Antecedents to Modern Rwanda: The Nyiginya Kingdom (Africa and the Diaspora)

374 Pages·2004·1.52 MB·English

by  Jan Vansina

antecedents to
modern rwanda
frica and the iaspora
A D
History, Politics, Culture
series editors
Thomas Spear
David Henige
Michael Schatzberg
ANTECEDENTS TO
MODERN RWANDA
THE NYIGINYA KINGDOM
Jan Vansina
Translated by the author
the university of wisconsin press
The University ofWisconsin Press
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Copyright © 2004
The Board ofRegents ofthe University ofWisconsin System
All rights reserved
1 3 5 4 2
Printed in the United States ofAmerica
Library ofCongress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Vansina, Jan.
[Rwanda ancien. English]
Antecedents to modern Rwanda : the Nyiginya Kingdom / Jan Vansina.
p. cm.—(Africa and the diaspora)
Translation of: Rwanda ancien, with an update to the chronology
between 1876 and 1885.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-299–20120-1 (alk. paper)
ISBN 0-299–20124-4 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. Rwanda—Kings and rulers. 2. Rwanda—History.
I. Title. II. Series.
DT450.34.V3813 2004
967.571´01—dc22 2004007798
contents
Maps vii
Preface ix
Acknowledgments xi
Note on Spelling xiii
Introduction 3
The Oral Sources 5
1 Central Rwanda on the Eve of the Emergence of
the Kingdom 14
The Country and Its Inhabitants 14
Fields and Herds: Subsistence Activities 23
Kinship and Society 30
Polities 38
2 The Rwanda of Ndori 44
The Foundation of the Kingdom 44
Subsequent Military Campaigns: Conquests or Raids? 51
Government: The Ritual Institutions 54
Instruments of Government: The Corporations 58
The Realm 62
Conclusion 65
3 Toward the Centralization of Power 67
The Seizure of the Herds and the Land 68
The Armies 73
At the Hub: Court, King, and Elites 79
The Recasting of Royal Ideology during
Rujugira’s Reign 90
The Weight of the State 95
4 Government in the Eighteenth Century 99
Government from Gisanura to Rwaka 99
Government under Rujugira and Ndabarasa 104
Foreign Relations under Gisanura and Mazimpaka 109
v
vi Contents
Foreign Relations under Rujugira and Ndabarasa 116
Conclusion 122
5 Social Transformations in the Nineteenth Century 126
The Transformations of Society 127
Hutu and Tutsi 134
6 The Triumph of the Great Families and Its Consequences 140
Civil War and the Supremacy of the Elites 140
Struggles for Power at Gahindiro’s and
Rwogera’s Courts 147
Expansion of the Kingdom Eastward and
International Trade 153
A Spontaneous Expansion toward Lake Kivu and
the Land of the Volcanoes? 158
Conclusion 162
7 Nightmares: The Age of Rwabugiri (1867–1897) 164
Political Crises and Wars from 1867 to 1889 165
Isolation Breached and the Hatching of a Coup d’État 173
The Nightmare of Violence Used as a Political Tool 180
A Balance Sheet 194
In Conclusion: History and the Present 196
Appendix 1: Chronology 207
The Foundations 207
Dating Rwabugiri’s Reign 209
From 1796 to the Death of Rwogera 212
Before 1796 214
Appendix 2: Predynastic Fairy Tales: Central Rwanda
before Ndori 217
Notes 221
Works Cited 301
Index 313
maps
1 Historical regions of central Rwanda xv
2 Historical regions of eastern Rwanda xvi
3 Historical regions of western Rwanda xvii
4 Vegetation on the central plateau in early CE times 17
5 The later Iron Age in central Rwanda 19
6 The kingdom around 1700 50
7 Political styles and military campaigns in
the eighteenth century 111
8 The realm in 1796 124
9 The realm in 1867 153
10 The Rwanda of Rwabugiri 178
11 The realm in 1897 179
vii

preface
This book is an introduction to the history of Rwanda before 1900 and
in particular of the kingdom that forms its core. It has not been written
for specialists only, but for all those who are interested, Rwandans and
others, whether their goal be to better understand the present through a
better knowledge of the past, a past that stretches back over several cen-
turies, or whether they are attracted to the history of the kingdom itself.
Indeed I am convinced that the substance of this history is not merely
interesting in and for itself, but also as a topic for fruitful thought for
those who focus on contemporary issues and problems. Hence I include
an occasional note here and there with a brief reminder to a parallel sit-
uation in the present.
In consideration of the audience for which I am writing, I chose to
write a rather straightforward and nonpolemical exposition from which
issues that are mainly of interest to specialists—such as historiographi-
cal debates, arguments about the value of particular sources, and de-
tailed chronological issues—have been excluded. Yet since every reader
must also be kept informed of the sources that support each of the state-
ments made in this book, that information is given in the notes. More-
over, many notes include references to other authors whose opinions
often diverge strongly from my own; these references provide a further
reading list for the reader who would like to further explore the various
questions that the notes raise.
Since we are dealing here with a book aimed at a rather wide range
of readers I have presented the unfolding of the political history in a
straightforward fashion and in chronological order, almost as if a tale
was being told. But the social history that undergirds the political dy-
namic requires a less narrative-oriented approach and more of an ana-
lytical one. In consequence, I decided to alternate between analytical
chapters dealing with social history and more detailed narrative chap-
ters covering political developments for the same period. The subject is
thus presented in paired chapters, one century after the other, the only
ix