Empire of Kitara

The Kingdom of the Banyakitara, also known as Union of Kitara (Union of Chwezi) or Chwezi Union and better known as the Kitara Empire, was an empire in East Africa. It existed in the great lakes region from around the early bronze age to about 500 C.E. During its growth under the mysterious Chwezi Kings., the (Empire of the sun, Empire of the moon) ruled much of the Nile valley and beyond during its peak., when the kingdom of Aksum disintegrated about 940 AD into the kingdoms of makuria, zagwe, Damot and Shewa., another kingdom split away in the south to form the great Empire of kitara., the empire encompassed of modern day Uganda, Eastern Kenya, eastern D.R. Congo, Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania, Malawi, Zimbabwe and Zambia., the Google interface has been translated into Kitara in February 2010 by the Faculty of Computing and IT, Makerere University. It is also used in the Orumuri newspaper, published by New Vision Group.[1][2][3][4][5]

Empire of Kitara
Religion
Traditional African religion
GovernmentConstitutional Monarchy
Establishment
Historical eraBronze Age to Late Antiquity
• Dynasty since late
900 AD and 1200 BC
• Monarchy abolished
1967
• Monarchy reinstated
1993
Preceded by		Succeeded by
Kingdom of Aksum
Kitara Empire
Kingdom of Bunyoro
Today part ofUganda
Kitara historical sites
Pre-colonial African states from different periods
PersonMunyakitara
LanguageRunyakitara
CountryUganda

History

According to oral traditions of western Uganda, the Kitara empire naturally known as the Empire of the sun, Empire of the Moon disintegrated during the 14th-15th centuries, and broke up into new autonomous kingdoms ruled by descendants of the Chwezi who, by oral legend, mysteriously vanished without a trace. The new kingdoms included Bunyoro, Tooro, Ankole, Buganda, Busoga in Uganda, the Kingdom of Rwanda, Burundi, and Karagwe in northern Tanzania and others in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.[6] Kitara was reported to have been ruled by two dynasties, the Batembuzi gods and their successors the Bachwezi god-kings. The Chwezi dynasty is thought to have been related to a Tembuzi king Ngonzaki's son Isaza. Isaza is believed to have been the last ruler of the Batembuzi dynasty, he married Nyamata, the daughter of Nyamiyonga , "King of the underworld". This union produced king Isimbwa who later fathered Ndahura in Runyakitara (known in Rwanda as Ndahiro I Bamara and in Buganda as Wamala Ndawula), the first of the Chwezi dynastic kings.[7][8] King Ngonzaki was son to King Bada. Bada was the son to Kakama (Kayima) whose father Hanga descended from the heavens.

Rulers
Abakama (Kings) of the Empire of Kitara
DynastyKing/OmukamaClanFatherMotherMother's ClanReignBurial Place
1Batembuzi (Reign of the gods)KintuUnknownUnknownUnknownUnknownBronze ageJinja
2KakamaBagabuKintuKatiUnknownBronze ageUnknown
3ItwaleBagabuKakamaUnknownUnknownBronze ageUnknown
4HangiBagabuItwaleUnknownUnknownBronze ageUnknown
5Ira lya HangiBagabuHangiUnknownUnknownbronze ageUnknown
6Kabengera Kazooba ka HangiBagabuHangiUnknownUnknownBronze ageUnknown
7NyamuhangaBagabuKazoobaUnknownUnknownBronze ageUnknown
8Nkya IBagabuNyamuhangaNyabagabeUnknownLate Bronze ageUnknown
9Nkya IIBagabuNyaka IUnknownUnknownLate Bronze ageUnknown
10BabaBagabuNyka IIUnknownUnknownLate Bronze ageUnknown
11KamuliBagabuBabaUnknownUnknownlate Bronze ageUnknown
12NsekaBagabuKamuliUnknownUnknownlate Bronze ageUnknown
13KudidiBagabuNsekaUnknownUnknownIron ageUnknown
14NtoziBagabuKudidiUnknownUnknownEarly Iron ageUnknown
15NyakahongerwaBagabuNtoziUnknownUnknownmid iron ageUnknown
16MukonkoBagabuNyakahongerwaUnknownUnknownMid Iron ageUnknown
17Ngozaki RutahindukaBagabuMukonkoUnknownUnknownlate Iron ageUnknown
18Isaza Waraga RugambanabatoBagabuNgozaki RutahindukaUnknownUnknownlate Iron ageUnknown
19Bukuku OmuranziBaranziUnknownUnknownUnknownEarly Iron ageKisegwe kya Nyinamwiru, Birembo Sub County, Bugangaizi
20Bachwezi (Reign of the demi-gods)Ndahura KyarubumbiBachweziIsimbwaUnknownUnknownlate bronze ageUnknown
21Mulindwa Nyabweliza NgangoBachweziIsimbwaNyakwahyaBasaigilate bronze ageUnknown
22Wamara BwigundaBachweziNdahuraNyanteUnknownearly bronze ageUnknown

Timeline

Preceded by:

Succeeded by:

Etymology

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): /ˈt͡ʃweɪzi/
  • Rhymes: -eɪzi
  • IPA(key): /ˈkitɑrɑ/, [ˈkit̪ɑrɑ]
  • Rhymes: -itɑrɑ
  • Syllabification(key): ki‧ta‧ra

Noun

Chwezi (plural only)

  1. A legendary African dynasty said to have ruled the Kitara empire.

Kitara can refer to:

See also

References
  1. "Empire of Kitara: One of the oldest African Empires that existed since the early bronze age to date". Theafricanhistory.com.
  2. Bernsten, Jan (1 March 1998). "Runyakitara: Uganda's 'New' Language". Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development. 19 (2): 93–107. doi:10.1080/01434639808666345. ISSN 0143-4632.
  3. Stokes, Jamie (2009). Encyclopedia of the Peoples of Africa and the Middle East, Volume 1. Infobase Publishing. pp. 506–509.
  4. "AfriWetu Ep14 - Bachwezi Dynasty (Kitara Empire) - African Civilisation Series by AfriWetu". Anchor.fm.
  5. Tantala, Renee (1989). The early history of Kitara in Western Uganda: Process models of religious and political change. Ph. D. Dissertation, University of Wisconsin, Madison.
  6. "Empire of Kitara: One of the oldest African Empires that existed since 900 AD to date". Theafricanhistory.com. 2 May 2021.
  7. "The Bachwezi powers". Newvision.co.ug. Retrieved 10 January 2022.
  8. "AfriWetu Ep15 - Origins of the Bachwezi - Legends Series by AfriWetu". Anchor.fm. Retrieved 10 January 2022.
  9. "AfriWetu S2E20 - Queen Makeda of Sheba (Legends) by AfriWetu". Anchor.fm. Retrieved 10 January 2022.
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