Empire of Kitara
Encyclopedia
The Empire of Kitara is a strong part of oral tradition
in the area of the Great Lakes of Africa, including the modern countries of Uganda
, northern Tanzania
, eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo
, Rwanda
and Burundi
. For almost a century, from the advent of direct European contact in the later 19th century to the latter 20th century, much of scholarship treated the tales as a representation of historical fact, but more recently the scholarship, led by University of Paris
scholar Jean-Pierre Chrétien, has cast doubt on the historicality of the stories, interpreting them as a myth. In The Great Lakes of Africa: Two Thousand Years of History, Chrétien contends that the story was created as a response to the dawn of rule under the Luo
empire, the sole historical record of an organized Nilotic
migration into the area.
, northern Tanzania
and eastern Congo (DRC)
, ruled by a dynasty known as the Bachwezi (or Chwezi) who were the successors of the Batembuzi
Dynasty.
According to the story, the Kitara Empire lasted until the 16th century, when it was invaded by Luo people
, who came from the South of the present-day Sudan
and established the kingdom of Bunyoro-Kitara. However, there is no historical record whatsoever that confirms this hypothesis, and to be sure, no linguistic relic of the so-called Chwezi empire exists in either Kenya, Tanzania, or parts of central Uganda. Moreover, the Chwezi were purportedly a pastoral (nomadic) people, implying that some of the dense forested area of central Uganda would have not been conducive to their lifestyle.
Evidence suggests that the clans of Buganda, for instance, have their own history (based on oral tradition) that is exclusive of the history of the Kingdom of Buganda. Yet, the so-called Chwezi empire appears not to have left any clans behind or any organizational structure. This further cements the thesis that the so-called claims of the Bachwezi Empire are indeed apocryphal at best, and possibly mythological at worst.
and oral tradition
. A number of current Great Lakes kingdoms claim inheritance from the ancient Kitara empire, ruled by a dynasty known as the Bachwezi. The reign of the Bachwezi is shrouded in mystery and legend, so much so that many traditional gods in Toro, Bunyoro
and Buganda
have names associated with the Bachwezi kings.
The Bachwezi are often associated with great earthwork sites found in western Uganda. Archaeological discoveries made at Bigo bya Mugenyi, the capital of the empire, and Ntusi located in present day Mubende District
of Uganda, reveal rich deposits of an urban centre which represented a highly organized society.
from the north. A Luo clan known as the Biito, led by a Chief called Labongo, invaded Bunyoro
, the northernmost province of Kitara, from where the empire was ruled. The Luo had migrated from present-day Sudan
, and would later settle large areas of northern Uganda, and around the north-eastern shores of Lake Victoria
. Labongo established his rule in what was now Bunyoro-Kitara, becoming Isingoma Mpuga Rukidi, the first in line of the Babiito kings which provided the dynasties that also ruled in the kingdoms of Toro, Kooki, and some chiefdoms of Busoga
.
To the south of Bunyoro, the rest of the Kitara was superseded by the development of several kingdoms located within, or across, the span of several present-day national boundaries, including Ankole
mainly in Uganda, Karagwe and Kyamutwara in Tanzania
, and the kingdoms of Burundi and Rwanda.
, one of the earliest Europeans to make contact with the people of interlacustrine Africa, accepted it at face value, fitting it into his interpretation of the Hamitic hypothesis, which he used to assert that the evidences of organized, more sophisticated populations of Sub-Saharan Africa
were the result of a wave of Nilotic migration, namely from Egypt
and Sudan
. Into the 20th century, major scholars, including Roland Oliver
, at one point accepted the major claims of the stories.
Oral tradition
Oral tradition and oral lore is cultural material and traditions transmitted orally from one generation to another. The messages or testimony are verbally transmitted in speech or song and may take the form, for example, of folktales, sayings, ballads, songs, or chants...
in the area of the Great Lakes of Africa, including the modern countries of Uganda
Uganda
Uganda , officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. Uganda is also known as the "Pearl of Africa". It is bordered on the east by Kenya, on the north by South Sudan, on the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on the southwest by Rwanda, and on the south by...
, northern Tanzania
Tanzania
The United Republic of Tanzania is a country in East Africa bordered by Kenya and Uganda to the north, Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west, and Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique to the south. The country's eastern borders lie on the Indian Ocean.Tanzania is a state...
, eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo
Democratic Republic of the Congo
The Democratic Republic of the Congo is a state located in Central Africa. It is the second largest country in Africa by area and the eleventh largest in the world...
, Rwanda
Rwanda
Rwanda or , officially the Republic of Rwanda , is a country in central and eastern Africa with a population of approximately 11.4 million . Rwanda is located a few degrees south of the Equator, and is bordered by Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo...
and Burundi
Burundi
Burundi , officially the Republic of Burundi , is a landlocked country in the Great Lakes region of Eastern Africa bordered by Rwanda to the north, Tanzania to the east and south, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west. Its capital is Bujumbura...
. For almost a century, from the advent of direct European contact in the later 19th century to the latter 20th century, much of scholarship treated the tales as a representation of historical fact, but more recently the scholarship, led by University of Paris
University of Paris
The University of Paris was a university located in Paris, France and one of the earliest to be established in Europe. It was founded in the mid 12th century, and officially recognized as a university probably between 1160 and 1250...
scholar Jean-Pierre Chrétien, has cast doubt on the historicality of the stories, interpreting them as a myth. In The Great Lakes of Africa: Two Thousand Years of History, Chrétien contends that the story was created as a response to the dawn of rule under the Luo
Luo (family of ethnic groups)
The Luo are an ethnic linguistic group located in an area that stretches from South Sudan and Ethiopia through northern Uganda and eastern Congo , into western Kenya, and ending in the upper tip of Tanzania. These people speak an Eastern Sudanic language, a branch of the Nilo-Saharan language...
empire, the sole historical record of an organized Nilotic
Nilotic
Nilotic people or Nilotes, in its contemporary usage, refers to some ethnic groups mainly in South Sudan, Uganda, Kenya, and northern Tanzania, who speak Nilotic languages, a large sub-group of the Nilo-Saharan languages...
migration into the area.
Oral tradition
In the oral tradition, Kitara was a kingdom which, at the height of its power in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, included much of UgandaUganda
Uganda , officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. Uganda is also known as the "Pearl of Africa". It is bordered on the east by Kenya, on the north by South Sudan, on the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on the southwest by Rwanda, and on the south by...
, northern Tanzania
Tanzania
The United Republic of Tanzania is a country in East Africa bordered by Kenya and Uganda to the north, Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west, and Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique to the south. The country's eastern borders lie on the Indian Ocean.Tanzania is a state...
and eastern Congo (DRC)
Democratic Republic of the Congo
The Democratic Republic of the Congo is a state located in Central Africa. It is the second largest country in Africa by area and the eleventh largest in the world...
, ruled by a dynasty known as the Bachwezi (or Chwezi) who were the successors of the Batembuzi
Batembuzi
The Batembuzi were a medieval civilisation in the Lake Victoria-Nyanza region in Eastern Africa. They are credited by mythology and oral tradition to be the originators of the Empire of Kitara.-Mythology:...
Dynasty.
According to the story, the Kitara Empire lasted until the 16th century, when it was invaded by Luo people
Luo (family of ethnic groups)
The Luo are an ethnic linguistic group located in an area that stretches from South Sudan and Ethiopia through northern Uganda and eastern Congo , into western Kenya, and ending in the upper tip of Tanzania. These people speak an Eastern Sudanic language, a branch of the Nilo-Saharan language...
, who came from the South of the present-day Sudan
Sudan
Sudan , officially the Republic of the Sudan , is a country in North Africa, sometimes considered part of the Middle East politically. It is bordered by Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the northeast, Eritrea and Ethiopia to the east, South Sudan to the south, the Central African Republic to the...
and established the kingdom of Bunyoro-Kitara. However, there is no historical record whatsoever that confirms this hypothesis, and to be sure, no linguistic relic of the so-called Chwezi empire exists in either Kenya, Tanzania, or parts of central Uganda. Moreover, the Chwezi were purportedly a pastoral (nomadic) people, implying that some of the dense forested area of central Uganda would have not been conducive to their lifestyle.
Evidence suggests that the clans of Buganda, for instance, have their own history (based on oral tradition) that is exclusive of the history of the Kingdom of Buganda. Yet, the so-called Chwezi empire appears not to have left any clans behind or any organizational structure. This further cements the thesis that the so-called claims of the Bachwezi Empire are indeed apocryphal at best, and possibly mythological at worst.
Batembuzi and Bachwezi dynasties
The Empire of Kitara was founded by the Batembuzi Dynasty, who were succeeded by Bachwezi Dynasty. Little is known about the Batembuzi and Bachwezi, or when they established Kitara. Much of what is known is based on mythologyMythology
The term mythology can refer either to the study of myths, or to a body or collection of myths. As examples, comparative mythology is the study of connections between myths from different cultures, whereas Greek mythology is the body of myths from ancient Greece...
and oral tradition
Oral tradition
Oral tradition and oral lore is cultural material and traditions transmitted orally from one generation to another. The messages or testimony are verbally transmitted in speech or song and may take the form, for example, of folktales, sayings, ballads, songs, or chants...
. A number of current Great Lakes kingdoms claim inheritance from the ancient Kitara empire, ruled by a dynasty known as the Bachwezi. The reign of the Bachwezi is shrouded in mystery and legend, so much so that many traditional gods in Toro, Bunyoro
Bunyoro
Bunyoro is a kingdom in Western Uganda. It was one of the most powerful kingdoms in East Africa from the 16th to the 19th century. It is ruled by the Omukama of Bunyoro...
and Buganda
Buganda
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, with the exception of the disputed eastern Kayunga District...
have names associated with the Bachwezi kings.
The Bachwezi are often associated with great earthwork sites found in western Uganda. Archaeological discoveries made at Bigo bya Mugenyi, the capital of the empire, and Ntusi located in present day Mubende District
Mubende District
Mubende is a district in Central Uganda. Like most other Ugandan districts, it is named after its 'chief town', Mubende. Mubende District was reduced in size in July 2005 with the creation of Mityana District.-Location:...
of Uganda, reveal rich deposits of an urban centre which represented a highly organized society.
Babiito dynasty
The Kitara Empire finally broke up during the 16th century with the advent of the invading Luo peopleLuo (family of ethnic groups)
The Luo are an ethnic linguistic group located in an area that stretches from South Sudan and Ethiopia through northern Uganda and eastern Congo , into western Kenya, and ending in the upper tip of Tanzania. These people speak an Eastern Sudanic language, a branch of the Nilo-Saharan language...
from the north. A Luo clan known as the Biito, led by a Chief called Labongo, invaded Bunyoro
Bunyoro
Bunyoro is a kingdom in Western Uganda. It was one of the most powerful kingdoms in East Africa from the 16th to the 19th century. It is ruled by the Omukama of Bunyoro...
, the northernmost province of Kitara, from where the empire was ruled. The Luo had migrated from present-day Sudan
Sudan
Sudan , officially the Republic of the Sudan , is a country in North Africa, sometimes considered part of the Middle East politically. It is bordered by Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the northeast, Eritrea and Ethiopia to the east, South Sudan to the south, the Central African Republic to the...
, and would later settle large areas of northern Uganda, and around the north-eastern shores of Lake Victoria
Lake Victoria
Lake Victoria is one of the African Great Lakes. The lake was named for Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, by John Hanning Speke, the first European to discover this lake....
. Labongo established his rule in what was now Bunyoro-Kitara, becoming Isingoma Mpuga Rukidi, the first in line of the Babiito kings which provided the dynasties that also ruled in the kingdoms of Toro, Kooki, and some chiefdoms of Busoga
Busoga
Busoga is a traditional Bantu kingdom in present-day Uganda.It is a cultural institution that promotes popular participation and unity among the people of Busoga, through cultural and developmental programs for the improved livelihood of the people of Busoga. It strives for a united people of...
.
To the south of Bunyoro, the rest of the Kitara was superseded by the development of several kingdoms located within, or across, the span of several present-day national boundaries, including Ankole
Ankole
Ankole, also referred to as Nkore, is one of four traditional kingdoms in Uganda. The kingdom is located in the southwestern Uganda, east of Lake Edward. It was ruled by a monarch known as The Mugabe or Omugabe of Ankole. The kingdom was formally abolished in 1967 by the government of President...
mainly in Uganda, Karagwe and Kyamutwara in Tanzania
Tanzania
The United Republic of Tanzania is a country in East Africa bordered by Kenya and Uganda to the north, Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west, and Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique to the south. The country's eastern borders lie on the Indian Ocean.Tanzania is a state...
, and the kingdoms of Burundi and Rwanda.
Scholarly interpretation
Originally, onlookers took the Bacwezi stories to be literal history. John Hanning SpekeJohn Hanning Speke
John Hanning Speke was an officer in the British Indian Army who made three exploratory expeditions to Africa and who is most associated with the search for the source of the Nile.-Life:...
, one of the earliest Europeans to make contact with the people of interlacustrine Africa, accepted it at face value, fitting it into his interpretation of the Hamitic hypothesis, which he used to assert that the evidences of organized, more sophisticated populations of Sub-Saharan Africa
Sub-Saharan Africa
Sub-Saharan Africa as a geographical term refers to the area of the African continent which lies south of the Sahara. A political definition of Sub-Saharan Africa, instead, covers all African countries which are fully or partially located south of the Sahara...
were the result of a wave of Nilotic migration, namely from Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
and Sudan
Sudan
Sudan , officially the Republic of the Sudan , is a country in North Africa, sometimes considered part of the Middle East politically. It is bordered by Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the northeast, Eritrea and Ethiopia to the east, South Sudan to the south, the Central African Republic to the...
. Into the 20th century, major scholars, including Roland Oliver
Roland Oliver
Roland Oliver is Emeritus Professor of African history at the University of London. Throughout a long career he was an eminent researcher, writer, teacher, administrator and organiser, who had a profound effect on the development of African Studies in the United Kingdom and who has made an...
, at one point accepted the major claims of the stories.
External links
- Mwambusya Ndebesa, "Impure Royals? All Baganda Have Some Foreign Blood", The East African, February 3, 1999