The Banyankole people, also known as the Bahima and Bahororo, are an ethnic group residing primarily in the southwestern region of Uganda.
They’re a part of the larger Bantu ethnic group. The Banyankole are predominantly pastoralists and have a solid connection to cattle rearing, which forms a central part of their economy and way of life.
They had a hierarchical social structure, with the royal monarchy, known as the Ankole Kingdom, playing a significant role in their governance.
Here’s an overview of the Banyankole people.
The Banyankole Family Structure
A Banyankole household consists of a nuclear family or, in some cases, extended families.
A married man may decide to live with his parents, grandparents, brothers, sisters, nephews, and nieces in the same compound, forming an extended family.
They’d cook together and share different activities around the household.
The Banyankole Clans
Traditionally, the Banyankole are divided into three main patrilineal clans.
They include;
Abahinda (royal people)
Abasambo
Abagahe
The three main clans were divided into numerous subclans that had different functions. The Abahinda included herders, guards, princes, warriors, and those who performed various chores for the king.
The Banyankole Totems
The clans were totemic, and each had one or more totems. The Ankole were forbidden to eat the totems, be it a plant or animal.
For one, the Abahinda had two totems, Nkima (a small black-faced monkey) and Bulo (unhusked millet). The members of the Abahinda clan were not allowed to work magic or make medicine.
The Abasambo totem was called Epu. It’s unclear what it signifies, but it represents an animal resembling a Gazelle. The second totem of the clan is a house burnt down.
The Abagahe totem was Lubombo, a stripped cow. The clan members prohibited the milk and meat from a striped cow.
The Banyankole Subgroups
Culturally, the Ankole had two subgroups headed by the King.
They include the Bahima, who are pastoralists, and the Bairu, who are agriculturists.
The Banyankole Dialects
The Banyankole speak a Bantu language called Runyankole, a member of the Niger-Kordofanian group of language families.
The Banyankole Age Sets
Amongst the Ankole, no ceremony was performed for boys and girls at puberty. A boy was considered old enough to support himself and found himself a wife after that.
Girls, on the other hand, began to prepare for marriage at puberty.
The Banyankole Naming System
Naming among the Ankole was an important ceremony. It involved rituals in which relatives were gathered.
Children were named depending on the alleged wishes of ancestors, the mother and father's experience, the time the baby was born, the day/week and place of birth, or other circumstances.
However, being named after an ancestor was only practiced by the Bahima.
A father was the key player in the role of naming. After four months, if the child is male, he would hold him, dedicate two cows to the boy, and give him one of his ancestors' names.
A baby girl was made to sit by her mother and given the name of an ancestor. The baby was then taken outside, directed to look over kraals, and told that her wealth would come from there.
That signified the bride price she would receive when she became a woman ready to be married.
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The Banyankole Marriage/Courtship
Marriage among the Ankole was arranged. Parents would arrange a marriage for the children when they were still little.
The boy's father made arrangements with the girl’s parents, and if they agreed, he gave them one or two cows for her use.
The cows were not considered bride price but for the girl and her family's use.
Couples were allowed to marry from the same clan with the same primary totem but not the second or third totem.
The members of the three great clans of the tribe, the Abahinda, Abasambo, and Abagahe, might intermarry without further inquiry.
Still, within the clans, marriage between members of the sub-division was forbidden unless they differed in at least one totem.
More so, marriage was arranged without the knowledge of the girl. The boys' parents would arrange marriage and pay the bride price.
Traditionally, the eldest girl must be married before her sibling sisters. When a younger sister was betrothed, the girl’s parents would manipulate the issue and send the eldest girl to be married.
If the bridegroom was unsatisfied, he would pay more bride price to marry the younger sister.
The father was held responsible should the groom fail to pay the bride price for the younger sister.
On the wedding day, the girl would be accompanied by her aunt. Culturally, the aunt would first sleep with the groom before the bride was allowed to sleep with her husband.
It was tradition for the aunt to prove the potency of the groom by watching and listening to the sexual intercourse between the groom and her niece. Ankole girls were required to remain virgins until the wedding night when the aunt would confirm.
Fathers were responsible for finding wives for their sons, and payment of bridewealth included goats, cows, sheep, and pots of beer, depending on the wealth of the groom’s family.
The marriage ceremony was marked by a feast at the groom's and bride's homes. That’s after the bride’s aunt has “tested” her niece’s purity and slept with the groom to check his potency.
Polygamy
Customarily, the Ankole practiced monogamy. However, polygamy was permissible. Wealthy men were the ones considered able to marry many wives.
They could afford the bride price for the many wives. Another reason for polygamy was when a wife could not bear children or only sired one gender.
Gender Roles in Marriage
Male dominance and female subordination were key among the Ankole. Therefore, gender roles were clearly defined.
Women were supposed to do all farm work and domestic household chores.
Men determined the amount of land access for farming and the type of crops to be grown.
Women are not allowed to speak in public. They were supposed to do domestic issues, such as raising children and preparing and cooking food, while men dominated the public sphere.
Single Mothers, Widows, and Widowers
The levirate marriage occurred when a woman became the wife of her deceased husband's brother.
This custom was to keep widows recognized as an integral part of the extended family.
If a girl erred and found herself pregnant, she’d sought her mother's assistance for an abortion.
Single mothers were despised in the community and could not be married to any man. Widowers had the option to marry another wife to sire children for the continuity of the family.
Divorce
Divorce was only an option if a wife failed to sire kids or gave birth to only girls. A man would get divorced to marry another woman to give birth to a son and other kids.
The divorced woman would either return to her home or live with a man who could not afford to pay the bride price.
Inheritance
Women couldn’t inherit property among the Ankole people. However, their sons were considered heirs to their father’s wealth. The sons would then care for their mother and unmarried sisters.
Death
People wept publicly when a person died in the Ankole community to show their grief.
The deceased's family shaved their heads as a symbol of mourning. Among the Bahima, cows or bulls from the dead man’s herd were slaughtered for the meals for the funeral.
Occasionally, widows of a dead man committed suicide by hanging or poison to express their grief.
Kings and leaders also ended their lives with poison if they thought their powers were waning.
Fires in the royal compound were extinguished at his death, and the royal drum was covered.
All work stopped throughout the kingdom, and all people had their heads shaved. Mugabe's dead body was put on a cow's skin and later transported to a forest where the royal tombs are located.
The ghosts of kings, however, did not remain spirits but entered into lions.
When a lion became dangerous, a medicine man had to be consulted before any steps could be taken to eliminate it.
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