 |
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| 14,606,000 [1] [2] | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Uganda, Tanzania, the DRC and Rwanda | |
| Languages | |
| Rutara languages | |
| Religion | |
| Belief in Ruhanga | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| other Great Lakes Bantu people |
The Rutara peoples (endonym: Banyakitara, Abanyakitara) are a group of closely related Bantu ethnic groups native to the African Great Lakes region. They speak mutually intelligible dialects and include groups such as the Banyoro, Banyankore and Bahaya.
Proto-Rutara people originated in the Kagera Region of Tanzania near Bukoba in the year 500AD. They later expanded northwestwards spreading Rutara language and culture (assimilating many of the previous Central Sudanic peoples like the Madi in the process [3] ) into western Uganda and eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, regions that would one day become Bunyoro, Mboga, Nkore, Mpororo, etc. This movement of ideas and practices is likely to have marked the inception of the eras of the Batembuzi and Bacwezi, a period only dimly and fabulously remembered in the later oral traditions, but one in which the key political ideas and economic structures of the later kingdoms first began to be put into effect. [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]
Archaic humans emerged out of Africa between 0.5 and 1.8 million years ago. This was followed by the emergence of modern humans in East Africa around 300,000–250,000 years ago. In the 4th millenium BC written history arose in Ancient Egypt, and later in Nubia's Kush, the Horn of Africa's Dʿmt, and Ifrikiya's Carthage. Between around 3000 BC and 1000 AD, the Bantu expansion swept from north-western Central Africa across much of sub-Saharan Africa, laying the foundations for states in Central, Eastern, and Southern regions. In most African societies the oral word is revered, and as such they have generally recorded their history orally. This has led anthropologists to term them oral civilisations, contrasted with literate civilisations which pride the written word. Oral tradition often remained the preferred method of recordation in cases when a writing system was adapted or developed; for example the oral recordation of the Kouroukan Fouga in the Mali Empire while having adapted the Arabic script to be used in scholarly pursuits.
The Nilotic peoples are people indigenous to the Nile Valley who speak Nilotic languages. They inhabit South Sudan, Sudan, Ethiopia, Uganda, Kenya, the northern border area of Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, Burundi and Tanzania. Among these are the Burun-speaking peoples, Teso people also known as Iteso or people of Teso, Karo peoples, Luo peoples, Ateker peoples, Kalenjin peoples, Karamojong people also known as the Karamojong or Karimojong, Datooga, Dinka, Nuer, Atwot, Lotuko, and the Maa-speaking peoples.
The Migration Period, also known as the Barbarian Invasions, was a period in European history marked by large-scale migrations that saw the fall of the Western Roman Empire and subsequent settlement of its former territories by various tribes, and the establishment of the post-Roman kingdoms.
East Africa, also known as Eastern Africa or the East of Africa, is a region at the eastern edge of the African continent, distinguished by its geographical, historical, and cultural landscape. Defined in varying scopes, the region is recognized in the United Nations Statistics Division scheme as encompassing 18 sovereign states and 4 territories.
Buganda is a Bantu kingdom within Uganda. The kingdom of the Baganda people, Buganda is the largest of the traditional kingdoms in present-day East Africa, consisting of Uganda's Central Region, including the Ugandan capital Kampala. The 14 million Baganda make up the largest Ugandan region, representing approximately 16% of Uganda's population.
The Bantu expansion was a major series of migrations of the original Proto-Bantu-speaking group, which spread from an original nucleus around West-Central Africa. In the process, the Proto-Bantu-speaking settlers displaced, eliminated or absorbed pre-existing hunter-gatherer and pastoralist groups that they encountered.
Bunyoro, also called Bunyoro-Kitara, is a traditional Bantu kingdom in Western Uganda. It was one of the most powerful kingdoms in Central and East Africa from the 16th century to the 19th century. It is ruled by the King (Omukama) of Bunyoro-Kitara. The current ruler is Solomon Iguru I, the 27th Omukama.
The Haya are a Bantu ethnic group based in Kagera Region, northwestern Tanzania, on the western side of Lake Victoria. With over one million people, it is estimated the Haya make up approximately 4% of the population of Tanzania. Historically, the Haya have had a complex kingship-based political system. Agriculture, particularly banana farming, is central to Haya economic life. They are credited with the independent development of carbon steel dating to 2000 years ago using pre-heating techniques.
Kitara was an ancient legendary state that covered significant parts of western Uganda and is regularly mentioned in the oral traditions of the Banyoro, Batooro and Banyankole.
Slavery has historically been widespread in Africa. Systems of servitude and slavery were once commonplace in parts of Africa, as they were in much of the rest of the ancient and medieval world. When the trans-Saharan slave trade, Red Sea slave trade, Indian Ocean slave trade and Atlantic slave trade began, many of the pre-existing local African slave systems began supplying captives for slave markets outside Africa. Slavery in contemporary Africa is still practised despite it being illegal.
Ruhanga features in Bantu spirituality as the remote creator and sky-God, recognized among the Rutara people. The Bahima further recognise him as the arbiter of life, sickness, and death. However, unlike creator figures in other religious systems, Ruhanga is generally not a focus of worship.
The Urewe culture developed and spread in and around the Lake Victoria region of Africa during the African Iron Age. The culture's earliest dated artefacts are located in the Kagera Region of Tanzania, and it extended as far west as the Kivu region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, as far east as the Nyanza and Western provinces of Kenya, and north into Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi. Sites from the Urewe culture date from the Early Iron Age, from the 5th century BC to the 6th century AD. The Urewe people certainly did not disappear, and the continuity of institutional life was never completely broken. One of the most striking things about the Early Iron Age pots and smelting furnaces is that some of them were discovered at sites that the local people still associate with royalty, and still more significant is the continuity of language.
The Western world, also known as the West, primarily refers to various nations and states in the regions of Western Europe, Northern America, and Australasia; with some debate as to whether those in Eastern Europe and Latin America also constitute the West. The Western world likewise is called the Occident in contrast to the Eastern world known as the Orient. The West is considered an evolving concept; made up of cultural, political, and economic synergy among diverse groups of people, and not a rigid region with fixed borders and members. Definitions of "Western world" vary according to context and perspectives.
The Bantu peoples are an indigenous ethnolinguistic grouping of approximately 400 distinct native African ethnic groups who speak Bantu languages. The languages are native to countries spread over a vast area from West Africa, to Central Africa, Southeast Africa and into Southern Africa. Bantu people also inhabit southern areas of Northeast African states.
The Basimba are a Bantu-speaking community in Uganda. The name Basimba is a label of shared identity that predates the 13th century. Basimba has been alternatively associated with the people or their place of origin. The early Ovambo people applied the name to the whole group of the leopard totem clan, known as Bena Ngo in Zambia and Abe Ngo in Uganda.
Between the first century BC and the fourth century AD, several expeditions and explorations to Lake Chad and western Africa were conducted by groups of military and commercial units of Romans who moved across the Sahara and into the interior of Africa and its coast. However, there was a more significant Roman and Greek presence in modern-day Eritrea and Ethiopia. The primary motivation for the expeditions was to secure sources of gold and spices from Axumite piracies.
The Sirikwa culture was the predominant Kenyan hinterland culture of the Pastoral Iron Age, c.2000 BP. Seen to have developed out of the Elmenteitan culture of the East African Pastoral Neolithic c.3300-1200 BP, it was followed in much of its area by the Kalenjin, Maa, western and central Kenyan communities of the 18th and 19th centuries.
The Rutara or Runyakitara languages are a group of closely related Bantu languages spoken in the African Great Lakes region. They include languages such as Runyoro, Runyankore and Ruhaya. The language group takes its name from the Empire of Kitara.
The West Nyanza languages are a subgroup of the Great Lakes Bantu languages spoken in Uganda, Tanzania and the DRC.