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80-469: Historically, there have been five ethnic groups, all of which referring to themselves as Wanyamwezi to outsiders: Kimbu , Konongo , Nyamwezi, Sukuma , and Sumbwa , who were never united. All groups normally merged have broadly similar cultures, but it is an oversimplification to view them as a single group. The Nyamwezi have close ties with the Sukuma and are believed to have been one ethnic group up until

160-642: A Tanzanian ethnicity is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . German East Africa German East Africa ( GEA ; German : Deutsch-Ostafrika ) was a German colony in the African Great Lakes region, which included present-day Burundi , Rwanda , the Tanzania mainland, and the Kionga Triangle , a small region later incorporated into Mozambique . GEA's area was 994,996 km (384,170 sq mi), which

240-494: A British force, which was more than eight times larger. Lettow-Vorbeck's guerrilla warfare compelled Britain to commit significant resources to a minor colonial theatre throughout the war and inflicted more than 10,000 casualties. Eventually, the weight of numbers, especially after forces coming from the Belgian Congo had attacked from the west ( Battle of Tabora ), and dwindling supplies forced Lettow-Vorbeck to abandon

320-519: A chiefdom, and it was not unusual for slaves to acquire positions of great influence and power. Even though slave trading and raiding outside of Unyamwezi was considerable, some people became slaves as a result of debt. Before the 19th century, slavery was tolerated but looked down upon by the Nyamwezi. During the social and economic changes of the 19th century, the attitude changed, and the slave trade increased steadily. The ivory trade greatly increased

400-607: A chiefdom. As late as 1906, Karl Weule, a German ethnolonogist had the following to say; "Even European caravans had their porters expect to receive food and drink from native villages they passed through" After the Germans were removed from Tabora during World War I , the British took over in 1919 and ruled until the Tanzanian independence of 1961. To combat sleeping sickness , many people were moved into new villages free from

480-543: A decrease in elephant population, which combined with the increased trade in slaves, led to large changes in the social and economic conditions. Nyamwezi staple food has historically been ugali , a porridge made from hominy and served with meat and vegetables. Beer made from fermented corn, sorghum , or millet was also common. Goats were used for ancestor sacrifices, but the economic value of goats and sheep lay in their meat and skins. By tradition five goats or sheep equated one bull; two bulls were worth one cow. Their year

560-421: A famine to crush the resistance. It may have cost as many 300,000 lives. Scandal followed with allegations of corruption and brutality. In 1907, Chancellor Bernhard von Bülow appointed Bernhard Dernburg to reform the colonial administration. German colonial administrators relied heavily on native chiefs to keep order and collect taxes. By 1 January 1914, not including local police, the military garrisons of

640-626: A fortress around the Nyanyembe royal courts in Itetemia. It was a purpose built defence stronghold to keep invaders at bay. Built with thick walls built with stones and mud mortar, strengthened with fire. The walls were approximately three feet in width and ten feet in height. At the top of the walls holes were curved strategically designed for ruga-ruga snipers to place weapons in defence of the fortress base. Unlike Isike's contemporaries Mirambo and Nyungu-ya-Mawe (Isike's cousin) who participated in

720-508: A greater conflict between Unyanyembe and Ulyankhulu in 1860. The result of the conflict was that Mkasiwa gained the throne of Unyanyembe. In 1871 Unyanyembe was involved in another war, this time against Urambo, which at this time was ruled by the slaver and ivory trader known as Mirambo . 1873 the Urambo forces blockaded the ivory trade from Tabora resulting in the price of ivory rising globally. The war lasted until Mirambo's death in 1884. In

800-418: A headman could insist upon other holdings. Water was free to all. The Nyamwezi were highly religious with ntemi as their ritual, religious, leader and priest. Elephant hunters have historically been one of the most prestigious occupations among the Nyamwezi, since the elephant hunters could get very rich from ivory trade. The elephant hunters were organised in a guild, which only accepted those who could pass

880-651: A large African workforce, but employment conditions were often poor, not to say life-threatening. Local German officials frequently colluded with European landowners in forcing Africans to work on the plantations, although the government in Berlin had banned any form of forced labour. The various labour ordinances promulgated in Dar es Salaam were largely ignored in the interior. The social and economic impacts of large-scale labour migration on "labour reservoirs" such as Unyamwezi and Usukuma were often devastating. Beginning in 1888

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960-502: A makeshift British and Belgian flotilla and the Reichsheer garrison at Bismarckburg (modern-day Kasanga ). The Supreme Council of the 1919 Paris Peace Conference awarded all of German East Africa (GEA) to Britain on 7 May 1919, over the strenuous objections of Belgium. The British colonial secretary , Alfred Milner , and Belgium's minister plenipotentiary to the conference, Pierre Orts  [ fr ] , then negotiated

1040-591: A strenuous task. It would have taken the Germans longer to defeat Isike's resolve. Only Isike's brother Swetu openly continued to resist in the periphery. When Isike's Itetemia fortress fell in the German's hands, his brother Swetu retreated into the miyombo forest terrain with the remaining faithful ruga-ruga platoons. Swetu launched sporadic guerrilla attacks against the German invaders for about two years. However, Swetu's guerrilla tactics were not as organized as Mkwawa's. The German's military effort focused on Mkwawa after

1120-580: A traditional religion, despite conversion attempts by Islam and Christianity. They believe in a powerful god called Likube (High God), Limatunda (Creator), Limi (the Sun) and Liwelolo (the Universe), but ancestor worship is a more frequent daily practice. Offerings of sheep or goats are made to ancestors, and the help of Likube is invoked beforehand. Spirits also play an active role in Nyamwezi religious life, with mfumu , witchdoctors , or diviners, playing

1200-467: A while, such as "Udjidji" for Ujiji and "Kilimandscharo" for Mount Kilimanjaro , "Kleinaruscha" for Arusha-Chini and "Neu-Moschi" for the city now known as Moshi . ( Kigoma was known for a time as "Rutschugi".) Many places were given African names or had their previous names reestablished: The Imperial High Commissioners ( German : Reichskommissar ) and Imperial Governors ( German : Kaiserlicher Gouverneur ) of German East Africa: In 1914,

1280-418: A widow (a kind of "widows and orphans" security system), although it was not done against her will. Among some, inheritance of a widow by her husband's sister's son was particularly favored. It had always been part or the Nyamwezi system for the chief to receive tribute, bring success and prosperity to the people, and play an active role in ceremonies. All land was said to have belonged to the chief and he had

1360-402: Is divided into two seasons, wet and dry, with considerable variation depending on time and place. In addition to agriculture, crafts were a part-time occupation and were not hereditary. Regionally traded products of importance were drums, ladles, stools, storage boxes for grain, and snuffboxes of horn. Iron and cloth were very important in regional networks, but the cloth industry in particular

1440-591: Is located in the interior of Nyamwezi land. There, they met stiff resistance from Isike the Unyanyembe hereditary ruler. Isike was the only leader in Nyamweziland who was prepared to defend his country to the last drop of blood. According to European intelligence and correspondence information provided by missionaries and explorers, Isike was on top the German list of serious opponents of the Europeans. With

1520-521: Is still called "Greater Unyamwezi", about 35,000 square miles (91,000 km) of rolling land at an elevation of about 4,000 feet (1,200 m). According to oral tradition , the Nyamwezi are thought to have settled in west central Tanzania (their present location) some time in the 17th century. The earliest evidence comes from the Galahansa , and confirms their presence there in the late 17th century. They were once fishermen and nomadic farmers due to

1600-581: The Schutztruppen (protective troops) in Dar es Salaam, Moshi , Iringa , and Mahenge numbered 110 German officers (including 42 medical officers), 126 non-commissioned officers, and 2,472 Askari (native enlisted men). Germans promoted commerce and economic growth. Over 100,000 acres (40,000 ha) were put under sisal cultivation which was the largest cash crop. Two million coffee trees were planted, rubber trees grew on 200,000 acres (81,000 ha), and there were large cotton plantations. In

1680-702: The Usambara Railway was built from Tanga to Moshi to bring these agricultural products to market. The Central Railroad covered 775 mi (1,247 km) and linked Dar es Salaam, Morogoro , Tabora , and Kigoma . The final link to the eastern shore of Lake Tanganyika was completed in July 1914 and was cause for a huge and festive celebration in the capital with an agricultural fair and trade exhibition. Harbor facilities were built or improved with electrical cranes, with rail access and warehouses. Wharves were remodeled at Tanga, Bagamoyo, and Lindi . After 1891,

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1760-458: The 19th century, settlements were described as typically large, compact, and fortified for defense with strong wooden stockades, often in high inaccessible rocky places. When the Germans finally imposed peace, the population did not immediately disperse, but slowly, over a fifty-year period, the modern pattern of scattered settlements emerged. German colonialists controlling Tanzania from the late 19th century (calling it German East Africa ), found

1840-409: The 19th century, they were already recognized as large slave-owners and were famous for their herds. While cattle were important, their care was not part of tribal life. The Nyamwezi often hired professional herdsmen, the immigrant Tutsi , to care for their cattle herds. In the early 1800s, there were a number of Nyamwezi kingdoms, such as Unyanyembe , Ulyankhulu and Urambo . Unyanyembe was perhaps

1920-498: The 19th century. They could be considered an acquisitive society, often accused of thinking of nothing but how to earn money. The Nyamwezi had long been a settled agricultural and cattle-owning people, arriving on the western plateau in the 16th century, and originally living in a mosaic of small and independent chiefdoms slowly carved out by ruling dynasties. According to a Catholic missionary , these may have numbered over 150, each with its own councilors, elders, and court slaves. In

2000-737: The Anglo-Belgian agreement of 30 May 1919 where Britain ceded the north-western GEA districts of Ruanda and Urundi to Belgium. The conference's Commission on Mandates ratified this agreement on 16 July 1919. The Supreme Council accepted the agreement on 7 August 1919. On 12 July 1919, the Commission on Mandates agreed that the small Kionga Triangle south of the Rovuma River would be given to Portugal ; it eventually became part of independent Mozambique . The commission reasoned that Germany had virtually forced Portugal to cede

2080-629: The German Empire, there were more than 7.5 million locals. About 30% were Muslim and the remainder belonged to various tribal beliefs or Christian converts, compared to around 10,000 Europeans, who resided mainly in coastal locations and official residences. In 1913, only 882 German farmers and planters lived in the colony. Approximately 70,000 Africans worked on the plantations of GEA. General Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck had served in German South West Africa and Kamerun . He led

2160-410: The German colonial administration undertook efforts to overhaul the region's caravan routes, which had existed before European colonisation, into all-weather highways, although most of these projects proved to be unsuccessful and ended in failure. In 1912, Dar es Salaam and Tanga received 356 freighters and passenger steamers and over 1,000 coastal ships and local trading-vessels. Dar es Salaam became

2240-509: The German forces in GEA during World War I. His military force consisted of 3,500 Europeans and 12,000 native Askaris and porters. The war strategy was to harry the British army of 40,000, which was at times commanded by the former Second Boer War commander Jan Smuts . One of Lettow-Vorbeck's greatest victories was at the Battle of Tanga (3–5 November 1914). In the battle, the German forces defeated

2320-469: The Germans did not act to prevent them. In 1914 the Germans contemplated to ban slavery, but ultimately did not, since they did not consider it financially possible to compensate their owners. Germany developed an educational program for Africans that included elementary, secondary, and vocational schools. "Instructor qualifications, curricula, textbooks, teaching materials, all met standards unmatched anywhere in tropical Africa." In 1924, ten years after

2400-618: The Germans learnt a bitter lesson when they lost half their troops in Kalenga. Their military was annihilated when they attacked the Hehe ruler Mkwawa—Isike's son-in-law and a staunch ally. The Germans knew the two leaders conspired keeping in close contact and sharing intelligence in their bid to wade off foreign invasion. Prior to 1893, the Germans launched two major unsuccessful attacks as attempt to defeat Isike and followed with intermittent multiple skirmishes. The Germans third ferocious offensive

2480-483: The Nyamwezi had access to ivory and slaves, stretching from the coast to the inland, as far as Congo . The western Nyamwezi arrived at the coast with ivory around 1800, and coastal traders soon followed this up by finally entering Unyamwezi and reaching Ujiji by 1831. A kind of California Gold Rush took place for the ivory of the Congo's Manjema to the west of Lake Tanganyika . With their deep involvement in commerce,

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2560-512: The Nyamwezi heavily involved in trade relations with the Arabs and the island of Zanzibar , dominating as traders and porters since 1850. (While Iliffe lists a likely 100,000 people traveling to and from the coast, Abrahams lists a possible 200,000 using many of the side 'roads', some making the trip as many as 20 times.) Despite the Nyamwezi's outside contacts, Nyamwezi colonies were remarkably resistant to foreign culture. Nyamwezi colonies outside

2640-622: The Nyamwezi started their forrays to the Coast for long distance trade. The Sukuma would refer to the Nyamwezi as the Dakama , meaning 'people of the south', and the Dakama would refer to the Sukuma as 'people of the north'. Their homeland is called Unyamwezi , and they speak the language Kinyamwezi , but many also speak Swahili or English . Ancient Indian texts refer to the Nyamwezi, or 'the men of

2720-478: The Nyamwezi welcomed traders. The most hospitable chiefdom was Unyanyembe, where Arab traders established the nexus of Tabora to the Lake district beyond. Conflicts between chiefs and Arab traders lasted through the last half of the 19th century. Chiefs such as Isike and Mirambo, no longer being purely ritual, had found that the arrival of firearms enabled them to create standing armies and a new state organization. It

2800-564: The Sultan's palace. The Sultan was forced to accept the German claims on the mainland outside a 10-mile-strip along the coast. In November 1886 Germany and Britain reached an agreement declaring they would respect the sovereignty of the Sultan of Zanzibar over his islands and the 10-mile-strip along the coast. They otherwise agreed on their spheres of interest along what is now the Tanzanian–Kenyan border. The British and Germans agreed to divide

2880-533: The Unyamwezi long remained culturally distinct. In Unyamwezi itself, differing lifestyles were either absorbed into the existing order, similar to the Ngoni becoming just another chiefdom, or became isolated like the Arabs of Tabora. But for all their poor relationships with the coast and their conservatism, being able to travel was considered a valuable and manly attribute. Many trade routes crossed Unyamwezi, and

2960-460: The apprenticeship and the tests that were associated with it. Hunting had a wide variety of forms. Guild members often used lethal poison, and when they used it, in a German sergeant's words, "it worked slowly but surely." The guildmembers believed they possessed powerful hunting medicine acquired through rigorous apprenticeships, tracking game in all types of terrain and moving swiftly and silently through thorny underbrush. The elephant hunting led to

3040-471: The beginning of the First World War and six years into British rule, the visiting American Phelps-Stokes Commission reported, "In regards to schools, the Germans have accomplished marvels. Some time must elapse before education attains the standard it had reached under the Germans." The Swahili word for school, shule , is derived from the German word Schule . In the most populous colony of

3120-421: The colony. He withdrew south into Portuguese Mozambique and then into Northern Rhodesia , where he agreed to a ceasefire after he had received news of the armistice between the warring nations three days earlier. Currency had to be printed locally due to a significant lack of provisions resulting from the naval blockade. After the war, Lettow-Vorbeck was acclaimed as one of Germany's heroes. His Schutztruppe

3200-625: The coming of the Germans Isike was going to be alone—his Arab allies caved in, they abandoned the long relationship they had from the time of Isike's father Mkasiwa. The Arabs recognised and acknowledged the European military power they sided with them in the war against Isike. Isike was a committed ruler who dedicated his life to longevity of his Nyanyembe state. He was attentive on matters of state governance. A man of few words. In communication with people he listened more than talking. Isike

3280-522: The conquest of Unyamwezi. Unyamwezi was "pacified" by the Germans in 1893; only Chief Isike around Tabora giving any serious opposition. The Germans adopted a form of indirect rule in the region with chiefs becoming the administrative agents of the central government, receiving account books as a formal mark of recognition. Over time, the chiefs were expected to keep order and collect taxes. Where earlier officers welcomed their collaboration, later officers became suspicious of it, even deliberately dismantling

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3360-594: The disease. Historically, villages were normally not kinship units and people found their relatives spread over wide areas. Spouses generally came from outside the Tembes and sons commonly moved away from their father's homestead. The core members of a "domestic group" consisted of the husband, his wife or wives, and any children who still lived with them. Sometimes relatives, such as a mother, younger unmarried brothers or sisters, and their children could be found together. The sexes usually ate separately. In general men did

3440-426: The early years of the colony, hunting and gathering remained the basis of the export economy, and ivory and wild rubber were major exports. The African-owned plantations along the coast, on the other hand, suffered from the gradual abolition of slavery. The number of European-owned plantations rose steadily, but many of them proved unprofitable. Global markets for commodities like coffee and rubber were very unstable, and

3520-426: The economic development of the colony, Rainer Tetzlaff came to the conclusion that "German East Africa never achieved any real significance for the German Empire, neither as a colony for the settlement of emigrants, nor as a supplier of raw materials, nor as a market for exports." One of the great impediments to the development of plantation agriculture was the labour problem. The plantations could not function without

3600-754: The establishment of German East Africa in the 19th century, Moravian Church missionaries arrived in the Lake Malawi region of Tanganyika . Today, the Moravian Church In Western Tanzania (MCWT) has about 80,000 Nyamwezi adherents and many continue to evangelize among the Sukuma people. About 926,000 Nyamwezi speak a language of the Bantu family , classified as the Sukuma–Nyamwezi group of Bantu. The Nyamwezi are predominantly subsistence farmers and cattle herders. Most follow

3680-467: The existing business of slavery. The colony began when Carl Peters , an adventurer and the founder of the Society for German Colonization , signed treaties with several native chieftains on the mainland which is opposite Zanzibar . On 3 March 1885, the German government announced that it had granted an imperial charter, which was signed by Chancellor Otto von Bismarck on 27 February 1885. The charter

3760-645: The first gold mines in the colony, the Sekenke Gold Mine , which began operation in 1909 after the finding of gold there in 1907. In German Tanganyika slavery was gradually phased out. New enslavement and commercial slave trade was banned in 1901, but private slave sales were not banned, and thousands of slaves, mostly women, were sold in 1911-1914; all slaves born after 1905 were born free; slaves who had been subjected to abuse were freed; slaves were permitted to ransom and buy their freedom, and thousand of slaves bought their freedom or left their enslavers when

3840-475: The forefront of the battles lines leading their vicious ruga-ruga armies Isike chose to control his ruga-ruga forces from his command centre inside the fortress. He never complied with German demands or invitation to attend supposedly peace talks. Instead, he sent envoys only. He refused to come out of his fortress to personally negotiate with the invaders. The German's first attempt to pacify Isike failed dismally in 1890. Their small army and weak military equipment

3920-470: The heavy work, while women did the recurring tasks and much of the everyday agricultural work. Ideally every adult person should be married, and every married woman should have her own household and bring her own household utensils. The husband is said to technically own his wife's hut, fields, and most of the household's food, but a wise husband usually listened to the wife's advice. There was little ranking between co-wives, although seniority in terms of who

4000-415: The husband deserted for a period of time without supporting her; if the husband seriously injured her by, for example, breaking a limb, but not simply beating her; the husband's impotence or perversions; or if her husband generally failed to maintain her and her children properly. A husband's adultery would not be one of the grounds. It was customary for the younger brother of her former husband to inherit

4080-517: The largest number, sometimes well over a thousand, for as porters became more and more important, and since many men were traveling, labor for cultivation became increasingly scarce and slaves were needed more and more. Slaves remaining in the local area seem to have had a life easier and more secure than those sent to the coast. Domestic slaves often lived and ate with their owners, were allowed to work on their own, and could possess their own slaves and livestock; loyal slaves could even be given part of

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4160-696: The mainland between themselves, and the Sultan had no option but to agree. German rule was established quickly over Bagamoyo , Dar es Salaam , and Kilwa . Oscar Baumann was sent to explore Masailand and Urundi. During his expedition he discovered the source of the Kagera river, the Alexandra Nile. The caravans of Tom von Prince , Wilhelm Langheld, Emin Pasha , and Charles Stokes were sent to dominate "the Street of Caravans". The Abushiri Revolt of 1888

4240-541: The moon', a term still in use to identify the Nyamwezi people in Tanzania. It was only in the 19th century that the name could be found in European literature; the term might include almost anyone from the western plateau. Travel taught them that others called them Nyamwezi, and almost all men accepted the name given to them by the coastal people indicating that the Nyamwezi came from the west. A century later, their land

4320-546: The most powerful, since it controlled the trading city of Tabora , and had close connections with the Arabs of Zanzibar , through the Arab community of Tabora. When Mnywasele inherited the throne of Unyanyembe in 1858, the Arabs helped him expel his rival Mkasiwa , who went into exile in Ulyankhulu. When Mnywasele later tried to increase his control over the Unyanyembe trading community, those allied with Mkasiwa, which led to

4400-462: The poor quality of soil in the area. Their travels made them professional traders. By 1800 they were taking caravans to the coast to trade in Katanga copper, wax, salt, ivory, and slaves . Arab and Indian slave and ivory traders reached the Nyamwezi by 1825. They also started to acquire guns, and establish regular armies, with intra-tribal wars and some conflicts with Arabs on the coast throughout

4480-408: The right to expel witches and undesirables; abuse was checked by the general need to maintain a large population; and while no one had the right to sell land in a chiefdom, the people had considerable security in their rights to the land. Permission to clear land was not needed, but care was taken so as not to conflict with others in the area. If there was a shortage of land in an area to be inherited,

4560-450: The role of counselor and medical practitioner. Bulogi ( witchcraft ) is a powerful force in Nyamwezi culture. The Baswezi society recruits people possessed by the Swezi spirit. Many Nyamwezi converted to Sunni Islam during the 19th century and Islam even influenced the fashion of those that didn't convert. During the same century, other Nyamwezi converted to Protestant Christianity via

4640-436: The separation of either party. Chiefdom courts found certain reasons to automatically justify divorce: a woman's desertion, being struck by a wife, the wife's adultery , sexual refusal of the wife, and having an abortion, were all adequate reasons. Grounds for a husband to claim divorce were failure of the wife to carry out household duties, visiting a doctor without permission, and possible infertility. A wife could divorce if

4720-407: The showcase city of all of tropical Africa. By 1914, Dar es Salaam and the surrounding province had a population of 166,000, among them 1,000 (0.6%) Germans. In all of the GEA, there were 3,579 Germans. Gold mining in Tanzania in modern times dates back to the German colonial period, beginning with gold discoveries near Lake Victoria in 1894. The Kironda-Goldminen-Gesellschaft established one of

4800-512: The slave trade, although it had long been important in intra- and inter-regional trade. As with cattle, slaves were also needed and wanted for their prestige value, for men could gain influence and social connections, they could even make marriage payments with them. The slave was seldom used just to carry ivory. Ivory porters should be viewed as free and voluntary labor, although it is true that they were at times financially abused by their chiefs, but later these people were defeated by Arabs. With

4880-435: The soil and climate were not always favourable to the grower. It was only in sisal that the large plantations finally found a reliable source of income. Under the governorship of Albrecht von Rechenberg , from 1906 to 1912, the colonial administration began to place more emphasis on the economic potential of African small-holder agriculture, for which railway construction was an essential precondition. In his detailed study of

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4960-508: The survey of the remaining 300 miles from Kilimanjaro to Lake Victoria. Between 1891 and 1894, the Hehe people which were led by Chief Mkwawa resisted German expansion. They were defeated because rival tribes supported the Germans. After years of guerrilla warfare, Mkwawa was cornered and committed suicide in 1898. The Maji Maji Rebellion occurred in 1905 and was put down by Governor Gustav Adolf von Götzen , who ordered measures to create

5040-468: The triangle in 1894. The Treaty of Versailles was signed on 28 June 1919, although the treaty did not take effect until 10 January 1920. On that date, the GEA was transferred officially to Britain, Belgium, and Portugal. Also on the same day, " Tanganyika " became the name of the British territory. Some names in German East Africa continued to bear German spellings of the local names for

5120-415: The well being of the state and its continuation was identified with chief and his subordinate administrators. A hierarchy of territorial offices came into being. There were sub-chiefs, assistant chiefs, headmen elders, ritual officials, etc., as each dynasty seized power from another. Greater Nyamwezi had become a war zone. By 1890 the Germans advanced further towards Tabora the western part of Tanganyika. It

5200-647: The work of the Moravian Church established in the region. Even with conversion, both the Christian and especially the Muslim Nyamwezi retained much of their traditional customs and beliefs. Kimbu people The Kimbu are a Bantu ethnolinguistic group from Chunya District of Mbeya Region , Tanzania . In 1987 the Kimbu population was estimated to number 78,000. This article about

5280-423: Was ailing in 1857 because of severe competition from India, and over the next sixty years almost disappeared. Ironwork came from localized settlements whose products were then traded over wide areas: bows, arrows, spears, the payment of fines, and the extremely valuable hoes for bridewealth were all produced with considerable ritual by the smiths. Slavery was important and chiefs and other government officials owned

5360-617: Was celebrated as the only colonial German force during World War I that was not defeated in open combat, but it often retreated when it was outnumbered. The Askari colonial troops who had fought in the East African campaign were later given pension payments by the Weimar Republic and West Germany . The SMS Königsberg , a German light cruiser , also fought off the coast of the African Great Lakes region. She

5440-450: Was decisive big blow. The German military; was able to break into Isike's stronghold. Realising imminent defeat, instead of surrendering to be captured alive by the victors Isike took his life in a suicide. He ignited the remaining gunpowder kegs stocked in the armoury where he barricaded himself with willing relatives and wives. He did not want to live an undignified miserable life under foreign occupiers. Before Isike's defeat in 1891 Nyanso

5520-455: Was equipped with better weapons. He also forged a coalition of the willing deserters, the skilled and experienced Arab militia with the support of princess Nyanso (Isike's rival cousin), and Ruga-ruga from other complying Nyamwezi rulers. The Ruga-ruga mercenaries and Arab militia puppets not only strengthened the German's army personnel in size, they also volunteered all vital intelligence that could undermine Isike's defence strategies. In 1891

5600-495: Was eventually scuttled in the Rufiji delta in July 1915 after running low on coal and spare parts and was subsequently blockaded and bombarded by the British. The surviving crew stripped out the remaining ship's guns, mounted them on gun carriages, and joined the land forces, which added considerably to their effectiveness. Another smaller campaign was conducted on the shores of southern Lake Tanganyika in 1914 and 1915. It involved

5680-399: Was firearms and trade that transformed the region, for trade generated the wealth needed to obtain firearms. Chiefs were normally ritual figures who had no very rigid rules of succession. They lived very restricted lives, with the most significant duties being carried out by headmen. They were strangled when they became seriously ill (as probably happened to Mirambo while dying of cancer ), for

5760-453: Was first married was at times recognized. Jealously and sorcery were common, much depending on how well co-wives got along. Unlike the Wagogo , divorce was common, a large majority of persons experiencing al least one divorce by the time they were fifty years of age, which included the return of bridewealth minus the number and sex of the children born. Divorce was most often accomplished by

5840-509: Was granted to Peters' company and was intended to establish a protectorate in the African Great Lakes region. Peters then recruited specialists who began exploring south to the Rufiji River and north to Witu , near Lamu on the coast. The Sultan of Zanzibar protested and claimed that he was the ruler of both Zanzibar and the mainland. Chancellor Bismarck sent five warships which arrived on 7 August 1885, training their guns on

5920-424: Was installed as the German's allied ruler of Unyanyembe. Isike's death in 1893 cemented German's victory against him. This occurrence sealed the fate of the Nyamwezi dominance of the central caravan trade route. The Germans freely exalted their authority in Unyamwezi lands and subsequently Tanganyika. The German strategy to form a collaborative strong coalition of Isike's enemies, paid off. Otherwise, it would have been

6000-554: Was nearly three times the area of present-day Germany and almost double the area of metropolitan Germany at the time. The colony was organised when the German military was asked in the late 1880s to put down a revolt against the activities of the German East Africa Company . It ended with Imperial Germany 's defeat in World War I . Ultimately the territory was divided amongst Britain, Belgium and Portugal, and

6080-458: Was not up to the task. Isike stuck to his tactic of barricading himself in his fortress. The German authority appointed Lieutenant Tom von Prince specifically to challenge and crash Isike's resistance by any means necessary. This time the Germans were better prepared with the additional reinforcement including the local ruga-ruga deserters who were lured with handsome rewards to work for the Germans as mercenaries. Lieutenant Tom von Prince Military

6160-421: Was prudent in his dealings with all foreigners. His centrist view endeavoured to strike the middle way to balance the triangular relationship in the caravan trade. The triangular power relations between 1. local rulers, 2. Arab-Indians and 3. Europeans. His awareness and knowledge of the power workings of the three sides of the triangle sustained his authority. In anticipation of foreign invasions Isike constructed

6240-555: Was put down with British help the following year. In 1890, London and Berlin concluded the Heligoland–Zanzibar Treaty , which gave Heligoland to Germany and decided the border between GEA and the East Africa Protectorate controlled by Britain, although the exact boundaries remained unsurveyed until 1910. The stretch of border between Kenya and Tanganyika , running from the sea to Lake Victoria,

6320-522: Was reorganised as a mandate of the League of Nations . Like other colonial powers, the Germans expanded their empire in the Africa Great Lakes region, ostensibly to explore the region's rich resources and its people. Unlike other imperial powers, however they never formally abolished either slavery or the slave trade and preferred instead to curtail the production of new "recruits", regulating

6400-658: Was surveyed by two British brothers: Charles Stewart Smith (British Consul at Mombasa) and his younger brother George Edward Smith (an officer and later a general with the Royal Engineers). Stewart Smith had been appointed British Commissioner in 1892 for the delimitation of the Anglo-German Boundary in Africa , and in the same year they both surveyed the 180-mile line from the sea to Mount Kilimanjaro. Twelve years later George Edward Smith returned to complete

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