HISTORY OF BUGANDA
Buganda, the largest of the medieval kingdoms in present-day Uganda, became an important and powerful state during the 19th century. Established in the late 14th century along the shore of Lake Victoria, it evolved around its founding kabaka (king) Kintu, who came to the region from northeast Africa. Kintu, who arrived as the leader of multiple clans, conquered the area, defeating the last indigenous ruler, Bemba Musota, to establish his new state. Kintu, however, ordered the new clans to intermarry with the indigenous people creating the Buganda ethnic group.
Thirty-six kabakas or kings followed Kintu, who mysteriously disappeared after laying Buganda’s foundation. While in the early centuries the kings ruled at the mercy of the clan heads, by 1700 they gained more centralized authority over the kingdom.
During the 16th century, Buganda began 300 years of territorial expansion, annexing or conquering a number of chiefdoms and expanding from three provinces to twelve by 1890. Buganda’s expansion came as a result of its military superiority over its neighbors.
Buganda is one of the numerous kingdoms that sprung up after the collapse of the vast chwezi empire, hence it’s believed that it also originated from the large chwezi empire.
The kingdom got established in the northwest part of Lake Victoria and east of Bunyoro, making it in between Lake Kyoga and Lake Albert.
The earliest inhabitant of this place is believed to have been the Bantu that migrated from the Congo Basin and lives in the present-day Busiro, Kyadondo, and Mawokota.
He was believed to have been a twin brother to rukidi mpuga the founder of the boot dynasty in Bunyoro.
It’s beloved that Kato Kimera curved Buganda from the Bunyoro-Kitara kingdom which was on the collapse from Bunyoro. He is believed to have come with five to six present-day clans of Buganda.Other traditions believed that Buganda originated from the Bantu clans that lived in the areas way back and others came from eastern Uganda.
Other clans of Buganda are said to have come from the Ssese islands.Buganda started as a small nucleus state comprising only Busiro, Mawokota, and Kyadondo around the 15th century.
The Uganda that inhabits this Ares belongs to a wider group of interlacustrine Bantu and forms the largest Bantu grouping in Uganda.
By the 17 century, Buganda had expanded to cover Singo, Gomba, and Butambala and it was Kabaka Katerega who captured these counties from Bunyoro.
By the half of the 19th century, Kabaka Mawanda captured the counties of Bulemeezi, Kyaggwe, and Bugerere. Making Buganda the largest kingdom in the interlacustrine region by then.With the help of the British Kabaka Muteesa brought in the lost counties of Buyaga and Bugangaizi and Buluri which were annexed from Bunyoro.
The kingdom of Buganda is located on the shores of Lake Victoria within the interlacustrine region. The Baganda are believed to belong to a group of western Bantu.
According to the Kiganda theory, the founder of Buganda was Kintu who was believed to have come from the direction of mountain Elgon in 1314 AD via Bugisu, Budama, Busoga, and finally to the shores of Lake Victoria to present-day Buganda. Around thirteen to fourteen of the present-day clans are said to have come with Kintu.
Buganda started as a small state made up of Busiro, Mawokota, and Kyadondo counties and later expanded to include former parts of the Bunyoro and Ssese Islands.
Miss Tourism Buganda 2023/ 2024 – MunnaBuddu Nabakungula Vanessa y’awangudde engule
Nabakungula Vanessa Hunnah munnabuddu y'awangudde obwannalulungi bw'ebyobulambuzi mu Buganda...
Omumbowa wa Kabaka afudde!
Omu ku bambowa ba Kabaka Hajji Hussein Ssengendo avudde...
BUGANDA ORGANISATIONS
