The Court’s Growing Alliance with the Germans
The visit of the Duke of Mecklenburg symbolized rising German interest in Rwanda and marked a turning point in relations between the Court and the Germans. Since the establishment of the protectorate, the German presence had been limited in extent…
The Court, the Germans, and the Missionaries
Faced with further trouble with the Fathers in the next months, Musinga again made use of Kandt and von Grawert. When the Fathers wanted to cut timber in the forest of Budaha, north of Nyantango, Musinga replied that this was…
Musinga and the White Fathers
This attempt at better relations foundered on the excessive demands and tactless behavior of the Fathers. Musinga feared the power they came to exercise through the massive wood-transporting operation, andhe resented their abuse of his notables who did not comply…
Musinga and His Mother
Although the shadow of Rwabugiri must have loomed over Musinga's early years, his development was far more closely guided by Kanjogera. She had had only one other child, a son who had died in infancy. If the relationship between them…
Musinga’s Coming of Age 1905-1913
Ahaje ubwanwa haba hanze ubwana. When Kabare won supreme influence at Court in late 1904, Musinga was a young man of twenty or twenty-one. He had already taken several wives and fathered two or three children. According to Rwandan practice,…
The Dilemma of Proselytization
During their first years in Rwanda, the Fathers asked a different kind of service from the people in their vicinity, one that previous authorities had never demanded. Anxious to win converts, the missionaries and their catechists visited the neighboring bills…
The Extension of Royal Power to the North
During the months when the Court was beginning its attacks on clients of the Europeans in central Rwanda, Fathers at the northern mission of Rwaza had been experiencing growing difficulties with their "Bakiga" neighbors (The people of these regions did…
The Catholic Church,the German Administration,and the Court Of Nyanza
Although the attention of the Court was focused mostly on its internal struggles, Kanjogera and her brothers carefully watched the installation of European soldiers in the southwestern corner of Rwanda. Since the border between the Congo Free State and German…
The Fall Of The Reign Of Rutarindwa
As Rwabugiri grew older, he became concerned with providing for an orderly succession that would guarantee the gains in power and territory he had made. Hoping to break the pattern of children being installed as bami, he ordered that his…
The Troubled Accession of Musinga
Near the end of February 1897, Musinga and Kanjogera were officially enthroned, the son taking the reign name of Yuhi V, the mother, Nyirayuhi. Those biru who had opposed the illegitimate transfer of power had already been eliminated by Kanjogera,…