No General Descriptions provided.
| East African Interlacustrine States |
| German Empire |
| continuity |
| UNCLEAR: [continuity] |
| nominal | 1650 CE 1720 CE |
| nominal | 1736 CE 1796 CE |
| unitary state | 1736 CE 1796 CE |
| unitary state | 1797 CE 1897 CE |
| Year Range | Kingdom of Nyinginya (Early Niynginya) was in: |
|---|
Start date roughly estimated based on the following: "The Nyiginya kingdom was founded by Ndori, some time in the 1600s. [...] The appearance of Ndori on the scene in central Rwanda seems to have occurred at a time when other kingdoms, such as those of Nkore, Karagwe, and Ndorwa, were also emerging to the north and the northeast. Although the chronology of these polities still remains uncertain, one estimates today that they emerged around 1700." [1] End date based on the following: "But by the end of March 1897, only a few months after his accession, von Ramsay, a German officer, appeared at court and proposed an alliance between the king and the colonial authorities that Kanjogera immediately accepted. Thus began the colonial era. During the following twenty years, however, the German authorities did not interfere with the internal affairs of the realm and thus the customary intrigues and violence continued as before." [2]
[1]: (Vansina 2004: 44-45) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/5J4MRHUB/collection.
[2]: (Vansina 2004: 179) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/5J4MRHUB/collection.
"For many centuries prior to British rule, the Ankole area had been politically and culturally related to various other societies in the interlacustrine region of Eastern Africa. The kingdom of Nkore, which was the nucleus around which the Ankole district was formed at the beginning of the colonial period, was centrally situated within this large region: its most important neighbours were Bunyoro-Kitara to the north, Karagwe and Buhaya to the south, Mpororo and Rwanda to the southwest, and Buganda to the east. In a narrow circle around Nkore lay a string of smaller kingships, including Koki, Buzimba, Buhweju, Igara." [1]
[1]: (Doornbos 1978: 18) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/ISMJWJ4U/collection.
"This brief overview of the archeological data indicates that after the Early Iron Age there may perhaps have been a certain migration at the time the W ceramic appeared, but not since then. What is in fact most striking is the astonishing stability of settlement for at least the last two thousand years. One only has to look at the small region east of Butare to be convinced of it, for all the periods are represented here on numerous sites and on the same hills. This wealth of known sites clearly is the fruit of intensive research in the region over a long time period, but that does not alter the conclusion. No doubt equally intensive research in other sectors of central Rwanda will uncover a similar pattern." [1]
[1]: (Vansina 2004: 21) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/5J4MRHUB/collection.
"This brief overview of the archeological data indicates that after the Early Iron Age there may perhaps have been a certain migration at the time the W ceramic appeared, but not since then. What is in fact most striking is the astonishing stability of settlement for at least the last two thousand years. One only has to look at the small region east of Butare to be convinced of it, for all the periods are represented here on numerous sites and on the same hills. This wealth of known sites clearly is the fruit of intensive research in the region over a long time period, but that does not alter the conclusion. No doubt equally intensive research in other sectors of central Rwanda will uncover a similar pattern." [1]
[1]: (Vansina 2004: 21) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/5J4MRHUB/collection.
"During Ndori’s reign a large part of the realm was divided into small chiefdoms headed by allies who were not ritualists but who had still welcomed him into the country. All these chiefs were probably linked to the king by an ubuhake contract since such a contract would have reified their submission to and alliance with him. In accordance with the ubuhake contract, they would then have sent tribute in food, objects, or cattle to the court according to its needs. The local chiefs (abatware) could not be deposed, kept their own intore, and governed their lands without any interference by the court. They waged private wars and vendetta without any restriction at all. [...] The main ritualists also still held territories that were totally free. [...] All these ritualist lands were exempt from royal authority in return for the ritual obligations owed by their chiefs." [1] "The curtain rises around 1720 and reveals the following scene: Gisanura is king, but the great chiefs Mpaka in Nduga and Mayaga, Mpumba at Gishubi in Ndiza, Kogota in Rukoma from Kamonyi to Ruhanga, Kazakanyabuseri in Marangara around Kabgayi, and Rugabyi, son of Bwakiya, in the Burembo of Ndiza are all independent. Those are all the chiefs south of the middle Nyabarongo save for Busanza in the far south. But Gisanura succeeds in convincing them to recognize him as overlord, allowing them to remain lords in their lands. [...] But starting with Gisanura the kings and their courts attempted to obtain a stronger hold over their subjects and succeeded in this endeavor. It was an enterprise of long duration, which was grounded in part in the strength of the royal armies, but consisted mainly in the seizure of those great herds that constituted the wealth and power of the lords. [...] At the outset of the century, five great territorial lords controlled southern central Rwanda. At its conclusion, none remained. Barring only the domains of the Tsobe ritualists, all great territorial masses had disappeared. During the century, a genuine centralization had occurred, resulting from the institutions of the royal ubuhake and the armies, which had become multiple and permanent. This centralization benefited the whole court, the elites as much as the king. The descendants of those great lords of yore were co-opted by a system that promised them more wealth and more influence than they could ever have acquired by themselves. And, finally, let us not forget that the modest dimensions of the country, no part of which was more than a three days’ walk at most from central Rukoma, made such a centralization feasible." [2]
[1]: (Vansina 2004: 64) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/5J4MRHUB/collection.
[2]: (Vansina 2004: 68, 95) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/5J4MRHUB/collection.
"During Ndori’s reign a large part of the realm was divided into small chiefdoms headed by allies who were not ritualists but who had still welcomed him into the country. All these chiefs were probably linked to the king by an ubuhake contract since such a contract would have reified their submission to and alliance with him. In accordance with the ubuhake contract, they would then have sent tribute in food, objects, or cattle to the court according to its needs. The local chiefs (abatware) could not be deposed, kept their own intore, and governed their lands without any interference by the court. They waged private wars and vendetta without any restriction at all. [...] The main ritualists also still held territories that were totally free. [...] All these ritualist lands were exempt from royal authority in return for the ritual obligations owed by their chiefs." [1] "The curtain rises around 1720 and reveals the following scene: Gisanura is king, but the great chiefs Mpaka in Nduga and Mayaga, Mpumba at Gishubi in Ndiza, Kogota in Rukoma from Kamonyi to Ruhanga, Kazakanyabuseri in Marangara around Kabgayi, and Rugabyi, son of Bwakiya, in the Burembo of Ndiza are all independent. Those are all the chiefs south of the middle Nyabarongo save for Busanza in the far south. But Gisanura succeeds in convincing them to recognize him as overlord, allowing them to remain lords in their lands. [...] But starting with Gisanura the kings and their courts attempted to obtain a stronger hold over their subjects and succeeded in this endeavor. It was an enterprise of long duration, which was grounded in part in the strength of the royal armies, but consisted mainly in the seizure of those great herds that constituted the wealth and power of the lords. [...] At the outset of the century, five great territorial lords controlled southern central Rwanda. At its conclusion, none remained. Barring only the domains of the Tsobe ritualists, all great territorial masses had disappeared. During the century, a genuine centralization had occurred, resulting from the institutions of the royal ubuhake and the armies, which had become multiple and permanent. This centralization benefited the whole court, the elites as much as the king. The descendants of those great lords of yore were co-opted by a system that promised them more wealth and more influence than they could ever have acquired by themselves. And, finally, let us not forget that the modest dimensions of the country, no part of which was more than a three days’ walk at most from central Rukoma, made such a centralization feasible." [2]
[1]: (Vansina 2004: 64) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/5J4MRHUB/collection.
[2]: (Vansina 2004: 68, 95) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/5J4MRHUB/collection.
"During Ndori’s reign a large part of the realm was divided into small chiefdoms headed by allies who were not ritualists but who had still welcomed him into the country. All these chiefs were probably linked to the king by an ubuhake contract since such a contract would have reified their submission to and alliance with him. In accordance with the ubuhake contract, they would then have sent tribute in food, objects, or cattle to the court according to its needs. The local chiefs (abatware) could not be deposed, kept their own intore, and governed their lands without any interference by the court. They waged private wars and vendetta without any restriction at all. [...] The main ritualists also still held territories that were totally free. [...] All these ritualist lands were exempt from royal authority in return for the ritual obligations owed by their chiefs." [1] "The curtain rises around 1720 and reveals the following scene: Gisanura is king, but the great chiefs Mpaka in Nduga and Mayaga, Mpumba at Gishubi in Ndiza, Kogota in Rukoma from Kamonyi to Ruhanga, Kazakanyabuseri in Marangara around Kabgayi, and Rugabyi, son of Bwakiya, in the Burembo of Ndiza are all independent. Those are all the chiefs south of the middle Nyabarongo save for Busanza in the far south. But Gisanura succeeds in convincing them to recognize him as overlord, allowing them to remain lords in their lands. [...] But starting with Gisanura the kings and their courts attempted to obtain a stronger hold over their subjects and succeeded in this endeavor. It was an enterprise of long duration, which was grounded in part in the strength of the royal armies, but consisted mainly in the seizure of those great herds that constituted the wealth and power of the lords. [...] At the outset of the century, five great territorial lords controlled southern central Rwanda. At its conclusion, none remained. Barring only the domains of the Tsobe ritualists, all great territorial masses had disappeared. During the century, a genuine centralization had occurred, resulting from the institutions of the royal ubuhake and the armies, which had become multiple and permanent. This centralization benefited the whole court, the elites as much as the king. The descendants of those great lords of yore were co-opted by a system that promised them more wealth and more influence than they could ever have acquired by themselves. And, finally, let us not forget that the modest dimensions of the country, no part of which was more than a three days’ walk at most from central Rukoma, made such a centralization feasible." [2]
[1]: (Vansina 2004: 64) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/5J4MRHUB/collection.
[2]: (Vansina 2004: 68, 95) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/5J4MRHUB/collection.
"During Ndori’s reign a large part of the realm was divided into small chiefdoms headed by allies who were not ritualists but who had still welcomed him into the country. All these chiefs were probably linked to the king by an ubuhake contract since such a contract would have reified their submission to and alliance with him. In accordance with the ubuhake contract, they would then have sent tribute in food, objects, or cattle to the court according to its needs. The local chiefs (abatware) could not be deposed, kept their own intore, and governed their lands without any interference by the court. They waged private wars and vendetta without any restriction at all. [...] The main ritualists also still held territories that were totally free. [...] All these ritualist lands were exempt from royal authority in return for the ritual obligations owed by their chiefs." [1] "The curtain rises around 1720 and reveals the following scene: Gisanura is king, but the great chiefs Mpaka in Nduga and Mayaga, Mpumba at Gishubi in Ndiza, Kogota in Rukoma from Kamonyi to Ruhanga, Kazakanyabuseri in Marangara around Kabgayi, and Rugabyi, son of Bwakiya, in the Burembo of Ndiza are all independent. Those are all the chiefs south of the middle Nyabarongo save for Busanza in the far south. But Gisanura succeeds in convincing them to recognize him as overlord, allowing them to remain lords in their lands. [...] But starting with Gisanura the kings and their courts attempted to obtain a stronger hold over their subjects and succeeded in this endeavor. It was an enterprise of long duration, which was grounded in part in the strength of the royal armies, but consisted mainly in the seizure of those great herds that constituted the wealth and power of the lords. [...] At the outset of the century, five great territorial lords controlled southern central Rwanda. At its conclusion, none remained. Barring only the domains of the Tsobe ritualists, all great territorial masses had disappeared. During the century, a genuine centralization had occurred, resulting from the institutions of the royal ubuhake and the armies, which had become multiple and permanent. This centralization benefited the whole court, the elites as much as the king. The descendants of those great lords of yore were co-opted by a system that promised them more wealth and more influence than they could ever have acquired by themselves. And, finally, let us not forget that the modest dimensions of the country, no part of which was more than a three days’ walk at most from central Rukoma, made such a centralization feasible." [2]
[1]: (Vansina 2004: 64) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/5J4MRHUB/collection.
[2]: (Vansina 2004: 68, 95) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/5J4MRHUB/collection.
"In comparison to other languages in the colonial system, such as Lingala which was planned and underwent processes of grammatical adaptation by Scheutist missionaries like de Boeck, the languages in Rwanda and Burundi were not fully designed and “constructed” by missionary and colonial agents. Before the arrival of the Europeans, Kinyarwanda and Kirundi were already employed in both kingdoms – Ikinyanduga in southern Rwanda and Ikiruundi in central Burundi – yet with a lot less linguistic unity in the two kingdoms than in (post)colonial times." [1]
[1]: (Nassenstein 2019: 16-17) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/QUT3P5UT/collection.
“The Cwezi-kubandwa religious complex covered most of Great Lakes Africa by the nineteenth century, being found in modern-day Burundi, Rwanda, Uganda, north-west Tanzania and eastern Congo, a region united by closely related Bantu languages as well as traditions of kingship and other cultural similarities.” [1] "Ndori seems to have introduced a new cult, hitherto unknown in central Rwanda, to further legitimize the specific power of the royal dynasty. This is the cult of Gihanga. In the regions to the northwest and the north of central Rwanda, Gihanga, whose name means “creator, founder,” was celebrated as the founder of kingship and the first of all kings." [2]
[1]: (Doyle 2007: 559) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/enricocioni/items/9EXDF5UP/library
[2]: (Vansina 2004: 56) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/5J4MRHUB/collection.
inhabitants. "The first European descriptions, as we have seen, concerned the kings’ courts . The nature of these "capitals" is indeed revealing. The number of permanent and transient residents in each in the late nineteenth century was impressive: according to sources from this period, there were five hundred in Bunyoro, two thousand in Bukeye in Burundi, two thousand in Nyanza in Rwanda, but twenty thousand in Mengo in Buganda." [1]
[1]: (Chrétien 2006: 166) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/FXCVWDRI/collection.
People. "The data do not yet allow us to calculate population densities for the mseventeenth century or to establish a map of their distribution. [...] Actually, central Rwanda was a privileged habitat compared to other tropical habitats. Neither malaria nor trypanosomiasis was found here. The most frequent serious diseases were amebiases, helminthiases, lung diseases, a sort of diphtheria, yaws, a variant bubonic plague, and TB (tuberculosis). Yet infant mortality was probably quite high while the average life expectancy of the adult population can be estimated to have been around forty years or less, as was usual before the industrial revolution elsewhere. The demographic movement of the population alternated rapidly between high peaks and deep chasms. Normally, natality was higher than mortality and the population grew. But from time to time a great famine produced a hecatomb." [1]
[1]: (Vansina 2004: 21-22) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/5J4MRHUB/collection.
levels.1. Capital :"The court reminds one of a city: a large agglomeration with specialized functions, not just a political and spiritual center, but also a manufacturing hub where objects in metal, wood, bark cloth, and plaited stuffs were produced, where one found feathered arrows, game from hunts or from trapping, ceramics, tanned leather, blocks of vegetable salt, and construction teams. It was also an economic center where wealth flowed in the form of cattle that collected and redistributed in the name of the king. But the court was not a city in that it was ambulant." [1] :2. Residences of wives ::3. Residences of maids :::"The king personally controlled only a few small districts. When he shifted the capital he sometimes turned over the management of the residence he was leaving to one of his wives or even to a woman servant. In that case, the place became a permanent residence (umurwa) managed by a spouse or a servant maid (umuja) who was aided by a representative of the king. The king expropriated the lands of the hill on which the residence was located and sometimes even the lands of the surrounding hills. In return, each residence had to supply a large portion of the corvée labor or goods needed by the court. In the nineteenth century (and even perhaps as early as the seventeenth), a distinction was made between residences of wives, which were exempted from having to provide any tribute or corvée labor to the court, and residences of maids, which had to supply them." [2] :2. Headquarters of provincial chiefs and ritualist leaders ::3. Isolated homesteads :::Referring to the Interlacustrine States generally: "Residence patterns were generally based on scattered homesteads, not villages, a fact with far-reaching implications in terms of the kind of socio-political frameworks that evolved." [3]
[1]: (Vansina 2004: 81) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/5J4MRHUB/collection.
[2]: (Vansina 2004: 63-64) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/5J4MRHUB/collection.
[3]: (Doornbos 1978: 20) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/ISMJWJ4U/collection.
levels.1. King "In his activity as a ritualist he consecrated objects or actions and in doing so conferred some imana on them. He was then himself neither divine nor sacred, but a priest and at times he became momentarily sacred." [1] :2. Leaders of the ritualists ::3. Lesser ritualists :::The terms "leaders of the ritualists" and "main ritualists" in the following quotes implies at least two levels, with "ritualist leaders" or "main ritualists" at the top and lesser ritualists at the bottom. "The main ritualists also still held territories that were totally free. [...] All these ritualist lands were exempt from royal authority in return for the ritual obligations owed by their chiefs." [2] "The leaders of the ritualists were practically always on the spot at the court and formed a compact group that exercised great influence over the king through their control of the divinations that preceded every important activity and their control of the rituals of kingship itself." [3]
[1]: (Vansina 2004: 83) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/5J4MRHUB/collection.
[2]: (Vansina 2004: 64-65) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/5J4MRHUB/collection.
[3]: (Vansina 2004: 85) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/5J4MRHUB/collection.
levels.1. King :2. Umugaba (general) ::"Moreover, Ndori increased the social distance between his warriors and himself by placing his army under the command of a general (umugaba)." [1] ::3. Soldiers
[1]: (Vansina 2004: 61) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/5J4MRHUB/collection.
levels.1. King :2. Court ::" Yet it would be a mistake to imagine that the first kings ruled as autocrats, although the tales have a tendency to portray the kings as doing precisely that. Certainly the king was the leading actor on the court scene, but he was not the only one. The queen mother enjoyed an independent authority. At the court the foremost ritualists and the diviners-cum-counselors certainly had their say, as did those who had been the king’s earliest allies and military commanders such as Muvunyi and Mpande. All these people were stakeholders in this new enterprise that was the kingdom and just as interested in its success as the king was himself. Ndori and his successors were certainly obliged to negotiate with them. Moreover, one suspects that there were already two factions among the courtiers, those who were his first companions from abroad and those who already held high office in the land before his arrival. People in both camps probably competed with each other and the kings undoubtedly exploited such rivalres even while they continued to rely on both factions. In such a political arena, the emergence of favorite counselors (abatoni) becomes nearly inevitable if only in an informal way." [1] :3. Abatware ::"During Ndori’s reign a large part of the realm was divided into small chiefdoms headed by allies who were not ritualists but who had still welcomed him into the country. All these chiefs were probably linked to the king by an ubuhake contract since such a contract would have reified their submission to and alliance with him. In accordance with the ubuhake contract, they would then have sent tribute in food, objects, or cattle to the court according to its needs. The local chiefs (abatware) could not be deposed, kept their own intore, and governed their lands without any interference by the court. They waged private wars and vendetta without any restriction at all." [2] :3. Ritualist leaders ::"The main ritualists also still held territories that were totally free. [...] All these ritualist lands were exempt from royal authority in return for the ritual obligations owed by their chiefs." [3] :3. Other types of chiefs ::"The Rwandan system observed in the nineteenth century was quite particular. Three local authorities, dependents of the mwami, shared tasks: army chiefs, pasture or cow chiefs, and land chiefs (batware b’ingabo or b’umuheto, batware b’imikenke or b’inka, and batware b’ubutaka). The borders of their respective jurisdictions did not coincide, and in the majority of cases a single chief performed all three functions. The "system of intermingled fingers" (to cite the definition of Kandt, the German resident) was complete only in the center of the country. Thus, in Kinyaga, there were no pasture chiefs. Some persons combined responsibilities in several regions. Below them, starting with Rwabugiri’s reign, were "hill chiefs," who tightly controlled the population." [4]
[1]: (Vansina 2004: 66) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/5J4MRHUB/collection.
[2]: (Vansina 2004: 64) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/5J4MRHUB/collection.
[3]: (Vansina 2004: 64-65) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/5J4MRHUB/collection.
[4]: (Chrétien 2006: 175) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/FXCVWDRI/collection.
" In time, Ndori’s army became greater than that of his enemies and ended up including from four to six times more well trained warriors than the armies of other chiefs. Moreover, younger and stronger warriors were inducted into it whenever a new company was created. Each new company was instructed by one composed of veterans and learned from their experience so that after a few years the last recruits became the shock troops. Thanks to this organization, Ndori’s army surpassed by far the intore companies of its adversaries. Even royal security and military discipline benefited from the new organization, since it was no longer possible for a company to wield more than a small parcel of military power. True, every company maintained its internal esprit-decorps, but the size of the army reduced the effects of any indiscipline. Moreover, that size encouraged the appearance of an esprit-de-corps that expressed itself through its allegiance to the commander-in-chief. And finally, a first step toward a permanent army was taken when Ndori’s successor formed his new army from the last company of the preceding one)." [1]
[1]: (Vansina 2004: 61) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/5J4MRHUB/collection.
" In time, Ndori’s army became greater than that of his enemies and ended up including from four to six times more well trained warriors than the armies of other chiefs. Moreover, younger and stronger warriors were inducted into it whenever a new company was created. Each new company was instructed by one composed of veterans and learned from their experience so that after a few years the last recruits became the shock troops. Thanks to this organization, Ndori’s army surpassed by far the intore companies of its adversaries. Even royal security and military discipline benefited from the new organization, since it was no longer possible for a company to wield more than a small parcel of military power. True, every company maintained its internal esprit-decorps, but the size of the army reduced the effects of any indiscipline. Moreover, that size encouraged the appearance of an esprit-de-corps that expressed itself through its allegiance to the commander-in-chief. And finally, a first step toward a permanent army was taken when Ndori’s successor formed his new army from the last company of the preceding one)." [1]
[1]: (Vansina 2004: 61) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/5J4MRHUB/collection.
"As there existed no codified law, no formal tribunals, no structure for appealing judicial decisions, no separation between civil and criminal law, no distinction between a judicial session and a general audience, the king and the queen mother settled disputes according to their own wishes. When they felt they had been slighted or wronged, they summoned the culprits and sentenced them without further ado." [1]
[1]: (Vansina 2004: 89-90) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/5J4MRHUB/collection.
"As there existed no codified law, no formal tribunals, no structure for appealing judicial decisions, no separation between civil and criminal law, no distinction between a judicial session and a general audience, the king and the queen mother settled disputes according to their own wishes. When they felt they had been slighted or wronged, they summoned the culprits and sentenced them without further ado." [1]
[1]: (Vansina 2004: 89-90) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/5J4MRHUB/collection.
"As there existed no codified law, no formal tribunals, no structure for appealing judicial decisions, no separation between civil and criminal law, no distinction between a judicial session and a general audience, the king and the queen mother settled disputes according to their own wishes. When they felt they had been slighted or wronged, they summoned the culprits and sentenced them without further ado." [1]
[1]: (Vansina 2004: 89-90) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/5J4MRHUB/collection.
"As there existed no codified law, no formal tribunals, no structure for appealing judicial decisions, no separation between civil and criminal law, no distinction between a judicial session and a general audience, the king and the queen mother settled disputes according to their own wishes. When they felt they had been slighted or wronged, they summoned the culprits and sentenced them without further ado." [1]
[1]: (Vansina 2004: 89-90) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/5J4MRHUB/collection.
The following quote refers to the 17th century, and suggests that a significant commercial circuit only emerged in the 19th. "There probably were no markets in central Rwanda and it is not known whether the commercial circuit that existed north of Lake Kivu during the nineteenth century was already in place or not." [1]
[1]: (Vansina 2004: 30) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/5J4MRHUB/collection.
"At an unknown date, but well before the end of the century, farmers also began to practice irrigation here and there, notably along the upper and middle Nyabarongo in Budaha and Ndiza, as well as north of Lake Muhazi. The beginnings of the earthworks found around 1900 in the whole northwest of present-day Rwanda also probably date to the nineteenth century." [1]
[1]: (Vansina 2004: 128) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264
"Just as important was the devastation caused by an army on the march, even in friendly country. The foragers, and sometimes even the combatant companies themselves, pillaged the harvests that were in the field or stocked in the granaries and requisitioned cattle for slaughter, not to mention what they stole along the way." [1]
[1]: (Vansina 2004: 93) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/5J4MRHUB/collection.
Granaries. "Just as important was the devastation caused by an army on the march, even in friendly country. The foragers, and sometimes even the combatant companies themselves, pillaged the harvests that were in the field or stocked in the granaries and requisitioned cattle for slaughter, not to mention what they stole along the way." [1]
[1]: (Vansina 2004: 93) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/5J4MRHUB/collection.
"The two main axes of communication, which structured the whole region, were the road between Kabagari and Bwishaza along the shores of lake Kivu through the Rugabano pass, and another road that, starting in central Rwanda, crossed a mountain pass in Ndiza, and then followed the Mukungwa upstream to the lava plain around the volcanoes and regions beyond. These roads were frequented by hawkers who, no doubt, already carried salt from Lake Edward, hoes from Bugoyi, and perhaps raffia bracelets (amatega) from north Kivu." [1]
[1]: (Vansina 2004: 114) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/5J4MRHUB/collection.
The following quote refers to the 17th century, and suggests that a significant commercial circuit only emerged in the 19th; it is also unclear whether this circuit fell under the jurisdiction of this polity. "There probably were no markets in central Rwanda and it is not known whether the commercial circuit that existed north of Lake Kivu during the nineteenth century was already in place or not." [1]
[1]: (Vansina 2004: 30) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/5J4MRHUB/collection.
Languages spoken in this polity were turned into "written artefacts" only in the colonial period: "Before the arrival of the Europeans, Kinyarwanda and Kirundi were already employed in both kingdoms – Ikinyanduga in southern Rwanda and Ikiruundi in central Burundi – yet with a lot less linguistic unity in the two kingdoms than in (post)colonial times. The missionary and colonial interventions, therefore, rather focused on lexicon, resulting in status planning initiatives and contributing to the compilation of dictionaries, favouring a specific dialect over others. [...] The most salient and visible adaptations were a part of the primarily orthographic alignments of textualisation processes (turning languages into written artefacts)." [1]
[1]: (Nassenstein 2019: 16-17) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/QUT3P5UT/collection.
Languages spoken in this polity were turned into "written artefacts" only in the colonial period: "Before the arrival of the Europeans, Kinyarwanda and Kirundi were already employed in both kingdoms – Ikinyanduga in southern Rwanda and Ikiruundi in central Burundi – yet with a lot less linguistic unity in the two kingdoms than in (post)colonial times. The missionary and colonial interventions, therefore, rather focused on lexicon, resulting in status planning initiatives and contributing to the compilation of dictionaries, favouring a specific dialect over others. [...] The most salient and visible adaptations were a part of the primarily orthographic alignments of textualisation processes (turning languages into written artefacts)." [1]
[1]: (Nassenstein 2019: 16-17) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/QUT3P5UT/collection.
Languages spoken in this polity were turned into "written artefacts" only in the colonial period: "Before the arrival of the Europeans, Kinyarwanda and Kirundi were already employed in both kingdoms – Ikinyanduga in southern Rwanda and Ikiruundi in central Burundi – yet with a lot less linguistic unity in the two kingdoms than in (post)colonial times. The missionary and colonial interventions, therefore, rather focused on lexicon, resulting in status planning initiatives and contributing to the compilation of dictionaries, favouring a specific dialect over others. [...] The most salient and visible adaptations were a part of the primarily orthographic alignments of textualisation processes (turning languages into written artefacts)." [1]
[1]: (Nassenstein 2019: 16-17) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/QUT3P5UT/collection.
Languages spoken in this polity were turned into "written artefacts" only in the colonial period: "Before the arrival of the Europeans, Kinyarwanda and Kirundi were already employed in both kingdoms – Ikinyanduga in southern Rwanda and Ikiruundi in central Burundi – yet with a lot less linguistic unity in the two kingdoms than in (post)colonial times. The missionary and colonial interventions, therefore, rather focused on lexicon, resulting in status planning initiatives and contributing to the compilation of dictionaries, favouring a specific dialect over others. [...] The most salient and visible adaptations were a part of the primarily orthographic alignments of textualisation processes (turning languages into written artefacts)." [1]
[1]: (Nassenstein 2019: 16-17) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/QUT3P5UT/collection.
Languages spoken in this polity were turned into "written artefacts" only in the colonial period: "Before the arrival of the Europeans, Kinyarwanda and Kirundi were already employed in both kingdoms – Ikinyanduga in southern Rwanda and Ikiruundi in central Burundi – yet with a lot less linguistic unity in the two kingdoms than in (post)colonial times. The missionary and colonial interventions, therefore, rather focused on lexicon, resulting in status planning initiatives and contributing to the compilation of dictionaries, favouring a specific dialect over others. [...] The most salient and visible adaptations were a part of the primarily orthographic alignments of textualisation processes (turning languages into written artefacts)." [1]
[1]: (Nassenstein 2019: 16-17) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/QUT3P5UT/collection.
Languages spoken in this polity were turned into "written artefacts" only in the colonial period: "Before the arrival of the Europeans, Kinyarwanda and Kirundi were already employed in both kingdoms – Ikinyanduga in southern Rwanda and Ikiruundi in central Burundi – yet with a lot less linguistic unity in the two kingdoms than in (post)colonial times. The missionary and colonial interventions, therefore, rather focused on lexicon, resulting in status planning initiatives and contributing to the compilation of dictionaries, favouring a specific dialect over others. [...] The most salient and visible adaptations were a part of the primarily orthographic alignments of textualisation processes (turning languages into written artefacts)." [1]
[1]: (Nassenstein 2019: 16-17) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/QUT3P5UT/collection.
Languages spoken in this polity were turned into "written artefacts" only in the colonial period: "Before the arrival of the Europeans, Kinyarwanda and Kirundi were already employed in both kingdoms – Ikinyanduga in southern Rwanda and Ikiruundi in central Burundi – yet with a lot less linguistic unity in the two kingdoms than in (post)colonial times. The missionary and colonial interventions, therefore, rather focused on lexicon, resulting in status planning initiatives and contributing to the compilation of dictionaries, favouring a specific dialect over others. [...] The most salient and visible adaptations were a part of the primarily orthographic alignments of textualisation processes (turning languages into written artefacts)." [1]
[1]: (Nassenstein 2019: 16-17) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/QUT3P5UT/collection.
Languages spoken in this polity were turned into "written artefacts" only in the colonial period: "Before the arrival of the Europeans, Kinyarwanda and Kirundi were already employed in both kingdoms – Ikinyanduga in southern Rwanda and Ikiruundi in central Burundi – yet with a lot less linguistic unity in the two kingdoms than in (post)colonial times. The missionary and colonial interventions, therefore, rather focused on lexicon, resulting in status planning initiatives and contributing to the compilation of dictionaries, favouring a specific dialect over others. [...] The most salient and visible adaptations were a part of the primarily orthographic alignments of textualisation processes (turning languages into written artefacts)." [1]
[1]: (Nassenstein 2019: 16-17) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/QUT3P5UT/collection.
Languages spoken in this polity were turned into "written artefacts" only in the colonial period: "Before the arrival of the Europeans, Kinyarwanda and Kirundi were already employed in both kingdoms – Ikinyanduga in southern Rwanda and Ikiruundi in central Burundi – yet with a lot less linguistic unity in the two kingdoms than in (post)colonial times. The missionary and colonial interventions, therefore, rather focused on lexicon, resulting in status planning initiatives and contributing to the compilation of dictionaries, favouring a specific dialect over others. [...] The most salient and visible adaptations were a part of the primarily orthographic alignments of textualisation processes (turning languages into written artefacts)." [1]
[1]: (Nassenstein 2019: 16-17) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/QUT3P5UT/collection.
Languages spoken in this polity were turned into "written artefacts" only in the colonial period: "Before the arrival of the Europeans, Kinyarwanda and Kirundi were already employed in both kingdoms – Ikinyanduga in southern Rwanda and Ikiruundi in central Burundi – yet with a lot less linguistic unity in the two kingdoms than in (post)colonial times. The missionary and colonial interventions, therefore, rather focused on lexicon, resulting in status planning initiatives and contributing to the compilation of dictionaries, favouring a specific dialect over others. [...] The most salient and visible adaptations were a part of the primarily orthographic alignments of textualisation processes (turning languages into written artefacts)." [1]
[1]: (Nassenstein 2019: 16-17) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/QUT3P5UT/collection.
Languages spoken in this polity were turned into "written artefacts" only in the colonial period: "Before the arrival of the Europeans, Kinyarwanda and Kirundi were already employed in both kingdoms – Ikinyanduga in southern Rwanda and Ikiruundi in central Burundi – yet with a lot less linguistic unity in the two kingdoms than in (post)colonial times. The missionary and colonial interventions, therefore, rather focused on lexicon, resulting in status planning initiatives and contributing to the compilation of dictionaries, favouring a specific dialect over others. [...] The most salient and visible adaptations were a part of the primarily orthographic alignments of textualisation processes (turning languages into written artefacts)." [1]
[1]: (Nassenstein 2019: 16-17) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/QUT3P5UT/collection.
Languages spoken in this polity were turned into "written artefacts" only in the colonial period: "Before the arrival of the Europeans, Kinyarwanda and Kirundi were already employed in both kingdoms – Ikinyanduga in southern Rwanda and Ikiruundi in central Burundi – yet with a lot less linguistic unity in the two kingdoms than in (post)colonial times. The missionary and colonial interventions, therefore, rather focused on lexicon, resulting in status planning initiatives and contributing to the compilation of dictionaries, favouring a specific dialect over others. [...] The most salient and visible adaptations were a part of the primarily orthographic alignments of textualisation processes (turning languages into written artefacts)." [1]
[1]: (Nassenstein 2019: 16-17) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/QUT3P5UT/collection.
Languages spoken in this polity were turned into "written artefacts" only in the colonial period: "Before the arrival of the Europeans, Kinyarwanda and Kirundi were already employed in both kingdoms – Ikinyanduga in southern Rwanda and Ikiruundi in central Burundi – yet with a lot less linguistic unity in the two kingdoms than in (post)colonial times. The missionary and colonial interventions, therefore, rather focused on lexicon, resulting in status planning initiatives and contributing to the compilation of dictionaries, favouring a specific dialect over others. [...] The most salient and visible adaptations were a part of the primarily orthographic alignments of textualisation processes (turning languages into written artefacts)." [1]
[1]: (Nassenstein 2019: 16-17) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/QUT3P5UT/collection.
"As we have seen, to secure their essential ties, the ancient states, lacking writing and money, relied on kinship, trust, and personal relationships, which were periodically rekindled by direct contact and exchanged words." [1]
[1]: (Chrétien 2006: 178) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/FXCVWDRI/collection.
"As we have seen, to secure their essential ties, the ancient states, lacking writing and money, relied on kinship, trust, and personal relationships, which were periodically rekindled by direct contact and exchanged words." [1]
[1]: (Chrétien 2006: 178) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/FXCVWDRI/collection.
"As we have seen, to secure their essential ties, the ancient states, lacking writing and money, relied on kinship, trust, and personal relationships, which were periodically rekindled by direct contact and exchanged words." [1]
[1]: (Chrétien 2006: 178) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/FXCVWDRI/collection.
"As we have seen, to secure their essential ties, the ancient states, lacking writing and money, relied on kinship, trust, and personal relationships, which were periodically rekindled by direct contact and exchanged words." [1]
[1]: (Chrétien 2006: 178) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/FXCVWDRI/collection.
"As we have seen, to secure their essential ties, the ancient states, lacking writing and money, relied on kinship, trust, and personal relationships, which were periodically rekindled by direct contact and exchanged words." [1]
[1]: (Chrétien 2006: 178) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/FXCVWDRI/collection.
"The following quote, which refers to the late 19th century across the Great Lakes region in general, suggests that, before the late introduction of cowrie shells, salt bundles, goats and hoes functioned as currency: "The fundamentals of this long-distance commerce were ivory, slaves, and, in exchange, firearms (piston rifles). The ancient networks were grafted onto this new axis, which itself created growing demand for local products, notably foodstuffs. New monetary tools also came into use: rows of cowries and beads replaced the hoe, the goat, and the salt bundle." [1]
[1]: (Chrétien 2006: 196) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/FXCVWDRI/collection.