NANDI, an East African tribe of mixed Nilotic, Bantu and Hamitic origin. With them are more or less closely allied the Lumbwa (correctly Kipsikis), Buret (or Puret) and Sotik (Soot) tribes, as well as the Elgonyi (properly Kony) of Mount Elgon. They have also affinities with the Masai. The Nandi-Lumbwa peoples inhabit the country stretching south from Mount Elgon to about i° S. and bounded east by the escarpment of the eastern rift-valley and west by the territory of the tribes. such as the Kavirondo, dwelling round the Victoria Nyanza. They have given their name to the Nandi plateau. They have a double administra tive system, the chief medicine man or Orkoiyot being supreme chief and regulating war affairs, while representatives of the people, called Kiruogik, manage the ordinary affairs of the tribe.
The medicine men are of Masai origin and the office is hereditary. The young men form a separate warrior class to whom is entrusted the care of the country. A
period of about 71 years is spent in this class, and the ceremony of handing over the country from one "age" to the succeeding "age" is of great importance. (See AGE GRADES.) The arms of the warriors are a stabbing spear, shield, sword and club. Many also possess rifles. All the Nandi are divided into clans, each having its sacred animal or totem. They have no towns, each family living on the land it cultivates. The huts are of circular pattern. The Nandi believe in a supreme deity—Asis—who takes a benevolent interest in their welfare, and to whom prayers are addressed daily. Their language is Nilotic. The primitive hunting tribe known as the Wandorobo speak a dialect closely resembling Nandi.
See A. C. Hollis, The Nandi: Their Lan guage and with introduction by Sir Charles Eliot (19°9), and the works there cited.