Christian Influence
With the arrival of the Europeans, Christianity spread rapidly in Rwanda. We will not be concerned here with the impact of Christianity in terms of the introduction of egalitarian and individualistic ideas. The catholic missionaries were the first to arrive…
The Nyabingi Cult
In the Northern peripheral areas we do not find the Ryangombe cult but the Nyabingi cult. Gravel mentions that the Nyabingi cult spread from the North to Gisaka in the East shortly after the advent of the Europeans (1 9…
The Ryangombe Cult And His Myth
Cult of the dead was not restricted to these spirits called bazimu. At a different level we find the Ryangombe cult in Central Rwanda, and the Nyabingi cult in the peripheral areas. In Central Rwanda about thirty spirits were considered…
The Religious Complex And The Cult Of The Dead
The Rwandan traditional systemrequires the complex of religious, magico-religious beliefs and practices. This is for two reasons. In the first place they are related to the pattern of social relationships among living members of the community and support the social…
The Development Of The Ubuhake System
So far we have been analysing the ubuhake system and we have indicated some of the effects of the changes that took place during the colonial period so as to demonstrate from these effects the nature of the ubuhake relationship…
The Clientage System, “Ubuhake”
In the beginning of this chapter we have already introduced the institution of clientage called ubuhake, denoting the relationship between garagu (client.) and shebuja (patron). This relationship was initiated by the person in the inferior position. Before a patron would…
Rights In Cattle
Parallel to the system of land tenure with its competing lineage and government spheres of interest, we find in Rwanda a complex of rights and obligations in cattle which similarly differ in the context of individual and government control. In…
Rights In Land
Cultivation and cattle-rearing formed the basis of the Rwanda subsistence economy. Rights in land related to both cultivation and grazing. While pasture rights excluded cultivation, cultivation rights did not exclude grazing on farmland after the harvest. Maquet and S Nayigiziki…
The Socio-Economic Complex
In the previous chapter we have analysed the political system in Rwanda. The king clearly occupied a centralposition in the political structure. For the maintenance of his court and his army, for the execution of his orders and for support…
The Complex Pattern Of The Political System In Ancient Rwanda
The complex pattern of the political system resulted partly from the large number of office-holders and their stratification in hierarchical ranking and partly from duplication of certain offices and the overlapping and interlocking of the two structures. In dealing with…