Antecedents to Modern Rwanda: The Nyiginya Kingdom (Africa and the Diaspora: History, Politics, Culture)

To understand the genocide and other dramatic events of Rwanda’s recent past, one must understand the history of the earlier realm. Jan Vansina provides a critique of the history recorded by early missionaries and court historians and provides a bottom-up view, drawing on hundreds of grassroots narratives. He describes the genesis of the Hutu and Tutsi identities, their growing social and political differences, their bitter feuds, revolts, and massacres, and the relevance of this dramatic history to the post-genocide Rwanda of today. 2001 French edition, Katharla Publishers The Oral Sources -- 1. Central Rwanda On The Eve Of The Emergence Of The Kingdom -- The Country And Its Inhabitants -- Fields And Herds: Subsistence Activities -- Kinship And Society -- Polities -- 2. The Rwanda Of Ndori -- The Foundation Of The Kingdom -- Subsequent Military Campaigns: Conquest Or Raids? -- Government: The Ritual Institutions -- Instruments Of Government: The Corporations -- The Realm -- 3. Toward The Centralization Of Power -- The Seizure Of The Herds And The Land -- The Armies -- At The Hub: Court, King, And Elites -- The Recasting Of Royal Ideology During Rejugira's Reign -- The Weight Of The State -- 4. Government In The Eighteenth Century -- Government From Gisanura To Rwaka -- Government Under Rujugira And Ndabarasa -- Foreign Relations Under Gisanura And Mazimpaka -- Foreign Relations Under Rujugira And Ndabarasa -- 5. Social Transformations In The Nineteenth Century -- The Transformations Of Society -- Hutu And Tutsi -- 6. The Triumph Of The Great Families And Its Consequences -- Civil War And The Supremacy Of The Elites -- Struggles For Power At Gahindiro's And Rwogera's Courts -- Expansion Of The Kingdom Eastward And International Trade -- A Spontaneous Expansion Toward Lake Kivu And The Land Of The Volcanoes? -- 7. Nightmares: The Age Of Rwabugiri (1867-1897) -- Political Crisis And Wars From 1867-1889 -- Isolation Breached And The Hatching Of A Coup D'etat -- The Nightmare Of Violence Used As A Political Tool -- A Balance Sheet -- History And The Present. Jan Vansina ; Translated By The Author. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 301-311) And Index. Frontmatter Maps (page vii) Preface (page ix) Acknowledgments (page xi) Note on Spelling (page xiii) Introduction (page 3) The Oral Sources (page 5) 1 Central Rwanda on the Eve of the Emergence of the Kingdom (page 14) 2 The Rwanda of Ndori (page 44) 3 Toward the Centralization of Power (page 67) 4 Government in the Eighteenth Century (page 99) 5 Social Transformations in the Nineteenth Century (page 126) 6 The Triumph of the Great Families and Its Consequences (page 140) 7 Nightmares: The Age of Rwabugiri (1867-1897) (page 164) In Conclusion: History and the Present (page 196) Appendix 1: Chronology (page 207) Appendix 2: Predynastic Fairy Tales: Central Rwanda before Ndori (page 217) Notes (page 221) Works Cited (page 301) Index (page 313)