Europeans were the whites who came into East Africa from the continent of Europe. They came from countries such as Britain, France, Germany and others. The various groups that came into east were: The explorers, missionaries, traders and imperialists THE EXPLORERS IN EAST AFRICA REASONS FOR THE COMING OF THE EXPLORERS TO EAST AFRICA 1. To explore means to discover, research, find out about something. Those who are involved in exploration are called explorers. 2. In East Africa, explorers were people who came from Europe to discover more about the people of East Africa and the surrounding. 3. In East Africa, the early explorers were: Burton, Speke, Grant, Stanley, Livingstone, Krapft, Rebmann, Count Teleliki, Sir Samuel Baker and Thompson among others. 4. The explorer came to East Africa because of the following reasons: 5. They came to discover the source of the Nile River because it had been a mystery disturbing European explorers. 6. Other explorers came to discover the social aspects of the East African people like cultures, beliefs and customs. 7. Some of the explorers were Christians who came to spread the word of God. 8. They came to discover the commercial and economic values of the East Africa like minerals, soils and trade. 9. They came to find out how the East African leaders related with foreigners. 10. Others were also aware of the trading activities in East Africa and therefore they wanted to get items like gold, ostrich feathers, human labour and so on. 11. Other explorers were looking for fertile soils, where to carry out agriculture in order to produce raw materials for their industries. 12. Some of them also came to look for areas for settlement of excess population.
13. Others came to identify navigable rivers and lakes, which would assist in the movement of the Europeans like missionaries, imperialists, and traders. Such rivers would include: the Congo, Niger, and Nile Rivers. 14. They came to find ways of starting a legitimate trade with the people of East Africa after the decline of the long distance trade. 15. They came to revenge on the Arab activities in East Africa, for example they never wanted the Arabs to spread Islamic religion into the interior. 16. Others came to widen their knowledge about the area the East African people live in. 17. They came to win prestige from their home countries as discoverers of great physical features in East Africa like mountains, lakes and rivers among others. 18. Some explorers took risks because East Africa was regarded to be a “Whiteman’s grave”. 19. They came as colonial agents to look for territories on behalf of their home governments. 20. They came because of the good reports made by the earlier Portuguese explorers, who had come to the coast.