towns, and with the
surge in trade that followed in the
wake of these developments, were
able to set up businesses, homes,
temples, and other institutions, some
of them becoming rich in the
process. In the early 1920s, serious
discussions began between the
British and Indian authorities with
regard to making East Africa a
colony of India. There are still large
numbers of Indian residents here, as
well as in southern Africa, despite
Idi Amin’s
expulsion
of them from
Uganda in 1972.
A Concise History of Africa
Text-Dependent Questions
1. What country did the Bantu people originally come from?
2. What name is given to the the tall scarlet-dressed tribesmen and
where do they mainly live today?
3. What is the nickname of the historic railroad that was built through
Uganda and who built it?
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