The Haya (or Bahaya) are a Bantu ethnic group based in Kagera Region, northwestern Tanzania, on the western side of Lake Victoria. With over one million people, it is estimated the Haya make up approximately 2% of the population of Tanzania. They speak Haya, a Bantu language of the Niger-Congo family. Historically, the Haya have had a complex kingship-based political system. Agriculture, particularly banana farming, is central to Haya economic life.
Etymology
According to Hans Cory, the term Bahaya (Haya for fisher-people) was originally used to differentiate the Haya from the Banyambo of Karagwe.[2] This distinction is said to be based on cultural differences, with the Haya economy predominantly oriented toward fishing and other industries on Lake Victoria and the Banyambo predominately engaged in pastoralism. Other sources on the origin of the term Haya cite oral accounts that state it derives from a goddess named Muhaya, whose father was King Ruhinda Mushure.[3] This second version is not as popular.[4]
Haya history and kingdoms
Early history
Linguistic evidence indicates the Haya settled in the Kagera Region during the time of the Bantu expansion.[5] They are believed to be some of the earliest inhabitants in the region to practice iron smelting and were part of the iron-making Urewe pottery culture (ancestral to many Eastern Bantu groups) dating from the 5th century BC to the 6th century AD.[6][7] Around 200 BC is when the first strong evidence of Early Iron Age settlements were established along Lake Victoria in Buhaya.[8] Iron tools may have helped expand agricultural production in the region which included a combination of cereal crop cultivation (finger millet and sorghum), root-cropping, and the gradual use of beans.[8][9]
Between 800 and 1500 AD, Bahaya lifeways were greatly influenced by other Bantu peoples moving in from an area further north in the African Great Lakes region.[10][11][12] These northern peoples, whose descendants founded the kingdoms of Bunyoro-Kitara and Buganda, are said to have brought with them new breeds of cattle as well as varieties of banana.[13] It remains unclear as to why these peoples moved into the region but evidence indicates severe ecological change that facilitated the movement of people with specialized cattle herding practices for adapting to environmental stress.[8][13][14] One of the main strategies for adapting to environmental stress included using cattle manure to maintain soil fertility for banana groves, a practice the Haya continue to this day but at a reduced level due to a decline in cattle holding that began after the 1890s rinderpest epizootic.[15][16][17]
Kingdoms (16th to 18th centuries)
Prior to the establishment of Haya kingdoms, land tenure was controlled by corporate groups such as the clan.[10] Religion played a prominent role in pre-dynastic social structure as well and included Bacwezi beliefs guided by practitioners (spirit mediums, diviners, priests and priestesses) capable of communicating with or channeling ancient Bacwezi gods and goddesses.[11][10][18] Oral history indicates some clans founded Haya kingdoms beginning around the 16th century, such as the Bayango clan of Kyamtwara Kingdom and the Bakuma clan of Kiziba Kingdom.[10] The third Haya kingdom during this period was Ihangiro to the south of Kyamtwara. Oral accounts state that the Bahinda royal clan entered Kyamtwara Kingdom during the 17th century, coopting the Bayango clan and establishing their rule under King Rugamora Mahe.[10] The Bahinda clan, who ruled Karagwe Kingdom to the west, trace their ancestry to the first king of Ankole, Ruhinda.[19]
Kingdoms (19th century to 1963)
During the late 18th century, Kyamtwara Kingdom broke up due to revolts.[2] Results of this breakup led to the founding of the kingdoms of Kihanja, Bukara, Lesser Kyamtwara, and Bugabo. The outcome of this breakup divided leadership of the four new kingdoms between the Bahinda and the Bakango clans. The Bahinda ruled Kihanja and Bukara while Lesser Kyamtwara and Bugabo were ruled by the Bakango. According to accounts, the Bakango took the opportunity to overthrow the Bahinda who depended on their power.[10][2] When the German colonial government established their rule in Tanganyika in the 1890s, there were six Haya kingdoms: Kiziba, Ihangiro, Kihanja, Bukara, Lesster Kyamtwara, and Bugabo. After the Anglo-German agreement of 1890, the kingdom of Missenye, north of Kiziba Kingdom, was added, making the total number of Haya kingdoms seven. In 1963, the newly-independent Tanzania government abolished all forms of traditional kingship and chieftainship in the country. Kings with the necessary qualifications were offered jobs by the new government. Five Haya kings took up the offer while the others remained honorary kings and continued to perform their traditional religious and ceremonial duties.[20]
Uganda-Tanzania War
In 1978, the ancestral region to which the Haya belong was subject to an attempted annexation by the former Ugandan president Idi Amin Dada, whose invasion of the Kagera region in the Uganda-Tanzania War eventually led to the toppling of his government by the Army of Tanzania.
Haya kingship
Haya kings (bakama) had absolute rule over their territory and assigned duties to specific clans. For example, in Kiziba Kingdom it is said the Batunda were royal bodyguards, the Bashonde royal brewers, and the Baihuzi royal cooks.[21] Other duties assigned to clans were providing wives for the king, crushing rebellions, producing iron, and tending the royal cattle. These assigned duties sought to maintain structure in the kingdom. The administrative system of each kingdom was organized hierarchically with the king (mukama) at the top followed by the chief minister (omukuru we kibuga), ministers (batongole), council of advisers (lukiiko), county chiefs (bami b'enshozi), and village headmen (bakungu).[22][20] These delegations were divided between two categories of authority: the princes (balangira) of royal descent and the king's non-royal followers (batekwa).[20] During British colonial rule, the Ganda term katikiro replaced the Haya term omukuru we kibuga.[20]
Omuteko
Future decisions for non-royal positions were guided by a training program called omuteko (age-set).[21] This program required all boys between the ages of 10 and 12 to report to the king's capital for schooling and training. Selection was carried out by the village headman (mukungu) under the order of the king. Oral accounts describe how the initial training period lasted 10 days and included moral instruction on what was required of boys regarding their duties to the kingdom and their sub-county.[21] After this initial period, boys were sent to the king's royal court for further training that included sports, games, dancing, and singing, all of which were competitive and consisted of each sub-county competing against the other.[21] The best group remained at the court for additional training while the others were sent away for moral and physical training until called upon.[21] Other schooling under omuteko included the art and science of war, history, and culture.[22] Overall, omuteko was off and on, lasting roughly three years and establishing social cohesion among different sub-counties.[23] Estimates indicate 50% of the boys taken in were dismissed after the initial training period.[20] Those who excelled were provided specialized training in the courses they did well in.[22]
Young women are said to have been called to the king's court as well under a program called buzana. This program, according to missionary accounts, was largely to appease the sexual appetites of the king.[23]
War and ritual
Important decisions made by kings such as going to war or conducting a raid on a neighboring kingdom are said to have been made inside a diving house called a buchwankwanzi.[24] Inside this structure, the king, along with his most trusted advisers, would base their decisions on what the diviner(s) foretold. The term buchwankwanzi is translated as "spitting pearls," which refers to the words of wisdom coming from mouths of those prophesying within.[24] Along with military operations, kings were responsible for the fertility and prosperity of their kingdom such as good crops, healthy livestock, good hunting and fishing, and a productive economy.[10][21] Some of the most important rituals to ensure these conditions were the new moon ceremonies conducted by the king each month and overseen by religious specialists. These ceremonies involved feasting, consumption of alcohol, offerings to gods and goddesses, and the use of a deceased king's regalia as ritual catalysts.[24] The new moon ceremonies also required kings to visit sacred centers throughout their kingdom with offerings to ancient Bacwezi gods and goddesses believed to be capable of bringing prosperity, fertility, famine, and disease.[10][11][18]
Death and renewal
The death of a king brought about a mourning period that required everyone in the kingdom to cease all labor until a new king was installed.[25] Anyone caught breaking this temporary ordinance would be punished. The installment of a new king was not always a smooth transition. Oral histories recount how factions among the royal clan and the court often delayed the installment of a new king, including the king's family as siblings schemed as well as fought one another over the vacant throne.[2][10][26] Two of the most sacred objects to successfully secure the throne were the royal drums of the kingdom, closely protected by the clan given charge over them, and the jawbone of the deceased king which required special burial, accompanied by rituals, on his royal burial estate (gashani) within his royal compound (kikale).[25][10] The former king's regalia and ritual paraphernalia would be amassed and curated in his buchwankwanzi house.[24] Newly elected kings would undergo the rituals of accession and, upon the completion these rituals, the temporary ordinance prohibiting labor would be lifted, bringing order back to the kingdom.[25]
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