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A Survey of Interlacustrine Chronology

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 January 2009

D. W. Cohen
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Extract

The character and quality of the available evidence on the pre-colonial history of the Interlacustrine region of East Africa limit the possibilities of applying any more than roughly estimated dates or eras to events and persons of the region's pre-colonial past. By pooling and comparing the available chronological evidence (genealogies and tie-ins) relating to the dynastic units of the region, one has the means to test the accuracy of the genealogical evidence as well as the evidence linking rulers in one dynasty with rulers in others. Such pooling permits a closer examination of the ‘average dynastic generation’ which is the most useful chronological measurement for the region's past and which is the basis for the existing chronological constructions. With the available eclipse and carbon dates, it is possible to build a reasonably estimated core chronology for the region on the basis of the average dynastic generation. This core chronology may be extended to include states and dynasties—such as those in Busoga—which are connected to the core through tie-ins but for which no eclipse or carbon dates are available. The ‘average dynastic generation’ is not a useful chronological measurement in those Soga states which are marked by extended fraternal and collateral succession. By working through the tie-ins which suggest contemporaneity between certain Soga rulers and rulers in the Interlacustrine core dynasties (particularly Buganda), it is possible to extend the central chronology, and therefore credibly estimated dates or eras, to events and persons throughout Busoga.

Type
Articles
Information
The Journal of African History , Volume 11 , Issue 2 , April 1970 , pp. 177 - 199
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1970

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References

1 London, 1965.

2 In cultures having a cyclical concept of time, chronological analysis is virtually impossible.

3 Other systems might include regular initiation rites, astronomical events, climatic events and famines.

4 This study, including field work 1966–7, was assisted by a grant from the Central Research Fund, London University, and by a Post-Graduate Exhibition from the School of Oriental and African Studies.

5 The limitations of the first study, primarily the inability to control the reliability of the evidence, were to some extent mitigated in the second study, in which I undertook the collection of the body of tradition myself.

6 See map of the region.

7 As well, there were a number of small states such as those within Busoga which have not been included in this paper because they would add nothing to the larger chronological picture of the Interlacustrine zone, and the presence of an additional seventy units would needlessly congest the survey. Some of these omitted units are considered in the study of Soga chronology below. The information on Burundi, Bushi and Buha has been provided by Professor Jan Vansina.

8 Each name is accompanied by a generation number for the dynastic unit from which it is drawn. An approximate baseline of 1900 is used.

9 Vansina notes the importance of the Biharwe eclipse. The son of Olimi invaded Rwanda, whose king fled to Bushi, where there was already a kingdom. The eclipse can therefore establish a date for Rwanda history and a date ante quem for the foundation of Bushi, which in itself establishes a date ante quem for the presence of the large Lega group in Maniema.

10 Posnansky, M., ‘Kingship, archaeology and myth’, Uganda Journal, XXX, no. 2 (1966), pp. 4–6.Google Scholar

11 Oliver, R., ‘Ancient capital sites of Ankole’, Uganda Journal, XXIII, no. 2 (1959), pp. 51–63;Google Scholar and ‘The royal tombs of Buganda’, Uganda Journal, XXIII, no. 2 ( 1959), pp. 124–33.Google Scholar

12 The traditions surrounding 1·1 and 9·1 have generated considerable dispute among historians of Interlacustrine history. Revolving around the relationship between the founders of the Ganda and Nyoro dynasties, the problem should no doubt receive still more consideration. One of the keys seems to be the absence of a thorough piece of research on Nyoro history.

13 This is the outstanding pattern in Buganda. There were, however, several evident aberrations in this pattern, and there were probably a few aberrations which are not evident. But these deviations from the ideal or normal pattern of primogeniture in succession to the throne do not alter the chronological pattern to any great extent.

14 The drift is evident in both royal and comrnoner genealogies. We can see this drift taking place in the genealogy of the abaiseMusuubo clan, where the elder lineages are some four or five generations longer than the most junior lineages, though they are all credibly traced back to common antecedents.

15 The tie-in numbers followed a numeration system different from that used in the Interlacustrine survey.

16 I must acknowledge the helpful advice and criticism of Mr R. Levy and Mr C. Freebrey on this scheme of synthesizing the mass of tie-in data and constructing a comprehensive chronology.

17 Most tie-ins were drawn from collected data previously evaluated and considered credible. This is the material in my archive, Collected Texts, Busoga Traditional History. A number of tie-ins were drawn from published and unpublished Ganda and Nyoro sources.

18 See Fig. 4. I carried this particular construction back only to I 710 ± 32 years (according to the average generation estimate for Buganda). This is the period of extensive correlation among the dynasties. Also, some seven dynasties of the fourteen considered here go back no further than this.