Ugee

Before Colonisation:

The present-day Uganda was forged by the British between 1890 and 1926. The name Uganda was derived from the Buganda Kingdom.It is important to note that the British were not the first people to unite Uganda. Before the British united Uganda, the Bachwezi dynasty controlled or influenced parts of Uganda, Rwanda, Congo and Tanzania between 1100 AD and 1600AD. Names like Ndahura (Ndawula), Mulindwa, Wamala, Kagoro, Kyomya, Mugasha (Mukasa), which are Bachwezi names are found throughout these areas. Further evidence is provided by historical sites like Bigo bya Mugyenyi and Omunsa. Also, the Luo were linked to the Banyoro and Batoro through the Babiito dynasty. Names like Olimi, Oyo, Winyi and Achaki that are found amongst the Babiito of Bunyoro and Toro are Luo names. The Luo equivalents of these royal names are Olum, Oyo, Owiny and Acak, respectively. Buganda was also linked to the Luo. For instance the main entrance at the Lubiri (palace) is called wankaki, the same word as Wangkac, which in Luo also means entrance. The Bachwezi dynasty collapsed around 1600. It was replaced by Kingdoms of Buganda, Bunyoro, Ankole, Toro and Busoga, and the chieftains of Beni-Butembo and Husi (in Congo); and Karagwe and Buhaya (in Tanzania). Parts of Rwanda such as Mutara were also part of this domain. Before colonialism, present-day Uganda was made up of Kingdoms and societies that were headed by chiefs or clan leaders. These societies i.e. those without a central leadership, included the langi, Lugbara, Acholi, Karimojong, Bakiga, Iteso, Bagishu, Sebei and the various Bantu and Padhola groups of Bukedi. Power in these societies was wielded by clan leaders. Inter-clan feuds were common among the non-kingdom societies. Land was owned communally under clan leaderships. On the other hand, societies of the present-day Bunyoro, Buganda, Ankole and Toro were organized as Kingdoms each with a central leadership under a king who exercised power through chiefs and clan leaders. The kingdom areas had developed into small states that had at times fought each other for supremacy and expansion of territory. This state of affairs was to change with the arrival of foreigners.

 

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