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Some of earliest historical records about Kenya include:
- In 45 A.D, Hippalus, a Roman sailor, was pushed to the East African coast by the monsoon winds. This marked the beginning of the Roman Empire trade and exploration conquest.
- The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, an important discovery of the East African coast was written by an unknown Greek in the 1st century. It was a navigation guidebook dealing mainly with descriptions of places, conditions and trade; it had little information about East Africa's people.
- The "Geographia" by Ptolemy, a Greek, was written in the 2nd century. It described more trading posts along the Somali and Kenyan coastline.
- In the 7th and 10th Century, two Arabs explorers, Al Masudi and Ibn Batuta wrote about the East African coast.
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Most of Kenya's history and culture has revolved around one core catalyst: TRADE
Many of the tribe's present in Kenya participated in trade. Trade was very important because it gave rise to a cultures, and a way of life when people got together to engage in
commerce. Trade also promoted the rise of town and cities, which created settlements and employment, which resulted
in the need to form governments and councils to run the establishments. Trade in everyday goods was common among all communities. Essential items available only from certain communities were exchanged over greater distances. Such items required specialized skills to manufacture, example salt and iron. Important trade items included salt, iron, pottery, copper, cattle and foodstuffs.
Examples include:
Salt was quite rare and much in demand. The Luo bartered salt for finger millet from the Abagusii. The Vinza of Western Tanzania exchanged salt from their brine springs, with digging hoes and cattle from the Nyamwezi. Iron was very useful and much in demand. The Lango exchanged iron hoes for Banyoro livestock. The Ha and Zinza of northern Tanzania exchanged iron hoes, tools and weapons for Nyamwezi cattle. The Nyamwezi then bartered the hoes for ivory with other communities.
The Nyamwezi brought copper all the way inland from the Katanga copper-producing region. They sold some to the Ha and Sumbwa, who used it to hand-make ornaments. Some Luos of Western Kenya were expert potters and sold all sorts of useful pots. Many kinds of extra foodstuffs were traded among communities. Cows, sheep, goats and other domestic animals were also traded. For example, the Kikuyu exchanged food for Maasai cattle.
Archaeological remains in places like Hadaar in Ethiopia, Bigo in Uganda, Olduvai Gorge and Engaruko in Northern Tanzania and Olorgesaille in Kenya have assisted the world in knowing more about evolutionary origins like Zinjanthropus, Kenyapithecus and Lucy.
From a cultural aspect, present day Kenya is multi-racial and multi-ethnic; Africans of all origins live in Kenya: Native Africans, Afro-Arabs, Afro-Asians, and Afro-Europeans.
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