Kingdom of Rwanda

Ubwami bw'u Rwanda (Kinyarwanda)
Royaume du Rwanda (French)

Independent state (11th century–1885)
Part of German East Africa (1885–1916)
Part of Ruanda-Urundi (1916–1962)

11th century–1962


Flag	Coat of arms

Capital

Nyanza

Languages

Kinyarwanda, French, German (official from 1885-1916)

Government

Monarchy

Mwami

•

1081 – 1114

Gihanga (1st Dyn.) (first)

•

1959–1961

Kigeli V (3rd Dyn.) (last)

History

•

Autonomy from Belgium

July 25, 1959

•

Republic declared

July 1, 1962

Preceded by

Succeeded by

	History of Rwanda
	Ruanda-Urundi

Rwanda

The Kingdom of Rwanda was a pre-colonial kingdom in East Africa which survived with some of its autonomy intact under German and Belgian colonial rule until its monarchy was abolished in the Rwandan Revolution. After a 1961 referendum, Rwanda became a republic and received its independence in 1962.

In the 15th century, one chiefdom managed to incorporate several of its close neighbor territories establishing the Kingdom of Rwanda after disintegration of the Bunyoro-Kitara Empire(Bachwezi Empire), which ruled over most of what is now considered Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda,and parts of Tanzania. The Hutu majority, 82–85% of the population, were mostly peasants while the kings, known as Mwamis, were generally from Tutsi. Certainly some Hutus were nobility and, equally, considerable intermingling took place.

Before the 19th century, it was believed that the Tutsis held military leadership power while the Hutus possessed healing power and agricultural skills. In this capacity, the Mwami's council of advisors (abiiru) was exclusively Hutu and held significant sway. By the mid-18th century, however, the abiiru had become increasingly marginalized.

The position of Queen Mother was an important one, managing the royal household and being heavily involved in court politics. When their sons ascended to the throne, mothers would take a new name. This would be composed of nyira-, meaning "mother of", followed by, usually, the regal name of the new king; only kings named Mutara do not follow this convention, their mothers taking the name Nyiramavugo (mother of good counsel).

As the kings centralized their power and authority, they distributed land among individuals rather than allowing it to be passed down through lineage groups, of which many hereditary chiefs had been Hutu. Most of the chiefs appointed by the Mwamis were Tutsi. The redistribution of land, enacted between 1860 and 1895 by Kigeli IV Rwabugiri, resulted in an imposed patronage system, under which appointed Tutsi chiefs demanded manual labor in return for the right of Hutus to occupy their land. This system left Hutus in a serf-like status with Tutsi chiefs as their feudal masters.

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Wikipedia