abstract:KiKAR is, or was, a Swahili pidgin spoken among the King's African Rifles (KAR) of British colonial East Africa (Kenya, Uganda, Malawi). Although there were, by design, no native Swahili speakers among the KAR, Swahili still functioned as the lingua franca, and a simplified version of it served as a military jargon and pidgin for the troops.