Just like the Chwezi who were believed to have had oblong shaped heads, one African writer, claims that Kintu who is recognised by the Banyoro as the first king of the Batembuzi, and the Baganda as the first person on earth, had an oblong shaped head. The African writer claims that that is why he was called Kintu which means ‘thing’ in Luganda. The Batembuzi reign was from 1100 to 1500 and they are believed to have been gods coming from heaven. The same African writer believes that the Batembuzi and the Chwezi Kings ruled for hundreds or thousands of years because they had age defying DNAs.
It is said that Kato Kintu, the first
king of Buganda named himself ‘Kintu’ after the first person on earth according
to Buganda mythology. There are about four theories as to the origin of
Kintu. One theory claims that he was
born in Bukasa Village in the Ssese Islands, which were known as the islands of
the gods. The other three versions hold
a different story about Kintu and where he came from.
The Lion (Mpologoma) clan is believed
to have begun with Kintu and his son after the two ate lion meat and fell
sick. This made them put themselves
under an oath, declaring that they and their descendants would never eat lion
meat.
Although Kato Kintu came from the
Mpologoma clan, today, this clan is not officially recognised as the royal
clan. One is counted a royal if they are direct descendants of Kimera who is
claimed to have been the third king of Buganda. However, according to the
Banyoro, Kimera was Kato Kintu and was the twin brother of their King Isingoma
Rukidi Mpuga and so they regard him as the first king of Buganda and not the
third.
As a result of the royal link between
the Mpologoma clan and Kato Kintu, many members of this clan were
persecuted. This led to some of them
fleeing to Bunyoro and some parts of Buddu.
Others hid themselves under other clans. My maternal maternal great grandfather
was one such person.
During the reign of Ssekabaka
Kateregga from 1644 – 1674, four hundred members of the Ngo (leopard) clan were
killed because of their royal links and eligibility to the throne. This is
because the Ngo clan was one of the 13 clans that came with Kintu to Buganda.
This oppression continued during the reign of Ssekabaka Jjunju from 1780-1797.
I once read about the Basimba or Bashimba of the leopard clan on Wikipedia, where it is mentioned that Basimba is a Kiswahili word meaning big lion and that the Basimba of the Leopard Clan means (The Big Lion Clan of the Leopard Totem). Today, the Basimba live in the Northern, Luapula Valley and Copper Belt Provinces of Zambia, Mwanza Region, northern Tanzania, northern Zimbabwe, eastern Uganda among the Bagwere and Haiti. They claim to have come from the kingdoms of Luba and Lunda which was found in what is now the Katanga Province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
After I learnt that the Basimba people
found among the Lungu and Bemba of Zambia and the DRC speak a language that is
similar to the Haya language (in Tanzania), Luganda and Lugwere (in Uganda), I
became interested in listening to various Zambian YouTubers who spoke
Bemba. I was struck by the similarities
between Bemba, Luhya, Kiswahili and a bit of Luganda. In fact, I noticed the
same similarities in many other Southern Bantu languages. (By the way, the Luhya
language is closely related to my late father’s Gishu or Lumasaaba
language). This similarity made me wonder
whether the people in Buganda once spoke Luhya or rather, the Luganda language
evolved from Luhya to what it is now.
Here are some examples that I found on the internet:
In the Nyanja language of Zambia & Malawi:
‘What is your name?’ - ‘Dzina lanu ndani?/Dzina lanu ndi yani?’ – In Kiswahili ‘Jina lako ni nani?’
‘See you later/We shall meet’ – ‘Tionana’ - In Kiswahili ‘Tutaonana.’
‘Night’ - ‘usiku’ just like in Kiswahili.
In the Bemba language of Zambia:
‘Ishina lyandi ni’ - ‘My name is’ - in
Lugisu, ‘Lisina lyase.’
‘Nga’ - ‘like/as’ and this is the same word used in Luganda.
‘Iwe’ - ‘you’ just like in Kiswahili and it is similar to the Luganda ‘gwe.’
‘Isa kuno’ - come here - in Lumasaaba ‘Itsa hano.’
In the Sotho language of Lesotho & South Africa:
‘Ntate’ - ‘father’ which is akin to the
Luganda ‘Taata.’
‘O dula kae?’ - ‘where do you live?’ This is close to the Luganda ‘Osula wa?’
‘Se lebale’ - ‘don’t forget’. This almost sounds like the Luganda ‘towelabila.’
In the Tonga language of Zambia & Zimbabwe:
‘Chakulya’ - ‘food.’ Except for the spelling, this is identical with the Luganda ‘kyakulya’ and related to the Kiswahili ‘chakula.’
‘Atwende’ - ‘let’s go.’ In Kiswahili - ‘twende’ and Luganda - ‘tugende.’
‘Banakazi’ – ‘women.’ This sounds a lot like the Luganda ‘abakazi.’
‘Meso’ - ‘eyes.’ In Luganda - ‘amaaso’ and Kiswahili - ‘macho.’
‘Seka’ - ‘laugh.’ This is the exact word used in Luganda and is close to the Kiswahili ‘cheka.’
In the Tswana language of Botswana & South Africa:
‘Gana/gannê - ‘refuse’ which is much the
same as the Luganda ‘gaana.’
‘Lwala/lwetse’ - sick, just like the Luganda ‘lwala.’
‘Bolêla/boletse’ - ‘tell.’ No different from the Luhya ‘bolela.’
‘Leba’ - ‘look’ which is close to the Luganda ‘laba.’
‘Botsa’ - ‘ask.’ In Luganda - ‘buza.’
‘Batsadi’ - ‘parents’ which almost sounds like the Luganda ‘bazade.’
In the Xhosa language of South Africa:
‘Ndiyeke!’ - ‘leave me alone!’ In Luganda - ‘ndeka!’
