The decline of Buganda

1Why this matters

In 1884 Buganda was the strongest state in the Great Lakes region. By 1900 its king was a small child, its land had been divided under a British agreement, and it had become one province of the British Uganda Protectorate. How did a kingdom lose its independence so quickly? The answer combines forces from inside Buganda with pressure from outside, and learning to weigh the two is the core skill of this lesson.

2The timeline

3Internal causes of decline

1. Religious rivalry. Three new faiths competed at court. Mutesa I had balanced them against one another; after his death, Muslim, Catholic and Protestant factions each became armed political parties. Their wars between 1888 and 1892 split the chiefs, killed many people and let outsiders take sides.
2. Divided loyalty. Converts increasingly obeyed their religious leaders and foreign missionaries rather than the Kabaka. Mwanga saw this as a threat to royal authority, and his violent response in 1885–1887 turned many chiefs against him.
3. A young and insecure ruler. Mwanga came to the throne as a teenager in a dangerous time. His changes of policy, from persecution to alliance with the Christians, weakened trust in the throne.
4. Succession disputes. With no fixed rule of succession, factions could make and unmake kings: Mwanga, Kiweewa and Kalema all held the throne between 1888 and 1889.
5. Rise of powerful chiefs. The chiefs who won the religious wars, such as the Protestant leader Apolo Kagwa, became more powerful than the king himself.

4External causes of decline

1. British imperial expansion. After the Berlin Conference (1884–1885), Britain claimed the region. The Imperial British East Africa Company, then the British government, turned influence into control.
2. Superior weapons. The Maxim gun helped decide the Battle of Mengo in 1892 and Mwanga's defeat in 1897.
3. Collaboration. Leading Ganda chiefs chose to work with the British, gaining land and office. This protected Buganda's institutions but left the Kabaka dependent on Britain.
4. The 1900 Agreement. It confirmed British overrule (see below).
5. Disease. Rinderpest killed cattle in the 1890s, and sleeping sickness killed very many people along the Lake Victoria shores in the early 1900s.

5The Buganda Agreement of 1900

• The Kabaka was recognised as ruler only as long as he stayed loyal to Britain; a new Kabaka needed British approval.
• The Lukiiko was given legal powers and became stronger at the expense of the Kabaka.
• Land was divided: about 8,000 square miles went as private freehold (later called mailo) to the royal family, chiefs and about a thousand landowners, while about 9,000 square miles became Crown land controlled by Britain.
• A hut tax of three rupees a year was introduced.
• Buganda became a province of the Uganda Protectorate and gave up claims to tribute from neighbouring areas.

For the chiefs who signed it, the Agreement secured land and local self-government. For the Kabaka's power and for ordinary peasants, who now found themselves tenants on chiefs' mailo land, it was a loss.

6After independence

Buganda kept a special status at Uganda's independence in 1962. In 1966 the government of Prime Minister Milton Obote clashed with Kabaka Mutesa II; the army attacked the royal palace at Mengo and the Kabaka fled into exile. In 1967 all of Uganda's kingdoms were abolished. The Buganda kingdom was restored in 1993 as a cultural institution without political power.

Practice

Solution. Muslim, Catholic and Protestant converts formed rival armed factions at court. They deposed Mwanga in 1888 and then fought one another until 1892. The wars killed many people, divided the chiefs, and invited British involvement, as when Lugard backed the Protestants at Mengo.

Solution. Any three of: the Kabaka ruled under British protection and his successor needed British approval; the Lukiiko received legal powers; land was divided into about 8,000 square miles of mailo land and about 9,000 square miles of Crown land; a hut tax of three rupees was introduced; Buganda became a province of the Uganda Protectorate.

Solution. The chiefs and landowners gained: they received freehold land and a stronger Lukiiko. The Kabaka lost control over land and appointments. Many ordinary peasants lost too, because they became tenants paying dues to landlords. Britain gained a cheap, reliable way of ruling.

Solution. Mwanga becomes Kabaka (1884), Battle of Mengo (1892), protectorate declared (1894), Buganda Agreement (1900).