Bunyoro
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Bunyoro flag |
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The current Kingdom of Bunyoro-Kitara and its districts |
Bunyoro is a region of
Uganda, and from the sixteenth to the nineteenth century one of the most powerful kingdoms of
East Africa. It was ruled by the
Omukama of Bunyoro.
The ancient kingdom is often referred to as Bunyoro-Kitara. At its height it controlled almost the entire region between
Lake Victoria,
Lake Edward, and
Lake Albert. One of many small states in the
Great Lakes region the earliest stories of the kingdom having great power come from the
Rwanda area where there are tales of the Bunyoro raiding the region under a prince named
Cwa around 1520. The power of Bunyoro then faded until the mid seventeenth century when a long period of expansion began, with the empire dominating the region by the early eighteenth century.
Bunyoro rose to power by controlling a number of the holiest shrines in the region, the lucrative
Kibiro saltworks of Lake Albert, and having the highest quality of metallurgy in the region. This made it the strongest military and economic power in the Great Lakes area.
Bunyoro began to fade in the late eighteenth century due to internal divisions.
Buganda seized
Kooki and
Buddu regions from Bunyoro at the end of the century. In around 1830 the large province of
Toro separated, taking with many of the lucrative salt works. To the south
Rwanda and
Nkore were both growing rapidly, taking over some of the smaller kingdoms that had been Bunyoro's vassals.
Thus by the mid-nineteenth century Bunyoro was a far smaller state, but it was still wealthy controlling lucrative trade routes over Lake Victoria and linking to coast of the
Indian Ocean. Bunyoro especially profited from the trade in
ivory. It was, however, continually imperiled by the now potent Buganda, which greatly desired taking the trade routes for itself. A long struggle ensued with both arming themselves with European weapons. As a result the capital was moved from
Masindi to the less vulnerable
Mparo.
In July 1890 agreement the entire region north of Lake Victoria was given to Great Britain. In
1894 It declared the region its protectorate King
(Omukama) Kabalega strenuously resisted the British efforts, allied with
Buganda, to take control of his kingdom. However, in 1899 Kaberega was captured and exiled to the
Seychelles and Bunyoro was annexed to the
British Empire. Because of their resistance a portion of the kingdom's territory was given to Buganda and
Toro.
The country was put under the control of Bugandan administrators. The Bunyoro revolted in
1907; the revolt was put down, and relations improved somewhat. After the region remained loyal to Great Britain in
World War I a new agreement was made in 1934 giving the region more autonomy.
Today Bunyoro remains one of the four constituent kingdoms of Uganda, but a separatist movement remains.
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Bunyoro-Kitara Kingdom
