Empire of Kitara

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The Empire of Kitara (or Bachwezi Empire) was a kingdom which, at the height of its power in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, included much of Uganda, northern Tanzania and eastern Congo (DRC), ruled by a dynasty known as the Bachwezi (or Chwezi) who were the successors of the Batembuzi Dynasty.[1]

Kitara Empire lasted until the 16th century when it was invaded by Luo people who came from present-day Sudan, and established of the kingdom of Bunyoro-Kitara.

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[edit] Batembuzi and Bachwezi dynasties

The Empire of Kitara was founded by the Bachwezi Dynasty who were the successors of the Batembuzi Dynasty. Little is known about the Batembuzi and Bachwezi, or when they established Kitara. Much of what is known is based on mythology and oral tradition.[2] A number of current Great Lakes kingdoms claim inheritance from the ancient Kitara empire, ruled by a dynasty known as the Bachwezi.[3] 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.[4] 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.[2][5]

[edit] Babiito dynasty

The Kitara Empire finally broke up during the 16th century at the advent of invasion by Luo people from the north.[1] 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, Koki, Buganda, and some fiefdoms of Busoga.[4][6]

The the south of Bunyoro, the rest of the Kitara empire was superseded by the development of several kingdoms, including Ankole and Buganda in Uganda, Karagwe and Kyamutwara in Tanzania, and the kingdoms of Burundi and Rwanda, .[7]

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Mwambutsya, Ndebesa, "Pre-capitalist Social Formation: The Case of the Banyankole of Southwestern Uganda." Eastern Africa Social Science Research Review 6, no. 2; 7, no. 1 (June 1990 and January 1991): 78-95.
  2. ^ a b The Batembuzi Dynasty (at Bunyoro-Kitara kingdom website)
  3. ^ Doyle, Shane. "Bacwezi and Kitara: Genealogy and political legitimacy in Uganda, from 1860 to the present day
  4. ^ a b "History of eastern Africa: The early interlacustrine kingdoms", Encyclopedia Britannica
  5. ^ Kamuhangire, Ephraim, "Impact of change and diverse perceptions: Conflicts of meaning and interpretations – Ntusi and Bigo Bya Mugyenyi archaeological sites in Uganda"
  6. ^ A brief History of Toro Kings (Toro Kingdom website)
  7. ^ S. Karugire, A Political History of Uganda (Nairobi and London: Heinemann, 1980), p.15.

[edit] External links

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