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historical interpretation of oral
traditions, but more recent
archeological surveys have stuck to
evaluating the evidence as it stands.
Oral traditions in Africa often
attempt to explain origins and
account for earthworks and other
such sites.
Bantu-speaking people with
pronounced ideas of social and
political organization, known as the
Cwezi, came into south-west
Uganda in around 500 BC, where
they lived by agriculture,
metalworking, and pottery. By the
14th century, complex and advanced
states had developed between Lake
Victoria and Lake Edward, the
ancient Kitara empire extending
over modern Uganda and northern
Tanzania, but was weakened when it
was invaded by the Nilotic Luo
people from Sudan. Successor states
included the kingdoms of Bachwezi,
Bunyoro, Ankole, and Buganda, all
of which were in Uganda.
Bunyoro was the largest state in
the area in the 16th–17th centuries,
ruled by a kabaka (king) and
extending from Rwanda to Tanzania.
Unlike the West African states,
Bunyoro was a cattle-based society,
A Concise History of Africa
49
OPPOSITE:
The Cwezi people lived
near Lake Victoria.
BELOW:
The Kitara empire reached as
far north as Tanzania. This is Mount
Kilimanjaro.