Tacitus, Ethiopians and Black St. Paul
Roman historian Tacitus wrote that many of his time believed that the Jews “were a race of Ethiopian origin.”
The Bible classifies the Ethiopians & Jews together, “Are ye not as children of the Ethiopians unto me, O children of Israel? saith the Lord.” (Amos 9:7)
Black Paul is mistaken for an “Egyptian” and declares himself to be a “Jew.” (Acts 21:37-39, 22: 2,3)
Persia and Ashanti
It has also been speculated that the Jewish presence and influence was greatly helped by the ancient gold trade between Persia and Africa.
Jews were the main intermediaries of this trade in the medieval ages since most Muslims (due to Islamic laws prohibition on usury) were wary of its usurious dimensions.
These Jewish itinerant traders came to rely on contacts with the various Jewish communities of West African who proved no mean help in sourcing the scarce commodity. Thus, for instance, the silk of the Royal Kente cloths of the Ashanti reputedly came from China.
Various historical accounts claim that Jewish travelers from Persia had organized exchanges of Chinese silk for gold in the Kingdom of Ghana; the Ashanti needed the silk for weaving Kente cloth and the Jews need gold for their intrinsic and fiscal value. It is said that the Ashanti words for numbers relate to those in Parsi, the language of Persia. See Lichtblau.
Genetics
Haplogroup E3B
The E3b haplogroup has been observed in all Jewish groups world wide. It is considered to be the 2nd most prevelent haplogroup amoung the Jewish population.
All the major studies agree that E-M35 is the second highest in prevalence next to J, for “Founding Jewish Lineages.” http://www.familytreedna.com/pdf/Behar_contrasting.pdf.
It is found in moderate amounts in all Jewish populations, from Ashkenazi, Sephardic, Kurdish, Yemen, Samaritan and even among Djerba Jewish groups.
The scientific consensus is that Haplogroup E3b (M35) appears to have originated in East Africa, but has been carried from there to the Near East and then on to North Africa and Europe. Today it is most common in East Africa, North Africa, the Near East and around the Mediterranean.
Haplogroup J
Haplogroup J (previously known as HG9 or Eu9/Eu10) is a Y-chromosome DNA haplogroup. T is subdivided into two subclades: haplogroup J2, defined by the M172 marker, and haplogroup J1, defined by the M267 marker.
Of special interest are maps that show the geographical spread of the J haplogroup. J1 and J2 are both common in southern Europe, central Europe, the Mediterranean region, and Africa. The J haplogroup is considered to be a signature gene of Jewish ancestry and the cohen modal gene happens to be a subgroup of J.
In fact, the highest frequencies of J1 (M267) are seen in the Middle East, north Africa, and Ethiopia. See (Thomas et al. 1999). J2 (M172) also exists in significant proportions across Africa especially among the semitic speaking peoples of Tigriniya, Amhara, and Oromiya.
The J1’s from the Middle East and North Africa seem to be distinguishable from the rest of J’s by having YCAII=22,22. Behar et al found that a significant proportion of the Jewish population of Europe (more than 20%) carry the J1 haplogroup. The other 20% carry the J2 haplogroup. See Behar et al Hum Genet (2004) 114: 354-365
Cohen Modal Haplotype
The presence among the Lemba of a disproportionate number of men carrying a particular polymorphism on the Y chromosome known as the Cohen modal haplotype suggests an ancestral link to the Jewish population. One sub-clan within the Lemba, the Buba clan, is considered by the Lemba to be their priestly clan. Among a small sample of the Buba, fifty-two percent of males were found to carry the Cohen modal haplotype CMH, which is generally suggestive of Y-DNA haplogroup J, but notably prevalent among Jewish Kohanim, or priests.
Decline of the Black Jews of Africa
Many reasons have been sought for the decline and virtual disappearance of Africa’s once thriviing Jewish communities of black Jews. Many see the beginning of this decline as contemporaneous with the advent of the Islamic religion in Africa.
Some historical accounts highlight the fact that black Jews were die-hard nationalistic traditionalists and had led the black African resistance against the influx of the black muslim jihadists and their new interpretation of morality. The most notableof these black Jewish nationalists was Queen Kahina Dahiya Bint Thabitah ibn Tifan otherwise known as El-Kahina. A descendant of one of the priestly Black Jewish families of North Africa, Kahina led the nationalist resistance against the muslim invasion until her defeat at the hands of Hassan Ibn Numan. See Margolis, “History of Jewish people”, 1927 pages 278-279. See also Remy Ilona, “The Igbos: Jews in Africa?” volume 1, Research Findings Historical Links, Commentaries, Narratives,” 2004, Mega Press Limited, Abuja, Nigeria.
Amidst this tumult, the Jews of Northern and West Africa were given a choice of conversion or emigration. Many left for the deeper forest recesses of West Africa seeking the peace and tranquility that appeared to elude them in each generation. The late incursions by the colonialist christian elements of Europe did not make matters any better. There seems to have been a direct link between the incursion of relatively modern religions in Africa and the decline of the ancient practise of the Hebrews which had a pride of place in Africa, its mother land.
For instance the Jewish enclaves of Qamnurya or Naghira in the area of modern Senegal was destroyed completely in the wake of sectarian unrest. Similarly, Al-Maghili a prominent black Muslim noble not only destroyed the Jewish enclaves of Tuat in the old Mali empire, he convinced other potentates throughout the Western Sudan to banish Jews from the empire’s cities. See Remy Ilona, supra.
Lichtblau speculates that: although “…Jewish presence is also confirmed by numerous surviving accounts of Portuguese and other European visitors in the 14th and 15th centuries, as well as North African and Arab historical records… gradually most of these communities disappeared. Since they existed largely in isolation, there was a good deal of intermarriage which for a while reinforced their influence and expansion. As a result they were increasingly viewed as a threat by Muslim rulers, and most of the Jewish communities and nomad groups south of the Atlas mountains were either forced to convert to Islam or massacred; the remainder fled to North Africa, Egypt or the Sudan, and a few also to Cameroon and Southern Africa.”
Jide Uwechia
August 19, 2007
MUD,
I did not join this forum to start religious controversy. If I am the one you called a fool, God bless you. My people experienced humiliation in the hands of Arab Moslems years before Europeans ever set foot in Igboland. Yes, some Moslems do kill people who do not believe in their religion. And Moslems subjugate non-Moslems more as a slave to be taxed by them simply because the individual refused Islamic faith. And if you know anything about the Hebrew, you will know that the Hebrew (Igbo) word “Ohu” means “One who bows down to or worships another human being”. And they refer to such wrongfully exploited existence as “Walking dead”. It is the Arabs who told the Europeans where to find and enslave the Children Of Israel.
Just as there are Children of Israel scattered all over the western Hemisphere, so there are Israelites scattered as slaves in Arab countries and households, whose ignominy of being “Black” lasts to this day. I am not, and have never been an Arab or a Moslem. May the God of my Fathers forbid. Can you relate to Darfur. My God is not Allah (Ala), the god of Ishmael, and Mohamed but the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob by whose names God said He shall be known for all times. There is nothing in Koran that can tell me anything about myself or my people. Islam is a religion that is opposing to the Children of Israel to this day.
The word Ala, Allah, Ana, Ani, Ara, and Ela all means “earth” or “spirit of the Earth” depending of the use and dialects. The original name of God as the Divine Father is Chiukwunna (God Almighty) the name by which Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob including other Hebrews know Him as revealed to them by God. Chi is a worldwide word known as God or Spirit. The ancient Hebrew literature existed long before Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob including Mohamed was born. And no one can find anything like Allah as the name of God in these ancient scriptures. Don’t come with the Arab propaganda that the words of the Bible was changed to spite the Arabs. If that was possible, knowing how much the White Supremacists hate the Africans, they would have obliterated every evidence that places Igbo as the original Hebrews.
Finally, I am not against any religion or people who chose to belong to them, but don’t kill me or my kind because we reject Islam. God is the final judge and not the Moslems. Yes, Christendom, just like Islam of today wiped out many tribes and peoples in many lands in the guise of Christianity while propagating White Supremacy. You see, religion has no personality of its own. It is the leadership of religions that give religions their personalities. The personality of Christendom and Islamic religion in terms of killing people who are different from them is the personaIity of European and Arab leaders of this religion and the not the religion themselves. I can tell you without hesitation that the leaderships of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam are not interest in God or his ways. They are interested only in welfare themselves, families, and people like them. Yes, there are people who worship God in spirit and love God sincerely but most of them are enslaved and misguided the opium from the pulpits of these religions which they call sermons. You see, Satan has counterfeit of anything concerning God. Udo (Peace)
what do you want ?If you go to Isreal do you like to find new life?Which is than Africa ?so is diuficult .
Those Jews who came last one thound year a go to forget about them.
Then now you could not say ,you are JEWS .
ifYOU TALK ABOUT THE SCHOLSHIP
Good Morning Yahaya,
You ask me what I want? I want the children of Israel around the world to remain true to their heritage, and remain who they are. What drove me into writing is watching the various children of Israel around the world trying very hard to convince the generic Jews in Israel today that they are children of Israel while their claims are relegated to the categories of myths and legends without proof. Even in cases where the proof is undeniable, Jewish authorities have remained skeptical.
I am angry that the few children of Israel around the world whom they have deceptively accepted as Jews were converted to the religion of Judaism before they were halfheartedly accepted as Jews. But the question is: “Why would anyone convert you to being a Child of Israel that you are already by blood.” Remember, my dear,” Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob including Moses and the Prophets were never Jews”. They were Ndi-Gboo (Ancient People) whom God attempted to get to practice the original spirituality in its pure form as Adama, Enuka (Enoch), Emetoziala (Methuselah), Nochie (Noah), and Chim (Shem) who is Melchizedek (Malachi-Ezedike) practiced in their own times. If the practice of Judaism was the true religion that satisfied God, God would not have allowed the generic Jews to be driven out of Judea by the Romans.
The Bible has no equal in that it is the only sacred book that has continually made liars out of men. I am not against any religion because salvation is a personal issue that affects individual destiny with God. However, I detaste someone claiming to be a Jew (Descendant of Israel) because the Individual coneverted to the religion of Judaism. Non-Moslem Arabs do not claim to be Arabs and they are not claiming that Saudi Arabia is their Promise Land. Arabia is for the Arabs and only Arabs are Arab. The majority of people known as Jews today are Europeans by race. That is, between 80 to 90 percent of the people known as Jews today are Europeans by race, descendants of Japheth (Jefeta), a Gentile origin. And the remaining 10 to 20 percent are dominated by replacement settlers who were used by the Assyrians to resettle the land of Osamara (Samaria or Northern Kingdom of Israel.) like the Sepharvaim (Sephardim) and the Samaritans.
These people call themself Jews and present themselves as the children of Israel to the deceived world, but never left the names of their ancestors. The two major groups recognized by the world as Jews today are Ashkenazi and Sephardim. Ashkenazi is a descendant of Japheth of Aryan Race and Sephardim, though they may contain some descendants of Israel are the replacement settlers Sepharvaim and others under the umbrella of Sephardim. And remember, the Jews always consider themselves to be Europeans by race and they bear European last names. The children of Israel around the world should know that the people converting them to the religion of Judiasm before they can be recognized as Israelites are not blood descendants of Israel but Aryan converts to Judaism.
This is why I entiltled the book I am yet to publish: ANCIENT LIES- Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, Including Moses and the Prophets were never Jews”. I mean, the people we know as Jews today do not know, understand or speak Hebrew (Igbo) language yet they have decieved the world to go to Universities and colleges to study bogus language with obvious Aryan overtones as Hebrew. When I say that the bene-Israel of Igboland have more evidence of Israelite origin than the Jews in Israel today, I wasn’t joking. It is a matter of fact. First, we speak pure Hebrew because we live with the Igbo (Hebrews). second, there are more towns and peoples named after the towns and peoples of ancient Israel than there are in Israel today. In my book, I have about ten or more pages of these names with biblical verses to support what I am saying. But as a quick reference, go the NIV Bible by Scofield ONLY and go to the map of ancient Israel at the back and you will find such towns as Ono, Nebo, Enam, Addar, Etam, Arba (Aba), Nob (Nnobi), Ashnah (Achina), Lod (Lodu), etc. This is just a tip of the iceberg.
Yes, I have said that there are children of Israel in many locations in Northern Nigeria who were trapped before they can reach the Hebrew lands of Southen Nigeria and our fathers never forget them. So, if we can see through the lies and delusion of white Supremacy to understand that the Hebrews are Black People and not Europeans, our no one problem will be solved. For example, the name of Abraham’s mother is “Emetelayi” and the name of the maternal grandfather is “Kanu Ebo”. There core Igbo people. Udo!
good morning Akannam.
As you said , you mean the people you know as jews today do not know,understaqnd.
PLEASE TELL ME WHO ARE IN NIGERI A THEN WHICH TRIBE.
Yes, my brother, Yahaya, the people that the world know as Jews today like those who live in Israel, Europe, and America do not know, understand, or speak Hebrew. Even the Hebrew alphabets they use today are not the original alphabets. They have modified the original Hebrew alphabets to accomodate some of the ancient Aryan language. Let me give you just a clue. The Jews say that Isaac which they write as “Ishak” means laughter but this is completely, a wrong meaning. Isaac in propper Hebrew, that is Igbo, is “Ishiaku” and it means, “crown of wealth”.
The secret of God is hidden in Hebrew (Igbo) language and the secret of Hebrew language is hidden in its unique vowels and consonants. You see, Hebrew alphabets has no vowels. It is only those whose speak the language that can properly place these vowels and consonants. The people known to the world as Jews who live in Israel, European, and America cannot pronounce these vowels and consonants.
There are some true descendant of Israel among the white Jews of today, but their number is extremely small. The majority of the Jews of today are Aryans (Europeans) by race. They are Jews because their forefathers converted to Judaism sometime in the past. The majority of the Children of Israel are still scattered around the world today. Like I said, Igboland contains the highest number and concentration of Israelites than anywhere in the world. Remember that most of the Africans shipped to the New world as slaves are Igbo, whether from the east or the western Igbo called Yoruba today. Now there are Israelites in many locations and nations around Africa, India, Afghaniatan, Japan, etc.
Because of migration of different peoples from Asia Minor and North African into Nigeria and West Africa, it is difficult to say that this or that tribe is Israel. But Bene-Israel live among some tribes in Nigeria. In the Middle Belt of Nigeria, for Example, there are Bene-Israel in Kogi State, specifically in Igala like Ishi, in Benue state. Platue State. Then, in the North we have Bene-Israel in Nassarawa and their brothers in parts of Kaduna, Gongola, Adamawa, and others I don’t know about and well into Northern Cameroon. Some of these people may not be practicing circumcision on the eight day, scape goat practices, and other ancient Israelite practices as the Igbo, but that has nothing to do with their Israelite heritage as long as their fathers are blood descendants of Israel. The Igbo bene-Israel were able to practice such things because they live with the original Hebrews of Umu-Ezeana, the holders of the original spirituality.
Remember that out of possible millions of the Children of Israel both from the Northern Kingdom (Osamara) and Southern Kingdom (Idah), only 49,000 returned from captivity. And because the Roman conquerors converted over thirty towns and peoples in the area to Judaism, the Children of Israel from that time became a minority among the Jews. So, the overwhelming majority of the Children of Israel is still in the Diaspora.
Israel has not been gathered, so the nation of Israel today does not represent the true gathering of Israel. Read the Book of Ezekiel chapter 20:32-38 in the Bible to verify what I am saying. I hope I have provided some answers to your question. Udo.
Sorry Yahaya,
It is not 49,000 that came back from the Babylonian captivity, it is 42,300 returnees. Thanks.
all what u re saying is not the real fact i knew about jews that u told Alhssan yahaya.check more i n jide uwechia’s book.
How does this fit in?
Uganda’s ‘true’ religious history
By Bwanika Daniel (bwanika), [31 July 1995]
Bunyoro-Kitara and Buganda were one and the same Kingdom; the descendants most Ugandans were black Hebrews; the Christian missionaries arrived here many years after Christianity had been around with us. (Check Basil Davidson wrtings about Christinity in the Sudan)
This history has been taught to Ugandans for decades, that Kabaka (king) Muteesa I asked H. M. Stanley to invite English missionaries to introduce Christianity in Buganda where it never existed at all before. This invitation was published as a letter in the London Daily Telegraph of November 15, 1875.
This history is a lie. Christianity already existed in Buganda long before the English missionaries came to Buganda in response to what was published in the Daily Telegraph purportedly upon a request from King Muteesa I. Unfortunately, this lie is not the only one. This falsehood has done great harm. I believe the problems of national and international politics of every African country is directly related with the problems of its political history. The more authentic is the history of a fine society, the more likely the society is likely to succeed in its natural and international politics – by way of attaining unity, stability and development. The more utopian and falsified is the history, the more tumultuous the society will be, and this will hamper its unity and development. The distortion of Uganda history in fact touched even the basic institution like the marriage of kings.
Take the one about the marriages of the Basekabaka (kings) of Buganda , that “The king of Buganda does not marry a foreign princess.” The evidence is that all marriages of Basekabaka were uniquely political in that they were determined by the society and not by the Kabaka concerned, not indeed by the princess he was going to marry. The main purpose of this practice was for the unity of the Kingdom and government.
Speke recorded material evidence which corroborates the statement that all marriages of the Basekabala were uniquely political. When he was with the Kings of Usui in Unyamwezi, he learned that the daughter of the king , who was earmarked to be the wife of King Muteesa I had just died and that her father, the King of Usui, was very worried about what would be the Kabaka’s reaction. Also that the king and his councillors were in the process of selecting another daughter to married to Kabaka Muteesa I. At the palace of king Muteesa I Speke noticed that many of the Kabaka’s wives were Wanyamwezi. He had between 300 to 400 wives.
Politics of Marriage
Then when he was with Mukama Kamurasi (king of bunyoro), Speke noticed the difference in the colour of the Kabaka’s and Kamurasi’s skins. King Muteesa I was dark skinned and Mukama Kamurasi was light brown. Speke enquired to know how the complexions of two brothers could be different. In reply, Mukama Kamurasi stated that public traditions governing the marriages of the Abakama( kings in Bunyoro Kingdom) and Basekabaka were different. Whereas marriages of Abakama were restricted to daughters of specific and particular kings within the greater Bunyoro-Kitara Empire, those of the Besekabaka were not, because by legal traditions Basekabaka had to marry a daughter of each of the kings of the Kingdom-states in the Great Buganda Empire. That since some of the lesser kings (district kings) secretly got married to daughters of commoners, that subsequently affected the stock of women the Basekabaka married.
The principles governing marriages of the basekabaka applied to all the kings in the then great Bunyoro-Kitara. Mukama Kamurasi married the daughter of one of the Kings of Bulega ( Bulega is now in Zaire). She was the queen who mothered Mukama Kabalega ( next king to Bunyoro throne son of Kamurasi) . Kabalega married 138 wives, one of them was a daughter of one of the Kings of Wakamba (who are now are in Kenya). It’s worth mentioning that the products of that marriage beneficially dominated Kenya politics of the 1940-1970s.
Speke also reported about the marriages of King Rumanika and King Ntare. Interestingly both of them married five wives from the same Kingdom-states including Kidi (north), Unyamwezi (south) and Nkore (central). Ntare’s wife from the north is said to have come from the present Acoli land. Since the Sekabakas married in his empire, this gives an idea to the territorial extent of the sovereignty of the then Great Buganda King.
Political symbols.
How far did these ancient kingdoms stretch? One clue is in royal symbols. The animated animal political symbols of Buganda, which was the same Kingdom as Bunyoro-Kitara or vice versa were Lion and Elephant. Lion was a political symbol which signified Royalty and elephant signified Power. These two symbols were the symbols of the Holy Royal House of Shua; and also of the Kingdom of Meroe.
For instance, Emperor Menelik II of Ethiopia was addressed as “the conquering Lion of the Judah.” Kabaka of Buganda was addressed as “Mpologoma” ( Lion). And both the Kings of Nkore and Karagwe were addressed as “Ntare” i.e. Lion. Rev. J. Roscoe in his 1911 book, The Baganda explained that the lion was the first totemic animals among all the Baganda, and that it belonged to all the totemic clans in addition to their individual totems. In short, common totems signified common entities, or oneness of a people. A revealing incident occurred during the official visit of Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia to Sir Edward Muteesa II in 1961 which was connected with lion as a political symbol of royalty. The Uganda protectorate government decorated buildings , roads , Entebbe airport, etc., with lion posters and leopard poster. The leopard was meant to be the symbol of the Kabaka. This enraged the bataka ( i.e. the nobility of Buganda Kingdom), so before the motorcade of the kabaka passed to go to welcome his guest at Entebbe Airport, all the leopard posters had been removed. The posters were also removed from Entebbe and in the premises of the Uganda national assembly. All that they were saying was that both Haile Selassies and Sir Edward Muteesa II were the Royal lions and none of them was a leopard.
The inanimate political symbols of Buganda also known as Bunyoro-Kitara were the royal sceptre, which was kept by the Mukama; the royal drum, and pair of royal swords kept by the Kabaka. The royal sceptre signified national sovereignty. When Samuel Baker visited Mukama Kabalega, he saw the entire royal retinue; each one had a royal sceptre in his hand, with Mukama Kabalega leading and King Okwonga of Karuma at the tail end. They were five, all together in their retinue. Baker drew up a sketch of them as they walked in a single line like bishops in the church.
This leads us to an interesting mystery. All the Europeans who visited East Africa then had photographic kits and so did Baker and Stanely. If the photographs displayed primitivity they would have been published. It is reported in Uganda Journal,
The royal drum signified royality whereas the pair of royal swords signified Power. Rev, Robert Ashe witnessed this and recorded it in his book, Chronicales of Uganda, published in 1894. He described the decorous sitting arrangements of the Great ‘ Lukiiko ‘ (National Legislature). Kabaka sat on a throne, high up on a dais; immediately below him on the lower dais stood the royal drum flanked on both sides by the royal sword, crossing each other on top of the royal drum. Still on another dais below sat the Katikiro / Pokino (prime minister), and the lowest dias in front of the Katikiro / Pikono all facing members of the Lukiiko.
Holy Tree
Another animated political symbol of Buganda alias Bunyoro Kitara was the holy (sacred) tree in Mubende. This tree was a symbol and instrument of national unity. It was the driving force signifying the founding father of the empire, Patriarch Kintu himself. It is called “Kac” in both Luganda and Luo. It was before this tree where the House of Kings of Bunyoro-Kitara alias Buganda used to meet, at least three times a year at regular intervals. The last meeting was held immediately after the Nakasero pronouncement when the British troops temporarily took over power in Kampala. The meeting was convened to discuss the incident, in which Kabaka Mwanga escaped assassination, and he rushed to Unyamwezi to fetch his troops, where they were stationed as troops of the national Army of Bunyoro-Kitara, alias Buganda.
Soon afterwards, Kabaka Mwanga returned with a large number of troops to attend the extraordinary meeting of the House of the Kings in Mubende. He was accompanied by a number of the Kings of Unyamwezi including a senior King of Wasukuma, and the Katikiro (prime minister) joined them at Masaka where he was waiting for them in his Palace.
All senior Kings who were members of the house of Kings converged on Mubende to attend the extraordinary meeting. Each one of them came with troops in readiness for war. Sir Tito Owiny who was about ten years old accompanied his father, Mukama Kabalega, who presided over the extraordinary meeting. After the meeting both the national Kings went to the north: Kabalega went to Lukung as his new capital; and Mwanga went to Lututuru / Agoro. Early in 1971, before the Idi Amin military coup d’etat, a group of people from Mubende went to Hoima to interview Sir Tito Owiny about this meeting and other historical events concerning the then Great Buganda, alias Bunyoro-Kitara, the group was led by Samwiri Mugwisa.
Tito Owiny’s story
Sir Tito Owiny told the group that Bunyoro- Kitara and Buganda were one nation before they opposed their rule. This confirmed what he wrote to the British Government on his return from political banishment in Seychelles. He wrote to complain of the division of Bunyoro- Kitara as a nation- state in to many parts. The evidence by Sir Tito Owiny was corroborated by Masaka elders in 1969 and ex-Rwot Odida, ex-Rwot Obol and Ex-Rwot Ludoviko Oryem, all of Acoli district then in 1962. Their fathers were close associates of Kabelega and Mwanga.
Another political symbol of great importance is the Flag. Certainly Buganda, alias Bunyoro-Kitara, had a national anthem (Isamailai) and national flags, although their colours are not known. The existence of a national flag or flags is recorded by political events.
For instance, Samuel Baker removed the national flag of Bunyoro-Kitara and replaced it with that of the Khedive of Egypt in Masindi area where King Ryonga (Rionga) was in charge. This angered Kabalega who summarily dismissed King Ryoga for allowing Baker to do so. Similarly, here were frequent skirmishes between Baker’s troops and those of Bunyoro-Kitara in Patiko, Gulu District, over the issue of the national flag. Baker wanted to remove the national flag and replace it with that of the soldiers of Bunyoro. Kitara prevented him. The national flag was flying on a hill known in Patiko as “Gotladwong.” It is believed that Kintu (Labongo) once lived there, that is why it is called “shua Hill.”
Odwar’s business
Related to the national flag as a political symbol, is the Christian Crusaders’ flag. This holy flag was also in Bunyoro-Kitara alias Buganda. It is not known when it was brought into the Great Empire. However some of the founders of Buganda / Bunyoro-Kitara are believed to have been Christian crusaders who took part in the Saracens on the East coast of Africa. Today, one or two of the Christian Crusaders flags are found in Kitgum district. One is kept in Naam Okora Divison and another one in Agoro Divison. It is a white flag with a red cross in the middle, just like the flag of the Red Cross. But these ones have been kept by the natives from time immemorial. They look up to them as scared ancestral flags for war. In Naam Okora during the 1950s when the author of this paper was a young boy, they used to have a day in a year to commemorate it with war songs. A man called Yakobo Odwar was in charge.
Monarchical structures
It is believed that the King of Shua gave these the flag. However it is not clear if the Royal House of Shua was [an] extensive Kingdom which ruled many parts of Africa. However, in Naam Okora, Chua (shua) country, it is known as Badere-pa-Opere, i.e. Opere’s flag. Opere was one of the commanders of the army of Bunyoro-Kitara, alias Buganda, in Northern Uganda. After the international war in which Kabalega and Mwanga were captured, Opere’s descendants and clan settled in Naam Okora, together with the descendants and clan of the King of Shua who was assigned to look after Kabalega in Lukung, Lamwo country. Some of the soldiers who were assigned to look after Kabaka Mwanga in Agora also came and settled in Naam Okora. It is therefore possible, that this Christian Crusaders’ flag was also the war flag of Kintu, and his descendant from Bunyoro-Kitara alias Buganda . However, what is relevant is that Christian crusaders’ flag was brought into Uganda before colonial rule by the Holy Royal House of Shua, to which Chua county in Kitgum belongs. The flag could have belonged to King Alata, who was looking after Mukakama Kabalega; or it could have belonged to Kabalega himself as a National War flag.
To understand the relation of events, we must first explain the various concepts. To begin with , there is decentralised functional monarchy, which is a system of monarchical government in which state powers are functionally distributed among the kings in the nation, both vertically and horizontally, at every segment of pyramidal structure of government. All governments formed in Africa resulting from the fall of the Roman Empire were decentralised functional monarchical governments. E.g. the government of Bunyoro-Kitara, Sudan, Ashanti, Zimbabwe, Kongo (congo), etc.
Taking Bunyoro-Kitara as a case study, the pyramidal structure of government was vertically divided into national government (empire) Kingdom-states, provincial kingdoms (princedoms) and district kingdoms. Below the district kingdoms or princedoms were chieftaincies such as county chiefs, gombolola chiefs, muluka chiefs. All governmental units, i.e. national empire, Kingdom-states, provincial-kingdoms and district kingdoms were very big indeed. For instance Nkore (Kore) Kingdom state started from an island on lake Nalubare (Victoria) to Rwanda, and roughly from River Kafu to Buzibba. H.M. Stanley met officials from Nkore on the Island and they told him that there was the boundary between Unyamwezi and Nkore. Kidi Kingdom-state roughly started from River Kafu to latitude 5 degrees north and from lake Turban to Lake Kivu , now in Zaire.
Types of Kings
Horizontally, at the apex of the pyramid of nation-state there were three functional Kings, namely the national patriarchal monarch, the national temporal monarch and the national spiritual monarch. Briefly the national patriarchal monarch was the Father of Bunyoro-Kitara, alias Buganda; patriarch Kintu. His main functions included appointments of Kings upon the election by a committee of the scared Guild of elders (Holy house) who also represented him at funeral and burial rites throughout the Empire. He was de facto and de jure , chairman of the Holy house of Kings, which was the cabinet of the Empire. In short he had both temporal and spiritual powers. Declaration of international wars was his sole prerogative. The national temporal monarch was de facto and de jure chairman of the National Legislature (Great Lukiiko) and head of Government business. In that regard he was responsible for defence, international trade, etc. Then the national spiritual king was responsible for public, spiritual and moral affairs as well as agriculture, cultural heritage , etc. In that respect he was responsible for immoral crimes against the state. For instance, Semei Kakaungulu was sentenced to death by furnace by the Kamuswaga who was the spiritual monarch of Buganda, alias Bunyoro- Kitara. But he was going to executed on the order of Kabaka Mwanga who was the national temporal monarch. It is significant that during the international war of colonial conquest, none of the belligerent forces went to fight the Kamuswaga because they all looked upon him as a holy king responsible to God for human souls. Those who went to his palace reverently respected him.
Bantu simply means people who speak African languages south of the Sahara with prefix m (singular) and Ba (plural) , e.g. mtu (a person) and Bantu (people), It is linguistic classification of people without any biological descent. It was coined by a librarian in the Republic of South Africa as a derogatory classification of black people.
Hamites and Nilotes
Hamites is a biblical classification meaning descendants of Ham of the Bible for the three sons of Noah; Shem, Ham and Japheth. The Hamites are supposed to be the people of Karamoja and Teso (Nile hamites). However, during the reign of Bunyoro-Kitara the ethnology of the people of Karamoja and Teso was the same with the rest of the empire. Both Speke and Stanley described the ethnology of the population of Buganda, alias Bunyoro-Kitara as semi-Shemites. This means that the population of Bunyoro-Kitara alias Buganda, before the colonial rule were Shemites; descendants of Shen of Holy bible. This classification is authentic. It has not been properly established whether the population of Bunyoro-Kitara, alias Buganda, were descendants of Benjamin or Asher, the two sons of Israel. However their mother were Cushites (black).
The two tribes of Judah and Benjamin remained in Israel after the Israelites by Emperor Shalmanester, until the fall of Jerusalem during the Christian crusaders’ war. When Rome fell the Benjaminities emigrated to Africa. There research traces Bunyoro-Kitara to Benjamin and not to Asher. It might also said that the population of Ugandans are black Hebrews, that the bulk of present Ugandans and not Bantu as people have been made to believe. Nilotics is a geographical classification. It has nothing to do with biological classification. Nilotics simply means people who live along the Nile River or in the neighbourhood of the River Nile, and who do not speak the Bantu languages. And River Nile starts from west of Burundi and flows as River Kagera to its water reservoir Lake Victoria ( Nalubare or Ukerewe ).
The Great War
This sets a context for understanding the 1862-1899 war. It was between Britain, Belgium and Germany in the war of colonial conquest, 1862-1899. Queen Victoria specifically declared war against Kabalega as the Patriarch of Bunyoro-Kitara. The war was intended to capture both Kabaka (king) Mwanga and Omukama (king) Kabalega of Bunyoro-Kitara alias Buganda . The war that was fought in Buganda was not a civil war resulting from the religious differences between Catholics and Protestants or Christians against Islam. It was war between those who were supporting the government of the time led by Kabaka Mwanga and Kabalega and those who were supporting the colonial forces. The British, German and Belgium troops were directly involved in commanding the battles throughout against Bunyoro-Kitara. It is important to note that Catholics were divided. Those of the white fathers (French) supported the existing regime because France was supporting not only Mwanga and Kabalega but also Sudan and Ethiopia, etc. The Roman Catholics of Italian faith and those of the English Missionaries were against the existing order. In other wards, because Italy and Britain were fighting Sudan, Ethiopia and Bunyoro-Kitara they used their missionaries during that war, not civil war in Uganda then.
It is important to point out that the King of Ukerewe (Lake Victoria), King Lukongwe, the commander Gabrial and the Pokino, fought the war to the bitter end. And it is false to say that people who lived in the present Buganda betrayed the population of East Africa then. If anything, they suffered most because the national kings were all in the present Buganda. The Pokino / Katikiro (prime minister ) was fought by colonialists at the same [time] they were fighting King Luba in Busoga, because the two kings were senior Kings of Buganda, alias Bunyoro- Kitara. And it was the same war which was raging in the North against Kabaka Mwanga and Mukama Kabalega.
Kabaka Mwanga and Kabalega Kabalega [were] in the exile on the Seychelles island where they were taken by the British after a bitter defeat.
References
The Kingdom of Shua (Chwa)” which has its links to the peoples of Sudan, Ethiopia, down to Zimbabwe and Zambia, Azania etc. May be one will start by asking what the difference is between a Hamite and a Bantu and the etymology of those two words? And where such concepts are gotten from? Then one will start reading deep into the history that was never to be!
Ashe, Rev.R.P; Chronicles of Uganda, London , 1894.
,, ,, Two Kings of Uganda, London, 1899.
Baker, Sir S.W.; Ismailia, Vol. II, London, 1874.
,, ,, ; Albert Nyanza, Vol. 1, London 1886.
Dunbar, Ar.; European Travellers in Bunyoro-Kitara, 1862-1877. Uganda Journal, Vol. 23, No. 2, September, 1959: 101- 115.
Dunbar, A. R. The British and Bunyoro-Kitara , 1891-1899, Uganda Journal, Vol. 23, No. 2 September 1960: 299- 241.
Gray , Sir John Milner,; John Kirk and Muteesa, Uganda Journal , Vol. 15, No. 1, March 1951: 1-15
Gray , Sir John Milner Rwot O