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Buganda

Coordinates: 0°19′55″N 32°25′05″E / 0.33194°N 32.41806°E / 0.33194; 32.41806
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Buganda home of the ugandan knuckles
Subnational kingdom
Flag of Buganda home of the ugandan knuckles
Flag
Anthem: Ekitiibwa kya Buganda
Buganda is shaded red on this map
Buganda is shaded red on this map
Country Uganda
CapitalMengo
Government
 • KabakaRonald Muwenda Mutebi II
 • Katikkiro
(Prime Minister)		Charles Mayiga
Area
[1]
 • Total61,403.2 km2 (23,707.9 sq mi)
Elevation
1,200 m (3,900 ft)
Population
 (2002 census)[1]
 • Total6,575,425
 • Estimate 
(2011)
8,465,400
 • Density110/km2 (280/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+3 (EAT)
PersonMuganda
PeopleBaganda
LanguageLuganda
CountryBuganda
Kabaka Palace in Kampala

Buganda is a subnational kingdom within Uganda. The kingdom of the Ganda people, Buganda is the largest of the traditional kingdoms in present-day Uganda, comprising all of Uganda's Central Region, including the Ugandan capital Kampala. The 6 million Baganda (singular Muganda; often referred to simply by the root word and adjective, Ganda) make up the largest Ugandan ethnic group, representing approximately 16.9% of Uganda's population.[2]

Buganda has a long and extensive history. Unified in the 14th century under 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 eighteenth and 19th centuries. During the Scramble for Africa, and following unsuccessful attempts to retain its independence against British imperialism, Buganda became the centre of the Uganda Protectorate in 1894; 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.

Following Uganda's independence in 1962, the kingdom was abolished by Uganda's first Prime Minister Milton Obote in 1966. Following years of disturbance under Obote and dictator Idi Amin, as well as several years of internal divisions among Uganda's ruling National Resistance Movement under Yoweri Museveni, the President of Uganda since 1986, the kingdom was officially restored in 1993. Buganda is now a kingdom monarchy with a large degree of autonomy from the Ugandan state, although tensions between the kingdom and the Ugandan government continue to be a defining feature of Ugandan politics.

Since the restoration of the kingdom in 1993, the king of Buganda, known as the Kabaka, has been Muwenda Mutebi II. He is recognised as the 36th Kabaka of Buganda. The current queen, known as the Nnabagereka, is Queen Sylvia Nagginda.

Location

Buganda's boundaries are marked by Lake Victoria to the south, the River Nile to the east, Lake Kyoga to the north and River Kafu to the northwest.[3]

Language

The Luganda language is widely spoken in Uganda and is the most popular second language in Uganda along with English.[4]

In literature and common discourse, Buganda is often referred to as Central Uganda.[5]

Geography and environment

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.

History of Buganda

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 which was marred, however, by the ongoing practice of mass human sacrifice estimated at 800 persons annually.[6]

The explorer and journalist Henry Morton Stanley visited Buganda in 1875 and provided an estimate of Buganda troop strength. Stanley counted 3,000 troops and a fleet of war canoes. 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[7]: 152, 156, 164 

While in exile, Mwanga II was received into the Anglican Church, was baptized with the name of Danieri (Daniel). He spent the rest of his life in exile. He died in 1903, aged 35 years. In 1910 his remains were repatriated and buried at Kasubi. [8]

Attempted secession in Kayunga

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In September 2009, some members of the Banyala ethnic group led by Isabanyala Baker Kimeze announced that Bugerere had seceded from the Kingdom of Buganda. Because of the resulting tensions, the government of Uganda stopped the Kabaka of Buganda from traveling to Bugerere, leading to riots in the capital Kampala and neighboring districts. Thirty were killed in what came to be known as the Buganda riots.[9]

Demographics

A blind Buganda harpist c. 1911

Clans of Buganda

As of 2009, there were at least 52 recognised 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.[10]

Nansangwa

The oldest clans trace their lineage to Bakiranze kiva Bulaya, who are 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:[11]

  1. Lugave (Pangolin)
  2. Mmamba (Lungfish)
  3. Ngeye (Colobus monkey)
  4. Njaza (Reedbuck)
  5. Ennyange (Cattle egret)
  6. Fumbe (Civet cat)
  7. Ngonge (Otter)

Kintu migration

The Abalasangeye dynasty came to power through the conquests of Kabaka Kato Kintu,[12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19] which are estimated to have occurred sometime between 1200 and 1400 AD.

Thirteen clans are purported to have come with Kintu:

  1. Ekkobe (Liana fruit)
  2. Mbwa (Dog)
  3. Mpeewo (Oribi antelope)
  4. Mpologoma (Lion)
  5. Namuŋoona (Pied crow)
  6. Ngo (Leopard)
  7. Ŋonge (Otter)
  8. Njovu (Elephant)
  9. Nkejje (Sprat)
  10. Nkima (Vervet monkey)
  11. Ntalaganya (Blue duiker)
  12. Nvubu (Hippopotamus)
  13. Nvuma (Pearl)

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.

Kimera migration

Around 1370 AD another wave of immigration assisted by Kabaka Kimera,[20] 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.

These eleven clans are:

  1. Bugeme
  2. Butiko (Mushrooms)
  3. Kasimba (Genet)
  4. Kayozi (Jerboa)
  5. Kibe (Fox)
  6. Mbogo (Buffalo)
  7. Musu/Omusu (Edible rat)
  8. Ngabi (Bushbuck)
  9. Nkerebwe (Jungle Shrew)
  10. Nsuma (snout fish)
  11. Nseenene (Edible grasshopper)


Economy

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. 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.[21]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "Uganda: Administrative units (source: Uganda Bureau of Statistics)". GeoHive. Retrieved 18 June 2013.
  2. ^ Baganda are the largest ethnicity in Uganda
  3. ^ The Uganda Agreement of 1900
  4. ^ Languages Spoken in Uganda
  5. ^ Buganda Often called "Central Uganda"
  6. ^ Sagan, Eli (1985). At the Dawn of Tyranny: The Origins of Individualism, Political Oppression, and the State. NYC, USA: Vintage Books/Random House. p. 3. ISBN 0-394-74670-8. {{cite book}}: More than one of |pages= and |page= specified (help)
  7. ^ Stanley, H.M., 1899, Through the Dark Continent, London: G. Newnes, ISBN 0486256677
  8. ^ The History and Life of Kabaka Mwanga II
  9. ^ Kampala hit by renewed violence, BBC, 2009-09-11
  10. ^ Kyazze, Jones Yosia: The Ganda Clan System Archived 2007-11-29 at the Wayback Machine
  11. ^ Abalasangeye (Baganda) Dynasty starts around 1300AD
  12. ^ History of Buganda: From the Foundation of the Kingdom To 1900, CRC Press, 1972, pp. 35, 94, 95
  13. ^ shaping the Society Christianity and Culiture: Special Reference to the African Culture of Buganda, Author House, 2012, p. 94
  14. ^ The Kings of Buganda, East African Publishing House, 1971, p. 42
  15. ^ The historical tradition of Busoga, Mukama and Kintu, Clarendon Press, 1972, pp. 86, 87, 88
  16. ^ Chronology, migration, and drought in interlacustrine Africa, Africana Pub. Co, 1978, p. 150
  17. ^ Afrique des Grands lacs, Zone Books, 2003, p. 113
  18. ^ Myth, Ritual, and Kingship in Buganda, Oxford University Press, 1991, p. 95
  19. ^ The Bitter Bread of Exile: The Financial Problems of Sir Edward ..., Progressive Publishing, 2013, p. 6
  20. ^ Dictionary of African Historical Biography, University of California Press, 1989, pp. 72, 109
  21. ^ Baganda manufactured and wore bark cloth

Further reading

  • Media related to Buganda at Wikimedia Commons

0°19′55″N 32°25′05″E / 0.33194°N 32.41806°E / 0.33194; 32.41806

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