Mirambo

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Mirambo towards the end of his life

Mirambo (actually Mytela Kasanda , approx. 1840-1884) was a warlord in the Nyamwezi area in Central Tanganyika who was able to bring large parts of Central East Africa under his control in the second half of the 19th century.

The expansion of Mirambo's sphere of influence around 1880.

Mirambo was born into the family of a political leader in Uyowa and probably rose to this position himself after the death of his father around 1860. He started his political career as a caravan trader between central Tanganyika and the Swahili coast, trading in the most profitable goods of the time, ivory and slaves . He acquired large quantities of firearms and money by trading with European and Swahili dealers. He put this into building armies, which consisted mainly of orphans and young people and became known as Rugaruga . He made use of the war tactics and organizational structures of the militarily experienced Nguni , who immigrated in waves from southern Africa to what is now Tanganyika in the first half of the 19th century.

In several campaigns he succeeded in bringing a large area between Lake Victoria , Lake Tanganyika and Central Tanganyika under his control. With this, Mirambo had created a large Nyamwezi empire of a size that had never existed before among the stateless societies of this region. Mirambo controlled large parts of the caravan routes from the coast to Buganda and the Congo Basin and became a major military and economic player in the interregional caravan trade in East Africa . This also made him an opponent of the Zanzibari traders in Tabora , who were anxious to keep the trade in central Tanganyika under their control.

literature

  • Norman Robert Bennet, Mirambo of Tanzania, approx. 1840–1884, Oxford 1971.
  • Richard Reid, Mutesa and Mirambo: Thoughts on East African Warfare and Diplomacy in the Nineteenth Century, The International Journal of African Historical Studies, Vol. 31 (1998), 1.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ John Iliffe ; A Modern History of Tanganyika, Cambridge 1979, pp. 25ff.
  2. ^ Norman Bennett, Mirambo of Tanzania, 1840? -1884, New York 1971.
personal data
SURNAME Mirambo
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Kasanda, Mytela (real name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Warlord in the Nyamwezi area in central Tanganyika
DATE OF BIRTH around 1840
DATE OF DEATH around 1884