Central Region continues…….
Kasubi Tombs, world cultural Heritage historical site.
The Kasubi Tombs site is an outstanding example of traditional Ganda architecture, and an exceptional testimony of the living Ganda traditions. For Uganda, and the East African region as a whole, the site represents an important symbol for the country’s history and culture. The site was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2001.
The first Kabaka to be buried at Kasubi was Muteesa I, the 35th King of Buganda. The dates of the reigns of the Kabakas are only precisely known from Ssekabaka Suuna II, who ruled from 1836 to 1856.
The Baganda belong to the Bantu speaking people and date their political civilization back to the 13th century AD. According to oral traditions, the first Kabaka of Buganda was Kintu. He is said to have come with his wife Nambi, whose hand he won by performing heroic deeds at the command of her father Ggulu, the god of the sky. Kabaka Kintu is said not to have died but to have disappeared into a forest at Magonga. At Kasubi and in all other royal tombs, there is an area behind a bark cloth (lubugo) curtain known as Kibira or forest where certain secret ceremonies are performed. At the Kasubi Tombs the Kibira is the area where the real tombs of the Kabakas are, while in front of the curtain there are raised platforms corresponding to the position of each Kabaka’s tomb behind the curtain.
Muteesa I receives the British explorers John Hannington Speke (1827 – 1864) and James Grant (1827-1892)
The first Kabaka to be buried at Kasubi was Muteesa I, who was the 35th King. The dates of the reigns of the Kabakas are only precisely known from Kabaka Suuna II, who ruled from 1836 to 1856.
Historically, Baganda Kabakas have always built their palaces on strategic hills to control the major roads to the palace, and find easy ways to escape in case of an invasion or a rebellion. When they died, the traditional practice was to bury each Kabaka at a separate site and to establish a royal shrine to house his jawbone which was believed to contain his spirit at another site. These shrines were started by descendants of the Kabaka’s leading chiefs, his wives, his ritual half-sister, and by a spirit medium through which the dead Kabaka communicated with his successors. Many of these shrines are still maintained today.
The Four Buganda Kabakas buried at Kasubi Tombs
Muteesa I 1835-1884
Muteesa I was born around 1835 and was crowned in 1856. He established his palace at Kasubi in 1882, as did his father, Kabaka Suuna II. He was so afraid of a rebellion that he imprisoned all his brothers in a great trench, where many died. Muteesa became a very powerful Kabaka, and had more wives than any of his predecessors. He was also the first Kabaka to be influenced by foreign cultures. He adopted some Islamic religious practices, learned from ivory and slave traders who traveled inland from Zanzibar. He also showed interest in Europe after hosting John Hannington Speke, who was the first European visitor to Buganda in 1862. When the explorer Henry Stanley visited him in 1875, he requested teachers of European learning and religion. At this time, European countries, particularly England and Germany, were seeking the territories at the source of the Nile. Although Muteesa allowed his Muslim and Christian guests to compete with each other for converts among his royal staff , he never let them threaten his authority. He died in 1884 and his body was buried, whole, at his palace in Kasubi. He had decreed that his jawbone should not be removed from his body. He thus broke two traditions; first, being buried whole, and second, being buried at his former palace in Kasubi.
Mwanga II 1867-1903
Mwanga II succeeded his father in 1884, and was the last monarch of an independent Buganda. In 1886, many of Muteesa’s subjects who had converted to Christianity or Islam were burned to death. Mwanga’s leading Christian and Muslim chiefs became worried and combined their forces to overthrow him. Mwanga II joined the resistance against the British colonial forces in 1897. He joined forces with Kabalega, the king of Bunyoro-Kitara kingdom, but they were defeated and captured on 9th April 1899. Both kings were exiled in the Seychelles Islands. Mwanga II, who had, by then, been christened Daniel, died there in 1903. His remains were brought back in 1910 and buried at Kasubi tombs. This again broke the old tradition of burying Kabakas at different sites, thus making Kasubi an important burial site for the Kabakas of Buganda.
Daudi Chwa II 1896-1939
Mwanga II was succeeded by his son, Daudi Chwa II in 1897 at the age of one. He ruled with the help of a regency of 1 Catholic and 2 Protestant chiefs until the age of 18. Daudi Chwa II died in 1939. He too was buried at Kasubi tombs, like his two predecessors. This strengthened further the cultural value of the site.
Muteesa II 1924-1969
Daudi Chwa II was succeeded by his son Edward Muteesa II in 1939. In 1953, a conflict developed between Muteesa II and the then Governor of the Uganda Protectorate, Sir Andrew Cohen, over changes in the Buganda Agreement of 1900. Muteesa II was exiled in England until 1955. When Uganda attained independence from the British on 9th October 1962, Muteesa II became the constitutional President of Uganda. However, tensions soon developed between him and the then Prime Minister Apollo Milton Obote which culminated in the storming of the Kabaka’s palace in May 1966.
In 1967, Dr.Milton Obote abrogated the 1962 Federal Constitution and introduced a Republican Constitution with himself as President. This change abolished the kingdoms of Uganda. The Ugandan government repressed the tribal Kingdoms, which were perceived as a threat to the national interest. The palace of Kabaka Mutesa II was attacked by government troops led by Idi Amin, and the Kabaka forced into exile. This presaged 20 years of repression of the Kingdom that was brought to an end by President Museveni. Mutesa II died in London in 1969, but his son Ssabasajja Kabaka Ronald Muwenda Kimera Mutebi II returned from exile and was crowned in 1993. This coronation has helped catalyse a cultural renaissance amongst the Baganda, many of whom had little awareness of Ganda traditions.
Hence with four succeeding Kabakas of Buganda being buried in the same tomb, the Kasubi tombs site has become an important shrine. Each prince and princess who is a descendant of the four Kabakas is also buried at Kasubi tombs behind the main shrine. Consequently, the site has also become culturally important as the cemetery of the royalty of the Buganda kingdom.
know Uganda Guide blog 