ERIC KASHAMBUZI

The study of Africa's - and of Uganda's - history has experienced two phases - up to about 1960 and since then (Philip Curtin et al, 1978, 1996). The first phase was based on the belief that before Europeans migrated into Africa the continent was characterized by darkness and occupied by Negroes who had no history of their own. And since darkness is not a subject of history there was nothing to study. Therefore, the history of Africa was the work of white immigrants.

In Uganda the first generation of scholars has written about ancient civilizations including the amalgamation of smaller kingdoms into the larger kingdom of Kitara of Bachwezi - semi-divine white people who moved into Uganda from the north. The kingdom was short-lived lasting a few generations - 1350 to 1500 (T. Falola 2000, and B. A. Ogot, 1967). It was administratively and militarily extremely loose (S. R. Karugire 1980).

Although its precise boundaries in Uganda are not known and probably shall never be, some authors have suggested that the kingdom covered the districts of Bunyoro, Toro, Ankole and Mubende. Bachwezi - variously known as Bahima and Batutsi - were  known to be pastoralists herding long horned cattle as opposed to the indigenous short-horned hampless ones (G. S. Were and D. A. Wilson 1968, 1972). They had their capital at Bigo bya Mugyenyi and the Ntusi area (S. R. Karugire 1980). These pastoralists wore cow-hide sandals and lived in grass huts (B. A. Ogot 1967).

Some scholars have denied the existence of Kitara kingdom arguing that seasonal mobility of pastoralists in search of pasture and water does not in general encourage the development of advanced material culture or centralized political systems (B. A. Ogot 1967) .However, Bahima and Batutsi have exploited their links with semi-divine Bachwezi kings to establish and maintain political hegemony over Bairu and Bahutu (T. Falola 2000).

As noted above, the views of early Europeans scholars (C. G. Seligman), explorers (J. H. Speke), administrators and missionaries were shaped by their racial prejudices and decided that Africans were not sophisticated enough to have created the Kitara kingdom. They attributed it to the Bachwezi who were described as racially separate from the rest of the people in Uganda. They were described as light-skinned people who had originated in the north.

From the 1920s onwards African scholars who were employed by the surviving dynasties - and one of whom was a member of the Bito dynasty - wrote histories based on Bachwezi legends and describing them as early kings using stories to glorify the long tradition that underlay more recent rule (Philip Curtain et al, 1978, 1996). Many Bahima, Batutsi and Babito still believe in a genetic link between the light skinned Bachwezi and the dynasties which replaced them (S. R. Karugire 1980).

Since the 1960s skeptical historians began to question Bachwezi legends as history. However, there is consensus that Bachwezi as a people existed (S. R. Karugire 1980). “Whatever their origin the Bachwezi were not white-skinned”(G. K. Kahangi 2003).

Some scholars have come to the conclusion that Bachwezi were not a historical dynasty but revered religious figures than the builders of the earthen works at Bigo.

They further believe that history was deliberately skewed to promote contemporary political interests. The first generation of western trained elites especially by early Ugandan scholars was shaped by political considerations and their work does not represent an independent outcome (R. O. Collins and J. M. Burns 2007 and E. Isichei 1997). The idea of racial differences especially in south west Uganda is still alive.

So who were the Bachwezi?

Some historians have shown that the mother of the first Bachwezi king (Ndahura) was called Nyinamwiru meaning 'mother of the agriculturalist' whose father had been the royal gatekeeper of humble origin. And Ndahura was raised by a potter - a member of the farming class - indicating that there is no (pure) pastoral connection (Philip Curtin et al, 1978, 1996).

Some critics have even suggested that farmers and herders had a single origin in ancient times. Richer families became herders and poor ones resorted to farming so that political institutions of Nkore and Rwanda, etc could be considered simply governments by the rich over the poor.

Other research findings have demonstrated that agriculturalist war leaders in Nkore acquired livestock in battle which they passed on to their descendants who became pastoralists (Philip Curtin et al 1978).

Yet others have suggested that Bachwezi were an outgrowth of the established Bantu population who began placing more emphasis on herding (Toyin Falola 2000).

And studies of Ntusi area have discovered that there was extensive cultivation of cereals as well as herding (R. O. Collins and J. M. Burns 2007) signaling that Bachwezi were not pure pastoral people.

Based on the information available as of 2007 we can conclude that Bachwezi were not white people and therefore did not migrate from outside. They lived simple lives wearing cow-hide sandals and residing in grass huts. There is some evidence of a connection with Bantu people and a preference for herding long-horned cattle. The loose and short-lived kingdom of Kitara was an amalgamation of existing small kingdoms.  It appears that the significance of the kingdom was exaggerated by the first generation of scholars - Europeans and Africans - who distorted information for racial purposes and political gains.