The Mau Mau Uprising is an insurgency by Kenyan rebels against the British Empire administration that lasts from 1952 to 1960.

The core of the resistance is formed by members of the Kikuyu ethnic group, along with smaller numbers of Embu and Meru.

The uprising fails militarily, though it may have hastened Kenyan independence.

It creates a rift between the white colonial community in Kenya and the Home Office in London that sets the stage for Kenyan independence in 1963.

It is sometimes called the Mau Mau Rebellion or the Mau Mau Revolt, or, in official documents, the Kenya Emergency.The name Mau Mau for the rebel movement is not coined by the movement itself- they call themselves Muingi ("The Movement"), Muigwithania ("The Understanding"), Muma wa Uiguano ("The Oath of Unity") or simply "The KCA", after the Kikuyu Central Association that had created the impetus for the insurgency.

Veterans of the independence movement refer to themselves as the "Land and Freedom Army" in English.