African Kingdoms: Pre-Colonial Political Systems - Essay Sample

Introduction

Before the European invasion and subsequent colonization of Africa, it believed that Africa had a political system of governance. There is a considerable amount of evidence that points out to the fact that most African communities had a well established system of governance. These systems of governance headed by kings selected from locals and were responsible for regulating the societies, defense against aggressiveness, and intrusion from other kingdoms. Most were monarchical -characterized by inheritance of power and authority over other local subjects from family members .one such kingdom is the Bunyoro kingdom that existed in western Uganda East Africa, between the 13th century and 19th century. In this paper, we are going to review extensively;

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• The geographical area and the environment
• Economic systems(land ownership, property ownership, and exchange system)
• Kinship system and family structure (clans and lineages)
• Gender division and roles
• Political system(band ,tribe ,chiefdom ,state and egalitarian ,rank ,stratified)
• Religious system and key beliefs.

Geographical Area and Environment

Bunyoro kingdom covers the western region of Uganda; it comprises of five districts: Hoima, Kibaale, Buliisa. Masindi and Kiryandogo. It boarders Apac in the north, Mubende, Bandibugyo in the south, Kiboga and Nakasongola in the east, and Lake Albert in the west. The region covers 18,578.2 sq km, while 3,241 sq km covered by water bodies (Shaw et al., p.281).

The kingdom has a favorable climate. It enjoys a bi-modal rainfall type which comes in March-May august-November. This bi-modal type results in conducive agricultural production throughout the year .the domain has thick vegetation wooded savannah that forms transitional zone, tropical vegetation, the savannah grassland; we also dense forests such as Bugoma and Budongo. The kingdom has an adequate surface and subsurface water reserve. There are many types, both seasonal and all-weather.

Mode of Subsistence

The preindustrial economy was mostly one of the subsistence .people generally produced food and other goods for their use. Agriculture formed the basis of economy .the ancestors of Bunyoro were both farmers, and but the majority were and have remained farmers(Abairu). Their product included millet, root crops, coffee, bananas, and bark cloth .their implement were primarily hoes and knives. The pastoralist (Abahuma) knew metalworking, which enhanced agriculture (Yoder et al. p.2). Under the British system, it fully integrated into the capitalist system, the product began to the sale for money, agriculture techniques modernized, and the volume of production increased .crops such as and coffee became prominent. Still, traditional agriculture and modern agriculture continued until now.

The Economic System

The society was highly egalitarian. The property was a criterion to distinguish between the inferior and the superior .land was an asset of importance.

All Bunyoro land belonged to Omukama .the system of land tenure known as the Kibanja system categorized land as lands allocated to the hierarchy of chiefs, allocation to clans, and individuals. During the colonial period, the ownership of property became invested by the governor-general as representatives of the imperial government. Inheritance was in the male line .a A man may nominate any of his sons as his heir.

Economically the kingdom of Bunyoro was supplied food to other countries. People's economy was highly on agriculture. The state had fertile lands, which enabled them to them plenty of food for home consumption. There was a complicated network of trade routes that facilitated trading operation .the goods exchanged included agricultural and industrial products. Industries were specialized and reflected regional, cultural, social, and religious characteristics. Products that they manufactured included knives, bows, spears, arrows boats canoes, ivory, pipes, and wood carving.

Those people who lived along Lake Albert were fishermen, while others were hunters. Hence made it easier for them to exchange fish or dried meat for foodstuffs .the coming of the Bachwezi introduced cattle keeping for large scale purposes, which had long horns and hence yielded more milk.

The Abanyakibiro got their living through the exchange of salt and fish. In Kibiro, currently, salt processing is still going on (Mwesigwa and Mubangizi p.8). The Banyoro also produced several wooden items, iron and stone items, mud items, hides and skins, sisal items on an economic basis. These were exchanged for other items or even sold.

Kinship System

Bunyoro is made up of over 90 clans and sub-clans .every family has a central ancestor. Every Munyoro belongs to a collective clan group of people who descended from the ancestors and are, therefore, blood relatives. The tribe is significant to everyone. Must be well aware of the clan relationship on both families, the mother'sss and fathers' side .this was necessary to avoid inbreeding .an exemption from this role claim by princes and princesses of the royal kingdom.

Socially people organized with the royal families of kings, princes, and princesses. The king held the executive, judiciary, and legislative power; his word was highly respected. Each group had a specific duty to perform. Abaliisa clan were shepherds of kings cattle, Abahamba clans were hunters and bodyguards, Abasiila were artisans and craftsmen(Doyle et al. p.2). There was also kinship terminology the children of father's brothers and the mother's sisters are called "brother" and" sister" and belonged to a person decent group .the father's brothers are called" father "and also belong to one's descent group.

Gender Division and Roles

The primary assignment of economic task by age was not adhered to strictly. specialized nature of the economy was a significant determinant .women performed most of the primary agriculture responsibilities and the bulk domestic chores, and men did the job that required physical strength

Political System

The Bunyoro kingdom had a centralized system of government at the top was the king (Pomukama). His position hereditary was commander in chief of armed forces. There was a kind of political school where all the leaders had to pass through. The king had absolute authority over his subject; he appoints county chiefs (Abasabaza) to administer each county below them were sub-county chiefs (Abagombozi) who received a report from the parish chiefs (Abatongole) at the grassroots were village chiefs.

With this hierarchical arrangement, the king's messages used to reach the grassroots very fast. Later on, the office of the prime minister was established to head the civil service of entire kingdom .all All county chiefs report to him, and he, in turn, say to the king. The duties of political authority started from the household. In But, ee house was in effect a district .it was a kingdom ruled over by Nyineka(family head), which was ideally inherited by the first son.

The village politically organized so that the level of cooperation within it was much more pronounced than outside it. Each community had specially recognized elder known as Mukuru Womungongo .he was selected among elders and acted as an intermediary between them and chiefs .besides he had an open court composed of him and a few elders .which solved village disputes. The society also stratified into Bairu, Bakama, and Bahuma (Sseremba et al. p.320). The Bairu formed the majority population. They did different activities that were locally carried out. Banyoro speaks Runyoro, which is a division of the central Bantu languages .it was widely spoken by the lake people .in the Paulo area of northern Bunyoro, a word related to Luo also spoken.

Religious System

The banjo traditionally believed in a creator god today called Ruhanga. Tradition counts how Ruhanga created the world and came to bunyoro with his brother Nkya Mbeya. Ruhanga, disquieted by the evil he saw happening in the world, ascended into heaven, never to return. Nakia MBA was left behind, and he had three sons; Kahuna, Kairu, and hakama .kakama passed a set of tests and thus became the Omukama .kahuma became his brother's herdsmen, and Kairu became a source of evil.

The Banyoro believed in supernatural powers to whom they turned for intervention or assistance, mainly to ensure fertility, prosperity, good health, and population increase .most of Banyoro today are Christian or Muslims, but vestiges of the old beliefs remain. Religious practitioners included diviners and spirit mediums of the Abachwezi cult as well as those of minor factions. Ceremonies included the coronation of a king, which involved ritual the Empyemi (succession) rite, the Enjeru(declaration of peace), and mango (refresher) rite held to renew kings' series the throne.

The Bunyoro believed in life after death. Death was not a punishable sin since they thought Rehang introduced diseases, hunger, and death because he resented how well the society was prospering. Most banjo still attributes death not to chance but to ghosts, sorcerers, and supernatural powers. Clan members were also forbidden to harm one another. Whenever a person died, some grains of millet mixed with simsim placed in the right hand .each of the dead man were required to take his lips a small quantity of the mixture from Deadman and eat it.

In Bunyoro, burial would take place either in the morning or in the afternoon, but not midday. If the dead body was of a man, the last cloth wrapped around it in front of his house. If it was a woman, all this done inside the house. Immediately after the burial, people would cut their hair from the back and front of their heads and throw it on the grave. If someone died with grudges from the family, his mouth and anus would staff with clay .this was meant the ghost from coming out of the corpse to haunt those with home the dead person had a grudge.

The Bunyoro observed new moon ceremonies. During a unique moon ceremony, people assemble at the king's courts to dance the tune of music played by the royal bandsmen. Was to celebrate the Omukakas having lived to see the new moon.

Conclusion

In conclusion, bunyoro kingdoms had a centralized type of government where the king had the ultimate power over ownership of land and property. It had a monarchical where power was inherited. Economically the society was equal in which they also had enough food to supply to other kingdoms. Based on gender, women performed lighter work, whereas men performed large ones. Like other Africans, countries, bunyoro had their own culture and beliefs, which guided them in their way of life. The people of Bunyoro; people believed in kinship ties where the clan was of importance since it also had different duties to perform. The Bunyoro kingdom also found in one god, the Ruhanga. Just like other kingdoms, the country is a big part of the oral tradition in the area of Great Lakes of Africa.

Reference

Doyle, S. (2016). BunyoroKitara, Kingdom. The Encyclopedia of Empire, 1-3.

Mwesigwa, D., & Mubangizi, B. C. (2016). Exploring the best practices of women-centered ecotourism enterprises in Bunyoro, Uganda. African Journal of Hospitality, Tourism and Leisure, 5(2), 1-17.

Shaw, G. (2017). See also: Buganda; Bunyoro; Lake Victoria; Stanley, Henry Morton; Speke, John Hanning. The Nile: An Encyclopedia of Geography, History, and Culture, 281.

Sseremba, Y. (2019). The Making and Remaking of "Native Tribes" in Uganda's Toro Kingdom. Nationalism and Ethnic Politics, 25(3), 311-328.

Yoder, J. C. (2016). Buganda, Kingdom. The Encyclopedia of Empire, 1-3.