The Kingdom of Bunyoro-Kitara: Kabalega

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.
Transcript is available at https://www.buzzsprout.com/1180802 if you would like to read along.                                                                 
                                                                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)

                                                                 Music
Isolated Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Transcript

David Ibanda : 0:02

Welcome everyone to episode seven of the those who came before us podcast. I'm your host, David Ibanda. We are now in the late 19th century portion of Bunyoro's pre- colonial history. The events we'll be discussing occur from 1869 to 1899. And this is time of the one they call the defiant a man who was intolerant of rebels. The person I'm talking about is of course, none other than Kabalega. He is hands down Bunyoro's most popular King. And it's not hard to see why. The man came up during a time of great civil unrest. Most of the 19th century had been rocked by internal divisions and outside threats. And Kabalega was able to deal with both of them. He unified the country by keeping the rebels in check, even though they weren't fully dealt with till later in his reign. He did manage to beat him back though and actually went above and beyond to mend fences when he had pacified them. But Kabalega's most remarkable achievements are his foreign policy. He said about reconquering former territories that used to be part of the legendary Empire Kitara. In fact, many in Bunyoro believed that had he been left to rule, Kabalega would have managed to restore the empire of his ancestors. Despite this, his legacy of resistance will forever be part of Uganda's memory. His name goes down in history as one of Africa's greatest leaders. So if you liked my series, because the episodes were short, as you can see with the timestamp, this is the longest episode to date. I apologize for that, but you will learn a lot. And for all those that already know much about this period in Uganda's History. I truly hope I'll surprise you. So, buckle up, and let's do this. Kabalega was born on June 18 1853. As a child, he was described as proud and assertive and had a great love for hunting. When he started his career as a soldier in his early teens, Kabalega was seen as courageous, single minded and sympathetic to the everyday people. These were the traits that would lead or earn him their support as well. Others like Prince Omudaya, who famously refused to celebrate after winning a battle for his brother Kamurasi, felt that Kabalega was impulsive, single minded, short tempered and opinionated. Omudaya knew Kabalega quite well as he was not only his uncle, but his instructor as well. He also instructed the future king's elder brother, Kabigumire. He taught them both we know our etiquette, and the history of the country. Omudaya felt that Kabigumire was more suited to the task of leadership. But on that, his brother Kamurasi disagreed. The same qualities that Omudaya despised in Kabalega are the same that made him his father's pick. It said that on his deathbed, in 1869 Kamurasi summoned Kabalega and Prince Nyaika and told him that he wanted cover they got to be his successor. This clashed directly with what the majority wanted. The majority being the Royals and the Chiefs for them Kabigumire was their favorite. In fact, they mocked Kabalega by saying Kabalega is the rightful heir of the throne. No, that doesn't kind of make sense but it was a comment loaded with sarcasm. Now when the royals gathered to plan the burial, Prince Nyaika and Kabalega were notably absent. The next day Kabigumire went to see his uncle, Prince Omudaya. Omudaya commented on Kabalega's absence. Where is your brother? You always come together to see me. Kabigumire responded by saying, I don't know. I saw him yesterday with Prince Nyaika's people. Perhaps he wants a fight. Omudaya was disturbed by this. I guess he was hoping that there wouldn't need to be a fight in the first place, seeing his Kabalega had very little support. Plus, I am sure that he wanted to avoid the bloodshed from the previous reign. Remember, he did not like that at all. So he sent a messenger to Kabalega's camp. And the messenger returned saying that there was no one there. Omudaya is angry at this news. He summoned the great chiefs and Royals and declared war on the 16 year old covered Kabalega. Omudaya wanted Kabalega brought to him immediately because in his words, the boy had lost his good manners. The good manners that he was referring to was not telling them what he had planned to do. But it also wasn't just that it was the fact that Kabalega had chosen to fight. Even when he was outmatched in the history of 26 Babiito kings, only eight succession wars have been recorded. Princes had the right to challenge another for the throne. However, it was rare that a prince would fight against such odds. In fact, Kabalega is the only one on record to have won against the establishment. Remember, headstrong, single minded and opinionated. Only such a person would do that. So where was Kabalega? The night before, Prince Nyaika had sent word to him and reminded him of his father's wishes. Find people who can support you and move quickly. Prince Nyaika told him, You'll lose the throne if you wait for them to finish the burial rites? So here's what's happening. At the time, a prince was awarded the throne once they buried their father and killed their contestant who was usually their brother. In this instance, the Chiefs were ready to install Kabigumire right after they had buried his father. But if Kabalega struck first he could subdue his brother and his followers and then bury his father and then he would become king. So the future king to be gathered his allies in secret. He had a few Royals and princes, but nothing compared to what his brother Kabigumire had. What he did have though, was the general public support. Remember how I mentioned that he was sympathetic to the everyday people? Well, that earned him their trust and they flocked to his side. But the Chiefs and the Babiito Royals knew how these things went. And at the first sign of trouble, an army was assembled to catch him. And these two marched out with their armies and met Kabalega at what is known as the Battle of Kinoga. Short story short, every single one of them was killed, like utterly, completely crushed. It was a devastating blow to Kabigumire's side. But they came back for more. They raised another army and challenged him again. And they too were crushed. Every single one of them was killed. You can only imagine how low the morale might have been for Kabigumire's side. They just couldn't believe it. A 16 year old boy was winning without the backup of the major chiefs and royals. Word reached Omudaya that Kabalega was hard to beat and that he was coming for him next. When he heard this, Omudaya fled carrying the body of his dead brother Kamurasi. Six months passed and the war still raged on. Prince Nyaika who started this whole thing became worried. "This war has gone on for too long." He said. "People have been unable to grow food for the last six months." It's at that moment that Prince Nyaika switched sides and befriended an Arab slave trader named Sulemani. This slave trader gave him the means with which to challenge Kabalega. This is another reason why this battle of succession was unique. It didn't just involve two contestants, but four. Kabalega and his brother Kabigumire were the two major ones. And the other two were their uncles Ruyonga, and Mupina. Enemies carried over from his father's time. And all these four were backed by Arab slave traders. The interesting part about this is that these slave traders all worked for the same person, Aqqad being the name. The hope was that whoever won, they would take the spoils either way, and this comes up when Kabalega eventually wins. Apparently, he had promised him half of his kingdom. half you heard that right. We have no idea whether or not he actually promised this. However, Kabalega turned on them, killed some and drove the rest out of his kingdom. This succession war also involved the neighbors of one euro cover goombay got support from the Banyankore. In fact, it's recorded that when he asked for more help from the Omugabe, the king of Nkore, He expressed shock at the audacity of Kabigumire to ask for more men, despite having involved them in a conflict that claimed the lives of so many of his people. On the other hand, Kabalega got support from King Muteesa of Buganda, and the langi and the Acholis. Prince Nyaika was a smaller opponent. We don't know what exactly hoped to gain by going against Kabigumire. It's not like he was the only one fighting. The worst part is, is that changing sides didn't have the effect that he intended. The war was still going on. And it was only when Kabalega got a hold of his father's body at the Battle of Buziba. The things changed a little. You see, Prince Nyaika wasn't the only one sick of all the damn fighting. The Chiefs and the elders had had their fill of this war. And they said, Enough, you have one bury your father and ascend the throne. Kabalega listened and did just that. So this is what I mean by things changed a little. A portion of the fighting had stopped because it was overwhelmingly clear that Kabalega was the more dominant force among them. However, Kabigumire never surrendered, and neither did the others. He kept launching repeated attacks Kabalega, despite the fact that the elders had already declared Kabalega as the clear winner. That throne was supposed to be his, and he was determined to have it, which I get, by all accounts Kabigumire should have been the winner. With many of the major chiefs and Royals backing him. It should have been around for him. But with the unique circumstances of the succession war Being King was not in the cards for him. Prince Nyaika grew ever more desperate at the never ending wars. He came before Kabalega and said. Open quotes. Many people have been destroyed by this war. If the entire population is wiped out, what will you rule? If you don't want to kill your brother, give him half your kingdom, so he may also be king. However, if you still hate him, then give me a spear. And I'll kill him for you. Close quotes Kabalega was moved by this. Obviously he didn't pick option A couple like it was not about that sharing life. So he gives Prince Nyaika a spear and orders him to capture if possible his brother, but kill if need be. It took two encounters with Kabigumire to finally kill him and said that he fought to the bitter end. His servant Japari was the only one left by his side. He was brought for a Kabalega, and he personally thanked him for fighting for his brother. Japari was given his gun and drafted into Kabalega's Army. This act shows that in some way Kabalega still cared for his older brother. I am curious though, what it was like for him to have been responsible for his brother's death. what it was like for him fighting his own brother this whole time. These two did grow up together, same father, different mothers. It can't have been easy to have done what he did. Succession wars, once initiated, demanded the deaths of the other contestant. Oral History makes no mention of how he felt about this. It's simply he fought, he won, and he got the throne. The war had gone on for two years. It was 1871 and the then a 18 year old boy was now King. After Kabalega's unprecedented win his first order of business was to clean house, Anyone who was disloyal found themselves at his mercy. And to capture this, he was given the names Ekitule kinobere abeemi which means intolerant of rebels. These included people such as Ruyonga, his father's brother and age old enemy, as well as Mupina. As I mentioned before, he's even said to put two of his own sisters to death for plotting behind his back. Man he was not playing. But to understand his intolerance of rebels and his need to clean house. We need to take a closer look. A couple ago found himself not being supported by the establishment, and that's a dangerous predicament to be in. There was no way that he could last on the throne without their help. He had to find a way to win them back. Or, or he could cut down their power. And one of the ways he did this was by creating his own army called Abaruusura. Okay, so what does this mean? Before he pulled the stunt, any King on the throne relied on the Chiefs to come to his aid. If war was to break out, the Chiefs would bring together their people in service of the king. With the creation of his own army Kabalega had bypassed the chiefs. He didn't need them for war, and most importantly, he was protected because they were loyal to him. Kabalega also understood the deficiency in Bunyoro's administrative system. The Chiefs were far too powerful, and he saw that as a major cause of the recent secession movements, this and the fact that they were put in charge of their own hometowns. This made it easier for them to drum up support from their homes when they would decide to rebel. Yeah, that that was going to change. He even went as far as stationing soldiers close to the hometowns of chiefs and Royals that he didn't trust. He wanted to keep an eye on them. And how do you think the chiefs felt about this? From their perspective, Kabalega was a threat to their traditional power, the previous system had served to check the power of the king. If they lost that power that needs cover, like I didn't need them. Furthermore, they would lose the power that they had over their own people, as the common folk were fully supporting their king. To make matters worse, he also began promoting commoners to roles in high places. For example, becoming a chief was no longer just achieved through your lineage. You had to earn it, becoming a general was also by merit. He was now messing with their legacies. But Kabalega wasn't doing things entirely different. He still relied on traditional authority. For instance, most of the new chiefs that he selected were from his mother's clan, though and Joseph, even though some were commoners, he wasn't just picking people based on merit, but also based on clan ties. In short, he was directly challenging their power. If you're familiar with Julius Caesar story, he also terrified the aristocracy with how much power he was accruing. This was kind of like that. But unlike Caesar, Kabalega's iron grip strangled the life out of the old order to the point that they couldn't do anything about it. They still maintain a certain amount of traditional power, but they were for the most part, not as influential as they once were. Kabalega was not just the head of the state, but was now the Supreme Commander. With his newfound powers. He was able to centralize Bunyoro. Before 1872, Bunyoro only had access to the goods from the Arabs in Khartoum. In 1872. They were finally able to woo the coastal Arabs to Bunyoro. As I mentioned in the last episode, King Mutesa of Bugunda forbade the coast two hours from selling to Buganda. He wanted to maintain a monopoly on their goods. But the Banyoro sweetened the pot by paying them five times the amount in Ivory for the goods that they were selling. This was way too good of an opportunity to pass up. It was also helped by the fact that Buganda's ivory supply was dwindling. With this increase in trade, chiefs were encouraged to participate and to get rich. More chiefs began to wear silk and cotton clothing. Arabic soon became widely understood, which helped begin Bunyoro's transition into a literate society for the first time. Kabalega was able to purchase guns and equip his new army. The abaruusuura army grew powerful enough to begin reconquering former territories that had declared independence many years ago. An example of this is Tooro, which seeded in 1830. They were reconquered in 1876. Their princess then fled to query for protection. The historian Shane Doyle mentions an informant who told him that Kabalega sent a bouquet of flowers to the Queen Mother of Nkore. These flowers were a code for an assassination. You see, the queen mother was a Mubitto by birth, which meant that she was part of the Royal clan and understood the message of the secret flower code. In a scene befitting of Game of Thrones. All of them were executed except one who managed to escape.Prince Kasagama of Tooro made his way to Buganda. Another is the kingdom of Busongora in southwestern Uganda, which gave Bunyoro access to their salt mines in Katwe. The establishment of the abarusuura also meant that the king for the first time in their history, had a standing army that could better protect the nation from inside and outside threats. And they had no shortage of those. Because wouldn't you know it? Guess who comes knocking on the door of the Banyoro in 1872. It's none other than Samuel White Baker. Oh, yeah. The one from the last episode from Kamurasi's time. Now you might be thinking threat. How is a mere European explorer a threat? Well, when he came back to Bunyoro in 1872, he was no mere Explorer. He came as Governor General on behalf of the Khedive Government of Egypt. His job was to stop the slave trade in the Great Lakes by inducting them into what they hoped would become the equitorial Empire of Egypt. And I say this with air quotes, simply because it sounds like such a convenient reason to take over place. Like Sure, let's take over your home so we can protect you. Yeah, okay. But this was the reasoning of the European governments. They were pushing Egypt to do this. They believed that by engulfing the states, the slave trade would end. And thus Samuel White Baker was given the following mission and powers. Let me read you an excerpt from his agreement. Open quotes, We Ismail Khedive of Egypt. Considering the savage conditions of the ethnic groups, which inhabit the Nile basin, an expedition is organized to subdue to our authority, the country situated to the south of Gondokoro; to suppress the slave trade. The Supreme command of this operation is confided to Sir Samuel White Baker for four years, commencing from the first of April 1869, to whom we also confer the most absolute and supreme power, even that of death over all those who may compose the expedition. Close quotes, So Baker travels to going to Gondokoro in South Sudan where he was instructed to make a stand and to bring those states south of it into the Empire using conciliatory methods. However, for some reason, Baker decided that he wanted to continue to Bunyoro which he believed was the source of the slave trade. Which is very strange considering that despite their participation in this horrific act. Bunyoro were hardly the source. The Arabs were the source of the slave trade. It was their demand for slaves that spurred this on. The kingdoms in the Great Lakes region were simply involved in the trade because there was no other source for the goods that they wanted. Slaves were treated mostly for firearms, which changed the art of war in the region. But it was clear that Baker was only going there because his last visit didn't go so well. And what better way to right things in his mind than to show up with an army and subjugate the place. Never underestimate the pursuit for glory. As you can probably tell, things were about to go bad. The events that transpired amounted to a he said she said type situation, with Baker offering his version of events displaying Kabalega as hostile among other not so nice adjectives, like he had done before with his father. And Kabalega's side, later being heard by Emin Pasha in 1877, which revealed Baker as the actual aggressor. So let's hear Baker side of things. The events I'm about to describe are based on Dunbar's history of Bunyoro book. And he said that Baker arrived in Bunyoro and had an interview with Kabalega whom he described as excessively neat. He explained that he was there to suppress the slave trade, and emphasized agriculture, commerce and the importance of good government. As if these were concepts foreign to the menorah. But in any case, on the 14th of may 1872, Baker stamped his flag and declared the menorah was now a part of the Equatorial Empire. According to Baker, Kabalega understood what this meant, and in fact, agreed to it. And in his view, everything was fine for a while. Trade was going on splendidly until Kabba Rega as the sometimes liked to spell his name, started to outflank his position, and started to send spies to observe him. Food also became hard to come by, and there was an open display of hostility. There was also an incident involving poisoned beer. Or at least Baker believed that the beer given to him by Kabaelga's chiefs was poisoned deliberately. Shortly afterwards, his fort was attacked by Banyoro soldiers. This was followed by a series of back and forth attacks that culminated into the Battle of masindi, where Baker was forced to retreat North. Baker's reaction to Kabalega's hostility, was shock and confusion. He gasped Oh, he believed in his words, that he and his men had been nothing more than models of virtue. Hmm. So what actually happened? Historians are very much on the side of the bunyoro on this one. Baker was not at all suited to the task of diplomacy that he had given. A.R Dunbar described him as having a tremendous personality. Change oil called him notoriously obtuse, and a violent man. Descriptions that don't at all fit what was required of the job. And you know what they say? actions speak louder than words. Because one, his instructions were to use conciliatory methods not to conquer these groups. Yes, the excerpt I read earlier doesn't give that impression. But it is stated that Ismail Pasha, the one who gave Baker this mission saw this whole thing working as a result of pacification and progress, not military conquest. Needless to say, they disobeyed those orders and pushed on to Bunyoro which by the time he got to the edge of their territory, had blown through the budget that he had been given. Oh, and the men that were with him, had deserted him. Baker found himself in a bit of a conundrum and decided that he was going to ask the slaver Aqqad to give him men. Now remind me was his mission not to stop the slave trade? And yet, there he was asking the man with the biggest slave company in the region for men to dot dot dot suppress the slave trade. So Baker arrives with his company of slavers turned government soldiers into Bunyoro, uninvited might I add, but he gets into another issue. The porters that he had with him, left him too. To briefly explain who porters were. They were overwhelmingly Africans who are paid to carry the goods and luggage of Arabs and Europeans. In fact, the Nyamwezi of Tanzania became one of the most involved in this labor business. Now in Baker's case the ex leavers had taken to mistreating the Africans in their employ. I mean, what did he expect? So Baker asks one of his men named Abdul el Kader to go to Acholiland in northern Uganda to find more porters. But Abdul couldn't find any because when the native saw him, they ran. They knew what the deal was. After past injustices they just couldn't trust an Arab. You know, seeing an Arab usually meant one of two things trade or being sold as a slave. And either way, those two are connected. So Abdul do? He captures 2 of Kabalega's chiefs brings them to Baker. The historian Shane Doyle tells us that Baker punished several of Kabalega's chiefs when he heard that Aqqad's men had helped him win the battle of succession. He apparently according to Kihumuro Apuuli, thought that Kabalega had assassinated his own brother Kabigumire, who he believed was the rightful heir. He called the whole thing, an act of treachery. Now, I'm not sure why he thought that maybe he had gleaned from his previous visit that Kabigumire was seen as the successor. Either way, he had no right to punish anyone in that land. As you can see, he had wronged the king way before he even met him. He eventually met Kabaleega and thus began a power struggle between these two men. Baker as Governor General Equatoria proceeded to try to assert his authority over the kingdom and Kabalega himself. And of course, the young king pushed back, rightfully so. Just who did he think he was? There were numerous instances of this power struggle, which resulted in Baker publicly name calling the king multiple times. In one instance, he called Kabalega an ignorant puppy. Yeah. Then there was the formal annexation of Bunyoro into Equatoria on the 14th of may 1872. Which caused as much confusion as you might imagine, several of the Chiefs asked if this meant that there were to be two kings in Bunyoro. I mean, This was a land where contestants engaged in one professor opening or two new calls a sanctioned form of political violence in order to pick the king. And yet Baker thought that he could just stamp his flag and it would be all good. Kabalega was puzzled, but still gave Baker a gift of 12 goats. For all the disrespect that Baker was showing, the king he held himself back. For two reasons. One, like his father, he wanted Baker to be his ally against Ruyonga,and also to engage in trade with Equatoria. No doubt such a relationship would have been beneficial to Kabalega.The second reason is, I believe he saw the military might of Equatoria and didn't want to create another enemy. He already had Ruyonga, Mupina, the Baganda, the slave traders. The last thing he needed was for Equatoria to join his very own rogues gallery of villains. But alas, Baker was determined to get his way at all costs. In fact, he was accused of purposefully antagonizing the king, to provoke him to war. So he would have cause to take over militarily. Another example of this was when he harassed and tormented them Banyoro. Baker demanded that they feed his own men. Perhaps he thought that this was how the Banyoro would pay for protection from the slavers. And I say this because he did the same thing in Acholiland when he drove away the slave traders, then taxed them afterwards. And the Acholi were like, ah, taxes. Ah, no, no, no, no taxes, They didn't want to do it. And Baker for the life of him couldn't understand why the Acholi were turned off by the idea of paying for protection. And yet the answer was right there. They never agreed to those terms. And they didn't recognize Baker as the authority figure that he thought he was. Furthermore, economic policy of free trade, which he wanted to impose on Bunyoro was seen as a threat to the power of the king. In Bunyoro, all trade went through the king and he would redistribute that wealth among his chiefs and then down to his people. So it's no wonder that Kabalega forbade anyone from trading with Baker. I can't remember where I read this, but apparently people would run away from him when they saw him coming to trade. Baker also built a fort and began performing military exercises in front of the king's palace. Exercises which would worry anyone who lived there. And then he had the audacity to demand that 600 of the king's subjects sit down when they had gathered at the king's palace for what he thought was a military act. Men in Bunyoro were summoned for by drumming, the war drum kaijure. In no time, many would have gathered to answer the call. The efficiency of being able to gather so many people in such a short time, scared the living daylights out of Baker. And that's why he did what he did. Even though he had been assured that it had nothing to do with him. But his order was obeyed when he ordered them to sit down. Not that they had a choice. I mean, he had surrounded them, with guns raised and everything. And this was madness in the eyes of the Banyoro. How does a mere visitor like Baker presume to tell the king subjects what to do? Only the king and his commanders had that authority. With all the Baker and his men were doing, it was only a matter of time before the powder keg burst, because we then have the poisoned beer incident. Some say it was the Chief Matosa who did it because he was fed up with Baker's constant demands for food. Which doesn't surprise me. Baker should have expected as much. You can brutalize and humiliate those who you forced to feed you and not expect them to mess with your food in some way form or shape. The other explanation given is that the beer was of the particularly strong variety, and Baker's men simply drank too much, Whatever the explanation, Baker sprung into action and stormed Matosa's residence. An argument ensued in which one of Baker's men was hit with a doorframe. The day was eighth June 1872. And it's ended with Baker burning down the king's palace. Despite this cover letter tried his best not to escalate tensions. The last thing he needed was to start another war. He sent repeated messages to Baker trying to explain to him that he wasn't responsible for the poisoned beer. Kabalega even offered to find Matosa and hand him to Baker if he was indeed responsible. But alas, he didn't care. Instead, he decided to execute chief Mbogo who had been his interpreter this whole time. On the 11th of June, Kabalega's abarusuura army had had enough. They burned down the houses of Baker soldiers, and apparently tried to assassinate him. Baker then retaliated on the 13th by burning down the homes of the common people. From then on, the Banyoro attacked Baker as he tried to retreat north. Baker and his troops are so tired from the constant attacks that if the Banyoro had attacked at night too, they would have decimated Baker's army. That and also they were running low on ammo. Nevertheless, this whole affair left him incredibly bitter. He never got the chance to have his revenge because he was replaced and he had to leave. Baker went on to write disparagingly about Kabalega in his book Ismailia. Here's a quote from him. Open quotes, The treachery of the Negro meant that it was impossible to improve such abject animals. They're not worth the trouble and they're only fit for slaves, to which their race appears to have been condemned. Close quotes. Yeah, that man was bitter. He was salty as hell. And as I said before, this tainted Bunyoro's reputation. In the eyes of the Equatorial government of Egypt, Kabalega was an aggressive and treacherous individual. This led them to support Bunyoro's rebels Ruyonga and Mupina in the hopes that they would overthrow Kabalega. They were pretty confident that this was going to work until 300 Banyoro troops delivered a devastating attack on the Egyptian fort in Northwest Bunyoro in 1876. This caused so much frustration. The Equatoria government of Egypt then decided to try a new and radical method. Diplomacy. I know right? What a wild concept. In 1877, a German doctor and political administrator by the name of Emin Pasha arrived in Banyoro and he met the young king. I'll read you a little of what he had to say about Kabalega after living there for a while. Open quotes I have often visited Kabalega subsequently, and I cannot say that I've ever heard him speak an improper word, or make an indecent gesture, or that he was ever rude. Kabalega is cheerful, laughs readily and much talks a great deal and does not appear to care to be bound by ceremony. I certainly cannot charge Kabalega with begging. On the contrary, he sent me daily in the most hospitable of manner, stores of corn,meal,mwenge et cetera. Which although they were intended to supply the ones of one day, could easily have been made to last us a fortnight. During my repeated visits with Kabalega, he gave me the impression of be a thoroughly hospitable and intelligent man. He proved this in a very noteworthy manner in connection with an incident which might have brought me into an awkward position. Notwithstanding my strict orders that no hostile action should be taken by the Egyptians during my stay to Bunyoro. The soldiers in our nearest station led by stupid jealous officers made a raid upon the country and killed several of Kabalega's people. Katagrua was sent by the king to give me this information, and to assure me at the same time that although this occurrence was highly displeasing to him, it should in no way affect our personal relations. I received a detailed account of all the events that happened during Baker's visit. A curiously different account from that given in Ismailia. close quotes. A curiously different account indeed. This was the same man who Baker had described as gauche, which means I'm sophisticated and lacking in grace. Emin is remembered very fondly in Bunyoro. The Banyoro say that he was the only European who ever understood Kabalega. With Emin, he was able to give his side of the story. One of the things Kabalega said to Emin was open quotes "You do not know me. You said to each other far away from here, Kabalega is a robber, a muderer. Has anyone of you ever come to see me? Has anyone ever satisfied himself as to the truth or falsehood of these statements? Close quotes, Some truly piercing words. All the then 24 year old king wanted was not to go to war with a foreign power. And what made Emin successful in his diplomacy was his affinity for languages. I was able to find an account that said that he even learned luganda when he met Mutesa in Buganda the following year. This is remarkable and would no doubt contribute to his good reputation. It was also the fact that he offered them their due respect. Other Europeans like Baker and later the Italian Casati never truly saw them is worthy of esteem. Even with Baker's quote on quote philanthropic acts, such as stopping the slave trade, which he did manage to do to a certain extent. He was a straight up racist as was so typical of his time. Casati on the other hand, Emin commented, was too candid with a king, and he foresaw a misunderstanding happening. And indeed, a misunderstanding did happen. Casati, who was sent as a diplomat to win euro by Emin in the late 1880s, was given the instructions to request permission for Equatorian troops to pass through his territory to get to the East African coast. Normal people would assume that such a position requires the utmost of delicacy. handle it with care and all the good manners that your mother taught you. After all, they desperately needed this, seeing as the mahdist rebellion in Sudan had cut off all communications to Cairo, leaving them with no other option but to communicate through Bunyoro and Buganda to get messages to Zanzibar on the coast. However, Casati just like Baker chose instead to antagonize Kabalega. He decided that and I couldn't believe this when I was reading this that he would blackmail the king by holding hostage the children of the best families in Bunyoro that Kabalega had sent to be educated at Emin's headquarters in Gondokoro in South Sudan. Can you imagine? And this was just one of the things that he did. He also put spies in Kabalega's court and secretly communicated with the king of Buganda whom Bunyoro was at war with at the time. You can only imagine how Kabalega felt. He was infuriated that he expelled Casati from his kingdom, and in the process humiliated Emin's envoy. You know, I keep asking myself in an alternate version of history, imagine that an African, let's say a Bunyoro had travelled to Europe to explore. He then found himself at the court of Queen Victoria and put just one just just one of the things that Casati or Baker did. Do you think they would have let them get away with it? Just simply expel them from from England and been like, Please leave. I am amazed that Kabalega showed this much restraint. It can't have been easy to hold himself back when he would punish his own people for less. But I get it. He he picked his battles.Make sense. Anyways, this was an 1887. I got ahead of myself. Let's go back 10 years ago to 1877. So Emin and Kabalega were able to come to an agreement. It was agreed that Kabalega would receive an annual grant of money or presents, and they would also withdraw their support of Ruyonga and Mupina. Furthermore, Emin offered to escort Kabalega's ambassadors to Cairo, or if Kabalega wanted to go himself, Emin would stay behind as a hostage in case he never came back. Oh, wow. That's that's something what a reasonable man. The king was pleased with the agreement. But unfortunately, these things never came to fruition. The Egyptian government continued their support of Bunyoro's rebels. And these are things that Emin himself couldn't stop. Their minds had been made up about who they thought he was. He also failed to control his men. He would give them strict orders to stop the slave trade and intertribal fighting, but they were just not the right people for the job. And this was because they were usually ex prisoners or or ex slavers and things like that. So they really were not the right people for the job. By 1885, the Egyptian province of Equatoria had collapsed. And with it any dreams of establishing an empire, the mahdist rebellion in Sudan had been the major cause of this. The war between the Egyptian Government and the mahdist in Sudan dragged on until 1889. This remove them as a threat to Bunyoro, and they became an even bigger power in the region, as they now controlled access to the coast from the north. The 1880s is also when the partition of Africa happened at the Berlin Conference. In 1884. European colonial powers gathered and divided up the continent like a pizza. Soon France, Belgium, Germany, and England, et cetera. Began to pour into Africa on a local level, King mutesa Buganda baganda had passed away in 1884. His death had major consequences for Buganda, as his son and successor, Mwanga was not able to assert control. Tensions were high between these two ancient kingdoms eventually culminated in the Battle of Kangaho in 1886. When Buganda decided to invade Bunyoro. This battle is immortalized in the history of Bunyoro as one of their greatest victories against Buganda. Their army decimated the Baganda forces and sent them running back. It said that Kabalega personally killed their leader, Kangaho Kibirango. Buganda struggled under their new leadership, and in 1888, Civil War broke out between three factions in the country, the Roman Catholics, Muslims and the Protestants. This resulted in the removal of Kabaka Mwanga by 1890, the Protestants with the help of the British East Africa company led by Frederick Lugard, were able to reinstate cover Kabaka Mwanga and subsequently, Buganda accepted the protection of the British. This was the beginning of the British colonial conquest. Lugard was there to bring the entire region under British control. And now that he had brought the war in Buganda to an end, lugard turned his attention to Bunyoro. By this time, Bunyoro was in a much better place than they had been two decades before. They were becoming increasingly wealthy. They were re conquering territories that used to be theirs. They were now able to rival Buganda again. And the Egyptian threat was gone. And this is just to name a few until a Lugard came. His first goal was to find the nubian soldiers that Emin Pasha had left behind by Lake Albert in 1889. To get there, he needed to go through Bunyoro. Along the way, Lugard decided to reinstall princes Kasagama of Toro, who had been a refugee this whole time since 1876. If you recall, he's the one who escaped to this life from Nkore after Kabalega ordered his assassination. When Kabalega heard this, he was angered by the blatant disrespect that lugard was showing just who exactly did he think he was to meddle in local politics. So he sent forces to get lugard to turn back. Unfortunately, every single Bunyoro army that met lugard last. And the reason for this was the newly made at the time maxim gun. This weapon was capable of firing 600 rounds per minute. The Banyoro stood no chance, not with those muskets that they had to load every other second, and so they began to keep their distance, which prompted Lugard to call them cowards. Even though it's actually smart to avoid a fight against a weapon that can kill you from over 800 yards away. Kabalega on his part, tried to open up a dialogue with Lugard except he was refused on all opportunities. Remember how I talked about the negative reputation of Bunyoro by Europeans. Well, Lugard came with Samuel Baker's account of Kabalega in mind. And it's because of this that he didn't even entertain the idea of peace. Bunyoro was to fall in line and that was the end of it. And there's also the possibility that Buganda painted a very notorious picture of their neighbors to Lugard because it was also around this time that Kabalega received an envoy reportedly from Kabaka Mwanga on behalf of lugarde. The envoy provided gifts of a gun, a sack, a garden, no clothes, a stick, and barkcloth. The message given was that if Kabalega wanted peace, he should pick everything else, but the gun. However, by doing this, he would also have to provide 80 pieces of ivory, 600 garden hoes and 500 sacks of sa lt. Kabalega isn't hasty though, he summons a council of his commanders, some chiefs, his mother and his grandmother. And he asks them, what do I do? His mother wanted peace. And this motion was seconded by two of his best commanders, Ireeta and Rwabudongo and some other chiefs. On the other hand, his grandmother along with some others said, Nah, fight for your kingdom. And of course, this choice lent itself to the ego of Kabalega. And he chose this option, much to the dismay of the first group. And they let him know just how unhappy they were. This whole thing just didn't make sense, though. If the goal was peace, why was Kabaka Mwanga asking for these things as if Kabalega had done something wrong? As if he had something to pay for? He was confused and angry. Such an act would make him look like a coward to his own people. So Kabalega surmised that King Mwanga must be a prisoner of Lugard. Which to a certain extent was true. With the advent of the British East Africa company, King Mwanga had lost most of the power that he should have had is king. Now, this part that I just told you is from Nyakatura's version. However, Shane Doyle tells us that Kabalega did in fact, offere to pay Lugard in order to be left alone. Either way, Lugard was not willing to negotiate with him. He actually said that he wanted no peace with Kabalega and called him in inhuman fiend. Thankfully, Lugard was running low on ammunition and had to return to Kampala, the current capital city. Upon arriving there, he realized that not only had he blown through his budget, but in the process, he had bankrupted his employer. This forced the cabinet in London to begin reconsidering this mission. Was it worth it? They were beginning to be afraid that Lugard was actually going to ruin them. However, Lord Rosebery of the cabinet threatened to resign if they didn't see this through. That and the rise of the mahdists in Sudan was too much of a loss to bear. For those who don't know, Great Britain had by that time taken control of much of Egypt. The rise of the mahdist caused the collapse of the Equatoria Empire, which they had pushed Egypt to create. So there was pride involved. That not only had the failed there, but they were going to fail in Bunyoro. And that, ladies and gentlemen, was not to be plus Lugard and Lord Roseberry painted Bunyoro as the center of Islam in slave trade. Yep. The center of Islam and slave trade. You heard that right. If you were wondering where the Islam part came from, it's because Kabalega had briefly backed the Islamic faction in the Buganda Civil War. This was enough for them to declare that if they didn't defeat Kabalega, the Christian nation of Buganda would fall into the hands of the Mohammaden fanatics at Wadelai and Kabalega. Which was not true. But it's not about what is true. It's about what people actually believe. And with that, they sent a Colonel Henry Colville to take down the treacherous Kabariga, which is how they liked to, again sometimes spell his name. Lugard left in 1892. Now, apparently that when coleville arrived in Uganda, he sent an ultimatum to Kabalega. And in this ultimatum, he asked that Kabalega needs to guarantee future good behavior, and on top of that, he needs to pay him 100 tusks and in return, Kabalega would be forgiven of all his past misdeeds. This ultimatum according to John Beattie, allegedly went unanswered. But according to Shane Doyle, Kabalega told Colville that he would send the ivory. But that and I quote, if the white man wanted his country, he would have it, but over his dead body. This was the last straw for Colville. Among a string of weak excuses that he had to attack Kabalega. He quickly put together a force of nearly 15,000 men. 14 100,000 of them were baganda, eight were European 680 were Sudanese and Swahilis. Bunyoro was soon overrun and Kabalega went into hiding. From this point onwards, Kabalega had no choice but to fight a guerrilla war. And the hope was that he could outlast his enemies. But it was also a smart decision considering the immense numbers that he was up against. And it was working. The elusivity of Kabalega caused Colville to make the wrong decisions. Consider this quote from him. open quotes "I suppose that means fighting, he'll stop and do battle. Otherwise, there's no use hurrying close quotes. Such an attitude caused him to miss his chance when he determined that the Intel that he received on covering his whereabouts was in fact too vague. That info would later turn out to be correct. Thankfully for Kabalega, he escaped and he would continue to elude them for the next six years. The war between Bunyoro and Britain caused so much devastation and destruction. Many places were depopulated as people went into hiding or were killed by the invaders, the outbreak of disease brought in by foreign soldiers and famine. Let me read you a report received by Colville from a Captain Gibb, open quotes. I have the honor to report that in accordance with your instructions dated April 12 1894. I started on the 16th of April with a force of 200 Sudanese troops from Mruli with the object of capturing if possible, Kabalega king of Bunyoro, also his treasure and arms said to be in the neighborhood Captain thrust and planned the criminal campaigns. I have this month and will in the future, burn their houses, destroy their crops and cut down banana plantations, close quotes. Did you catch that? Did you catch that part where he actually called them criminal campaigns? Yeah, they knew what they were doing. Every day. Colville soldiers would employ this scorched earth policy. Soldiers like Captain Thruston, ordered the killing of when you're a non combatants, arguing that the Banyoro savages, his words should be shot on sight, and that they deserved what they got. In fact, it was a rule that any Munyoro found with a gun would be shot on site. By 1896, that policy had turned into killing any Munyoro that they found. gun or no gun Kabalega's soldiers in response mounted several counter attacks through ambushes. This became their key form of attack. After a disastrous campaign on Britain's largest fortune hoima in August 1894, the Banyoro resolved to avoid frontal attacks. Kabalega began to monitor the movements of messengers carrying messages from Kampala to the invading troops. They figured out the exact days and time and would attack them. Despite the Banyoro's clever planning, they failed to exact the amount of damage that would have slowed the enemy. This is because the Banyoro's aim, their accuracy was way off. The cause of this was two reasons. One lack of training due to the prolonged conflict. With many trained soldiers dying, Kabalega recruit more and more of them who are not well trained enough with firearms. After the invasion, the British had cut off access to the coast. This made it very difficult to get firearms from the Arabs like they used to. Never mind being able to pay for them given that commerce had virtually stalled due to the state of war that they were in. They did manage to sneak caravans here and there, but ultimately, they had to rely on themselves by using small scraps of metal and even stones as bullets. Even if you were Deadshot himself. For those who don't know who Deadshot is, he is a DC villain known for his accuracy. Even if you were him, it would be very difficult to land a kill with those materials. I imagine that the stones might have disintegrated when shot or worse jammed the gun. Also, stones and scrap metal lacked the weight and aerodynamics of a bullet to land with impact when shot out of the muzzle. These ambushes brought on even more retaliation against the Banyoro. The British would burn villages Attack others on a weekly basis, they resorted to torturing random people and chiefs using the bastinado tactic or foot whipping to extract information. This continued harassment managed to get some chiefs on their side. But that being said, it put them at considerable risk of being punished by Kabalega who reacted violently to those who switched sides. This was demonstrated with the poisoning of Amara, one of the Chiefs who had defected. These killings of Banyoro who are allied with the British caused people like Captain Trevor Ternon to implement harsh retaliatory policies, like if one allied Munyoro was killed, six locals had to be murdered to make up for that one death. Others were loyal to the very end, much to the frustration of the invading soldiers who couldn't understand why They were not seen as liberators. By December 1894. The war had taken his toll on Kabalega and he appealed for a truce. The terms of that he would accept the overlordship of the British, but under no circumstances would he ever accept that of Buganda. Now this, this would also be a point of contention during colonial times, the domination of the foreign power was more palatable than that of an age old nemesis. It was also that year that Colonel Colville gave Buganda six of the numerous counties as a reward for their continued ally ship. So the British agreed, but decided to drag their feet instead of making a decision until February 1895. Apparently the treacherous Kaba Riga another way they like to say his name had struck again. He had a pair broken the truce by attacking Buganda and Toro. Now, for all his perceived misgivings, being hasty or rash, was not something that was typical of Kabalega. I mean, after all, we had witnessed his incredible patience when dealing with the hot tempered Samuel Baker, who might I add, was about 30 years older than he was at the time. There was no evidence to back up such an attack, and indeed, they chose not to investigate. The belief is that Tooro and Buganda had actually manufactured this lie in order to be given the opportunity to continue to raid Bunyoro. For the Batooro, it would have been payback considering that they had been re annexed in 1876. For the Baganda, they got to watch and participate in the fall of their rivals. And it must be pointed out that British soldiers were actually itching for this war. They had glory to gain, medals, plus they were unwilling to accept defeat at the hands of an African. What followed was another mass deployment of troops by Colville. He had six companies of Sudanese armed with two hotchkis cannons, three maximum guns, and 20,000 baganda troops. They were anxious to crush Bunyoro. One of the British commanders called Major J. F. Cunningham of an advanced party was a bit too overeager. This is what I mean by the motivation of the British being glory. He completely underestimated Kabalega and rushed to attack his camp on the Nile. Before his reinforcements had arrived. They got onto canoes sailing to the shore and surprise motherfucker. Cunningham and his soldiers were bombarded from the shore by Kabalega's troops, one British soldier and one Sudanese soldier died Cunningham himself was injured. It turns out that the Banyoro had come up with a new tactic of fighting their invaders. They had dug trenches, and please stockades on landing points on the shore up to 40 miles north. This meant that it made it difficult for the enemies to surround them. Furthermore, the trenches gave them cover from the machine gun fire of their Maxim's. This allowed them to stay longer in the fight. It wasn't until Ternan arrived with reinforcements that the Banyoro retreated. And again, they would have inflicted far more casualties on their opponents were it not for the horrendous accuracy, as I explained earlier. However, this marked a turning point in British dealings with Bunyoro. Captain Ternan vowed to never again ever underestimate the Banyoro. As a result, the switch to using long range weapons from now on, they would opt to use artillery weapons from a distance and would burn villages to the ground. At this point it, it became a bit of an unfair war. Because the British could just fight from a distance and watch casually as they could burn villages to the ground. The Banyoro didn't have any kind of weapon in their arsenal to retaliate with. It's no wonder that when Kabalega learned that the British were going to occupy his country up to the north, he resorted to using the brutal and desperate tactic of scorched earth to starve them out. If I can't have this, none of you can. It was essentially a kamikaze attack, and in the process, he damned his own people even more. This lack of food now meant that they had to clamp down even more on the local bunyoro. Many of these people were forced to grow food for the British, but they also had to provide for their king who was on the run. And this was made worse by four famines that occurred during the 1890s one happened in 1894, another 1896, 1898 and 1899. For many, there was no relief. A pervading sense of hopelessness haunted the Banyoro. William Ansorge, a colonial doctor described a scene where he witnessed when you're staring powerlessly as locusts tore up their crops. It was truly a scene that revealed how hopeless the situation had become. They had hit rock bottom, and there was nothing else to do. Many picked up and left for Northern Uganda, and some even went to Congo. Guys, there is a lot that happened to the Banyoro. I can't go into every detail of it. It's depressing, and I'll be here all day. But what you should know is that those who stayed suffered the wrath of the British and they're so Soldiers over the course of the war, they had become increasingly bloodthirsty. their belief that this would be a quick war had been shattered. They found themselves on endless marches through harsh environments like swamps and papyrus all which the winner exploited as perfect opportunities to attack. Needless to say, paranoia was rife among them. They never knew if a Munyoro attacker was waiting in the tall grass when they went to answer nature's call. Not to mention, the army was afflicted by diseases such as malaria, jiggers, which Captain Ternan himself suffered from. Malnutrition also became an issue as food became more and more difficult to come by. And this, despite the fact that they had ransacked most of the Banyoro's underground granaries that they called Kasendas. They slaughtered a huge number of Kabalega's royal herd for meat every day. But it didn't last No wonder at least two British officers suffered mental breakdowns. The others turned to liquor to numb the pain of everything. It all became too much. It's why the officers doled out exceptionally cruel punishments when they found any Munyoro. And their status didn't matter. Chiefs that resisted, could be punished with up to 100 lashes. The most notable example of this was the chief Kikukule, who had been one of Kabaelga's main chiefs. He was publicly flogged, imprisoned and stripped of his high status. When reports were made to the British House of Commons, about the harsh treatment doled out by their officers, Lord Kimberley replied that the Banyoro were not under British protection, and therefore, were fair game. Yeah, the British for all their purported sense of justice and morality why participated in covered up the suffering of the people that they claimed they were there to liberate from the supposedly tyranny of Kabalega. In another instance, it came to light that King Kasagama of Tooro had been put in a chain gang and watched as his prime minister along with a child was brutally beaten. The missionaries who were admittedly, the most disturbed by what they heard, agreed that such news must never see the light of day. In any case, things began to change when many of the British Empire Sudanese troops mutinied in 1897. This was due to a lack of pay and the horrendous conditions that I outlined earlier. This was bad. The British were scrambling. The Sudanese garrison in Busoga, killed four of their British overlords. Not to mention they were running low on ammunition. It's said that they sent word to the Germans in what is today Tanzania for help but got no reply. The Germans had claimed it as per the Berlin Conference. It suggested that the Germans might have been eager to see the defeat of their British rivals. To make matters worse, King Mwanga of Buganda had had enough of the British and decided that he was going to attack them in 1898. The historian Shane Doyle argued that if the mutiny had been successful, the whole colonial project would have ended then and there. So let me summarize the scope of what the British were dealing with. Number one, the Sudanese troops who were the most trained of their forces has mutineed. Two, King Mwanga and his followers rebelled, who made up the bulk of their forces. Three, they were running low on ammo, and fourth, Kabalega could exploit this moment of weakness to secure a win. Professor Lunyiigo also echoes a similar sentiment by saying that King Mwanga would have won that fight had. He focused his attack on Kampala, which was the seat of power in early 1898. Instead, he split his forces into two and attempted to ally with Kabalega. This gave the British enough time to get reinforcements from India in February 1898. And for some odd reason, Kabalega didn't attack the British. He didn't exploit this vulnerability. If only if only he had done this, things might have turned out differently. In any case, King Mwanga met up with a guy who was not in the least bit happy to see him. He apparently blamed him for all of his problems. But for the first time in history, the Bunyoro and Buganda kings fought on the same side. They also allied with the mutinied Sudanese troops. It seemed like they actually had a chance. But as you guys all know, things got worse. And Kabaka Mwanga suggested that they both surrender. And listen to the response that Kabalega gave. Open quotes. Everything has its own time appointed. A woman traveling with a child reaches a time of deliverance, so does a cow. The banana is planted and takes root, but when it arrives at fruition, it must fall. Now we have reached the hour of our fate, if so be that our appointed time to die has come. That has not be so fainthearted. Close quotes. Kabalega was a battle hardened warrior. Even when they were captured on April 9 at 99. He had every intention of fighting to the death had his right arm and left thumb not been shot. It turns out that they had been betrayed by their Langi and Bakedi allies. But to be fair, their allies had grown frustrated by the constant heckling of the British. They continuously suffer the consequences of harboring the two Kings, and yet Kabalega always seemed to get off scot free. So it was really only a matter of time before someone gave them up. Unfortunately for him, his luck ran out. The capture of these two monarchs effectively ended the resistance in Uganda. Although small groups of people tried to fight back, they offered no real challenge without their leaders. They were then forced to march from Dokolo in northern Uganda to Kampala, the current capital city on their way there. Kabalega's son Jasi died from his injuries after being shot in the back that morning. Jasi had been fighting alongside his father for years now. Bunyoro historian John Nyakatura tells us that the king had no desire to live after this, he even refused to have his arm treated until his other son George Nyakana convinced him to. When the British surgeon Albert Cook told Kabalega that his arm would need to be amputated his response was. Open quotes, I suppose you'll want to cut off my other arm and probably my legs too. Close quotes. The man was defiant till the very end. The doctor would later turn off while Kabalega was recuperating and proceeded to tend to the man next to him that was more in need. It said that the king was astounded. So he leaned forward and kick the doctor in the bum, angry at the audacity of him to treat a commoner before him. In the eyes of Kabalega, this was another example of his power and way of life being eroded. He had been captured, his kingdom was taken away, his people were butchered and starved to death. He was angry. Kabalega was then shipped along with Mwanga to the Seychelles islands off the coast of East Africa. One account says that this was done because there was a plan to rescue Kabalega but most accounts say that it was the outpouring of support for the two kings that made the British move them far away from their homelands. People had come out in droves and begged the British to forgive their kings. It was clear that keeping them there would have been a terrible decision. He was exiled for 24 years. During that time, he was baptized and given the name John. He was also taught to read and write. In 1923, the British allowed him to return home, they were confident that he would be able to reintegrate into colonial society. He was old, feeble, 74 years old. coverletter would never again see when you're on his way home, the king died. His death gripped the hearts of his people. Kihumuro Apuuli tells us that everything in Bunyoro came to a standstill. Even laughter was considered a national insult. A testament to the influence of His Majesty. It said that his last words were, Open quotes. I have rested close quotes. Rest in peace, Omukama Kabalega My name is David Ibanda. And thank you for listening to the Those Who Came Before Us podcast.