Morris H. F., The Kingdom of Mpororo.pdf

The Uganda Journal

THE JOURNAL OF THE UGANDA SOCJETY

VOLUME 19, No. 2

SEPTEMBER 1955

Contents

ARTICLES

Explonuion of che Ru-ozori -

The Fishcs of Uganda-I

British Adm1mma1ion m Langa Distrlci. 1907-l'ilJS

Fishery Rc'lelrch in EauAfrica-

Thc Munsa Eanhworks •

Notes on thcFloraofKasilang Erony, T«o

P. H. GREE.t-'WOOD

R. S. A. 8E:AUCH.<.'IP

• E. C. l..o.NNlNG

P. N. WILSON ANO J. M. WATSON

183

Myth, H1s!ory and Mourning Taboos in Lugbara

011.. J. MIOOteTON

The Kingllom nr Mpororo

• H. f. MORR!S

NOTES

The Burial ofKabarcga.

Bunyor0Gra1n Pit1

O. N. ST.<.FFORO

208

The Casiina of Mc1ab by Afncans

O. N. SrAFPORO

The Jm~rial Bn11sh East Arric-a Company Medal

• H. B. THOMAS

CORRESPONDENCE

Shaftsin Buganda and Toro

The Comin1 or the Banana 10 Uganda -

REV!EW

Thel,woo,Porflll.C/ans(byJ.P.Crazzo1ara)-

Index to Volumc 19 of TM Uganda Journal

• A. S. THOMAS

211

·A. S. Tno..u.s

211

/'ubliJh~d by

THE

UGANDA SOCIETY

KAMPALA

Price Sh!l. JO (JOs.)

THE KINGDOM OF MPORORO

By H. F. MOIUUS

T!!~t~~~d:m~i~rr:U~h~:~~~· ~~~~~:, s~°:tt :;ń~a~~;ua~~dc:=~~~;

Kigezisuddenlymadeitsappcarancetowardsthe cndofthel7thcenturyandas

suddenly disappeared. Traditionul accounts, which arc of the scantiest, allow

for two Bakama only, Kamurari and Kahaya, and somc do not cven recognize

the former as an actual Mukama. Tradition docs not satisfactorily explain

wtiencc these rulcrs of Mpororo carne. They and their fellow Basbambo. the

main elan to whicb all the leading Mpororo sub-dans belong, appear to have

originated from the soutb or south-west. They WClll, it sccms. the last of the

period ie wavcs of Hamitic pcoplc to enter Ankole, the &hima of Ankole propcr.

with whom they alll a lmost idcntical in appcarance and language, having pre·

cededthem byscveral centuries. Thekingdomtheyfoundedwasofthepattern

usuulforthesepartsofEastAfrica,thatis,itbad apastora!Harniticuristocrucy

to whom the indigenous Bantu cultivators were subordinate. At its head was the

king. whosc power was symbolizcd by his posscssion of a royal drum, and who

was evcr shiftiug his headąuarters as his hcrds were movcd to fresh grazing. As

will be uplained below, on Kahaya's death the kingdom split inio iragments,

some ofwhich remaincd scmi-indepcnckmt unti l the eslablishmcnt of British rule.

Concerning the anteoedcnlS of Kamurari, the founder of the kingdom, all the

Basbambo c\ans arc silent cxcept the Benerugambagye, wbosc head gives the

namcs of six of Kamurari's ancestors, all of whom lived in Mpororo. The first,

signilicantly. was ca\led Mantu and from him descended Kazi, Karagaire,

Muzora, Ntagu, Kiowa and Kamurari. T raditional accounts arc fai rly con·

sistentinagrceing that Kamurari and his brother Jshcmurarientered what is

now the Anl:o\e Saza of Kajara whelll 1hey found !he Amazon Queen Kitami

whosc subjects wcre all women. From Kitami. whose death is a.scribed to the

sting of a bee and whosc spirit was later worsbippcd as Nyabiogi, Kamurari

procured the drum Murarwa and control of the neig.hbouńngcountry. He 1ook

for his wife Mikye ra of the Bencishel:atwa ciao whicb he found in Kajara and

ncar Rwcntobo can stili be scen the bark-cloth trce whieh is said to mark the

sile of the birth of their son Kahaya Rutindangyezi.

Undcr Kahaya, Mpororo extended its front iers to include all Kigezi (cxccpt

the modern Bufumbira Saza) the Ankole Sazas of Ka jara, !gara, Shema and

Rwampara (except the low ground south of the Rwizi River) and the northern

portion of Ruanda (Fig. I). Kahaya had a large family , from whom the

important sub-clan.s of the Bashambo trace their ońgin, and its members

established themselvcs in vańous parlll of his kingdom. One son only. Mafundo.

whose mother was a slave girl. was given a drum and the authori1y thai went

with it. His territory was the important kingdom of lgara wbich lay across the

salt routc to Lakes Edward and George. Many claim thai Ruanda proper also

was subordinate to Kahaya who is said to havc establishcd the prcscnt dynasty

on the throne. lt is stated thai Kahaya gave Ruanda to his brother Kirima whose

son he undcrtool: to bring up with his own fa miły. While the boy was in Mpororo,

Kahaya by mistake lamed hirn by treading on his foot . Thcn. nicknaming him

THE KINGOOM OF MPORORO 205

'Kigyere' (omugyere, a foot), be sent bim back IO bis fatber with the prornise

that he would always support him against bis enemies. Tbere seems. bowever,

to be nothing in Ruanda tradition to support the idea of the subordination of

that country to Mpororo. The Batusi of Ruanda, though similar to the Bahororo,

arenottbesame pe-0pl e andhaveadifferen1language. Furthermore,thepedi-

gree of the Ruanda Bakama. which gives twenty generations prior to Kirirna

father of Ki gyere, makes no mention of Kamurari, tbough, on the otber band,

the second and third Bałama have the names of Muniu and Kazi. which

correspond to those in the Benerugambagye pedigree

--- M$<.m ,,..,.-·

- - - °"""'' r.,.,,,.,,., -

Arcas rulcdby8ashamb<>cla n1 inlhe&econdhal( of theninetcemhcentury.

In Kahaya's reign close relat ions were es[ablisbed witb the neigbbouring

kingdorn of Ankole; tbese followed a marriage in the 1ime of Kamurari and

were \ater to result in the absorption in Anko!e of a great part of Mpororo. The

Mugabe of Ankole, Ntare, later IO be known as Kitabanyoro. at the bcginning

of bis reign (probably about 1700)1 visited in secret the kraal of Kamurari. When

206 UGANDA JOURNAL

1he lat!cr discovered who he was. he gave him two o( his daughters. Kabibi and

Mukabandi. as his wives. Previously the Bagabe had always married inio the

Batwa and Baitira dans and when Nłare returned with his Bashambo wives. he

met with considerab!e opposition. He was told that rain had fallen incessantly

sincehehadgoneto Mpororoand thatthe roya\drums bad beensoundingon

their own because of his marriage into a strange elan. The Bashambo women

arc renowned for their beauty and from Ntare's time it has been customary for

Bagabe to choose Bashambo wives. The Mugabe Macwa followe d his father's

exampleandmarriedhisfirstcousinNkaii,Kahaya'sdaughter.andtheirson.

la1ertheMugabe Kahaya J,wasbroughtupbyhismaternalgrandfather.

Kahaya Rutindangyezi had a number of sons who. with their descendants.

are shown in the accompanying genealogical trec. 1 They were. however. unduti -

fu l and. before his dearh. Kahaya <.:ursed them and buried the drum Murorwa

so rha! none of them should su~ed him . To his grandson by his daughter

Nkazi. he le ft his na me Kahaya and. though some portions of Mpororo oot11inued

to maintain an independent. or semi-independent, position under Kahaya's

descendants.thekingdomingeneral.fromthenon.ac.::eptedeithertheMugabe

ofAnkoleortheMukamaofRuandaasoverlord

lgara.thoughintheMugabe'ssphereofinfluence.rctaineditsindependen<.:e

untilthemiddleofthenineteenth<.:enlury. Itsrulers.the Benemafundo,hadtheir

drum. Kihoza. and maintained the ceremonies normally associated with full

Bakama_The drums and other regalia stili survive in a good state of preserva-

tion and are kept by the grandson of the last Mukama in the Gombolola of

Sabadu Igara (Fig. 2). Of the Igara Bakama, Ka juga is remembered as a tyrant

whotorturedhissubjectsandseizcdtheircattle. ltissaidthatthenamelgara

wasgiventotbeoountryinbisreignonaccountofthenumberofpeoplewho

bad been blinded by their king. the verbkwigaramea ning tostopuporblind

Afterthedeath ofKajuga'sson. Katana, lgara<.:ame underthesuzeraintyof

Ankole. The Banyankole belped Namurenga to drive out his <.:ousin Rutondo

and \ater when he proved intractable he was deposed and Rutondo brought

back. Rutondo's son Musinga was Mukama when the British Administration

was established. According to eustom. Bakama should never mee! one another

and so. when ordered to Mbarara to a<.:knowledge the Administration and the

Mugabe, he <.:ommitted suidde by disembowelment on rea<.:bing the border of

his kingdom. On hearing of the Mukama's death. his sister Kitunga went to the

royal kraal . c\ose to the present Bushenyi R est Camp, and ordered all the women

to hang themselves. Then she hanged Musinga's two sons. Mukotani and Kib-

wana. boysabout ten andsevenyearsold, and finallyshe hangedherself. For-

tunately. help <.:amc in time and the two boys were reocued a live. Mukotani was

thcn establishedas sazachief of lgara undertheregency of his uncle and pul

bis mark to the Agreement of 1901. A few years later, however, a Muganda was

killed in the saza and Mukotani was held responsible and dismissed. His son is

nowaMurukachief there.

SbernacamcveryearlyunderthcMugabe'srule.ltissaidbysometbatit

was given by Kamurari as a wedding present when Nrare married Mukabandi

Others say that Kahaya Rutindangye:ti gave it to the Mugabe when his grandson

2 Six "'ns are &iven. li is Pid by "'me that Ruhiri was anothtT son of Kahaya

T he drums of lgara. 11.wam)'an iko. the hereditar) kec~r of the dru.ms (left) i< scen with

E. 11.ukun\u. the head of the Jlcncmafundo. Ma~in1a. conwrt to Kohoza. is the drum in

front of Rwam yaniko; to the right i5 the main drum. K ihoia. The undccoratcd drum5 are

aucndantio KihozaandMazima.

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