|
Tribe Snapshots Karagwe |
| Location: |
Northwestern Tanzania
between Rwanda and Lake Victoria |
| Population: |
40,000 |
| Language: |
Kikaragwe, Kiswahili |
| Neighboring
Peoples: |
Buganda, Nkore, Bunyoro, Rwanda |
| Types
of Art: |
The most famous works of art from the Karagwe
kingdom are iron objects. Some are utilitarian,
while others are thought to be symbolic "cows"
and hammers, which were used symbolically to link
the king with iron production. |
| History: |
The Karagwe kingdom reached its apex during
the 19th century. Archaeological evidence suggests
that growth occurred during the early part of
the 1800s. King Ndagara came to power around 1820
and ruled until 1853, at which time he was replaced
by Rumanyika. The area has strong linguistic and
historical ties to the Bugandan states to the
north and to central African symbolic forms. |
| Economy: |
During the height of the Karagwe kingdom agriculture
played an important role in local economics. Many
Karagwe were cattle herders, and so cows were
a measure of wealth and power. Iron production
also played a key part in the economic balances
within the kingdom. The location of Karagwe land
in what is today northwestern Tanzania allowed
them to participate in regional trade routes that
connected the Ugandan states to the coast and
the rest of eastern Africa. |
| Political
Systems: |
Maintaining a power balance between agriculturalists,
herders, and iron smelters was necessary if the
king hoped to maintain stability within the kingdom.
Although Karagwe are exonomous, marrying people
outside their immediate clan, they are patrilineal
and maintained divisions of labor based on clan
membership. Individual villages usually centered
around an extended family and were controlled
by royally appointed governors, some of whom were
women. Women were associated with fertility and
seen as a threat to the success of iron smelting.
Their appointment as governors by the king may
indicate an attempt by him to assert power over
iron producing centers. |
| Religion: |
Karagwe religious ideas are closely tied to
the king. Karagwe cosmology recognizes a diadic
view of the world, most significantly represented
by a division of male and female gender roles.
Women are associated with fertility and fecundity.
The cow, not the bull, was celebrated for its
ability to produce offspring and milk. Common
among many iron smelting societies throughout
Africa is the conception of iron smelting as a
procreative act between "female" furnaces and
"male" bellows and smelters. The King of Karagwe
is symbolically connected to iron work, and the
most famous Karagwe king, Ndagara, is believed
to be responsible for the secret production of
many of the iron objects, which survive in contemporary
art collections. The king, like the smelter, is
responsible for maintaining a productive and fertile
kingdom. The process of enthronement was accompanied
by the beating of Nyambatama drums, mimicking
the sound of a hammer striking an iron worker's
anvil. |
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