14th century – 15th century
Western Buganda and the Kitara complex
The Bachwezi were a contested but, in the reconstruction adopted here, historical ruling group associated with the Kitara complex. Their phase is linked to the expansion of a political unit under Ndahura and possibly to pastoralist Bahima influence, while archaeological interpretations connect them with the Bigo culture in western Buganda between 1350 and 1500.
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The Story
The Bachwezi formed the second major dynastic phase in conventional histories of the Kitara complex. Their historicity has been disputed: some scholars interpreted them as divine or mythological figures, while others identified them as historical rulers or pastoral aristocrats. The extract adopts the position that the Bachwezi were historical and treats their political development as part of East African history.
Traditions describe Ndahura as the major ruler of the Bachwezi period, with Wamara as the other ruler and Murindwa as regent during Ndahura’s military absences. Ndahura is presented as a great warrior king who extended the small chiefdom of Bugangaizi over a much wider area. The passage associates major developments in the Kitara complex with the period from 1350 to 1500.
One interpretation attributes the Bachwezi state to the incursion of pastoralist Bahima, while another sees the Bachwezi as local rulers emerging from economic and demographic changes. Archaeological work by Posnansky connected the pastoralist Bachwezi with the Bigo culture and placed Bigo, possibly the capital of a pastoral kingdom in western Buganda, between 1350 and 1500.
14th century – 15th century
Western Buganda and the Kitara complex
The Bachwezi were a contested but, in the reconstruction adopted here, historical ruling group associated with the Kitara complex. Their phase is linked to the expansion of a political unit under Ndahura and possibly to pastoralist Bahima influence, while archaeological interpretations connect them with the Bigo culture in western Buganda between 1350 and 1500.
Continue exploring
The Story
The Bachwezi formed the second major dynastic phase in conventional histories of the Kitara complex. Their historicity has been disputed: some scholars interpreted them as divine or mythological figures, while others identified them as historical rulers or pastoral aristocrats. The extract adopts the position that the Bachwezi were historical and treats their political development as part of East African history.
Traditions describe Ndahura as the major ruler of the Bachwezi period, with Wamara as the other ruler and Murindwa as regent during Ndahura’s military absences. Ndahura is presented as a great warrior king who extended the small chiefdom of Bugangaizi over a much wider area. The passage associates major developments in the Kitara complex with the period from 1350 to 1500.
One interpretation attributes the Bachwezi state to the incursion of pastoralist Bahima, while another sees the Bachwezi as local rulers emerging from economic and demographic changes. Archaeological work by Posnansky connected the pastoralist Bachwezi with the Bigo culture and placed Bigo, possibly the capital of a pastoral kingdom in western Buganda, between 1350 and 1500.
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