Question

why was the Maasai land cut into half

Answer 1

Maasail and was cut into half with an international boundary between British Kenya and German Tanganyika.Subsequently, grazing lands were taken over for White settlement and the Maasai were pushed into a small area in South Kenya and North Tanganyika. The Maasai lost about 60% of their precolonial lands. Encouragement was given by the British colonial government in East Africa to peasant communities to expand cultivation and pasture lands were converted into cultivated fields. Large areas of grazing land were also turned into game reserves like the Maasai Mara and Samburu National Park in Kenya and Serengeti Park in Tanganyika.

Answer 2

The Maasai are a native African ethnic community of a semi-nomadic people who before the colonial rule resided in Kenya and Northern Tanzania. The land this community occupied was cut down into two half by an international line between Britain and Germany. Through this share, the best grazing grounds were steadily taken over for the settlements of whites and the Maasai were driven into a small field in southern Kenya and North Tanzania. The British colonial administration in East Africa also urged local peasant societies to extend agriculture. As farming increased, pasture-lands were transformed into farmed fields. The pastoralists (Maasai people) were not allowed to enter in the defined territories. Therefore, it may be said that the main cause for the cut in the Maasai land into half was the Colonial expansion.