Society-GANDA

The leopard, the lion, and the eagle are the totems of royalty of
the Buganda kingdom. According to most sources, the identity of the
Ganda people was focused on the king, the Kabaka, to the extent that
Ganda society cannot be imagined without that institution.

The term Ganda is the anglicized version of the name for these people
and their society. Buganda is the name of the kingdom, the people
who live in the kingdom are the Baganda (sing. Muganda), and the language
they speak is Luganda. Luganda is a Bantu language. The International
African Institute places it in the Interlacustrine Group of the Northern
Zone of Bantu languages. Greenberg places Luganda in the Central Branch
of the Niger-Congo family of languages (Southwold 1965: 85-86).

Buganda is one of four provinces of the country of Uganda. It is located
on the northern and western shores of Lake Victoria from lat. 2 degrees
N to 1 degree S. It stretches for about 200 miles along the shore
and extends inland about 80 miles. The land area of Buganda is about
17,295 square miles, and the average altitude about 4,000 feet above
sea level.

Although the number of Africans living in Buganda, according to the
1950 census, was 1,834,128, only 1,006,101 of these people were ethnically
Ganda. The overall density was 106 persons per square mile (Southwold
1965: 85). According to Roscoe, at about the time of European contact
(ca. 1862) there were 3,000,000 Ganda. Civil wars, famine, and disease
had reduced them to about 2,000,000 by the time of his writing (1911).

Buganda is referred to as one of the "Lacustrian" kingdoms along with
Bunyoro, Toro, Ankole, and Kiziba. According to tradition, the Ganda
were people of mixed origins who migrated to their present location
over the past 600 years. Their history is one of fighting and conquests
of their neighbors. At the time of White contact, the Ganda kingdom
was at the height of its power.

The Ganda were first contacted by Westerners in 1862, and missionaries
were sent soon after contact. In the Uganda Agreement of 1900, Buganda
was set up as a province of Uganda. 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. In the Uganda Agreement,
the position of the king was confirmed, and the native system of administration
was preserved. The central government of the Buganda Province consists
of the Kabaka, three ministers, and a legislative assembly called
the Lukiiko. For administrative purposes, the province is divided
into counties, subcounties, and parishes.

The Ganda are primarily agricultural, with bananas as the staple supplemented
by yams. Cotton was introduced in 1904 and is grown mainly for the
market. In addition, some sweet potatoes, taro, manioc, maize, millet,
peanuts, beans, squash, gourds, sesame, tomatoes, and sugarcane are
grown. Ownership of cattle is a sign of wealth, and goats, chickens,
and a few sheep are also kept.

Traditionally, villages consisted of a number of households, each
one surrounded by its banana gardens, spread out over the top of a
hill. According to Fallers (1960: 54), villages were made up of between
60 and 100 adult males, together with their families. All land was
theoretically owned by the Kabaka. He appointed chiefs to administer
specific territories, and they had subchiefs under them. At the bottom
of this hierarchy was the village headman. Tribute in the form of
goods and services was required from each chief. The clans and lineages
also had control over the land. Clan estates were administered by
the heads of the clans, who were confirmed in their positions by the
Kabaka. The clans were patrilineal, and each one had a major and a
minor totem. The number of clans varied but Roscoe (1911) counted
36.

For the Kabaka, the clan affiliation was different. Children of the
Kabaka were affiliated with their mothers' clans. There was a royal
family rather than a royal clan. The succession to the kingship was
in the male line. Sons, grandsons, or brothers inherited the title.
In addition to his role as monarch, the Kabaka was also he head of
all the clans in the kingdom. Through this latter role, the position
of the king was reinforced, since he was directly related to every
family in the kingdom. Apter (1967: 480) makes the point that by virtue
of this dual role, ". . . it is inconceivable for a Kiganda [Baganda--HRAF
Note] society to exist without a King."

The largest city, and the capital of Uganda, is Kampala. It was the
center of the British administration, and all of the missions have
had their headquarters there. It is located in the center of Buganda
Province, and it is also the site of the Kabaka's palace. Kampala
is also the center of commercial activity.

Arabs contacted the Ganda slightly before the Westerners did, and
Islam was adopted by some of the people. Almost immediately upon its
discovery by the British, Christian missionaries arrived in Buganda.
The entire educational system has been run by the Christian missionaries.
Today, practically all of the people can be characterized as nominally
Christian, with a Muslim minority.

Traditional religion was based on belief in the spirits of the dead.
Prophets and mediums were able to consult with these spirits, who
were influencing the affairs of the living. There were some reports
of human sacrifice. Although all of the Ganda are Christian or Muslim,
vestiges of the traditional religion have been observed. Some of these
vestiges are in the practices of sorcery, traditional medicine, spirit
possession, and visiting the graves and shrines of former kings.

The major descriptive sources on the Ganda are Mair (1934), Roscoe
(1911), Kagwa (1934), and Apter (1967). Briefer summaries will also
be found in Fallers (1960) and Southwold (1965). There are two time
foci for the material presented here, the period between 1860 and
1970 and the 1950s.

Culture summary by Marlene M. Martin



Apter, David E. The political kingdom in Uganda;
 a study in bureaucratic nationalism.
 2d ed.
 Princeton, Princeton University Press, 1967.
 22 , 498 p. illus., maps.
 Fallers, Margaret Chave.
 The Eastern Lacustrine Bantu (Ganda and Soga).
 London, International African Institute, 1960.
 1-9, 11-86 p. map, tables.
 Kagwa, Apolo.
 The customs of the Baganda.
 Translated by Ernest B. Kalibala.
 Edited by May Mandelbaum (Edel).
 New York, Columbia University Press, 1934.
 199 p. Mair, Lucy Philip.
 An African people in the twentieth century.
 London, G. Routledge and Sons, 1934.
 16, 300 p. illus., map.
 Roscoe, John.
 The Baganda.
 An account of their native customs and beliefs.
 London, Macmillan, 1911.
 20, 547 p. illus., maps.
 Southwold, Martin.
 The Ganda of Uganda.
 Introduction by James L. Gibbs, Jr.
 In James L. Gibbs, Jr., ed.
 Peoples of Africa.
 New York, Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1965: 81-118.


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