The Bantu people are a diverse group of approximately 60 million Africans who speak one of around 400 closely related Bantu languages. They migrated from North Africa around 3,000 BC and settled south of the Congo River, developing numerous languages and cultures. Many great kingdoms in South Africa were ruled by Bantus, who were ingenious and adaptable. The term “Bantu” has become racially offensive in South Africa, and some prefer to use the term “African” instead.
The term “Bantu people” is used to describe the approximately 60 million Africans who speak languages of the Bantu language family. Given that there are around 400 of these closely related languages, it should come as no surprise that these people are incredibly diverse, and that societies and governments among the Bantus can be radically different. Some people feel that the term may not be entirely appropriate, as it encompasses such a large group of Africans; these individuals may prefer to identify individual communities instead.
It is estimated that the tribes that make up this group probably began migrating from North Africa around 3,000 BC They likely brought with them an assortment of skills, including the ability to farm and work metals such as iron, and this migration continued well into the 4th century AD about. Many of these people settled south of the Congo River. Over time, numerous languages have developed, including Swahili, Kirundi, Gikuyu, Tsonga, and Basaa; many of these languages share the word “Bantu” for people and, with the exception of one region of southeastern Africa where Khoi-San is spoken, cover southern Africa.
Many of South Africa’s great kingdoms were ruled by Bantus, who tended to be very ingenious and adaptable. Their culture subsumed that of other native Africans, although traces of earlier African peoples can be seen in some societies today. These kingdoms traded with people from other regions of the world, including Europeans, and as Europeans began colonizing Africa, they pressured the existing Bantus to relocate. Speakers of the languages of this family are found in Rwanda, Angola, Burundi, Zimbabwe, and South Africa, among other nations in the southern part of Africa.
Around the 1920s, white people in South Africa began using the term “Bantu.” Over time, the term began to be perceived as racially offensive and many modern South Africans prefer to use the term “African” instead due to the connotations with apartheid South Africa. In other regions of Africa, some people use the term more loosely, because it hasn’t become as race-laden as it has in South Africa.
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