Kinjikitile Ngwale
Kinjikitile "Bokero" Ngwale (died August 4, 1905) was a Tanzanian spiritual medium and a leader of the 1905–1907 Maji Maji Rebellion against colonial rule in German East Africa (present day Tanzania).
Biography[]
Kinjikitile was a member of the Matumbi people, living in what is now Tanzania (then German East Africa, later Tanganyika). The Matumbi practiced religious forms of folk Islam. In 1904, the then relatively unknown Kinjikitile disappeared from his home in . He returned after a few days and said that he had been possessed by a spirit medium called Hongo, believed to take the form of a snake.[1][2][3] Kinjikitile claimed to have communicated with the deity through the spirit Hongo.[2] He encouraged his followers to overlook tribal differences and unite against the Germans.[4] He told his followers that their ancestors had commanded him to lead a rebellion against the German colonial empire.[2] This helped start the Maji Maji Rebellion.[2] Kinjikitile gave his people 'holy water' ("maji") to protect them from German bullets.[2][3] After a group of Matumbi people attacked the home of a local official in July, 1905, Kinjikitile was arrested by German troops.[5]
He was hanged for treason on August 4, 1905.[4][5] His brother continued in Kinjikitile's work and the rebellion continued until 1907, with over 100,000 local people killed.[6] Present-day Tanzanians consider the failed rebellion to have been the first stirring of nationalism, and Kinjikitile "Bokero" Ngwale a proto-national hero.[4]
Legacy in literature[]
Tanzanian playwright Ebrahim Hussein wrote a popular play in Swahili language called Kinjeketile, based on the Maji Maji Rebellion.[7]
References[]
- ^ Hoehler-Fatton, Cynthia (1996). Women of Fire and Spirit. Oxford University Press US. p. 73. ISBN 0-19-509790-4.
- ^ Jump up to: a b c d e Jestice, Phyllis G. (2004). Holy People of the World: A Cross-Cultural Encyclopedia. ABC-CLIO. p. 480. ISBN 1-57607-355-6.
- ^ Jump up to: a b "The Story of Africa - Religious Resistance". BBC World Service. Retrieved 2008-03-24.
- ^ Jump up to: a b c Mwakikagile, Godfrey (2000). Africa and the West. Nova Publishers. p. 70. ISBN 1-56072-840-X.
- ^ Jump up to: a b Roupp, Heidi (1997). Teaching World History: A Resource Book. M.E. Sharpe. p. 229. ISBN 1-56324-420-9.
- ^ Boahen, A. Adu (1990). Africa Under Colonial Domination, 1880-1935. James Currey Publishers. p. 80. ISBN 0-85255-097-9.
- ^ Ricard, Alain (1992). "Ebrahim's Predicament". Research in African Literatures. 23 (1): 175–178. ISSN 0034-5210.
Further reading[]
- Petraitis, Richard. "Bullets into Water: The Sorcerers of Africa". REALL. Retrieved 2008-03-09.
- Iliffe, John (1979). Modern History of Tanganyika. Cambridge University Press. pp. 168–172. ISBN 0-521-29611-0.
- 1905 deaths
- Executed Tanzanian people
- People executed by the German Empire
- People executed for treason against Germany
- People executed by Germany by hanging
- 20th-century executions by Germany