The Tiv Of Central Nigeria

“ Tiv ” is the name applied to these people by themselves; they consider it the name of the original ancestor from whom they all trace agnatic descent. The early records, however, refer to the Tiv as Mitshi, apparently a Hausa corruption of Mbitse or Mbichi, the Jukun term for them. By the turn of the 20th century the most common term employed by writers is Munshi, the name by which Tiv are known to Hausa. Hausa, noted for their folk etymologies, say it means “ We have eaten (them),” the answer Tiv are said to have made to Hausa traders seeking brothers who had disappeared in Tivland. Tiv today say that this name was first applied to them by Fulani, and that it was a herd of Fulani cattle which they had eaten. The term Munshi was used officially until the 1920s, when it was discarded in favour of their own name for themselves, Tiv