The death of Omukama(King) Kamurasi in 1869 triggered the customary succession war between 2 of his sons Kabigumire and Kabaleega.
The latter won the duel and went on to be Bunyoro’s greatest king. He initiated new political and military reforms unlike anything the kingdom had seen before.
Under him, Bunyoro began to regain the strength that it had been losing over the past century. Increased trade with the Arabs enriched and allowed him to modernize the state. He handled multiple crises back to back and sometimes at the same time. These included his country’s age-old rivals the Baganda, the Arab slavers, and the Egyptian Equatoria empire.
But by far it is his 6 year war of resistance against Great Britain that makes him popular.
Tune in and learn about the man whose defiance caused the biggest military deployment of troops in East Africa during the colonial conquest era of the late 1800s.
Sources
Yolamu Ndoleriire Nsamba, Mystique In Sovereigns’ Headgear (Wandsbeck: Reach Publishers, 2016), p208 – 210
G.N. Uzoigwe, Revolution and Revolt in Bunyoro- Kitara (Kampala, Longman Uganda, 1970) p 8
Shane Doyle, Crisis & Decline in Bunyoro; Population & Environment in Western Uganda 1860 – 1955, (Kampala: Fountain Publishers, 2006) p 42 – 61
J.W. Nyakatura, Anatomy of an African Kingdom (New York: Nok Publishers, 1973) p 138 -153
G.N. Uzoigwe, Succession and Civil War in Bunyoro – Kitara, The International Journal of African Historical Studies ( Boston University African Studies Center, 1973) p66
John Beattie, Bunyoro; An African Kingdom (New York: Holt Rinehart and Winston Inc, 1960) p 18-20
Kihumuro Apuuli, 1000 Years of Bunyoro- Kitara Kingdom – The People and the Rulers (Kampala; Fountain Publishers, 1994)
Background Music Sources
Isolated Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
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