Early history-pre colonial
Uganda's strategic location along the central African Rift Valley, its condusive climate at an altitude of 1,200 meters and above, its reliable rainfall around Lake Victoria Basin made it attractive to African cultivators and herders as early as the fourth century BC. The cultivators who later cleared the forest were Bantu speaking people, whose slow but significant expansion gradually took over most of Africa south of the Sahara Desert. They also reared goats, chickens, and cattle by 400 BC.Their skills on agriculture and use of iron-forging technology allowed them to clear the land and accommodate larger numbers of settlers.
As the Bantu-speaking agriculturists increased over the centuries, they formed a kind of government by clan chiefs. This kinship-arranged system was beneficial for coordinating work projects, settling internal disputes, and carrying out religious observances to clan deities. Nilotic pastoralists were mobile and ready to resort to arms in defence of their cattle or in raids to appropriate the cattle of others. But their political organization was minimal, based on kinship and decisions by kin-group elders.
From cultural contact and state formation, three types of states came up. The Hima which preserved a caste system in which the rulers and their pastoral relatives tried to maintain strict separation from the agricultural subjects, called Hutu.
The Bito state which was established in Bunyoro and for several centuries was the dominant political power in the region.
The third state to come up was Buganda, on the northern shores of Lake Victoria.
Colonial Era (1894-1920s)
Even though changes occurred during the colonial era in Uganda, certain characteristics of late-ninet...
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..., however, were already present at independence.
References;
Doyle, S.D. (2012), ‘Parish baptism registers, vital registration and fixing identities in Uganda ’, in K. Breckenridge and S. Szreter (eds.), Registration and Recognition: Documenting the Person in World History(Oxford University Press), pp.277-98.
Doyle , S.D. (2009), ‘Immigrants and indigenes: the Lost Counties dispute and the evolution of ethnic identity in colonial Buganda ’. Journal of Eastern African Studies, 3:2, pp.284-302
Doyle , S.D. (2008), ‘The child of death: personal names and parental attitudes towards mortality in Bunyoro, Western Uganda , 1900–2005’. The Journal of African History, 49 (1), pp.361-382
Doyle , S.D. (2006), 'From Kitara to the Lost Counties: Genealogy, land and legitimacy in the kingdom ofBunyoro, Western Uganda ', Social Identities, 12 (4), pp.457-470.
...Freedom of Expression: Country Studies – Uganda’ Albert Shanker Institute, (http://www.democracyweb.org/expression/uganda.php) (accessed 17 October, 2013).
Raffaele, Paul. "Uganda: The Horror." Smithsonian (Vol. 35, No. 11). Feb. 2005: 90-99. SIRS Issues
David Birmingham. "Speculations on the Kingdom of Kongo." Transactions of the Historical Society of Ghana 8 (1965). http://www.jstor.org/stable/41403565.
Quapaw, Osage, and Caddo have many similarities as well as differences. For example: their religion, food acquisition, food production, and social structure. In this essay, there will be comparisons between the tribes as well as distinctive differences in each tribe. In this paper, information about these tribes will be further explored.
The relevance of West African history exists and is important to the world. Davidson’s ability to communicate the role of kinship, of belief and idea systems, the expansion of art and culture as well as the diffusion of learning and language across West Africa in its elegance can not be duplicated. The growth of the slave trade is almost forgotten as Davidson’s illustrates the beauty and rich culture of West Africa before 1850. Davidson encourages the reader to ignore the modern boundaries perceived by Western beliefs and ideologies and embrace that Africa was created and nurtured by Africans, and for Africans. The book under review is well written and balanced and offers a wealth of information regarding African history before colonialism.
Colonial rule in Rwanda began in 1895. It was used as the primary force for governing during that time and led to the emergence of Rwanda’s national identity. During the colonial era German and Belgian officials regarded the Tutsi, Hutu, and Twa as three distinct national groups. The colonial authorities helped the Rwandan monarchy to centralize its control and expand their social system throughout the Rwandan territory. This eliminated the local social and political variations that had been established earlier in the pre-colonial period. By creating new state institutions in Rwanda, colonial officials were able to import the ideas of nationality associated with the modern nation-state. Ensuing social and political issues surround the idea of how Rwandan nationality should be defined. In other words, which ethnic groups should be considered “true” citizens of Rwanda? This concern is overshadowing the validity of Rwandan as a national identity.
McKissack, Patricia and Fredrick Mckissack. The Royal Kingdoms of Ghana, Mali, and Songhay - Life in Medieval Africa, Henry Holt and Company, Inc., 1994.
Nigel Barley’s The Innocent Anthropologist explores the lives and culture of the Cameroonian Dowayo tribe. The book follows Barley’s fieldwork gathered during his stay amongst the tribe, affording insight into their ceremonies, language, social norms, and beliefs. Barley’s book stands out in the highly personal tone with which he recounts his time spent with the Dowayo, acknowledging bureaucratic troubles and, oftentimes humorous, misunderstandings. With a translator, Barley embarks on his attempt to immerse himself into the culture of the Dowayo, not hesitating to participate in their festivals (to a certain degree) and incorporate himself in their daily lives. Barley regals the audience with the entire experience of his fieldwork in West Africa, making sure to include how more modern technological and political inventions, such as voting and refrigerators, are regarded by the Dowayo. Barley writes with emphasis on the difficulties of the language, which is tonal and consists of multiple dialects, the Dowayo’s fondness for
Twagilimana, Aimable. Hutu and Tutsi (Heritage Library of African Peoples Central Africa). 1st ed. New York: Rosen Publishing Group, 1998.
Toyin, Falola. “The Power of African Cultures.” Woodbridge, Suffolk, United Kingdom: University of Rochester Press, 2003. Print
In “Things Fall Apart,” Chinua Achebe incorporates the theme of marginalization. Instead of the typical scenario in canonical works, the focus is on the tribe Umuofia in Africa:
Magesa, Laurenti. African Religion: The Moral Tradition of Abundant Life. Nairobi: Pauline Pub., Africa, 1998.
Agetua, John, When the Man Died. Benin City, Nigeria: Bendel Newspaper Corp., 1975. HV9865.5 A15
SKIDMORE, E. 1995, the world of spirits and ancestors in the art of western sub-Saharan Africa, Texas Tech University press, Texas, p30-33
The earliest inhabitants of the present-day Democratic Republic of the Congo are most likely Pygmies, who lived in the north and northeast portions of the forest that occupied the land. Towards the end of the first millennium B.C., a small group of Bantu-speaking people entered from the northwest (from the areas that are now called Nigeria and Cameroon). They established their home in the savanna regions of the south, and they arrived with profound knowledge of iron technology and agriculture. Their skill with iron technology and agriculture helped propel them to migrate to other parts of the Congo and Africa. With their expansion also came the development of new, related languages. Beginning approximately A.D. 700, the Bantu-speaking people worked the Copper deposits of Southern Katanga, and then traded these minerals over wide areas. The Bantu had settled into most of the Congo by about 1000, which consequently reduced the area utilized by the Pygmies. By the early parts of the second millennium, the number of Bantu occupants in the Congo were rapidly increasing and beginning to merge into states. Some of these states had governing power over vast areas and were complemented with multifaceted administrative structures. A majority of these states were governed by monarchy, and even though they had considerable authority, it was moderated by a council consisting of high civil servants and elders. Some of the most notable of these states included the Kingdom of Kongo, the Lunda Kingdom of Mwata Yamo, the Kingdom of Luba, and the Lunda Kingdom of Mwata Kazemba. The Luba and Lunda Kingdoms were somewhat intertwined, and as a result, the Luba transmitted political ideas to the Lunda. Additionally, many small Luba-Lunda sta...