Baganda
The Baganda Baganda; singular , are a Bantu ethnic group that share a common culture, history and language and clans, and are primarily native to Buganda, a subnational kingdom within Uganda. Traditionally composed of 52 clans, the Baganda are the largest people of the Bantu ethnic group in Uganda, comprising 15.3 percent of the population at the time of the 2024 census.
A single individual is called a Muganda whereas several people are called Baganda. The word Abaganda refers to "The Baganda People" and Omuganda refers to "The Muganda person".
Sometimes described as "The King's Men" because of the importance of the king, or Kabaka, in their society, the Baganda number an estimated 16.3 million people in Uganda. In addition, there is a significant diaspora abroad, with organised communities in Canada, South Africa, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Traditionally, they speak Luganda but each Muganda must belong to a clan.
Etymology
The term Ganda means brotherhood and unity and comes from the noun "obuganda", which means bundles of stalks piled, wrapped, or tied together. it ultimately comes from the Proto Bantu word, "-ganda".Clan structure
The Baganda are organized in clans ; ekika ). The clan is a unit of social organization and in the past, was also a unit of political organization. Every Muganda must belong to a clan. This is usually his or her father's clan and so a "naturalized" Muganda person must pick a clan to belong to and therefore a surname or last name belonging to that clan. Each clan will have a list of at least 20 boys' surnames and 20 girls' surnames for one to pick from. Therefore, one's surname will give a clue to which clan they belong as well as their biological gender. The exceptions to this are a woman's married name as well as unique names given to twins and their immediate siblings or Royals, and gods' names.All members of a clan are believed to have a common ancestor. This means that they are siblings and so it's taboo for them to marry each other. This was held up in a court of law in the case of Bruno L. Kiwawu v. Ivan Serunkuma and Juliet Namazzi in May 2007. A few exceptions exist, especially among the members of the large Mmamba clan. On occasion, these have been known to intermarry.
Another taboo is that the members of a clan cannot eat or harm their totem animal, plant or thing. So a member of the Mmamba clan is forbidden from consuming a lungfish. However, members of other clans do eat lungfish.
The Baganda are organized around roughly 50 clans with the Kabaka being the head of the clan heads. Each clan has a hierarchical structure. The top of this clan hierarchy is called Akasolya.
So the Baganda are organized around the roughly 50 roofs ; akasolya ). The person who heads the clan is called Ow'akasolya. Below each roof are several units called amasiga, headed by Ow'essiga. Essiga is singular form of Amasiga. Under each ssiga are several units called ennyiriri, headed by Ow'olunyiriri. Below the lunyiriri are several units called emituba, headed by Ow'omutuba. Omutuba is singular form of Emituba. Below each mutuba are several units called enzigya, headed by Ow'oluggya. Oluggya is singular form of Enzigya. The Luggya is the level of the paternal grandfather. Below the luggya are several units called ennyumba, headed by Ow'ennyumba. The House is essentially the nuclear family and is headed by a father or, if he is dead, by his male heir. The heir is a cultural head not economic head and so for instance, in a household headed by a single mother or a widow, the family property is not owned by the cultural heir. Among the Baganda, an heiress is a biological female who inherits the cultural position of a deceased woman. In ancient times, this heiress, if she were single, could become the widower's wife as it was assumed that she would love her deceased sister's children as if they were her own.
Culture and society
The adjective Kiganda is usually used in reference to the Baganda culture.Names
The surnames of the Baganda are unique and with a few exceptions depend on one's clan.Okwalula abaana (naming and confirming children in a clan)
In the old days, the Baganda held a ceremony called okwalula abaana at which a child was named and confirmed as a member of the clan. A piece of the child's umbilical cord was used to confirm belonged to the father or was a result of adultery. Modern ways of doing paternity tests have rendered the old ways obsolete although some parents still keep pieces of the child's umbilical cord. However, taking DNA paternity tests without cause has also become very controversial.Naming of twins
The names and titles of people related to twins are unique.The father of twins is called ssaalongo; a mother of twins is nnaalongo.
The surname of the older twin is Wasswa if the twin is a boy and Babirye if the older twin is a girl.
The surname of the younger twin is Nnakato for a girl and Kato for a boy.
Kigongo is the surname given to the boy who was born before the twins and Kizza the surname of the child born right after the twins. Ssaabalongo is another title given to the Kabaka.
The naming and confirmation of twins is more elaborate and involves a lot of drinking, eating, using obscene words, some promiscuity and dancing. This ceremony is called okuzina abalongo. Some of the people who attend these ceremonies may have to go through a cleansing ceremony called okukansira especially if they ended up committing adultery. These customs and rites are not very common these days because Baganda parents who belong to the Abrahamic religions generally consider them evil as they generally involve invoking the old Baganda gods.
Surnames inspired by Kiganda mythology
Some surnames given to boys and girls were inspired by mythology or by traditional gods or events.Selected boys' names:
- Ddungu
- Kibuuka
- Mukasa
- Musisi
- Musoke
- Wamala
- Nnagaddya
- Nnagajja
- Nnakayaga
- Nnakimu
- Nnamirembe
- Nnamukasa
- Nnamusoke
- Nnamusisi
Ekitiibwa
Grudges were rarely forgotten, a Ganda proverb says "He who makes you shed tears, you make him shed blood."
The Kabaka was Fount of honour. The Kabaka was able to bestow administrative and military positions to individuals based on his discretion. He conferred them in return for loyalty and service so that Buganda's politics centred on competition for office and its associated ekitiibwa, a competition open in principle to any man of talent and courage.
Women
In Kiganda society, women married at a later age than most other African societies, rarely marrying before the age of 20. Both bridewealth and virginity were necessary to a fully honourable marriage. A married woman's status depended on her ancestry and the rank of her husband. Women gained respect by their control of the household economy and by their fertility; loss of a baby was a woman's most common reason for suicide.Appearance
John Roscoe noted that the Baganda varied in their heights, with some being just a little over 5 feet tall and others being over six feet tall. The anthropologist Lucy Mair further describes the appearance of the Baganda:Men rarely kept facial hair–they plucked it out or shaved it off. Women were careful to keep their armpit hair shaved, unless their husbands were at war or on a journey,.
John Roscoe noted that "The Baganda are the only Bantu tribe in Eastern Equatorial Africa who do not mutilate their persons; they neither extract their teeth nor pierce their ear lobes, nor practise the rite of circumcision; in fact, they are most careful to avoid scarifications of any kind."
The Baganda did indeed abhor and forbade any mutilation of the body, and regarded circumcision as a violation of their traditional customs.
When Speke prepared for his first audience with King Mutesa of Baganda, he put on his finest clothes, but admitted that he "cut a poor figure in comparison with the dressy Baganda wore neat bark cloaks resembling the best yellow corduroy cloth, crimp and well set, as if stiffened with starch". The Baganda were careful about the covering of the body, people covered their body head to toe and nudity was seen as disgusting and shameful. Bark cloth was the most common form of attire used throughout Buganda. It was made from at least 20 tree species, with the best quality cloth being from the Mutuba tree, which was extensively cultivated in Buganda and considered the most valuable tree after the Matoke. Different species of trees yielded different colors and textures, from yellow to sandy brown to dark red-brown. The finest quality was the rusty brown cloth. A specific species of tree that yielded a white cloth was reserved for the Kabaka. Barkcloth also had other uses such as bedding and wrapping of goods
Clothing
The traditional dress of the Baganda women is the Gomesi and the Kanzu for the Baganda men.The traditional fabric used by the Baganda is barkcloth, which is made from the bark of the Mutuba tree.