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The large clay walls of the Kingdom of Bigo are testimonies
to civilizations in present-day Uganda from at least the
10th century AD
In various parts of the country there are ruins of large
fortifications, built around a large open space, in the
middle of which a mound made it possible to monitor the
surrounding territory. Surrounded by earthquakes, wells and
trenches, these fortresses testify that in the 13th century,
the bacwezi people penetrated the land and became
subservient to the bantu people who lived in the region.
Their fortifications encircled a space of 300 m in diameter
needed to protect the cattle - their most important wealth
and the symbol of prestige. Little by little, however, the
fortifications ceased to be used. The conquerors mingled
with the defeated, adopted their language, married their
women, and ended up taking their names. The descendants of
bacwezithe people retained the tradition of being
cattle nomads, but mingled with the locals. In our day they
are called bahimas and speak bantu language.
In the 17-18. century, the kingdoms of Bunyoro, Buganda,
Busoga and Ankole were formed, linked to the slave trade on
the east coast and in Sudan. In the struggle for supremacy,
a polarization took place between Bunyoro, supported by the
Sudanese slave traders, and the Buganda associated with the
Shirazi people of Zanzibar. By the early 19th
century, Bunyoro had actually lost the battle. Part of its
allies had disbanded and created the kingdom of Toro,
ensuring Buganda's hegemony.
Buganda was ruled by a king ( kabaka ) who in
theory was monarchical, but was in fact limited in his power
by the high council's representative council ( Lukiko
). In the mid-19th century, the country had a permanent army
strong enough to guarantee its autonomy over the regional
powers ( Egypt and Zanzibar). It was a society in
equilibrium where the privileges of the nobility were more
political and honorable than economic. The society was based
on a solid agricultural economy that enabled it to overcome
the decline of the slave trade without major upheaval.
Europeans first invaded the country in 1862, without,
however, having the major consequences. The next time was in
1875 when the British adventurer and journalist HM Stanley
entered. He dramatically reported that Islam was on the rise
in the region, and that the Kabaka Mutesa I "requested"
Europe to send missionaries to repress Egyptian-Sudanese
religious propaganda. The missionaries arrived quickly:
British Protestants in 1877 and French Catholics in 1879.
They Christianized part of the aristocracy, which had
immediate consequences. According to
Countryaah data,
the hope was split into three parties, two of which
reflected the rivalry between the European missionaries. The
Bagandas called the parties "franza" and "ingleza", while
the third, which was moderate and Islamic, for this reason
alone appeared to defend national interests. Yet the
consequence of the conflict was the consolidation of the
European presence.
In 1888, the missionaries succeeded in overthrowing the
Islamic kabaka Mwanga. Now the IBEA (Imperial British East
Africa Co.) immediately entered the country and it was
immediately followed by the British government. IBEA was an
old-style colonial company. By 1886, the British had made an
agreement with the Germans to divide the spheres of interest
in the region, and the British had been assigned to the
lords by the king. A British patronage was established here
in 1893.
The other kingdoms did not have as developed institutions
as Buganda, but they were forced to introduce them, for the
British perceived Lukiko as something similar to the British
parliament. Based on the same criteria and because they
wanted to develop a leading class that could act as
middlemen under the colonial power, the British initiated a
"property reform" which basically was about privatizing land
that had been common until then. The reform made the peasant
population manpower for the high proportion gathered in
Lukiko. |
