FREEDOMS of BUNYORO-KITARA KINGDOM - Freedom of the Bunyoro-Kitara Kingdom

1.400.000 Inhabitants

Bunyoro is a kingdom of western Uganda and was one of the most powerful kingdoms of East Africa from the 16th-19th century. It is ruled by the Omukama of Bunyoro. The current ruler is Solomon Iguru I, 27th Omukama (king) of Bunyoro-Kitara.
The people of Bunyoro are also known as Nyoro or Banyoro (singular: Munyoro) (Banyoro means "People of Bunyoro"); the language spoken is Nyoro (also known as Runyoro). Traditional economies revolved around big game hunting of elephants, lions, leopards, and crocodiles, but are now agriculturalists who cultivate bananas, millet, cassava, yams, cotton, tobacco, coffee, and rice.

The kingdom of Bunyoro-Kitara was established following the collapse of the Empire of Kitara in the 16th century. The founders of Kitara were known as the Abatembuzi, a people who were later succeeded by the Abachwezi.

At its height, Bunyoro-Kitara controlled almost the entire region between Lake Victoria, Lake Edward, and Lake Albert. One of many small states in the Great Lakes region the earliest stories of the kingdom having great power come from the Rwanda area where there are tales of the Bunyoro raiding the region under a prince named Cwa around 1520. The power of Bunyoro then faded until the mid-seventeenth century when a long period of expansion began, with the empire dominating the region by the early eighteenth century.

Bunyoro rose to power by controlling a number of the holiest shrines in the region, the lucrative Kibiro saltworks of Lake Albert, and having the highest quality of metallurgy in the region. This made it the strongest military and economic power in the Great Lakes area.