1890-1918







Buganda's Procolonial History



Buganda is a kingdom located on Lake Victoria; it is believed to have been established in the 16th century. Over time it expanded by means of conquest; in the 19th century it covered a large part of what is Uganda today, including the site which was to become Uganda's capital, Kampala.
Arab traders first reached Buganda in the 1860es. In 1867, the King of Buganda nominally converted to Islam.
In the 19th century, Buganda was visited by western travelers : J.H. SPEKE (1862), HENRY MORTON STANLEY (1876). Their reports picture a state of considerable size and authority, the capital at LUBAGA HILL a town of 40,000, the armed forces consisting of 125,000 troops and a 'navy' of 230 war canoes.
Anglican missionaries arrived in 1877; Catholic missionaries in 1879; soon, protestant (Anglican), catholic and islamic groups intrigued against each other at Buganda's court. Clashes between rival factions resulted in massacres; as political leaders frequently changed, so did the victimized communities; in 1885, Kabaka Mwanga ordered the execution of 1 Anglican missionary and of 30 Catholic converts..






EXTERNAL
FILES 		Articles from Infoplease : Uganda
History of Buganda, from Buganda Homepage
A History of the Abayudaya Jews of Uganda, article by Arye Oded
Uganda's true religious history after 120 years, by Bwanika Daniel, referring to 1875 Buganda
African History Timeline : 19th century Egypt and East Africa, by Jim Jones
History of Uganda, from Africa InSites, focussing on the history of Uganda's various indigenous groups
Article Buganda, from Wikipedia
DOCUMENTS List of Bugandan Kings, from Buganda Homepage
Buganda flag of 1892, from FOTW
Map of Buganda, from Buganda Homepage
Historical Sites of Buganda, from uganda.co, commented illustrations
REFERENCE Michael Twaddle, The Settlement of South Asians in East Africa, pp.74-76 in : Robin Cohen, The Cambridge Survey of World Migration, Cambridge : UP 1995, KMLA Lib.Sign. 304.809 C678c



This page is part of World History at KMLA
First posted in 2001, last revised on May 23rd 2006

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