Hehe
The Hehe (Wahehe) are an ethnic group in Tanzania .
Origin of the Hehe
The Hehe Society, whose main settlement is around the city of Iringa , was formed from a merger of several originally independent but related units that were united in the mid-19th century by Chief Munyigumba from the Muyinga dynasty. During this time they developed into the most important power factor in the region.
The Hehe under German colonial rule
Under Chief Mkwawa they long fiercely resisted the German colonial power. In 1891, in the battle near Rugaro , they succeeded in defeating a German military expedition under commander Emil von Zelewski , which made a lasting impression on the German public. It was not until October 1894 that they were forcibly subjugated by the German protection force under Friedrich von Schele . Chief Mkwawa waged a guerrilla war against the colonial power until 1898 , the end of which was the chief's suicide.
In the Maji Maji uprising (1905–1908), however, the Hehe behaved loyally to the Germans and provided auxiliary troops ( Rugaruga ).
language
The Kihehe, the language of the Hehe, belongs to the Bantu languages within the Niger-Congo languages . The number of speakers is estimated at 750,000 (1994).
literature
- Martin Baer and Olaf Schroeter: A head hunt. Germans in East Africa . Christoph Links Verlag, Berlin 2001, ISBN 3-86153-248-4 .
Individual evidence
- ^ Winfried Speitkamp: German Colonial History . Stuttgart: Reclam, 2005, p. 131, ISBN 3-15-017047-8 .
