Organisation of Pre-colonial Rwanda

Lessons

Senior 1 · History and Citizenship

Organisation of Pre-colonial Rwanda

5 lessons

Lesson 3 of 5

Armies and itorero: military organisation and education

25 min

Dancers or warriors?

The men in this photograph are performing guhamiriza, one of the dances of the intore. Look at what they carry, how they stand and how they move together. Then decide: is this a dance, a military drill, or both?

Definition

Ingabo: an army. In pre-colonial Rwanda every man belonged to an army, usually the same one as his father, and each army had its own name, chief, cattle and duties to the court. Example: Ingangurarugo, an army created by Kigeli IV Rwabugiri.

Definition

Itorero: (plural amatorero) a school where young men chosen for training lived together at the royal court or a chief's residence and learned fighting, dance, speech and the values of the kingdom.

Definition

Intore: "the chosen ones": the young men trained in an itorero. Today the word also names the famous dance that grew out of their training.

Definition

Ubupfura: nobility of character: honesty, self-control, dignity and loyalty. It was one of the main values taught in itorero, together with ubutwari (courage).

How the armies were organised

Every man a soldier. Membership of an army passed from father to son through the lineage. Men of every social category served, and men from different parts of the country belonged to the same army.
New armies for new kings. Each new Mwami formed at least one new army by gathering young men at his court. Armies took proud names, such as Inzirabwoba, "those who know no fear".
More than fighting. Armies guarded the frontiers, fought wars and raids, kept herds of cattle, and brought gifts and labour to the court.
Command. Each army was led by an army chief (umutware w'ingabo) appointed by the Mwami. At the heart of every army were its young men in training: the itorero.

Inside an itorero

Area of training	What the intore learned	Why it mattered
Warfare	using the spear, bow and shield; marching and tactics	defence and expansion of the kingdom
Physical fitness	running, wrestling and the high jump (gusimbuka urukiramende)	strength and endurance for war
Dance and music	the intore dances, drumming and songs	discipline, team spirit and ceremonies at court
Speech and poetry	public speaking; reciting self-praise poems (ibyivugo) and court poetry	confidence, memory, and preparation for leadership
Values	courage (ubutwari), nobility of character (ubupfura), loyalty to the Mwami and the country, self-sacrifice	good conduct as warriors, advisers and future chiefs

Training was led by experienced men under the army chief, and it lasted several years. The best intore could become chiefs themselves. Girls were not trained in itorero; they learned household skills, crafts such as basket weaving, and the values of the family from their mothers and older women at home.

UNESCO: "Intore", the video made for the inscription of the Intore dance on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2024. The narration is in French. Watch how the dancers line up like ranks of warriors and "fight" an invisible enemy.

Worked example: judging the UNESCO video as a source

Who made it, and why? It was published by UNESCO in 2024, when Intore was added to its list of the world's intangible heritage, using material prepared with Rwanda's cultural institutions. Its purpose is to celebrate and protect a tradition.
When? Filmed in the 21st century. It is a primary source for how Intore is performed today, but a secondary source for the itorero of the 1800s.
What does it show well? The movements, costumes, drums and lines of dancers, and the link between the dance and warfare.
What does it leave out? The hard daily life of a young man at a 19th-century court, the long military training and the wars themselves.
Verdict: reliable for the dance and its meaning today; to learn how itorero worked in the past, compare it with oral traditions and historians' accounts.

Case study: itorero in modern Rwanda

Under colonial rule the itorero declined, as the Mwami's armies lost their role and mission schools took their place. After 1994, Rwanda looked again at the itorero as a way to teach values and citizenship. It was revived as Itorero ry'Igihugu (the national itorero) in the late 2000s: students, teachers, civil servants and leaders now attend itorero sessions on the country's history, unity, patriotism and service. Schools have their own amatorero.

In December 2024 UNESCO inscribed the Intore dance on its Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity: the first Rwandan cultural performance to receive this recognition. The old training of the intore now lives on as a shared national heritage.

Tip

Memory hook: an intore trained in W-F-D-S-V: Warfare, Fitness, Dance, Speech, Values. "Warriors Find Dance Strengthens Values."

Discussion

Group task: The itorero of the 1800s trained young men to serve the Mwami. If your school ran an itorero today for girls and boys together, what five things should it teach, and why? Which values from the old itorero would you keep?

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Practice

What was an ingabo, and how did a man become a member of one?
Who were the intore?
Name four areas of training in the itorero.
What are ubutwari and ubupfura?
Where did girls learn their skills and values in pre-colonial Rwanda?
Why is the UNESCO video a primary source for today but a secondary source for the 1800s?
Explain two ways in which the itorero helped the Mwami to govern the kingdom.

Show answersHide answers

An army; membership usually passed from father to son through the lineage, and new armies were formed from young men gathered at the court of a new Mwami.
The young men chosen and trained in an itorero; the word means "the chosen ones".
Any four: warfare, physical fitness, dance and music, speech and poetry, values.
Ubutwari is courage; ubupfura is nobility of character: honesty, self-control, dignity and loyalty.
At home, from their mothers and older women, who taught household skills, crafts such as basket weaving, and family values.
It was filmed in 2024, so it directly shows the dance as performed today; it was made long after the 1800s, so it can only represent the old training indirectly.
Any two: it trained warriors to defend and expand the kingdom; it taught loyalty to the Mwami; it prepared future chiefs and advisers; it spread shared values across the country.

Sources and credits

Photo: Rwandan men performing traditional dance called 'GUHAMIRIZA', Isma250, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
The date of the UNESCO inscription follows the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage page for Intore (element 02129, inscribed 2024).
Video: "Intore", UNESCO, embedded from YouTube.
The table, analysis and case study were written by Ganzaa. The rest of this lesson, the practice items and the unit exercises were written by Ganzaa.

This lesson adapts CC BY-SA material and is shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.

1Dancers or warriors?

2How the armies were organised

3Inside an itorero

4Case study: itorero in modern Rwanda

5Discussion

Dancers or warriors?

How the armies were organised

Inside an itorero

Case study: itorero in modern Rwanda

Discussion