CULTURE SUMMARY: GANDA

By Ian Skoggard

 000Material Not Relevant

ETHNONYMS
Buganda, Luganda, Kiganda.

 101Identification

ORIENTATION
IDENTIFICATION AND LOCATION
The Ganda, who refer to themselves as "Baganda" (sing. MUGANDA), are people of mixed origins,
whose ancestors migrated to their present location between the thirteenth and sixteenth centuries.
Historically, they were known as a warlike people who conquered many of their neighbors and, at the
time of European contact, were a dominant power in the region. Buganda was one of the Lacustrine
kingdoms along with Bunyoro, Toro, Ankole, and Kiziba. Today Buganda is one of four provinces in the
state of Uganda and is located on the northern and western shores of Lake Victoria, from 2 degrees north
to 1 degree south latitude. The province extends 320 kilometers along the lake shore and 130 kilometers
inland, comprising a total land area of approximately 45,000 square kilometers.

The northwestern shore of Lake Victoria is a region characterized by flat topped hills separated from each
other by swampland. The elevation averages about 1,200 meters above sea level. Temperatures
throughout the year range from 16 to 27 degrees Celsius, with an annual rainfall of 152 cm.

 101Identification
 131Location
 167External Migration
 175History
 648External Relations

DEMOGRAPHY
According to the 1991 census there were 3,015,980 Luganda speaking people in Uganda, constituting 16
percent of the country's population. At about the time of European contact there were an estimated
3,000,000 Ganda, however, civil wars, famine, and disease had reduced their number to about 2,000,000
by 1911.

 161Population

LINGUISTIC AFFILIATION
The Ganda speak the Bantu language which they call "Luganda." Linguistically, Luganda can be placed
within the Interlacustrine Group of the Northern Zone of Bantu languages or within the Central Branch of
the Niger-Congo Language Family.

 197Linguistic Identification

HISTORY AND CULTURAL RELATIONS

The oral histories of Buganda chronicle a succession of 36 kings beginning with Kintu, who scholars
reckoned immigrated to Buganda in the 14th century. Some scholars argue that Kintu was a conqueror of
an even older kingdom in the region. In any case, Buganda has had at least a 600-year history of kingship,
from the 1300s to the establishment of British overrule in 1900. Scholars surmise that the early kingdom
was a federation of clans which shared the kingship on a rotating basis. As time went on, the kingship
became more centralized and powerful, and an object of more intense clan conflict. After 1700, bloody
succession wars were a recurring feature of Buganda history and further contributed to the process of
political centralization.

Before 1600 Buganda was on the losing side in its wars with Bunyoro--the region's most powerful
kingdom of the time--and its vassal states. Beginning in the seventeenth century, Buganda began to win
back territory from Bunyoro. At the end of the eighteenth century, King Mawanda successfully waged
campaigns that extended Buganda territory in all directions. By 1800, Buganda had replaced Bunyoro as
the most powerful state in the North Interlacustrine region.

The earliest Arab contact occurred in 1844, and the first trade caravan arrived from Zanzibar in 1869. The
first Europeans, the British Captains Speke and Grant, arrived in 1862 on their journey to discover the
source of the Nile. Soon thereafter Protestant, Catholic and Moslem Missionaries arrived. Both kings,
Mutesa I and his successor Mwanga, were suspicious of religious converts who did not respect the king's
absolute authority. Also, the kings were wary of the growing British, German and Arab influence in East
Africa. On various occasions, the kings had Moslem and Christian believers executed. In 1885, King
Mwanga executed three Christian leaders and the visiting Anglican Bishop, James Hannington, because
he had entered the kingdom from the north, using "the back door," which for a stranger revealed evil
intentions. In 1888, Moslem and Christian forces deposed Mwanga and replaced him with a Moslem
prince. However, argument between the Christian and Moslem factions over distribution of offices broke
out into armed conflict. After an intense two-year religious war, the Christian forces prevailed, backed by
neighboring tribes and the Sudanese mercenaries of the Imperial British East African Company (IBEAC).
The final Christian victory gave undisputed power to what would become the new bureaucratic elite of
modern Uganda. In 1894 Buganda was formally proclaimed a British protectorate which later included
Bunyoro, Toro, Ankole, Busogaes and other kingdoms to the north of the Victoria Nile River. The
Uganda Agreement of 1900 laid the basis of a new administrative order by granting the chiefs freehold
estates, which strengthened their position vis-à-vis the monarchy.

Uganda's more recent history has also been troubled by violence and instability. After the Second World
War, Buganda pressed the protectorate government for independent status. Eventually all of Uganda was
granted its independence in 1962, and Milton Obate, the leader of the Lango people from Northern
Uganda became prime minister, with the support of his own United People's Congress and the
conservative Baganda party, Kabaka Yekka. Obate appointed the Buganda king, Mutesa II as president.
Growing rivalry between parties and among ethnic groups led to Mutesa II's forceful ouster by Obate's
military chief, Ida Amin. Obote took over as president and proclaimed a new constitution in 1966. Ida
Amin was able to exploit the bad feelings between the Baganda and Obate and in 1971 staged a
successful military coup. However, Amin's rule was disastrous and brutal, and he in turn was ousted with
help from Tanzanian forces in 1978. Obote was reelected president in 1980 and again deposed by a
military coup in 1985. The following year the new military rulers themselves were ousted by a southern
resistance movement. Their leader, Yoweri Museveni, became president in 1986 and ruled Uganda with
an indirectly- elected governing council until 1995, when a new constitution was established.

 642Form and Rules of Government

 648External Relations
 669Revolution

SETTLEMENTS
Villages are built on the slopes of the innumerable low flat topped hills that dot the Buganda countryside.
Villages consist of between 30 and 80 dispersed homesteads, each one surrounded by its banana garden
and interspersed by fallow land and patches of cotton, each homestead covered an average of 5-6 acres.
Originally, dwellings consisted of a round framework of posts and canes covered with thatched grass
which extended upward to form a bee-hive-shaped roof. In the twentieth century, the typical dwelling was
rectangular, also of post and cane framework, but with mud walls and a corrugated iron roof replacing
that of thatched grass.

 342Dwellings
 361Settlement Patterns

ECONOMY
SUBSISTENCE
The Ganda are primarily an agricultural society; their staple crops are bananas and yams. They also grow
sweet potatoes, taro, manioc, maize, millet, peanuts, beans, squashes, gourds, sesame, tomatoes, and
sugarcane. Cotton was introduced as a market crop in 1904, and later, coffee. The Ganda keep some
goats, chickens, sheep, and cattle, which are regarded as a sign of wealth. The banana is the most
important crop and each household has a banana grove, which supplies their major food needs. A grove
can produce for as long as seventy years and requires little weeding and mulching, work done by women.
The banana has supported a relatively dense and settled population. There are two growing seasons a
year.

 231Domesticated Animals
 241Tillage
 245Arboriculture
 262Diet
 433Production and Supply

COMMERCIAL ACTIVITIES
Commerce was little developed in Buganda. Markets were introduced and encouraged by Europeans.
Under the British, the rich Interlacustrine soils of Buganda were developed for cash crops such as coffee,
tea and cotton. In the Postwar years, coffee alone counted for 90 percent of the value of all Uganda's
exports. Most Baganda farmers grow at least one cash crop along with their subsistence crops.

 245Arboriculture
 249Special Crops
 366Commercial Facilities
 433Production and Supply
 439External Trade

INDUSTRIAL ARTS
Traditionally, Bagandans made a variety of utilitarian and ornamental objects for domestic and royal use.
They sawed ivory bracelets from elephant tusks; wove rope from plantain fibers and mats from papyrus
or palm leaves; pounded bark to make barkcloth for clothing; and made pottery using the coil method.
They cut planks from trees and stitched the pieces together to make canoes and shields. They also smelted
iron to make spear points and hoe blades.

 280Leather, Textiles, and Fabrics

 320Processing of Basic Materials
 433Production and Supply
TRADE
In the pre-contact days, the Baganda exchanged bananas and barkcloth for iron from the Lake Albert
region, and salt, clay pots, and fish from the islands of Lake Victoria. With neighboring pastoral people,
they traded dried bananas for cattle, sheep, and goats. In general, Baganda raiding and warfare precluded
much of the need for trade. War booty was distributed according to military rank with the largest share
given to the king. Beginning in the eighteenth century the king carried out trade with Zanzibar,
exchanging primarily ivory for cotton cloth, and later slaves for firearms. The Arabs introduced cowry
shells, although barter continued to be the dominant form of exchange. In the postwar period, Uganda has
become an exporter of cotton, coffee, tea and tobacco.

 436Medium of Exchange
 437Exchange Transactions
 438Internal Trade
 439External Trade
 643Chief Executive
 721Instigation of War

DIVISION OF LABOR
Children sweep the yards, fetch water from the well and cook meals. Women garden, cook and do other
domestic chores, and make baskets. Men tend the coffee or cotton crop and make barkcloth in a special
shed near the main house. Men build the houses, hunt and fish. Traditionally, most of a man's time was
occupied attending to the needs of his chief, including public works and war. In the 1960s, rural
occupations might include clerical work for a chief, carpentry, bicycle repair, butchering and fishing. In
the city, you find other occupations including those of teacher, shopkeeper, craftsmen, or driver.

 461Labor and Leisure

 462Division of Labor by Gender
 463Occupational Specialization
 857Childhood Activities

LAND TENURE
In the past, land was controlled by patrilineal clans, each of which was protected by a major and a minor
totem. Clan estates were administered by the heads of the clans, who were confirmed by the KABAKA,
or king. Newly-conquered lands were owned by the kabaka, who appointed local chiefs to administer
them. Appointed chiefs, military chiefs and traditional clan chiefs all had estates to support their
households. Villagers had rights to use land through their support of a particular chief. In the Uganda
Agreement of 1900, all chiefs were given freehold tenure (MAILO).

 423Real Property

KINSHIP
KIN GROUPS AND DESCENT
The Baganda practice patrilineal descent in which the genitor is recognized as the true father and to
whose clan one belongs. There are approximately fifty clans (KIKA) in Buganda. Traditionally, the head
of each clan lived on the original estate settled by the first ancestor, however, clans in general were not
localized. Clan members observed the obligation of mutual aid and collective responsibility. Clans were
divided into SIGA, those descended from the sons of the original founder, and MUTUBA, those
descended from the grandsons or great- grandsons of the original founders. The head of a SIGA would
arbitrate various disputes regarding inheritance, clan status, debts, and injuries. Members of the same
mtuba were expected to attend funeral ceremonies, support relatives in legal disputes, blood feuds and the
payment of fines.

 611Rules of Descent
 614Clans

KINSHIP TERMINOLOGY
The Baganda use a classificatory system of kinship terminology in which all father's brothers are called
"father," all mother's sisters called "mother" and all children "brother and sister."

 601Kinship Terminology

MARRIAGE AND FAMILY

MARRIAGE
In the past, marriage was an economic necessity as women were the cultivators and cooks. The word "to
marry" in Luganda means "to peel plantains" (OKUWATA) and "to cook for" (OKUFUMBIRA). One
could not marry within one's father's or mother's clan. The suitor first obtained the consent of his
prospective bride before asking her hand in marriage. If she agreed, he then sent letters, some with money
in them, to various relatives designated by his prospective bride. This was followed by gifts of food to the
latter's parents and a formal introduction which included a request by the fiancee's brother for a bride-
price. The bride- price was in essence a contract which was supposed to be returned if the marriage failed.
Other gifts were also exchanged at this time. The wedding ceremony involved the exchange of the bride
at a crossroads followed by singing, drinking and dancing in the bridegroom's village. Secondary
marriages were less formal.

Traditionally the Baganda practiced polygyny, but this practice began to change under the influence of
Christianity, to which most Baganda now adhere. In the 1960s, only one in twenty marriages are
polygamous. Christian marriages are conducted in church and modern wedding attire is worn.

 581Basis of Marriage
 582Regulation of Marriage
 583Mode of Marriage
 584Arranging a Marriage
 585Nuptials

DOMESTIC UNIT
The domestic unit is the homestead (MAKA) consisting of a house and kitchen, with additional sleeping
huts and a latrine. A yard surrounds the house and itself is surrounded on three sides by gardens where
permanent crops of coffee and bananas grow. The normal residential group is the nuclear family. Married
sons and daughters live in separate homesteads. The average size homestead is three people.

 342Dwellings
 343Outbuildings
 592Household

INHERITANCE
Traditionally, land was not inherited because estates were attached to offices granted by the kabaka and
clan leaders. Moveable property, such as livestock, barkcloth and cowry shells, was distributed to
relatives at the time of the funeral, with clan elders arbitrating disputes. Senior clansmen also took a share
and a `gift' was sent to the chief. The direct descendants had claim to the deceased's household
implements and tools. Widows received nothing, because they were not members of the patriclan. With
regard to the later freehold (mailo) estates, usually the eldest son is the principal heir receiving under half
of the estate, with the rest divided among the other children, including daughters.

 428Inheritance
 651Taxation and Public Income

SOCIALIZATION
Ganda children are encouraged to behave socially from an early age. Children are brought up to be polite,
well behaved, and respectful of elders. They learn to cultivate a code of etiquette (MPISA) which will
serve them in negotiating Ganda's hierarchical, fluid society. In many cases, children are sent away after
weaning to be brought up by relatives, who are less intimate and more strict than their own parents.
Corporal punishment is the norm. Children begin school at age six. The Ganda do not practice any bodily
mutilation or scarification. There are no puberty rituals for boys and only a family ceremony marks a
girl's first menstruation.

 304Body Alterations
 576Etiquette
 855Child Care
 861Techniques of Socialization
 871Education System
 881Puberty and Initiation

SOCIOPOLITICAL ORGANIZATION
SOCIAL ORGANIZATION
Communities were not bound together by ties of kinship, necessarily, but were formed by those who
elected to follow a particular chief and estate holder. Once settled and established, a client may attract his
own kinsmen and friends who would form the core of another village.

 621Community Structure

POLITICAL ORGANIZATION
For most of its history up to 1900, Buganda was a centralized monarchy. Tribute in the form of goods and
services flowed from the clans, to the chiefs, and to the kabaka. The chief of each clan and clan segment
held a hereditary estate. A council of elders decided who from a small chiefly lineage was to inherit the
office of chief, subject to approval by the kabaka. A chief was responsible to the chief of the clan segment
immediately above him. All chiefs were responsible for maintaining peace and security in their region,
carrying out public works, and leading their men into battle. Each clan was responsible for performing a
certain duty for the king, such as supplying barkcloth, herding the royal cattle or guarding the royal
children. All the clans supplied personnel for the court pages, who someday might gain royal favor and be
appointed chiefs.

Although there was a royal family, there was no royal clan, rather, the children of the kabaka were
affiliated with their mothers' clans. Sons, grandsons, and brothers were all eligible to inherit the kingship.
Because it was the practice for all the clans to marry their women to the king, each clan had a legitimate
claim to the kingship, making successions highly contested. As the kingdom expanded the king was able
to wrest some power away from the clan chiefs (BATAKA) by granting estates (BATONGOLE) in the
newly conquered territories to his favorites, and rewarding loyal chiefs with war booty.
In the Uganda Agreement of 1900, Buganda was designated a province of Uganda and ruled as a
protected state. The position of the kabaka was confirmed, and the native system of administration was
preserved. The central government of Buganda Province consists of the kabaka, three ministers, and a
legislative assembly (LUKIIKO). For administrative purposes, the province is divided into counties,
districts, and parishes, which replaced villages as the smallest territorial unit. In 1962 the status of Uganda
changed from that of a British protectorate to an independent nation and a member of the Commonwealth
of Nations.

 622Community Heads
 642Form and Rules of Government
 643Chief Executive
 644Executive Household
 651Taxation and Public Income

SOCIAL CONTROL
Traditionally, the chiefs and their councils adjudicated all disputes. Charges were brought before the
offender's chief, who then summoned the accused. Both parties pleaded their cases and provided
witnesses. The chief and his council then questioned both parties. The council would then discuss the case
and the chief came to a decision. Under the British Protectorate, chiefs continued to judge cases regarding
customary laws, inheritance and succession, and relied on subordinate chiefs rather than a council to
discuss the case. Protectorate Government courts adjudicated more serious crimes, such as homicide.

 692Judicial Authority
 694Initiation of Judicial Proceedings
 695Trial Procedure

CONFLICT
Violent conflict among the Baganda occurred in the wars of territorial expansion and royal succession.
Throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth century, Buganda was a predatory state, constantly warring
upon its neighbors. This had a toll on its population. Royal succession was a time of bloody interclan
fighting, which with local population often caught in between. As the king's power grew he more
demonstrated it through arbitrary killings of his subjects.

 165Mortality
 175History
 643Chief Executive
 661Exploitation
 669Revolution
 721Instigation of War

RELIGION AND EXPRESSIVE CULTURE

RELIGIOUS BELIEFS
The traditional religion of the Ganda was based on belief in a hierarchy of god-heroes (LUBALE),
ancestral spirits (MIZIMU) and nature spirits. The most important god was Mukasa, the god of Lake
Victoria, health and fertility. Another important god was Kibuka, the god of war. Besides such `national'
gods, Each clan worshipped their own lubale. Priests maintained temples, shrines and cults centered on
the spirits of former clan leaders and kings. Prophets, or mediums, were able to consult with these spirits,
which had influence over the affairs of the living. Although today most Ganda are either Christian or
Moslem (a small minority), traditional religious practices are still performed, such as sorcery, folk
medicine, spirit possession, and ancestor worship.
  771General Character of Religion
 776Spirits and Gods
 795Religious Denominations

RELIGIOUS PRACTITIONERS
Traditionally a group of priests and prophet, or medium, was associated with each temple. The priests
performed the rites and sacrifices, and the prophet communicated with the spirit. Prophets were initiated
into a cult after first being possessed by the cult's spirit. Prophets also practiced magic, both good and
bad, and performed curing ceremonies.

 791Magicians and Diviners

 795Religious Denominations

CEREMONIES
There were few public ceremonies in traditional Bagandan religion. Most ceremonies were conducted by
priests away from public view. Others involved only clan elders or members of the royal court. Public
ceremonies were initiated by individuals requesting an interview with a god. A day was set and gifts
brought. The prophet invoked the lubale and the audience sang songs appropriate to the particular god.
The god descended and possessed the prophet and the sponsor of the event made his requests. The
ceremony ended with further singing, dancing and drinking. The kabaka would also make requests of the
national gods in a similar but more elaborate ceremony.

 796Organized Ceremonial

ARTS
In the past, the Ganda decorated objects with simple designs: They glazed pottery, and painted barkcloth
and boats. Musical instruments included a one-string violin, a six-holed fife, a nine-string harp, a wooden
zither (MADINDA), a gourd horn, and various kinds of rattles and drums. There were musical bands that
played at funerals and in the court. Songs were sung in the minor key. Drums were an emblem of office
and were used for dancing, feasting, marching, and to announce major social and political events,
including births, deaths and war. A rich folklore chronicles the history of the clans and royal succession.

 5310Verbal Arts
 5311Visual Arts
 533Music
 534Musical Instruments

MEDICINE
According to the Ganda sickness is attributed to gods, ghosts, sorcerers, and the breaking of taboos. Cures
involved propitiating the god or ghost, and righting the violated taboo with a sacrifice. For other ailments,
medicine-men administered such remedies as bleeding for headaches, herbal vapor baths for fever, and
branding to relieve bodily pains. Bubonic plague was not uncommon and at any sign of the plague locals
abandoned their settlements.

 164Morbidity
 744Public Health and Sanitation
 753Theory of Disease
 757Medical Therapy

DEATH AND AFTERLIFE

A death was immediately followed by wailing of close relatives who had gathered in the home of the sick
person. The widow washed and shaved the corpse and after two days wrapped it in barkcloth.
Traditionally, butter was rubbed on the face of the deceased by the direct descendants. The corpse was
buried at night under the supervision of a senior clansman. Relatives helped to dig the grave in the
homestead's banana grove. Beer was brewed and drunk. The installation of an heir concluded the
mourning period. Traditionally, a chief was buried in a grave inside his home, which was then abandoned.
The funeral of a kabaka followed the same basic procedure as above, but was more elaborate. The kabaka
was buried in the royal cemetery and a shrine constructed to house his jawbone and, in some cases,
umbilical cord. A staff of slaves, priests and prophet would be responsible for maintaining the shrine and
associated cult.

The Ganda believe that the spirit of the deceased remains in or near the grave, but can travel on occasion.
It stays in close contact with its descendants and must be placated with offerings if the descendants are to
avoid misfortune and insure prosperity. The ancestral spirit can express its anger by possessing any one of
its descendants and making him or her speak. Cults grew around the more famous, especially former
kings.

 643Chief Executive
 764Burial Practices and Funerals
 765Mourning
 769Cult of the Dead

SYNOPSIS
Documents referred to in this section are included in the eHRAF collection and are referenced by author,
date of publication, and eHRAF document number.

The Ganda file contains 28 books and articles. The studies focus on Baganda history before British
overrule (1200-1900), acculturation during the subsequent period of British administration (1901-1961),
and various subjects in the contemporary period following independence in 1962. General ethnographies
give an account of Baganda culture and society both before and after 1901 (Roscoe 1911, no. 2; Kagwa
1934, no. 8; Mair 1934, no. 1; Fallers 1960, no. 12; Southwold 1966, no. 15.) Studies of Baganda history
up to 1900 are found in Kagwa (1971, no. 23), Kiwanuka (1972, no. 22), and Ray (1991, no. 19). The file
includes studies of the traditional system of authority (Southwold 1961, no. 14; Fallers 1964, no. 25;
Richards 1964, no. 29) and changes in the system that occurred after 1900 (Richards 1960, no. 9; 1966,
no. 13; Southwold 1964, no. 28.) Other studies focus on post-1900 changes in land tenure (Mukwaya
1953, no. 11), status (Wigley 1964, no. 24), social mobility (Fallers 1964, no. 26), and marriage (Mair
1940, no. 5.) Two labor studies examine labor migration under the colonial administration (Powesland
1954, no. 6) and the assimilation of immigrant laborers in Buganda in the 1950s (Richards 1954, no. 7.)
Other postwar studies include examinations of political behavior and attitudes (Doob 1964, no. 31;
Richards 1964, no. 30), changes in occupational structure (Fallers 1964, no. 26), and the effect of the
Baganda authority system on innovation and change (Apter 1967, no. 16.) Post-Independence studies
include an examination of ethnic categories of mental health (Orley 1970, no.17), infant care and
development (Ainsworth 1967, no. 18; Kilbride 1974, no. 20), and the impact of microtechnologies on
rural life (Robbins 1987, no. 21.)

For more detailed information on the content of the individual works in the file, see the abstracts in the
citations preceding each document.

The culture summary and synopsis were written by Ian Skoggard in August, 1997.