The Kabye (also known as Kabiye, Kabre, Cabrai), are a people living in the north central mountains and northern plains of Togo.
Kabye people also live in northwestern Benin near the Togolese border. The Logba or Lugba people of Benin are closely related to the Kabye. Broadly defined and subgroups included, the Kabiye people are the second largest ethnic group in Togo after the Ewe people, and they dominate the Togolese government and military.
Evala is the penultimate element of this initiation rite, during which young men are separated from their families for one week, residing in special huts where they are fed and subject to mental training. Prior to wrestling, participants go on a pilgrimage which involves climbing three mountains; those who do not complete it are not initiated into adulthood. Although wrestlers are initiated regardless of whether they win or not, losing is considered shameful to the family name. The last of these initiation rites is circumcision.
Notable people
The country's former president, Gnassingbé Eyadema, who took power in a coup, was of Kabye ethnicity.