The Basimba[1] (alternatively BaShimba[2], Musimba[3] or MuShimba) are a Bantu-speaking community in Uganda. The name Basimba (Swahili for big lion[4]) is a label of shared identity that predates the 13th century. Basimba has been alternatively associated with the people or their place of origin. The early Ovambo people[5] applied the name to the whole group of the leopard totem clan people, known as Bena Ngo in Zambia[6]and Abe Ngo in Uganda.[7]

Relations to Buganda

Before the creation of the Kingdom of Buganda, the area was initially known as Muwaawa. With the support of 13 clans[8][9] (including the Basimba/Leopard (Ngo) clan[10][11][12]), Kato Kintu[13][14] established the Kingdom of Buganda in the 14th century. It became the nation's first kabaka, the official title of the king of Buganda. The Leopard (Ngo) clan has historically experienced high levels of persecution due to their notable role in the cult of Kintu. Under the rule of King Kateregga of Buganda,[15] 400 members of the clan were executed c.1674-1680 in the current Butambala District, prompting survivors to conceal their cultural identity. Similar clan-based violence has been recorded during the rule of Kabaka Jjunju of Buganda as well.[16]

The Basimba are considered a ruling clan alongside other royal clans[17] that migrated from the Kingdom of Luba to the Luapula Valley in Northern Rhodesia.

Multiple kingship groups are recognized within the Basimba including the Leopard (Ngo) clan.[18] The Basimba kingship group was often persecuted due to its royal links.[19]Among the many Leopard clan branches, one was eligible for the throne. Reigning kings of Buganda would capture this group and execute most of its men to reduce the risk of being overthrown.

After the death of Kabaka Nakibinge of Buganda,[20] his wife Nannono of the Leopard (Ngo) clan presided as Kabaka for eighteen months between 1554 and 1556 AD. After this event, the name Nabulya was introduced into the Leopard (Ngo) clan in order to remind other clans in Buganda that a woman from the Leopard totem clan once had power in Buganda Kingdom. "Nabuyla" literally means ‘I ate it’, insinuating that the clan once took royal power.

Migration

Although there are few historical records regarding the Basimba (Big Lion) people, they should be discussed due to their close historical connection with the BaShimba,[21] who all belong to the Leopard (Ngo) clan. Most Basimba people claim their origin lies in the Congo, among the Luba people of the Kingdom of Luba. Little is actually known about these immigrants, but traces of their history are found in the legend of the Tabwa[22] ancestor.

Kyomba, a legendary ancestor of the Tabwa, lived on the eastern shores of Lake Tanganyika. Faced with Hamitic pressures in the north and other people from the south, Kyomba and his companions crossed Lake Tanganyika, migrating to the western shores of the lake after a conspiracy mounted and hatched against him reached the shores of Lake Kivu. Then they crossed the Ruzizi and arrived in Maniema on the banks of river Lualaba in the second half of the 16th century. Fanger, son of Kyomba, and his companions continued their migration up the river while others went elsewhere. The name Tumanya means “those that have followed the route by water’’ and Bena Kilunga means “those who followed the path on land in their migration”. The Bena Kilunga group migrated to the eastern banks of the Lualaba River and Lukunga River, together with Buanza, Mumba and the Basimba people.[23][24]

The Tumanya group migrated to Ankori, or the Nkole people,[25] and eastwards following the Luvua (Lualaba) while their companions followed the Lualaba River to back the lagoons in Upemba Depression. It was around the 17th century when the gradual arrival of people in the mountains from the plains of Lualaba Kamalondo and named the "Kundelungu" Mountains.[26][27] Finally, Tanga and his father Kyomba migrated further across the Luapula at the current location of the position of Kasenga and settled in southern Tanganyika where they were joined by members of Zimba Clan,[28][29] avoiding quarrels will Movwe who migrated to the Marungu highlands.

The Basimba or BaShimba immigrants seem to have come in ethnic groups under the leadership of Mambwe, Mauwe,[30] Katunku, Ngulya, Mwati, Kaabya, Ntembe, Namuyonjo, Kabolesa, Kitembwa and Kooli among others. When these people reached Luapula Valley in the current Luapula Province in Zambia, Mwanza Region, Northern Tanzania and at Butambala in Uganda, they decided to settle, and the leader became the family or the Clan head. As the Basimba or BaShimba settlement grew the original leader, after several generations, became a mythical figure to his descendants.

Basimba or BaShimba people are recognized to be indigenous peoples,[31][32] because they were the first comers among the immigrants in Zambia or Northern Rhodesia by then and in Tanzania,[33] According to local tradition the original inhabitants were a Clan called the Basimba who lived in the area of Busere on Ukara Island, in the southeast corner of Lake Victoria, but it is not known what language they spoke and there are none of their descendants surviving. Tradition makes no mention of fighting between the Basimba immigrants and the people whom they found in Uhaya in Tanzania and at Butambala in Uganda. The Bashimba of the (Leopard clan) successfully resisted Nkuba[34] in Northern Rhodesia (Zambia).

Original homeland

The original homeland of the Basimba[35] or BaShimba[36] people or their ancestry is shrouded in myths and legends. They seem to have lost contact with their original ancestors in Congo among the Luba people, leading a cluster of Basimba (Big Lion) people to migrate north from Mweru – Luapula to Mwanza Region eventually erecting human settlements among the Haya people in Tanzania, then at:

Culture

The Basimba practice rituals and ceremonies of the Chishimba spirit similar to the[39][40] Loa or kongo loa culture practiced by the Basimba people of Haiti who were sold into slavery in Haiti from Congo.

The Basimba (Big Lion) people in Uganda maintain the Basimba Spiritual stone, which represents the Chishimba spirit and is related to the institution of kingship. Its absence constitutes the absence of political power. According to traditional African religions, the Chishimba spirit is synonymous with kingship and similar to the Kintu cult practiced by the leopard (Ngo) Clan people in Buganda. The Chishimba is kept in a specially prepared basket called ichipe ca calo—the basket of the nation or land. It is wrapped with bark cloth and kept in a specifically prepared shrine (ing'anda yaba Ba Chishimba or esawo lye ejjembe lya Basimba) dedicated to the spirit.[41][42][43][44]

Basimba people worked with the Bunyoro-Kitara kingdom's priest in charge of the sacred pool of Muntebere. Each year the Bunyoro king sent a young slave woman, two cows, and a white sheep to the priest. The slave woman was given as a wife to one of the Abasimba clan who was a servant of the priest.

Traditional Beliefs

According to the Basimba tradition, an afterlife does take place in another world in another form of existence. The Basimba attitude towards dead ancestors is very similar to their attitude towards living parents and grandparents. A ritual to contact dead ancestors is practiced by the Basimba people.[45] It is similar to Haitian Vodou art, related to Loa a Haitian Vodou[46][47][48][49][50] religion practiced by the Basimba people of Haiti, an island that was proclaimed by Napoleon as an independent republic in 1804 and often lasts all night.

The abasimba dance

The Abasimba dance of the Basimba people is a hunting dance performed by the Wajita or Jita people of Ukerewe Island.[51][52] Their clan names of Uganda, Tanzania, and Zambia are named after their lineal ancestors.

Beliefs

Today, between 40% and 50% of the Basimba people are Christians[53]and 50% are Muslim.[54] Besides that, traditional beliefs are very widespread among them. The most important features are ancestor-worship (the term is called inappropriate by some authors) and totemism.

The Basimba of Kisangani who martyred Dr. Paul Carison of the Christ Church during the Congo Crisis of 1964 to 1965 participated in the Simba Rebellion that was later defeated.[55]

Totems

Basimba totems (Muziro) have been in use among the Basimba people since the initial development of their culture. Totems identify the different clans among the Basimba people that historically made up the dynasties of their ancient civilization. There are seven different totems that have been identified among the Basimba (Big Lion) people in Zimbabwe, Congo, Zambia and Uganda, such as the Basimba among the Haya Tribe in Tanzania.[56] People of the same Clan use a common set of totems usually animals or birds.[57][58][59][60]

Examples of animal totems include Ngo/mbwili (Leopard),[61] Leopard Cat, Genet Cat which in the Lega language is known as Musimba[62][63] and also known as Kasimba in the Luganda language and known as Zimba in the Luba language and Nshimba in the Bemba language, Lion (Mpologoma), Mbwa (Dog), Kikere (Frog) and Nkoko (Rooster). People of the same totem are the descendants of one common ancestor (the founder of that totem) and thus are not allowed to marry or have an intimate relationship. The totems cross regional groupings and therefore provide a wall for the development of ethnic groups among the Basimba.

Basimba chiefs are required to be able to recite the history of their totem group right from the initial founder before they can be sworn in as chiefs.

Orphans

The totem system is a severe problem for many orphans, especially for Basimba or BaShimba women[64] married to members of other clans. The Basimba people are afraid of being punished by ghosts if they violate rules connected with the unknown totem of a foundling. Therefore, it is very difficult to find adoptive parents for such children. If the foundlings grow up, they have problems getting married, and on their death are not buried in the Basimba ancestral grounds.

Burials

The identification by totem has very important ramifications in traditional ceremonies such as the Basimba burial ceremony. A person with a different totem cannot initiate the burial of the deceased. Only a person of the same totem, even when coming from a different tribe, can initiate the burial of the deceased. For example, a Muganda of the Ngo (Leopard) totem can initiate burial of a Musimba of the Leopard totem and that is perfectly acceptable in Basimba tradition. But a Musimba of a different totem cannot perform the ritual functions required to initiate the burial of the deceased.

If a person initiates the burial of a person of a different totem, he runs the risk of being asked to pay a fine to the family of the deceased. Such fines traditionally were paid with cattle or goats but nowadays substantial amounts of money can be asked for. If they bury their dead family members, they would come back at some point to cleanse the stone of the burial.

Basimba clan groups

The Basimba people consider themselves subjects of the Chishimba, the Basimba's single paramount Chief. They live in villages of 50 to 100 people and numbered 100,000 in 2016. There are seven Basimba (Big Lion) people. Clan groups named after animals:[65][66][67]

  1. The Leopard, (Ngo) clan
  2. The Leopard Cat clan
  3. The Genet Cat (Kasimba) clan
  4. The Lion, (Mpologoma) clan
  5. The Frog clan
  6. The Dog clan
  7. The Rooster clan

Some of the Basimba people migrated northwards from Luapula valley after the disintegration of the Shila states and others remained in Northern Rhodesia currently known as BaShimba or abeena Ngo (Leopard) totem clan. The BaShimba Leopard totem clan is a ruling clan among the Lungu and Bemba.

Modern-day Locations

The Basimba[68] people exist in Zambia, formerly known as Northern Rhodesia, Zimbabwe, Uganda, Haiti, DR Congo and Tanzania. The word "Basimba" or "BaShimba" actually has several meanings. It may designate people of Basimba people origin regardless of where they live e.g. whether they live in urban areas or in the original rural Basimba areas of Mpogo, Sironko, Lupada, Naboa in Budaka District or Butambala District, Mooni, Mbale District[69] in Uganda, Luapula Valley in Zambia or Northern Rhodesia and Kagera Region among the Haya tribe in Bugorora Ward or County of Missenyi District in Tanzania. The original language of the Basimba people is unknown.

The BaShimba people living in Zambia's Northern province, among the Lungu and Bemba tribes speak the language which is most closely related to the Bantu languages the Lungu and ChiBemba (in Zambia and the DRC), Haya (in Tanzania) and Luganda of the Baganda and Lugwere of the Gwere people (in Uganda). In Uganda, Luganda is mainly spoken in the central and eastern parts of Uganda, and has become the most widely spoken language in the Country, although not always as a first language.

Genealogy

The history or genealogy of the Basimba (Big Lion) people has given rise to numerous debates among historians to whether the Basimba people of the Leopard (Ngo) Clan in Uganda come with Kabaka, Kato Kintu[70][71] in the 14th century or migrated either direct from Congo or Luapula valley to Uganda.[72][73][74]

Some historians, anthropologists, and sociologists including David William Cohen, Ian George Cunnison, Hans Cory, Mwelwa Chambika Musambachine, Gideon Were, Stephen Kyeyune, Tausir Niane, Mary Douglas, M. Hartnoll, Dr. Schinz and Fisher A. B among others have written books about Basimba people but have not stated the names of the Basimba ancestors who left the Luba people in Congo and migrated to places like Zambia, Zimbabwe, Tanzania and Uganda. Some historians who have written history of Africa books use imprecise narrative documents to make estimates which must be treated with caution. Societies such as the Anthropological Society of London and Ethnological Society of London have also not yet published a physical or cultural aspects of the Basimba people or due to the pronunciation of the name Basimba as Vazimba who migrated from East Africa and settled in Madagascar.[75] The Vazimba are kinsmen of the Ba-Simba.[76][77][78]

References

  1. ↑ Harmsworth History of the World: Man and the universe. Japan. Siberia. China, Carmelite House, 1907, pp. 322, 325
  2. ↑ The Luapula Peoples of Northern Rhodesia:Customs and History in Tribal Politics, Manchester University Press, 1959, pp. 63–64
  3. ↑ A Gazetteer of Ethnology, Maruzen-Kabushiki-Kaisha, 1908, pp. 55, 56
  4. ↑ Proceedings-Indian History Congress, Indian History Congress, 1970, p. 58
  5. ↑ Journal of African zoology, Volume 92, M.P. Basilewsky, 1978, p. 646
  6. ↑ The Peoples of Zambia, Heinemann Educational, 1978, pp. 68, 86, ISBN 9780435940058
  7. ↑ Conflict in Africa: Concepts and Realities, Princeton University Press, 2015, p. 173
  8. ↑ Expanding frontiers of African history: the inter-disciplinary ..., University of Calabar Press, 1988, p. 153, ISBN 9789780070007
  9. ↑ The Bitter Bread of Exile: The Financial Problems of Sir Edward Mutesa II, Progressive Publishing House, 2013, p. 6
  10. ↑ Beyond the Royal Gaze: Clanship and Public Healing in Buganda, University of Virginia Press, 2010, pp. 36, 37, 38, 39
  11. ↑ Africa from the Twelfth to the Sixteenth Century, James Currey, 1959, p. 208
  12. ↑ Kingship and State: The Buganda Dynasty, Cambridge University Press, 2002, pp. 102, 117, 118, 173, 187, 211, 213
  13. ↑ Chronology, migration, and drought in interlacustrine Africa, Africana Pub. Co, 1978, p. 150, ISBN 9780841903777
  14. ↑ Myth, Ritual, and Kingship in Buganda, Oxford University Press, 1991, p. 95, ISBN 9780195064360
  15. ↑ The Kings of Buganda, East African Publishing House, 1971, p. 42, ISBN 9780800216337
  16. ↑ "Jjunju of Buganda", Wikipedia, 2023-04-09, retrieved 2023-09-29
  17. ↑ Changing Roles: The History of the Development and Disintegration of Nkuba's Shila State to 1740, University of Wisconsin, 1976, pp. 27, 28
  18. ↑ Twenty Five Years in East Africa, Cambridge University Press, 1921, p. 167
  19. ↑ Chronology, migration, and drought in interlacustrine Africa, Africana Pub. Co, 1979, p. 150
  20. ↑ "Ssekabaka Nakibinge Is Buried At Kongojje, Busiro". Buganda.com. Archived from the original on 15 June 2013. Retrieved 4 October 2014.
  21. ↑ Mutomboko Ceremony and the Lunda-Kazembe Dynasty, Kenneth Kaunda Foundation, 1989, pp. 89, 95, 103, ISBN 9789982010979
  22. ↑ Zambia Museums Journal - Volume 8, National Museums of Zambia, 2003, p. 1
  23. ↑ A history of the Bemba: political growth and change in north-eastern Zambia before 1900, University of Wisconsin Press, 1973, pp. 152, 401, 410, ISBN 9780299064501
  24. ↑ Tabwa: The Rising of a New Moon, a Century of Tabwa Art, University of Michigan Museum of Art, 1985, p. 88
  25. ↑ African Concord, Issues 72-96, Concord Press of Nigeria, 1986, p. 20
  26. ↑ The Meteorology and Climate of Tropical Africa, Springer, 2008, p. 402
  27. ↑ Gift: Economy, Society, and Environment in Central Africa, University of Wisconsin Press, 2006, p. 12, ISBN 9780299213602
  28. ↑ Tabwa: The Rising of a New Moon, a Century of Tabwa Art, University of Michigan Museum of Art, 1985, p. 9
  29. ↑ Memory: Luba art and the making of history, Museum for African Art, 1996, p. 230
  30. ↑ Customary Law of the Haya Tribe, Tanganyika Territory, Negro University Press, 1945, pp. 307, 348, 349, 350
  31. ↑ Ethnographic survey of Africa; East Central Africa, Parts 9-13, Oxford university press, 1953, p. 137
  32. ↑ Ethnographic Survey of Africa, Volume 2, Issue 13, International African Institute, 1962, p. 137
  33. ↑ "Tanzania Notes and Records". 1956: 54. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  34. ↑ Ethnographic Survey of Africa: East Central Africa, Parts 1-4, International African Institute, 1950, p. 80
  35. ↑ man past and present, Cambridge University Press, 1989, p. 250
  36. ↑ Allegorical Speculation in an Oral Society: The Tabwa Narrative ..., Volume 122, University of California Press, 1989, p. 20
  37. ↑ The historical tradition of Busoga, Mukama and Kintu, Clarendon Press, 1972, pp. 86, 87, 88, 93, 95, ISBN 9780198216735
  38. ↑ A History of African Motherhood: The Case of Uganda, 700-1900, Cambridge University Press, 2013, p. 163
  39. ↑ Questioning Misfortune: The Pragmatics of Uncertainty in Eastern Uganda, Cambridge University Press, 1997, p. 128
  40. ↑ The Book of Life, Knowledge and Confidence, Pacific Press, 2012, p. 112
  41. ↑ A Colonial Lexicon: Of Birth Ritual, Medicalization, and Mobility in the Congo, Duke University Press, 1999, pp. 288, 314, 410, 463
  42. ↑ African Study Monographs, Volumes 24-25, Research Committee for African Area Studies, 2003, p. 61
  43. ↑ African Arts, Volume 36, African Studies Center, University of California, Los Angeles, 2003, p. 36
  44. ↑ Emblems of Passage: Art of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas : Selections from Friends of Ethnic Art Members' Collections, Museum of Craft & Folk Art, 2002, p. 40
  45. ↑ Questioning Misfortune: The Pragmatics of Uncertainty in Eastern Uganda, Cambridge University Press, p. 126
  46. ↑ Mythologies, Pedia Press, p. 496
  47. ↑ Creole Religions of the Caribbean: An Introduction from Vodou and ..., NYU Press, 2003, p. 102
  48. ↑ Hegel, Haiti,: And Universal History, University of Pittsburgh Press, 2009, p. 129, ISBN 9780822943402
  49. ↑ Roots of Haiti's Vodou-Christian Faith: African and Catholic ..., ABC-CLIO, 2014, p. 73
  50. ↑ The Spirits and the Law: Vodou and Power in Haiti, University of Chicago Press, 2011, p. 260
  51. ↑ World Encyclopedia of Contemporary Theater: Africa, Routledge, 2013, p. 300
  52. ↑ Mashindano!: Competitive Music Performance in East Africa, Mkuki na Nyota Publishers, 2000, p. 180, ISBN 9789976973822
  53. ↑ Annual Report of the American Bible Society, American Bible Society, 1971, p. 58
  54. ↑ Women Writing Africa: The Eastern region, Feminist Press at the City University of New York, 2007, p. 255
  55. ↑ Annual Report of the American Bible Society, Volume 156, American Bible Society, 1971, p. 58
  56. ↑ Origins of Kingship, Traditions and Symbolism in the Great Lakes Region of Africa, Coronet Books Incorporated, 2008, p. 89
  57. ↑ Africa and the Wider World: East, central, and southern Africa since 1800, Longman Nigeria, 1965, pp. 45, 118, ISBN 9789781396748
  58. ↑ South African Journal of Science: Being the Organ of the South African Association for the Advancement of Science, Volumes 17-18, South African Association for the Advancement of Science, 1920, p. 220
  59. ↑ The Encyclopædia Britannica - Volume 22, Encyclopædia britannica Company, Limited, 1929, pp. 300, 316
  60. ↑ Encyclopædia Britannica: A New Survey of Universal Knowledge, Volume 22, Encyclopædia Britannica, 1956, p. 318
  61. ↑ Totemism and Exogamy, Vol. II (in Four Volumes), Cosmo, Inc., 2013, p. 624
  62. ↑ Lega Culture; Art, Initiation, and Moral Philosophy Among a Central African ..., University of California Press, 1973, p. 146
  63. ↑ Africa-Tervuren, Volume 25, Amis du Musée royal de l'Afrique centrale, 1979, p. 77
  64. ↑ A Colonial Lexicon: Of Birth Ritual, Medicalization, and Mobility in the Congo, Duke University Press, 1999, p. 288
  65. ↑ The Oxford Encyclopedia of African Thought: Abol-impe, Volume 1=, Oxford University Press, 2010, p. 382
  66. ↑ The Native Races of Africa and Madagascar, the University of Michigan, 1938, p. 321
  67. ↑ Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics-Volume 2, Scribner, 1957, pp. 352, 353
  68. ↑ Works Issued by the Hakluyt Society, The Society, 1901, p. 207
  69. ↑ Keeping The Faith, Lulu.com, 2017, p. 183
  70. ↑ People's Names: A Cross-cultural Reference Guide to the Proper Use ..., McFarland & Company, 1997, p. 305, ISBN 9780786401871
  71. ↑ Dictionary of African Historical Biography, University of California Press, 1989, pp. 72, 109
  72. ↑ Tanganyika Notes and Records: Issues 13-20, Tanganyika Society, 1942, p. 3
  73. ↑ Tanganyika Notes and Records: Issues 13-18, Tanganyika Society, 1942, p. 3
  74. ↑ From Blessing to Violence: History and Ideology in the Circumcision Ritual ..., Cambridge University Press, 1986, p. 42
  75. ↑ Ancestors, Power and History in Madagascar, BRILL, 1999, p. 330
  76. ↑ The Earth and Its Inhabitants …: South and East Africa, University of California, 1895, p. 447
  77. ↑ Man, Past and Present, University Press, 1900, p. 250
  78. ↑ Movement, Borders and Identities in Africa, University of Rochester Press, 2009, p. 275
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.