Baganda and their culture
Baganda
Baganda and their culture : The Baganda are located along the northern and western shores of Lake Victoria in the east African nation of Uganda. They number about 4 million people. The former Kingdom of Buganda, which today is the area occupied by the Baganda, is bounded on the north by the former Kingdom of Bunyoro and on the east by the Nile River. To the south of Buganda is the present country of Tanzania. The Baganda are the largest tribe in Uganda, and the Kingdom of Buganda was the largest of the former kingdoms. It comprises slightly more than one-fourth of Uganda’s total land mass. Kampala, Uganda’s largest city and capital, is in Buganda.
Language spoken in Buganda
The Baganda speak a Bantu language called Luganda. It is a member of the Niger-Congo family of languages. In the Luganda language, the singular form of Baganda is Muganda. Like many other African languages, Luganda is tonal, meaning that some words are differentiated by pitch. Words that are spelled the same may carry different meanings according to their pitch. Luganda is rich in metaphor and in proverbs and folktales.
Some examples of common riddles are;
I have a wife who looks where she is coming from and where she is going at the same time (a bundle of firewood, since the two ends are similar).
I have a razor blade which I use to shave hills (fire that is used to burn the grass for planting).
When my friend went to get food for his children, he never came back (water in a river).
My man is always surrounded by spears (the tongue, surrounded by teeth).
Religion of the people of Buganda
The majority of present-day Baganda are Christian, about evenly divided between Catholic and Protestant. Approximately 15 percent are Muslim (followers of Islam). In the latter half of the nineteenth century, most Baganda were practicing an indigenous (native) religion known as the Balubaale cult. This cult consisted of gods who had temples identified with them. These gods were each concerned with specific problems. For example, there was a god of fertility, a god of warfare, and a god of the lake.
The Baganda also believed in spiritual forces, particularly the action of witches, which were thought to cause illness and other misfortune. People often wore amulets (charms) to ward off their evil powers. The most significant spirits were the Muzimu or ancestors who visited the living in dreams and sometimes warned of impending dangers. The Balubaale cult no longer exists. However, belief in ancestors and the power of witches is still quite common.
Contemporary Baganda are extremely religious, whatever their faith.
Family life
The traditional term for marriage was jangu onfumbire (come cook for me). This symbolized the prevailing authority patterns in the typical household. The husband and father was supreme. Children and women knelt to the husband in respect to his authority, and he was served his food first. Today, Baganda children frequently describe feelings of fear and respect for their fathers and warm attachment to their mothers.
After marriage a new household is established, usually in the village of the husband. Most marriages are monogamous, although polygamy (more than one spouse) was not uncommon in the past.
Clothing in Buganda
The rural Muganda (Baganda individual) woman typically wears abusuuti. This is a floor-length, brightly coloured cloth dress with a square neckline and short, puffed sleeves. The garment is fastened with a sash placed just below the waist over the hips, and by two buttons on the left side of the neckline. Traditionally, the busuuti was strapless and made from bark-cloth. The busuuti is worn on all festive and ceremonial occasions. The indigenous dress of the Baganda man is ekanzu,a long, white cotton robe. On special occasions, it is worn over trousers with a Western-style suit jacket over it. Younger people wear Western-style clothing. Slacks, jeans, skirts, suits, and ties are also worn.
Education
Missionaries introduced literacy (reading and writing) and formal education to Uganda in the nineteenth century. The Baganda value modern education and will often sacrifice a great deal to obtain schooling for their children. Members of a family will combine resources to support a particularly promising student. Upon the completion of education, the family member is expected to help his or her relatives.
Sports
Football (soccer), rugby, and track and field are popular sports in Uganda. Baganda boys participate in all these sports, while girls participate in track and field. Traditionally, the Baganda were renowned for their skills in wrestling. Males of all ages participated in this sport. Wrestling events were accompanied by beer-drinking, singing, and drumming. It was, however, considered inappropriate to defeat the Kabaka. Other traditional outdoor games for boys include the competitive throwing of sticks and a kicking game in which boys stand side by side and attempt to knock over the other boy.
Crafts and Hobbies
In addition to basketry and musical instruments, the manufacture of products from bark-cloth was and continues to be significant. The bark from a species of fig tree called mutuba is soaked in water, then beaten with a wooden mallet. This yields a soft material that is decorated with paint and then cut into strips of various sizes. Larger strips traditionally were used for partitions in homes.
Smaller pieces were decorated with black dye and worn as clothing by women of royalty. Later, bark-cloth dress became the national dress. Today, one rarely sees bark-cloth dresses. They have been replaced by the cotton cloth Busuuti. Bark-cloth is found today as decorative placemats, coasters, and designs on cards of various sorts.
Attractions in Buganda region
Kabaka’s lake
As the biggest man-made lake in Uganda dug during the reign of Ssekabaka Mwanga II in 1885, the Kabaka’s lake attracts a number of tourists anxious to even see the beautiful birds at its shores.
Bulange Building – The royal heritage Trail
This comprises of Bulange (Parliament), Twekobe (Palace), Kabakas, Lakes, Namasole (King’s Maama) and Kasubi Tombs (cemetery for the kingdom) which are the most important in the kingdom of Buganda.
The magnificent features of the Kasubi tombs represent the rich traditions and heritage of the Baganda people.
