Ankole

Ankole (Runyankore: Nkore), was a traditional Bantu kingdom in Uganda. The kingdom is located in south-western Uganda, east of Lake Edward. It was ruled by a monarch known as the Mugabe or Omugabe. The kingdom was formally abolished in 1967 by the government of President Milton Obote, and since then, the kingdom has not been restored officially.[2] The people of Ankole are called Banyankole (singular: Munyankole) in Runyankole language, a Bantu language.

For the cattle breeds, see Ankole-Watusi and Ankole (cattle).
Kingdom of Ankole

15th century–1967
Flag
Location of Ankole (red) in Uganda (pink).
StatusKingdom
CapitalMbarara[1]
Ethnic groups
Banyankole
GovernmentMonarchy
Omugabe (King) 
History 
• Established
15th century
• Disestablished
1967

On 25 October 1901, the Kingdom of Nkore was incorporated into the British Protectorate of Uganda by the signing of the Ankole agreement.[3]

Because of the reorganisation of the country by Idi Amin, Ankole no longer exists as an administrative unit. It is divided into ten districts, namely: Bushenyi District, Buhweju District, Mitooma District, Rubirizi District, Sheema District, Ntungamo District, Mbarara District, Kiruhura District, Ibanda District, and Isingiro District.

Counties of Nkore (Amashaza)

Nkore Kingdom was divided into ten counties. These counties are now divided into various political constituencies. But the original ten counties of Nkore include:

  • Kashari
  • Isingiro
  • Rwampara
  • Nyabushozi
  • Ibanda
  • Sheema
  • Kajjara
  • Bunyaruguru
  • Igara
  • Buhweju

Nkore calendar

The Nkore calendar was divided into 12 months. They were named according to weather conditions and activities done in that period. They include

  • Biruuru
  • Kaata (Katambuga)
  • Nyaikoma
  • Kyabahezi
  • Kahingo
  • Nyirirwe
  • Kicuransi
  • Katumba
  • Musenene
  • Muzimbezi

References
  1. Briggs, Philip; Roberts, Andrew. Uganda. Bradt Travel Guides. p. 534. ISBN 9781784770228. Retrieved 29 December 2016.
  2. The Observer Media Ltd. :: The Weekly Observer :: Uganda's Top Resource site Archived 3 December 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  3. The Ankole Agreement 1901

 This article incorporates public domain material from the Library of Congress Country Studies website http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/.

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.