The Bachwezi, Emandwa and Nyabingi of Western Uganda

Legend first, evidence second

Stories of the Bachwezi are among the most famous in the Great Lakes region. They come from oral tradition, and historians disagree on how much is history and how much is myth. On this page, “in legend” means oral tradition, and we mark where archaeology adds something.

The Bachwezi in legend

In legend, the Cwezi were the second ruling dynasty of Kitara, a great kingdom covering much of western Uganda, after the earlier Batembuzi. The story says a supernatural figure, Isimbwa, married Nyinamwiru, daughter of King Bukuku, and their son Karubumbi took the title Ndahura and founded the Cwezi line. He was followed by Wamara. Other famous Cwezi names include Mulindwa and Mugasha.

Tradition says the first capital was at Mubende and a later one at Bigo bya Mugenyi. In the end, the Cwezi are said to have disappeared from the earth, and the Babiito dynasty took power in Bunyoro. After disappearing, the Cwezi came to be honoured as spirits.

What archaeology says

Bigo bya Mugenyi, on the Katonga River, is a real and very large earthwork: ditches more than 10 km long, enclosing over 300 hectares. Excavations in 1960 and the 1990s dated it to roughly AD 1300–1500. Archaeologists say the link between Bigo and the Cwezi legend remains unproven. We do not know for certain who built it. Some now think parts of the ditches kept elephants away from crops, rather than enemies.

Kubandwa and emandwa

Kubandwa is spirit mediumship: a medium is believed to become a vessel for a spirit, and through them the spirit speaks, heals or gives guidance. The Cwezi are venerated as spirits by peoples of the old Kitara region, and mediumship involving them is documented in south-western Uganda.

In the south-west, people speak of several kinds of possessing spirits. A 2014 study in Mbarara, Bushenyi and Ntungamo grouped them as:

• omuzimu: ancestral spirits of the family;
• emandwa: described as benevolent guardian spirits of lineage groups, or by healers as “messenger spirits” ranking between the Bachwezi and the ancestors;
• bachwezi: described as demi-gods, the highest category.

The researchers found that Bachwezi possession often reminded people of their cultural roots and lineage, and urged them to revive rituals. They recommended collaboration with traditional healers in mental health care.

Older roots?

Some researchers connect Cwezi veneration with early iron-working communities, pointing to shrines that contain iron tools and anvils. This is a scholarly interpretation, not settled fact. In the 2014 south-western Uganda study, about a quarter of the possessed patients (26%) named the Bachwezi as the spirits involved, which shows how present these traditions still are in people’s lives.

Nyabingi

Nyabingi (also Nyabinghi) is a female spirit honoured in south-western Uganda (Kigezi) and northern Rwanda, the area of the former Ndorwa kingdom. In tradition she was a woman whose name means something like “the one who possesses many things”. One anthropologist dates the start of her cult to about 1750–1800. Her mediums spoke for her on behalf of believers.

Nyabingi is also part of colonial history. A woman named Muhumuza, who claimed to be possessed by Nyabingi, led resistance in the early 1900s. She was captured in 1913, but Nyabingi-inspired resistance continued. Ugandan writers link the colonial witchcraft laws partly to the Nyabingi movement in Kigezi between 1912 and 1921. See the Witchcraft Act. Through a 1930s newspaper story, the name later travelled to Jamaica, where “Nyabinghi” became part of Rastafari.

Respectful understanding

• These are living religious traditions for some families, not just stories.
• Legends are presented here as legends. Where a claim is historical, we say what evidence supports it.
• Spirit mediumship can bring comfort and meaning. Serious physical or mental illness also needs a health worker. See traditional healer or hospital.

Compare with Buganda’s Lubaale spirits.