Iloikop wars

The Iloikop wars were a series of wars between the Maasai and a community referred to as Kwavi and later between Maasai and alliance of reformed Kwavi communities. These were pastoral communities that occupied large tracts of East Africa's savannas during the late 18th and 19th centuries. These wars occurred between c.1830 and 1880.

For these communities, a delicate balance existed between the amount of pasture land required for successful pastoralism and the number of men and animals available to exploit it effectively. It has been suggested that the Iloikop wars resulted from demographic pressure within these societies leading to congestion and conflict.

The Iloikop wars ended in the 1870s with the defeat and dispersal of the Laikipiak. However, the new territory acquired by the Maasai was vast and left them overextended thus unable to occupy it effectively.