BUNYORO KINGDOM AND ITS EXCITING HISTORY
His Majesty King Rukirabasaija Agutamba Solomon Gafabusa Iguru is the reigning king of Bunyoro king dom. Just like the other interlacustrine kingdoms, Bunyoro also has a king and his assistant officials plus the subjects. He is the First from the Royal Biito Dynasty and the Forty-ninth Omukama of Bunyoro-Kitara. He is the twenty-seventh King of the formerly mighty Kingdom in the history of Africa.
A king is addressed as Omukama in Bunyoro, the people are called the Banyoro who speak Runyoro or Runyakitara. The king is free to have as many wives as he wishes but there is one that is taken as the wed locked wife who is supposed to bear the succeeding king. Her Majesty Queen Margaret Karunga of Bunyoro-Kitara is currently the bearer of the Queen’s crown. However after five years of marriage, she gave birth to the Crown-Prince of Bunyoro-Kitara at the Nairobi Hospital.
HISTORICAL AFFAIRS OF BUNYORO-KITARA KINGS
The Batembuzi Dynasty
Initially, this kingdom was under the Batembuzi dynasty. Batembuzi means harbingers or pioneers. They are believed to be spiritual beings and their time in power is not very clearly documented, and is surrounded by a number of myth and oral legend. There is very little agreement, among scholars, concerning the Batembuzi era in history, even the names and succeeding order of individual kings. There is a belief that their period in office dates back to the height of Africa’s Bronze Age. The number of individual batembuzi reigns, as given by different scholars, ranges from nine to twenty one.
The Bachwezi Dynasty
The Bachwezi are recognized for the founding of the earliest empire of Kitara; which is made up of areas of present day central, western, and southern Uganda; northern Tanzania, western Kenya, and eastern Congo. Less information is documented about them. Their whole reign was shrouded in mystery, in that they were given the status of demi gods and worshipped by a number of clans. A good number of traditional gods in Toro, Bunyoro and Buganda get there names from typical kichwezi (adjective) names for example Ndahura, Mulindwa, Wamara, Kagoro, etc.
The bachwezi dynasty should have been short lived, as supported by about three names of kings recognized by historian. The bachwezi kings were Ndahura, Mulindwa and Wamara; in this order. As well as founding the empire of Kitara, the bachwezi are once more accredited to the introduction of the exceptional, long horned ankole cattle, coffee growing, iron smelting, and the first semblance of structured and centralized government, with the king as the leader.
Almost no one can tell what happened to the Bachwezi. Concerning their disappearance, there is no lack of colorful legend. Some legend claims that they moved westward and vanished into Lake Mwitanzige (Albert). A different legend has information that they disappearing into lake Wamala, which has the name of the last king of the dynasty. There is a renowned belief among scholars that they just got assimilated into the local populace, and are, currently, the tribal groups like the bahima of Ankole and the batutsi of Rwanda. The bahima and batutsi have the stylish, tall build and light skin texture of the bachwezi, and are locally recognized for being herders of the long horned Ankole cattle. The Babiito Dynasty
After those very important semi, demi gods, the bachwezi dynasty was succeeded by the Babiito dynasty were the present Omukama of Bunyoro-Kitara is a descendant. Any effort to pinpoint the dates of this, or any other dynasty prior to it, is actually guess work; as there were no printed records at the time. Current historians place the foundation of the babiito dynasty at around the time of the attack of Bunyoro by the Luo from the North. The first mubiito (singular) king was Isingoma Mpuga Rukidi I, whose time in power is assumed to be around the 14th century. Presently, a grand total of 27 babiito kings of Bunyoro-Kitara has been recoded.
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