Buganda is a Bantu kingdom within Uganda. The kingdom of the Baganda people, Buganda is the largest of the traditional kingdoms in present-day East Africa, consisting of Uganda's Central Region, including the Ugandan capital Kampala. The 14 million Baganda (singular Muganda; often referred to simply by the root word and adjective, Ganda) make up the largest Ugandan region, representing approximately 16% of Uganda's population.[3][4]
Buganda's history includes unification during the 13th century by the first king Kato Kintu, the founder of Buganda's Kintu Dynasty, Buganda grew to become one of the largest and most powerful states in East Africa during the 18th and 19th centuries.[citation needed] Before the 12th century, the present-day Buganda region was a kingdom known as Muwawa, which means a sparsely populated place. During the Scramble for Africa, and following unsuccessful attempts to retain its independence against British imperialism, Buganda became the center of the Uganda Protectorate in 1884; the name Uganda, the Swahili term for Buganda, was adopted by British officials. Under British rule, many Baganda acquired status as colonial administrators, and Buganda became a major producer of cotton and coffee.
Since the restoration of the kingdom in 1993, the King of Buganda, known as the Kabaka, has been Muwenda Mutebi II. He is recognized as the 36th Kabaka of Buganda. The current queen, known as the Nnabagereka or Kaddulubale is Queen Sylvia Nagginda.[5]
It was a rich country, the most favoured part of the Lakeland, which is the most favoured part of Africa. Thanks to the great inland sea that the Ganda call Nalubaale, 'Mother of the gods', it enjoys a very reliable supply of rain. There are two official seasons of precipitation, the long rains from March through June and the shorter but fiercer rains, often accompanied by thunderstorms of extraordinary violence, in October-November; but few months are wholly rainless and prolonged drought is unknown. Being on the Equator it is warm all the year round, but as it is around 4,000 feet above sea-level it is never oppressively hot. And if climate has been kind, geology has been even kinder. Buganda is a land of small green hills, each rising some 200-400 feet above the valley floor. Many are flat-topped; for the land was once a plateau that has mostly crumbled away. As a result, the long slopes are covered with soils that are young and well supplied with plant nutrients. Deep, well structured, not easily eroded, they support a lush vegetation of which the characteristic feature is tenfoot-tall Elephant grass.
Ganda villages, sometimes as large as forty to fifty homes, were generally located on hillsides, leaving hilltops and swampy lowlands uninhabited, to be used for crops or pastures. Early Ganda villages surrounded the home of a chief or headman, which provided a common meeting ground for members of the village. The chief collected tribute from his subjects, provided tribute to the Kabaka, who was the ruler of the kingdom, distributed resources among his subjects, maintained order, and reinforced social solidarity through his decision-making skills. During the late 19th century, Ganda villages became more dispersed as the role of the chiefs diminished in response to political turmoil, population migration, and occasional popular revolts.
The Baganda have a creation myth that says that the first man on earth (and Buganda in particular) was Kintu. Kintu married Nnambi, the daughter of the god, Ggulu. The Baganda are the descendants of Kintu and Nnambi. According to this myth, Walumbe, Nambi's jealous brother is responsible for all human disease and death on earth. Another brother, Kayiikuuzi tried to protect humans from Walumbe but failed. To this day, Kayiikuuzi is still trying to capture Walumbe from the underground where he hides and take him back home.
Ganda oral history reveals that Buganda was distinct and of at least equal antiquity to that of its historical rival, Kitara.[8] According to the historian Christopher Wrigley, "It is unlikely that Buganda was fully integrated into the system that was probably not called Kitara. Its language is distinct from 'Rutara', and the directors of the Ntusi and Biggo systems would not have had much interest in a land that was not really suited to cattle-rearing".[9] It is indeed very likely that the Buganda state is much more ancient than has previously been thought. Buganda began as a small kingdom in the north of Lake Victoria in what is now Busiro County.[10]
A political structure of some sort, small in scale and mainly ritual in function, may be taken to have existed in northern Busiro, where the ancient shrines are clustered, at a time far beyond the reach of historical tradition...the rituals of Ganda kingship are both too elaborate and too archaic in character to have been evolved within the past few centuries.
Before the arrival of Europeans in the region, Buganda was an expanding, "embryonic empire".[12] It built fleets of war canoes from the 1840s to take control of Lake Victoria and the surrounding regions and subjugated several weaker peoples. These subject peoples were then exploited for cheap labor.[12] The first Europeans to enter the Kingdom of Buganda were British explorers John Hanning Speke and Captain Sir Richard Francis Burton while searching for the headwaters of the Nile in 1862. They found a highly organized political system.[13]
Kabaka Palace in KampalaTombs of Buganda Kings at Kasubi
Buganda was colonized by the British[14] and made a protectorate of the United Kingdom in 1884. The move towards independence reached a climax when the Lukiiko, the parliament of Buganda, declared independence on 8 October 1960 and requested that the British protectorate be terminated.
While in exile, Mwanga II was received into the Anglican Church and was baptized with the name of Danieri (Daniel). He spent the rest of his life in exile. He died in 1903, at 35 years of age. In 2010 his remains were repatriated and buried at Kasubi.[15]
On 24 July 1993, the monarchy of Buganda was restored when Ronald Muwenda Mutebi II was crowned king. Ronald Muwenda Mutebi II was the son of King 'Freddy', who had been deposed by the Ugandan government in 1966.[16]
In September 2009, some members of the minority[17]Banyala ethnic group, led by the recently retired UPDF Captain Isabanyala Baker Kimeze,[18] announced that Bugerere had seceded from the Kingdom of Buganda. The Banyala make up 0.09% of the population of Uganda[17] and 13% of the population of the district, Kayunga, which they claimed to be leading into secession.[19] Because of the resulting tensions, the government of Uganda prevented the Kabaka of Buganda from traveling to Bugerere, leading to riots in the capital Kampala and its neighboring districts. Thirty were killed in what came to be known as the Buganda riots.[20]
On July 31, 2023, Buganda unveiled portraits of its former Kings (bassekabaka) based on oral narrations and written histories dating back to the founding of the kingdom.[21]
Prior to the Buganda Agreement of 1900, Buganda was an almost absolute monarchy.[23] Under the Kabaka, there were three types of chief: bakungu (administrative) chiefs, who were appointed directly by the Kabaka; traditional bataka chieftains; and batongole chiefs, who served as representatives of the Kabaka, charged with "maintaining internal security, supervising royal estates and military duties".[24] The 1900 agreement, however, greatly enhanced the power of the Lukiiko (which had previously been simply an advisory council) at the expense of the Kabaka.[25] While Buganda retained self-government, as one part of the larger Uganda Protectorate, it would henceforth be subject to formal British overrule.[23] The Buganda Agreement of 1955 continued the transition from absolute to constitutional monarchy.[26]
During Uganda independence, the constitutional position of Buganda (and the degree to which it would be able to exercise self-government) was a major issue.[26] Discussions as part of the Uganda Relationships Commission resulted in the Buganda Agreement of 1961 and the first Constitution of Uganda (1962), as part of which Buganda would be able to exercise a high degree of autonomy. This position was reversed during 1966–67, however, before the Kabakaship and Lukiiko were disestablished altogether in 1967[27] before being restored in 1993.
The explorer and journalist Henry Morton Stanley visited Buganda in 1875. At Buganda's capital, Lubaga, Stanley found a well-ordered town surrounding the king's palace, which was situated atop a commanding hill. A tall cane fence surrounded the palace compound, which was filled with grass-roofed houses, meeting halls, and storage buildings. Thronging the grounds were foreign ambassadors seeking audiences, chiefs going to the royal advisory council, messengers running errands, and a corps of young pages. He estimated the population of the kingdom at 2,000,000[28]: 152, 156, 164
Population estimates for Kampala, the capital of Buganda, at the time of Kabaka Mutesa, in 1862, run as high as 77,000. Wrigley thinks that Kampala was probably the largest agglomeration of population in interior Africa, and that it had certain urban characteristics by the time Mutesa had ascended the throne Kampala, the capital, was the heart of the Ganda state and the center of the redistributive network that encompassed it.
As a rule, Ganda roads were remarkably straight, cutting over the crests of hills and through valleys, forests, swamps and rivers. Early visitors to Buganda describe the well-planned and carefully maintained system of roads, which radiated from the capital to all corners of the kingdom. The importance of these rapid means of communication in what the anthropologist Audrey Richards has called a "pedestrian state", especially one whose terrain is covered with dense vegetation and contains innumerable papyrus swamps and streams, is evident. They enabled the king and his officials at the capital to maintain close political contact even with outlying parts of the kingdom, all of which could easily be reached by a runner within a day or two. Buganda's excellent means of communication enabled the Kabaka "to maintain active control over a territory one quarter the size of England without written communication and with no means of travel on land beyond the human foot" [30][31]
When John Hanning Speke visited Buganda in 1862, he described the kingdom's roads as being "as long as our coach-roads, cut through the long grasses, straight over the hills and down through the woods in the dells—a strange contrast to the wretched tracks in all the adjacent countries."[32]
water transport was very important for Buganda and greatly helped in the kingdom's expansion via its fleet of war canoes. Water transport also provided a means of political communication between the capital, which was usually sited fairly close to the lake, and outlying areas of the Kingdom along the lake shore, as well as the islands. The island chiefs had to maintain a great fleet of canoes ready for state service.[33] The Mamba clan specialized in water transport and provided the kingdom’s overall “chief of canoes.”[34]
The use of talking drums to spread messages was widespread in Buganda.[35]
The Baganda army consisted of district levies and each was headed by a royal-appointed chief or governor and remained the basic unit of military organization. All districts were expected to provide soldiers when called by the king.[36] An army usually carried at least a month’s supply of food, though it generally lived off the countryside.[37]
Kabaka Kamanya’s reign in the early nineteenth century was known as one of “restless warfare”. His successor Suna, carried on sixteen major military expeditions in a twenty-six- year reign. Under the Reign of Kabaka Suna II, Buganda's borders were strengthened through the perfection of an army organization which was able to field 50,000 warriors.[38] The Katikiro (prime minister) Apollo Kaggwa speaks of wars being waged regularly every six months. Under Mutesa, there were sixty-six wars in twenty-eight years.[39]
In the 1890s, raiding parties of up to 20,000 Baganda were mobilized to plunder the rival kingdom of Bunyoro.[40]
The explorer and journalist Henry Morton Stanley visited Buganda in 1875 and provided an estimate of Buganda troop strength. Stanley counted 125,000 troops and a fleet of war canoes.[28]
Baganda war canoes could carry 60 to 100 warriors (not including the crew of 50 to 100). These vessels were organized into a squadron under a leader. When engaged in battle, the paddlers squatted on the sides of the canoes while the warriors stood upright holding spears and shields. In 1878, Mutesa sent a fleet to Ukerewe Island, where it helped the local ruler, Lukonge put down a rebellion. The next year, the Baganda mounted successful slave raids against Busoga and the Buvuma Islands.[41]
As of 2009, there were at least 52 recognized clans within the kingdom, with at least another four making a claim to clan status. Within this group of clans, there are four distinct sub-groups, which reflect historical waves of immigration to Buganda.[42]
The oldest clans trace their lineage to Bakiranze Kivebulaya, who is supposed to have ruled in the region from about 400 AD until about 1300 AD. These seven clans are referred to as the Nansangwa, or the indigenous:[43]
The Abalasangeye dynasty came to power through the conquests of Kabaka of Buganda ssekabaka Kintu,[44][45][46][47] which are estimated to have occurred sometime between 1200 and 1400 AD.[48][49][50][51]
The descendants of the Basimba people (also known as Bashimba) which is a Bisa and Ambo nickname of the Clan of the leopards, the bena Ngo in Zambia, who settled at Mpogo, Sironko District, are among the Ngo Clan group that come along with Kabaka Kato Kintu in his immigration.
Around 1370 AD another wave of immigration began, assisted by Kabaka Kimera,[52] who was the son of Omulangira Kalemeera. Kabaka Kimera was born in Kibulala, and returned to Buganda with Jjumba of the Nkima clan and other Buganda elders.
There are several religions practiced in Buganda. The largest are Catholicism, Anglicanism, Islam, and the traditional Kiganda religion. Some people practice both traditional religions as well as Christianity or Islam.
The traditional Ganda economy relied on crop cultivation. In contrast with many other East African economic systems, cattle played only a minor role. Many Baganda hired laborers from outside Buganda to herd the Baganda's cattle, for those who owned livestock. Bananas were the most important staple food, providing the economic base for the region's dense population growth.[53]
This crop does not require shifting cultivation or bush fallowing to maintain soil fertility, and as a result, Ganda villages were quite permanent. Women did most of the agricultural work, while men often engaged in commerce and politics (and in precolonial times, warfare). Before the introduction of woven cloth, traditional clothing was manufactured from the bark of trees.[54]
The royal craftsmen were a protected minority that were gifted land and were exempt from paying taxes or labour duties. The blacksmiths especially were extremely skilled and their work was highly specialized and sought after. Margaret Trowell describes further:[55]
The leader of the royal craftsmen and often his second in command holds a hereditary position and comes from one particular clan, although the workmen under him may be of any clan. But among the smiths many of the clans seem to have their own closed groups where all the workmen will be of one clan and where only a certain type of work is done. Thus the Nvubu clan have always been makers of the royal shields and the bracelets, anklets and other ornaments for the Kings' wives; while the Ente clan make the weapons and agricultural implements.
Leatherworking and tanning was an important industry and employed significant numbers of subjects. An account from 1874 describes the tanning of leather by the bakopi (commoners) who made large sheets of leather than were "beautifully tanned and sewed together". A resident missionary in 1879 reported purchasing dyed leather skins cut in the shape of a hat. Cowhides were fashioned into sandals worn by the elite and priests since before the 18th century, with buffalo hides specifically worn by chiefs and the elite.[56]
As early as the 1860s, professional smiths attached to the court were making ammunition for imported firearms, and by 1892, Federick Lugard observed that the Ganda smiths: "will construct you a new stock to a rifle which you will hardly detect from that made by a London gun-maker. The Fundi Kisule, who learnt his art from Mackay, is an accomplished blacksmith and gunsmith, and will make a new spring or repair any damaged rifle with admirable workmanship. Their folding stools of rod iron, and their beautifully-tumed-out spears, attest their ability as blacksmiths."[57]
Pre-colonial Buganda was a strongly hierarchical and patriarchal kingdom. However, of the three people who could be called "Kabaka" or king two were women, the queen mother (Namasole) and the queen sister (Lubuga).[58] The Queen mother was the most important woman in the kingdom and had political and ritual powers that resembled the king. The Namasole possessed her own courts and estates and had the power to collect taxes.[59] The death of the Kabaka's mother could instigate a time of terror, as the Kabaka would have his executioners catch and kill many people in his grief.[60]
The Queen sister effectively shared the throne with her brother and had the same powers he had, for example, she controlled land throughout the country with estates in each district, and she had her own courts and her own chiefs with the same titles as those of the king's chiefs.[61][62] For their own subjects, the Namasole and Lubuga were the final decision makers and arbiters. The Lubuga’s palace was about twice the size of that of an important wife of the king. The others had more elaborate palaces.
[63] After the death of a king, the lùbugà took the title nnaalinnya (I will soon ascend) and became responsible for protecting the shrines in which the deceased king’s jawbone and umbilical cord were kept. This shrine was where the òmuzimù (spirit) of the king resided and so "the lùbugà/nnaalinnya held significant creative power even after leaving office."[64]
The senior wives of the king would also warrant special respect and had status and privilege within Ganda society. She was considered superior to all other chiefs and technically the most powerful commoner, being a royal by marriage. The Katikkiro (prime minister) and most chiefs in Buganda were under the control of the elite titled wives of the king[65] The titled wives were privy to state secrets and were heavily involved in court politics and in vying for power through their sons and clans. Since succession was decided by the king's mothers clan, in order to consolidate clan support, the sons of the king adopted the totems of their mothers and not of their fathers.[66][67]
Women would also participate in military campaigns. Princess Nakuyita was second in command of Kabaka Sunna II's army in the early 1800s.[68][69]
The Àbàmbejja (Princesses) had many privileges, including the right to own land. They were shown great respect by chiefs and were exempted from many restrictions faced by the commoner women. Under Mutesa I (1824-1884) princesses were given to chiefs to consolidate their patron-client relations. Many princesses became spirit wives by ‘marrying’ the Balùbaalè (national deities) and were thus able to mobilise creative power to influence the king and the queen mother. One princess, the favorite wife of the king, and another titled woman in Mukaabya Mutesa’s court were instrumental in deposing the Katikkiro (prime minister), Kayira, because they felt he had claimed too much power.[70][71] Princess Ndege Nassolo organized a successful rebellion of chiefs and princes against her brother, the cruel king Kagulu (1674-1704). Kagulu managed to escape capture after his capital fell but was later caught. Ndege Nassolo had Kagulu drowned in Lake Victoria.[72][73][74]
In the 13-15th centuries, women are said to have ruled as kabaka; Sir John Gray claims that there is abundant evidence of this. One such ruler was Naku, the daughter of Mukibi, the founder of the Lugave (Pangolin) clan and the wife of Kabaka Kimera. Naku was so powerful that every king that followed Kimera took a wife from her clan and called her Naku.[75][76][77] Ganda history remembers another female Kabaka, Queen Nanono, wife of Kabaka Nakibinge (1494-1524), gained her fame from a battle with the Banyoro at Mpigi (which the Baganda lost) while pregnant. After finding out the king had died in battle, she rallied the Baganda warriors and prevented further losses. Thereafter she ruled the country for eighteen months and would have been chosen kabaka had she birthed a male child. Queen Nanano belonged to the Ngo (Leopard) clan, which brought prestige to her clan-mates, who initiated a new name for their daughters: Nnabulya (we also ruled).[78][79][80]
Kiganda cuisine is dominated by Matooke. The matooke is sometimes prepared as part of Katogo.
The main dishes are almost always served with stew, soup or sauce.
Historically, Barkcloth was the textile of choice mainly worn by the royals from the days of Ssekabaka Kimera and later everyone else starting with the reign of Ssekabaka Semakookiro. Barkcloth is no longer as popular as it once was and has been replaced with cotton and silk. However, some fashion designers like Jose Hendo, still use it today. Barkcloth is also worn as a symbol of protest, mourning, or both. The traditional dress is the Kanzu for men and the Gomesi for women. However, Western-style fashion is very popular these days.
Some of the more common hairstyles are Bantu knots (especially Bitutwa), cornrows, Pencil braids (Biswahili), Braids, Crotchets, Weaves and Afros.
The Luganda language is widely spoken in Uganda and is the most popular language in Uganda along with English. Luganda is also widely spoken in and around other countries in East Africa, such as Kenya, Tanzania and Rwanda. It is even used in South Sudan, mostly for business transactions. Luganda is the most spoken local language in Uganda. Despite all efforts made by different governments to promote Kiswahili over the language, it has survived and is still growing.[3]
In literature and common discourse, Buganda is often referred to as Central Uganda.[81]
^Mushengyezi, Aaron (2003). "Rethinking Indigenous Media: Rituals, 'Talking' Drums and Orality as Forms of Public Communication in Uganda". Journal of African Cultural Studies. 16 (1): 107–117. doi:10.1080/1369681032000169302. JSTOR3181389. S2CID145085458.
^Schiller, Laurence D (1 January 1990). "The Royal Women of Buganda". The International Journal of African Historical Studies. 23 (3): 455–473. doi:10.2307/219599. JSTOR219599.
^Schiller, Laurence D (1 January 1990). "The Royal Women of Buganda". International Journal of African Historical Studies. 23 (3): 455–471. doi:10.2307/219599. JSTOR219599.
^Schiller, Laurence (1 January 1990). "The Royal Women of Buganda". International Journal of African Historical Studies. 23 (3): 455–471. doi:10.2307/219599. JSTOR219599.
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