Ngalami
Ngalami or Ngalami Mmari, also known as Mangi Ngalami of Siha,, of the House of Mmari was one of many kings of the Chagga. He was the king of one of the Chagga states, namely; the Siha Kingdom in what is now modern Siha District of Tanzania's Kilimanjaro Region from the 1880s to 1900. Mangi means king in Kichagga. Ngalami ruled from the Siha seat of Komboko in the 1880s to 1900 when he was executed in Moshi by the Germans alongside 19 other Chagga, Meru and Arusha leaders. The execution of 19 noblemen and leaders on Friday 2nd of March 1900, included noblemen Thomas Kitimbo Kirenga, Sindato Kiutesha Kiwelu, King Meli of Moshi, King Lolbulu of Meru, King Rawaito of Arusha, King Marai of Arusha, and King Molelia of Kibosho.
Origins
According to oral history, The Mmari clan say that Lakanna Mmari, their earliest paternal ancestor in recollection, travelled down to Siha in the 18th century from the Ushira plateau on Mount Kilimanjaro. He was a farmer, a warrior, and a honey hunter. On his patch of land in Siha, he produced millet, beans, and bananas. As a warrior, his kin from the Mmari clan was tasked with leading cattle raids against their adversaries. The Nkini clan created the Siha people's sacred fire, the Kileos were furrow surveyors, the Masake were the first to plant the seeds in the long rains, and the Munoo were the first to plant the seeds during the short rains. Wasuru, the blacksmiths, were barred from marrying anyone from another clan and from having anything in common with anyone from another tribe.Saiye was the first Mmari king, and he lived in Siha's Komboko Village. The kingdom also goes by the current as of 1961's name Kibongoto, which the first European immigrants who arrived there mispronounced Komboko. Although Kibongoto is the name used now in administrative records and maps, Siha is still the only name ever used on the mountain.
Saiye was abducted as a little boy by the Arusha during one of their raids in Komboko. He was reared by them, who taught him military tactics and helped him become a good fighter. He persuaded the elders that he could teach the Siha how to repel the Arusha. He showed them how to construct defence trenches around the area to deflect any attackers.
The Arusha, as was customary during war, sent news that they were going to raid Siha. Saiye told the warriors to paint their shields and dress like Maasai, much like the Arusha. He urged them to let the Arusha advance all the way into the trenches and not to assault until he gave the signal by killing an Arusha himself. As a result, the Arusha were enticed inside the circular entrenchment that had been built around each settlement. They were perplexed when Siaye gave the order to attack because they couldn't distinguish who was who. In the trenches, they were pursued and slain. At the time, the spears in use in Siha were short, with the spearhead no wider than one hand's span.
He then led them on their first raid, as Sihans had never gone on a raid before, and they successfully raided the nearby Masama kingdom. Mang'aro, Mangi Ndesserua of Machame's brother, persuaded Saiye to usurp his brother and assume authority. Saiye provided him with a home in Mrau village. Saiye launched two eastward incursions. On the first, he crossed the Lawate River and proceeded as far as the Namwi River, returning with a large number of animals. He moved deeper on the second raid, accompanied by Mang'aro, crossing the enormous riverine of Kikafu River into the Machame kingdom. Ndesserua had told his soldiers to wait until Saiye and all the men were across before attacking. They were encircled, with no way out, and were all slaughtered save for a handful who managed to rush down to the plain, turn west, and climb the mountainside to Siha. This battle is named after Siaye, who was killed. Ngalami will be his successor.
Rise to power
Because only old men remained after Siaye's death, the kingdom was thrown into anarchy. Clan elders dominated parts of the country for a time before electing Mangi Ngalami of the Mmari clan. He was Saiye's cousin, the same age, and also lived in Komboko. At first, he dominated the entire country except for Samake village, which included Komboko, Mrau, Wanri, and Mae, as well as probably the two upper villages adjacent to Samake, namely Maene and Kichicha, the remaining region of Sumu being sparsely populated. Ngalami was to govern for a long period of time.By allowing for events in his reign that occurred prior to the arrival of the first German commanders, who arrived after the reported defeat of Kibosho by German troops in 1891, the beginning of his reign can be dated to some time during the 1880s. He ruled until he was hanged together with the other kings of Kilimanjaro and Meru by German authorities in 1900, giving him an unbroken reign of at least ten years. At times, his power was unquestioned.
More often than not, he ruled only a portion of Siha, albeit the largest portion, while in old Samake and, in one case, Wanri, a slew of unique characters rose and fell, each exerting for a little period of time the independent powers of mangi. The continuity of Ngalami's reign brings the time together. It is the second of three phases that have characterised the Siha's history since the mid-nineteenth century.
The people of Samake picked Lilio of the Orio clan to rule over them when Ngalami was first chosen. The first Arabs arrived in Siha while control was split between the two mangis. They came from the northwest, in the direction of Ngare Nairobi, and set up camp just west of the Sanya River in the plain, near the post office, in 1964. They had weapons, beads, cloth, iron wire, needles, and lead bracelets with them. The Siha people traded ivory and slaves with them. Further camps were established east of the Sanya in Komboko near the market centre in 1964, as well as higher up in the middle of old Samake.
Before the Arabs arrived, there had been a severe famine in Maasailand, causing Maasai women and children to flee to Siha. The Siha people sold them as slaves to the Arabs. Subsequently, the two mangis sold their own people to the Arabs, establishing their authority by trading individuals from opposing Siha villages for weaponry. The Arabs were accompanied by the first white man to visit Siha on their second visit. As the people of old Samake saw the foreigners approaching, they gathered up the boards they used to bridge the protective trench that surrounded Lilio's land.
The white man's askaris blew trumpets. The people were scared, so they changed the planks so that they could enter. The white man inquired about the mangi. Lilio had gone into hiding. In his place, his kinsman, the former mangi Kirema, appeared. The white man persisted, and Lilio ultimately emerged. Gifts were exchanged, but the white man did not reveal the reason for his visit.
After three days, his caravan descended and camped in Wanri, then descended and descended into Kibosho. At the time, the Siha had never heard of a white man on Kilimanjaro, which was an intriguing side note because they had close relationships with people on east Kilimanjaro in Usseri but not with their much closer neighbours, the Machame across the Kikafu River. Otherwise, they would have known of Johannes Rebmann's visit to Machame thirty years before, in 1848–49, and von der Decken's visit in 1861.
Lilio's reign came to an end with his murder. In Wanri, he assassinated a nobleman of the Mwandri Clan. To avenge his father's death, this man's son Nkunde took the high trail around the back of the mountain to seek help from his blood brother Kinabo in Mkuu in present-day Rombo. When he returned, he enlisted the assistance of Kyuu in Masama and murdered Lilio. Lilio belonged to the same clan as Kibosho's royal family, the Orio Clan. Mangi Sina, one of Kilimanjaro's titans, was there at the height of his extremely lengthy reign. People from Kibosho arrived on the day of Lilio's death, taking Lilio's son Maimbe back to Kibosho with his leading men.
Mangi Ngalami quickly seized the small chiefdom of Samake, while Nkunde established himself as mangi of Wanri. Other people moved down to Wanri to join Nkunde because he was a valiant warrior who was well-regarded. The 1890s began with the rule of these two Mangis, Nkunde governing Wanri and Ngalami ruling the rest of Siha from Komboko. The dating is known since the first Germans arrived during the rule of these two mangis, after they beat mangi Sina of Kibosho in the recorded fight in 1891.
German arrival in Siha
The Germans arrived in Siha sometime around 1891. They were headed by Funde, a Swahili man who had previously visited Siha with the Arabs. The Germans were well received by the two mangis, both when their authority was limited and later when it was established; for those who had gone to Kibosho with Lilio's son Maimbe took part in the battle when Kibosho was conquered by the Germans and on their return told the Siha people to take warning and give no resistance when the Germans finally came.Meanwhile, despite German domination, Mangi Sina of Kibosho tried to avenge the murder of his kinsman, Lilio. Receiving poison from Funde, a German intelligence agent ordered to keep him under watch. He gave it to Mangi Shangali of Machame with the request that mangi Nkunde of Wanri be dispatched. Shangali delegated the poisoning to Mantiri of Nguni. Nkunde became unwell. Sina requested that Shangali deliver Nkunde to him in Kibosho. On the way, Nkunde stopped in Machame and asked Shangali to look after his son Mwandi Simeon. He continued on under escort, but was beheaded before reaching Kibosho.
Simeon and his mother stayed with Shangali in Machame until Simeon reached the age of marriage and married the daughter of the leader of the Shangali clan's rival branch, Ngamini, before returning to Siha. Ngalami filled the void left by Nkunde's death. He was the absolute ruler of Siha. Meanwhile, Mangi dispatched Lilio's son Maimbe back, who took control of old Samake. After a short time, Maimbe set out to seek assistance from Mangi Kinabo in Mkuu to maintain his authority, but he was reputedly killed by a lion when he arrived in Kamanga. He died around the end of the 1890s.
Sinare's arrival would signal the greatest political power Siha had ever known, as he would become mangi not only of old Samake but of all of Siha within a year. This was going to be a busy year for him in the last year of the nineteenth century. There was no time to install him as mangi of Samake before he was summoned by the German authority to fight the Arusha in Arusha, as were all the other mangis of Kilimanjaro; upon his return, he was installed in Samake, and immediately afterwards mangi Ngalami was hanged by the Germans, and Sinare stepped into his shoes.