The Baganda[2] (endonym: (A)Baganda; singular (O)Muganda; in Luganda or plural Waganda in Kiswahili or Ganda in old English texts), are a Bantuethnic group that share a common culture, history and language and clans, and are primarily native to Buganda, a subnationalkingdom within Uganda. Traditionally composed of 52 clans (although since a 1993 survey, only 46 are officially recognised), the Baganda are the largest people of the Bantu ethnic group in Uganda, comprising 15.3 percent of the population at the time of the 2024 census.[1][3]
A single individual is called a Muganda whereas several people are called Baganda. The word Abaganda refers to "The Baganda People" and Omuganda refers to "The Muganda person".
Sometimes described as "The King's Men" because of the importance of the king, or Kabaka, in their society,[4] the Baganda number an estimated 16.3 million people in Uganda.[5][4] In addition, there is a significant diaspora abroad, with organised communities in Canada, South Africa, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States.[6] Traditionally, they speak Luganda but each Muganda must belong to a clan.
Etymology
The term Ganda means brotherhood and unity and comes from the noun "obuganda", which means bundles of stalks piled, wrapped, or tied together. it ultimately comes from the Proto Bantu word, "-ganda" (family).[7]
The Baganda are organized in clans (Luganda: ebika (plural); ekika (singular)). The clan is a unit of social organization and in the past, was also a unit of political organization. Every Muganda must belong to a clan. This is usually his or her father's clan and so a "naturalized" Muganda person must pick a clan to belong to and therefore a surname or last name belonging to that clan. Each clan will have a list of at least 20 boys' surnames and 20 girls' surnames for one to pick from. Therefore, one's surname (last name) will give a clue to which clan they belong as well as their biological gender. The exceptions to this are a woman's married name (which she inherits from her husband) as well as unique names given to twins and their immediate siblings or Royals (the first-born son is called Kiweewa and the first-born daughter is called Nassolo), and gods' (lubaale) names.[citation needed]
All members of a clan are believed to have a common ancestor. This means that they are siblings and so it's taboo for them to marry each other (clan exogamy). This was held up in a court of law in the case of Bruno L. Kiwawu v. Ivan Serunkuma and Juliet Namazzi in May 2007.[8] A few exceptions exist, especially among the members of the large Mmamba clan. On occasion, these have been known to intermarry.[9]
Another taboo is that the members of a clan cannot eat or harm their totem animal, plant or thing. So a member of the Mmamba (lungfish) clan is forbidden from consuming a lungfish. However, members of other clans do eat lungfish.[9]
The Baganda are organized around roughly 50 clans with the Kabaka (Ssaabataka) being the head of the clan heads (Abataka). Each clan has a hierarchical structure. The top (or roof) of this clan hierarchy is called Akasolya. So the Baganda are organized around the roughly 50 roofs (obusolya (plural); akasolya (singular)). The person who heads the clan is called Ow'akasolya. Below each roof (or Kasolya) are several units called amasiga, headed by Ow'essiga. Essiga is singular form of Amasiga. Under each ssiga are several units called ennyiriri (singular olunyiriri), headed by Ow'olunyiriri. Below the lunyiriri are several units called emituba, headed by Ow'omutuba. Omutuba is singular form of Emituba. Below each mutuba are several units called enzigya, headed by Ow'oluggya. Oluggya is singular form of Enzigya. The Luggya is the level of the paternal grandfather (of the family). Below the luggya are several units called ennyumba (houses), headed by Ow'ennyumba. The House is essentially the nuclear family and is headed by a father or, if he is dead, by his male heir. The heir is a cultural head not economic head and so for instance, in a household headed by a single mother or a widow, the family property is not owned by the cultural heir. Among the Baganda, an heiress is a biological female who inherits the cultural position of a deceased woman (i.e sister or mother). In ancient times, this heiress, if she were single, could become the widower's wife as it was assumed that she would love her deceased sister's children as if they were her own.[citation needed]
Culture and society
The adjective Kiganda is usually used in reference to the Baganda culture.
Names
The surnames of the Baganda are unique and with a few exceptions depend on one's clan. [10]
Okwalula abaana (naming and confirming children in a clan)
In the old days,[when?] the Baganda held a ceremony called okwalula abaana at which a child was named and confirmed as a member of the clan. A piece of the child's umbilical cord (that had been saved at the child's birth) was used to confirm belonged to the father or was a result of adultery. Modern ways of doing paternity tests have rendered the old ways obsolete although some parents still keep pieces of the child's umbilical cord. However, taking DNA paternity tests without cause has also become very controversial. [11][12]
Naming of twins
The names and titles of people related to twins are unique. The father of twins is called ssaalongo; a mother of twins is nnaalongo. The surname of the older twin is Wasswa if the twin is a boy and Babirye if the older twin is a girl.[10] The surname of the younger twin is Nnakato for a girl and Kato for a boy. Kigongo is the surname given to the boy who was born before the twins and Kizza the surname of the child born right after the twins. Ssaabalongo is another title given to the Kabaka.[10]
The naming and confirmation of twins is more elaborate and involves a lot of drinking, eating, using obscene words, some promiscuity and dancing. This ceremony is called okuzina abalongo. Some of the people who attend these ceremonies may have to go through a cleansing ceremony called okukansira especially if they ended up committing adultery. These customs and rites are not very common these days because Baganda parents who belong to the Abrahamic religions generally consider them evil as they generally involve invoking the old Baganda gods (the Lubaales).[13][14]
Surnames inspired by Kiganda mythology
Some surnames given to boys and girls were inspired by mythology or by traditional gods (Lubaale) or events.[10]
Selected boys' names:
Ddungu
Kibuuka
Mukasa
Musisi
Musoke
Wamala
Selected girls' names:
Nnagaddya (or Nagaddya)
Nnagajja (or Nagajja)
Nnakayaga (or Nakayaga)
Nnakimu (or Nakimu)
Nnamirembe (or Namirembe)
Nnamukasa (or Namukasa)
Nnamusoke (or Namusoke)
Nnamusisi (or Namusisi)
Ekitiibwa
Ekitiibwa, which translates as honour, glory, prestige, dignity, respect, reverence, or pomp, is the greatest ideal and the most sought-after attribute of the Baganda. It has an importance comparable to that of "face" found in societies such as China and Japan. In contrast to comparable notions in highly stratified societies like the Kingdom of Rwanda, however, ekitiibwa was not conferred by birth. It was a right to respect for which all people openly competed. Baganda could commit suicide from shame if discovered in theft or cowardice. A brave man was expected to go to execution with silent composure as it was believed that "everyone should endure pain with stoicism". [15]
Grudges were rarely forgotten, a Ganda proverb says "He who makes you shed tears, you make him shed blood."[15]
The Kabaka (King) was Fount of honour (the ultimate source of honour and authority). The Kabaka was able to bestow administrative and military positions to individuals based on his discretion. He conferred them in return for loyalty and service so that Buganda's politics centred on competition for office and its associated ekitiibwa, a competition open in principle to any man of talent and courage.[16]
Women
In Kiganda society, women married at a later age than most other African societies, rarely marrying before the age of 20. Both bridewealth and virginity were necessary to a fully honourable marriage. A married woman's status depended on her ancestry and the rank of her husband. Women gained respect by their control of the household economy and by their fertility; loss of a baby was a woman's most common reason for suicide.[17][18]
Appearance
John Roscoe noted that the Baganda varied in their heights, with some being just a little over 5 feet tall and others being over six feet tall (the warrior Tebukoza Kyambalango was 6'6" tall). The anthropologistLucy Mair further describes the appearance of the Baganda:[19]
The people are dark-brown skinned, woolly-haired, and reasonably tall. One is struck by their superior physique after the Kikuyu whom one sees on the journey through Kenya; but they did not attain to the tremendous stature of the Hima in the other kingdoms. It would be impossible to describe a "typical" Baganda face. Some are exactly like the full moon, some have Roman noses; my best informant made me think of one of Dürer's "Four Apostles", and his brother had a remarkably triangular face which he had passed on to all his children. A light skin is not taken as a mark of noble birth or Hima origin, but as a sign of delicate health. Their bright eyes and ready smile, the fact that a dark skin does not show minor defects and makes teeth look better than they deserve, and, in the case of women, their dignified walk make them very pleasing to the eye.
Men rarely kept facial hair–they plucked it out or shaved it off. Women were careful to keep their armpit hair shaved, unless their husbands were at war or on a journey, (custom forbade married women from shaving until the husband returned).[9]
John Roscoe noted that "The Baganda are the only Bantu tribe in Eastern Equatorial Africa who do not mutilate their persons; they neither extract their teeth nor pierce their ear lobes, nor practise the rite of circumcision; in fact, they are most careful to avoid scarifications of any kind." [9] The Baganda did indeed abhor and forbade any mutilation of the body, and regarded circumcision as a violation of their traditional customs.[20]
When Speke prepared for his first audience with King Mutesa of Baganda, he put on his finest clothes, but admitted that he "cut a poor figure in comparison with the dressy Baganda [who] wore neat bark cloaks resembling the best yellow corduroy cloth, crimp and well set, as if stiffened with starch".[21] The Baganda were careful (even described as prudish) about the covering of the body, people covered their body head to toe and nudity was seen as disgusting and shameful. Bark cloth (olubugo) was the most common form of attire used throughout Buganda. It was made from at least 20 tree species, with the best quality cloth being from the Mutuba tree, which was extensively cultivated in Buganda and considered the most valuable tree after the Matoke. Different species of trees yielded different colors and textures, from yellow to sandy brown to dark red-brown. The finest quality was the rusty brown cloth (called Kimote). A specific species of tree that yielded a white cloth was reserved for the Kabaka (king). Barkcloth also had other uses such as bedding and wrapping of goods [22][23]
The traditional dress of the Baganda women is the Gomesi and the Kanzu for the Baganda men.[24]
The traditional fabric used by the Baganda is barkcloth (Luganda: Lubugo), which is made from the bark of the Mutuba tree.[25]
Religion
According to the 2002 Census of Uganda, 42.7% of Baganda are Roman Catholic, 27.4% are Anglican (Church of Uganda), 23% are Muslim, and 4.3% are Pentecostal.[26] As shown by the official statistics, the bulk of the Baganda in Uganda belong to the new Abrahamic religions and a few to the old traditional Kiganda religion. In practice, some Baganda officially belong to one of the Abrahamic religions but also secretly follow the old traditional Kiganda religion.
Creation myth
The Baganda creation myth says that the first man on earth (and Buganda in particular) was Kintu. Kintu married Nnambi, the daughter of the god Ggulu. The Baganda are the descendants of Kintu and Nnambi. According to this myth, Walumbe, Nnambi's jealous brother is responsible for all human disease, sickness (Luganda: olumbe) and death on earth. Another brother, Kayikuuzi, tried to protect humans from Walumbe but failed. To this day, Kayikuuzi still tries to capture Walumbe from the underground where he hides and take him back home.[27] Based on this creation myth, the Baganda are called abaana ba Nnambi (Nnambi's children).
Marriage rites and customs
Traditional Kiganda marriage involves several rites and customs that must be performed for a marriage to occur.[9] Among the Baganda, for a prospective couple to marry each other, their parents must belong to different clans since members of the same clan are considered siblings. This is usually not a problem if the bride-to-be or suitor is not a Muganda, as that would generally mean that they are not siblings based on clan. Key ceremonies include:
A Visit to the bride-to-be's paternal aunt, Ssenga
This visit is very important because it's the Ssenga who forwards the suitor's letter of intent to marry to the her brother, the bride-to-be's father. In the past, the Ssenga would usually do a basic background check on the suitor to find out whether he is a suitable groom for her niece and extended family. She would also arrange for the next meeting between the suitor and the bride-to-be's parents.
Okukyala (visit to the bride-to-be's parents)
The visit to the bride-to-be's parent's home is an opportunity for the parents to meet the suitor and to discuss issues such as bride price (omutwalo), and to set the date of the introduction ceremony (Okwanjula).
Okwanjula (Introduction ceremony)
The introduction ceremony is held at the bride-to-be's parents home. At the introduction ceremony, the Ssenga formally introduces the suitor to the rest of her extended family (parents, uncles, aunts, cousins, etc). The suitor through his representative (Omwogezi) formally asks for the bride-to-be's hand in marriage (i.e to be born into the bride-to-be's family). If the bride-to-be agrees to marry the suitor, then a blood brotherhood pact (okutta omukago) between the two families is made and the marriage is formally agreed to.[28] These days to avoid blood-borne diseases, no blood is exchanged, just coffee beans.
Akasiki (Bachelors' party, or Bachelorette's party)
These are roughly equivalent to the bachelor and bachelorette parties in Western weddings and they are held the night before the wedding reception, Embaga.
Kaasuze katya
This is a ceremony held the morning of the wedding reception. The suitor's and some of his relatives bring some items (usually paraffin, matches, funnel and a lamp for the parents) to the bride-to-be's parent's home and ask the parents for permission to formally take the bride-to-be with them.
Embaga (Wedding reception/party)
This is the wedding reception or party, and is generally funded by the suitor's family and friends. In modern times, it's held at a public place such as a hotel.
Okuzza omuzigo (show of appreciation)
This is a ceremony that usually occurs after the brides first return from a visit to her parents home. In this ceremony, the bride takes items like chickens and butter (omuzigo) back to her husband as a sign of appreciation for him.[9]
Okugenda mu kisenge (Honey moon)
This is roughly equivalent to the Western honey moon. After the wedding, the new bride goes to her new home for roughly six days.[29]
Registering the marriage with the state
Getting marriage certificate from state brings several benefits to the married couple including better legal protection. In Uganda, this is done based on the Marriage Act.[30][31][32][33]
In modern times, not all of the above ceremonies are performed. This is especially true for couples that have accepted the Abrahamic religions. Some of the ceremonies are skipped or merged together. A number of the ceremonies are usually required (as proof of consent) if one is to register the marriage with the state.
Death
Among the Baganda, Death is traditionally believed to ultimately be caused by the mythical Walumbe. And when a person dies, they join their ancestors in the spiritual realm. However it is believed that the deceased (omufu) can still influence the lives of the living. Therefore a number of rites and customs must be performed or observed to avoid angering the deceased and to comfort the bereaved. In some cases, haunting, possession or unexplained illness is believed to be caused by an ancestor's ghost that is unhappy because the living family members have failed to maintain their grave or to appoint an heir/heiress or perform a specific rite or custom.[9] The specific rites and customs that are followed will depend on who the deceased was, religious beliefs and sometimes on how they died.[34] So there will be some differences in how the death of a royal (a king, queen, prince, princess, queen mother), a father, a mother, a child, a twin, a spinster, a fetus, a nonfamily member who died at another person's home, a suicide, one who died from a highly infectious disease like Ebola[35] or Covid-19[36], etc is handled.
Death announcement (Okubika)
Announcing (Okubika or Okubikira) the death to relatives, in-laws, friends, colleagues and the local community is one of the first things that is done since they are all expected to take part in the wake and/or burial of the deceased. Among the Baganda, wakes and burials are a communal events, do not require an invitation and are open to everyone.[36]
The wake
A wake is usually held at the home of the deceased. The bereaved will usually congregate at the deceased's home. At the wake, the bereaved will meet to comfort each other, to view the body, watch over the body and to make preparations for the burial, meals for the mourners, and other rites and customs.[36] The body is usually placed in the sitting room. The mood at a Kiganda wake is normally somber with occasional loud wailing from the bereaved, music, singing and prayers. The wake will usually last at least one day to allow people who may be several hours or even days away (for instance, abroad) to arrive and attend the burial. If the deceased was the head of the household, then a bonfire (ogwoto) is lit in the Luggya to keep the bereaved warm at night. Making the bonfire is called okukuma olumbe. Usually the deceased spends at least one last night in his or her home.[34] Spending the night at the wake is called okusula ku mufu. This custom is very important in supporting and comforting the bereaved especially the immediate members of the household like the widow, widower and the orphans who would otherwise have to spend the whole night alone watching over the body of the deceased. The main exceptions to the duration of the wake and the rites and customs mentioned above occur if the deceased committed suicide,[9][37] was stillborn, was a fetus in a miscarriage, or belonged to one of the Abrahamic religions that require one to be buried on the day they died.
Preparation of the body
Preparation of the body for viewing and eventual burial is usually done at a funeral home or the home of the deceased. This usually involves cleaning (okunaaza omufu), straightening (okugolola), embalming and then dressing up (okwambaza) the body or wrapping/shrouding the body (okuzinga omufu) in cloth (in white sheets or barkcloth).[36]
Taking leave of the dead (Okuziraga)
Sometimes ritual cleansing of the body (okunaaza omufu) and/or okuziraga. Okuziraga is rubbing some oil or water from a sponge on the forehead or face of the deceased. This ritual is performed by the orphans, widow and widower. The sponge is usually made from the core of banana stems. In some cases, the sponge is used to clean one's hands after touching the oil and not the deceased's forehead.[9]
Last funeral rites (Okwabya Olumbe)
Okwabya Olumbe (bursting or casting the spirit of death away) marks the end of the mourning period and is usually held days or months after the burial of the deceased.[38]
Kabaka Muteesa I's bodyguard receives an invited Stanley (1875) (top). The Baganda house (1911) (bottom) .
The Baganda men traditional wear at an introduction ceremony.
As for the founding of the Kingdom of the Ganda (Buganda), the most widely acknowledged account is that it was founded by Kato Kintu. This Kato Kintu is different from the mythical Kintu, as he is generally accepted as a historical figure who founded Buganda and became its first 'Kabaka', adopting the name Kintu in reference to the legend of Kintu to establish his legitimacy as a ruler. He was successful in unifying what had previously been a number of scattered clans to form a strong kingdom.[39]
As such by the 18th century, the formerly dominant Bunyoro kingdom was being eclipsed by Buganda. Consolidating their efforts behind a centralized kingship, the Baganda (people of Buganda) shifted away from defensive strategies and toward expansion. By the mid 19th century, Buganda had doubled and redoubled its territory conquering much on Bunyoro and becoming the dominant state in the region. Newly conquered lands were placed under chiefs nominated by the king. Buganda's armies and the royal tax collectors traveled swiftly to all parts of the kingdom along specially constructed roads which crossed streams and swamps by bridges and viaducts. On Lake Victoria (which the Baganda call Ennyanja Nnalubaale), a royal navy of outrigger canoes, commanded by an admiral, Gabunga, who was chief of the Mmamba (Lungfish) Gabunga clan, could transport Baganda commandos to raid any shore of the lake.[citation needed]
Arrival and interference of European colonialists
The explorer John Speke, searching for the source of the Nile, had visited Buganda in the 1860s and back home in Britain givewithlowing account of the advanced Bantu kingdom he had found in East Africa, and fellow explorers as well as colonialists were to soon follow him into the kingdom.[citation needed]
The journalist Henry Morton Stanley visited Buganda in 1875 and painted a good picture of the kingdom's strength, as well as providing an estimate of Buganda troop strength. At Buganda's capital, Stanley found a well-ordered town of about 80,000 surrounding the king's palace, which was situated atop a commanding hill. A wall more than four kilometers in circumference surrounded the palace compound, which was filled with grass-roofed houses, meeting halls, and storage buildings. At the entrance to the court burned the royal gombolola (fire), which would only be extinguished when the Kabaka died. Thronging the grounds were foreign ambassadors seeking audiences, chiefs going to the royal advisory council, messengers running errands, and a corps of young pages, who served the Kabaka while training to become future chiefs. For communication across the kingdom, the messengers were supplemented by drum signals.[citation needed]
In 1876, Christian missionaries started entering the kingdom of Buganda to introduce the Baganda people to Christianity. Between 1881 and 1890, the Baganda people started to convert to both Islam and Christianity.[40]
To Europeans, the Baganda belonged to a distinct political and social order and were thus privileged over other ethnic and cultural groups in the region. Early travel, missionary, and colonial accounts often called the Baganda the "most advanced and intelligent of all central African societies". The British in their colonial ventures were much impressed with the government as well as the society and economic organization of Buganda, which they ranked as the most advanced nation they had encountered in East Africa and ranked it with other highly advanced nations like the ones they had encountered in Zimbabwe and Nigeria.[41]
clothed, sedentary, civilized, and—martial. In the eyes of the military British administrators, the Baganda had a fine military tradition even as they themselves did. In certain ways, then, for the British, the Baganda were ‘people more like us.'
Buganda was, indeed, an aggressive empire building monarchy at the moment when the British entered the region; other African peoples "paled into insignificance when compared with the Baganda."[42]
In the turn of the century, "flush of enthusiasm for capitalism, expansion, and development", the Baganda were singled out for their initiative in seeking out markets, getting an education, and, above all, for their money-consciousness. Other Ugandan peoples were then viewed as being in a "pre-monetary stage."[42]
Under Kabaka Mwanga II, Buganda became a protectorate in 1894. This did not last, and the Kabaka declared war on Britain on July 6, 1897. He was defeated at the Battle of Buddu on July 20 of the same year. He fled to German East Africa, where he was arrested and interned at Bukoba. The Kabaka later escaped and led a rebel army to retake the kingdom before being defeated once again in 1898 and being exiled to the Seychelles.[43][44][45]
Kabaka Mwanga II of Buganda was allowed near complete autonomy and a position as overlord of the other kingdoms. While in exile, Mwanga II was received into the Anglican Church, and baptized with the name Danieri (Daniel). He spent the rest of his life in exile. He died in 1903, aged 35 years. In 1910, his remains were repatriated and buried at Kasubi.[46][47][48]
The war against Kabaka Mwanga II was expensive, and the new commissioner of Uganda in 1900, Sir Harry H. Johnston, had orders to establish an efficient administration and to levy taxes as quickly as possible. Sir Johnston approached the chiefs in Buganda with offers of jobs in the colonial administration in return for their collaboration. The chiefs did so but expected their interests (preserving Buganda as a self-governing entity, continuing the royal line of kabakas, and securing private land tenure for themselves and their supporters) to be met.[citation needed]
↑Brierley, Jean (1988). "Mutesa, The Missionaries, and Christian Conversion in Buganda". The International Journal of African Historical Studies. 21 (4): 601–618. doi:10.2307/219743. JSTOR219743.
Sources
Roscoe, John (2005). The Baganda: An Account of Their Native Customs and Beliefs. Whitefish, MT: Kessinger Publishing. ISBN978-1-4179-7538-9.
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