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{{short description|Tanzanian rebel leader}}
{{short description|Tanzanian freedom fighter}}
'''Kinjikitile "Bokero" Ngwale''' (died August 4, 1905) was a [[Tanzania]]n spiritual [[Mediumship|medium]] and a leader of the 1905–1907 [[Maji Maji Rebellion]] against colonial rule in [[German East Africa]] (present day Tanzania).
'''Kinjikitile "Bokero" Ngwale''' (died August 4, 1905) was a spiritual [[Mediumship|medium]] and a leader of the 1905–1907 [[Maji Maji Rebellion]] against colonial rule in [[German East Africa]] (present day Tanzania).


==Biography==
==Biography==
Kinjikitile was born in what is now [[Tanzania]] (then German East Africa, later [[Tanganyika (territory)|Tanganyika]]). In 1904, the then relatively unknown Kinjikitile disappeared from his home in [[Ngarambe]], [[Matumbi people|Matumbi]]. The Matumbi people practiced religious forms of [[folk Islam]].{{Citation needed|date=August 2021}} the form of a snake.<ref name="CH">{{cite book
Kinjikitile was a member of the [[Matumbi people]], living in what is now [[Kilwa District]] of [[Lindi Region]] in [[Tanzania]] (then German East Africa, later [[Tanganyika (territory)|Tanganyika]]). The Matumbi practiced religious forms of [[folk Islam]]. In 1904, the then relatively unknown Kinjikitile disappeared from his home in [[Ngarambe]]. He returned after a few days and claimed that he had been possessed by a spirit medium called Hongo, believed to take the form of a snake.<ref name="CH">{{cite book
| last = Hoehler-Fatton
| last = Hoehler-Fatton
| first = Cynthia
| first = Cynthia
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| page = 70
| page = 70
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=iKVCGuSzNhkC
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=iKVCGuSzNhkC
| isbn = 1-56072-840-X}}</ref> He told his followers that their ancestors had commanded him to lead a rebellion against the [[German colonial empire]].<ref name="PJ" /> This helped start the Maji Maji Rebellion.<ref name="PJ" /> Kinjikitile gave his people 'holy water' ("maji") to protect them from German bullets.<ref name="PJ" /><ref name="BBC" /> After a group of Matumbi people attacked the home of a local official in July, 1905, Kinjikitile was arrested by German troops.<ref name="HR">{{cite book
| isbn = 1-56072-840-X}}</ref> Kinjitkile's reputation grew rapidly, drawing followers from the 100,000 square kilometers the territory encompassed.<ref name="worlds">{{cite book |title=Worlds together, worlds apart |year=2011 |edition=3 |page=669 |publisher=W. W. Norton & Co. |isbn=978-0-393-93492-2}}</ref> He told his followers that their ancestors had commanded him to lead a rebellion against the [[German colonial empire]].<ref name="PJ" /> This helped start the Maji Maji Rebellion.<ref name="PJ" /> His leadership was successful in uniting peoples of separate ethnic groups in German East Africa in a single movement against colonial rule, which is claimed as the first predecessor of a shared Tanzanian national identity.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2018-04-23 |title=Kinjeketile and the Maji Maji rebellion |url=https://www.dw.com/en/kinjeketile-and-the-maji-maji-rebellion/a-43349054 |access-date=2024-05-14 |website=[[Deutsche Welle]]}}</ref> Kinjikitile gave his people 'holy water' ({{langx|sw|maji}}) - consisting of water mixed with [[millet]] and [[castor oil]]<ref>{{cite book |last=Pakenham |first=Thomas |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VeZIcTKTydAC |title=The Scramble for Africa: White Man's Conquest of the Dark Continent from 1876 to 1912 |publisher=HarperCollins |year=1992 |isbn=0380719991 |pages=616–621}}</ref> - claiming that it would protect them from German bullets.<ref name="PJ" /><ref name="BBC" /> His followers wore millet stalks around their foreheads, and were equipped with an arsenal that included [[cap gun]]s, spears and arrows.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.reall.org/newsletter/v06/n06/bullets-into-water.html |title=Bullets into Water: The Sorcerers of Africa |last=Petraitis |first=Richard |publisher=REALL |access-date=2008-03-09}}</ref> The rebellion is considered to have begun on 20 July 1905, with the symbolic destruction of a cotton field worked with [[forced labour]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-08-26 |title=Vor 115 Jahren: Der Maji-Maji-Aufstand |url=https://www.bpb.de/kurz-knapp/hintergrund-aktuell/209829/vor-115-jahren-der-maji-maji-aufstand/ |access-date=2024-05-14 |website=[[Federal Agency for Civic Education]] |lang=de}}</ref> After a group of Matumbi people attacked the home of a local official in July 1905, Kinjikitile was arrested by German troops.<ref name="HR">{{cite book
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| year = 1997 }}</ref>
| year = 1997 }}</ref>


He was hanged for treason on August 4, 1905.<ref name="GM" /><ref name="HR" /> His brother continued in Kinjikitile's work and the rebellion continued until 1907, with over 100,000 local people killed.<ref>{{cite book
He was hanged for treason on August 4, 1905.<ref name="GM" /><ref name="HR" /> His brother continued Kinjikitile's work and the rebellion continued until 1907, with over 100,000<ref>{{cite book
| last = Boahen
| last = Boahen
| first = A. Adu
| first = A. Adu
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| page = 80
| page = 80
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=YKy_YzYeIjoC
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=YKy_YzYeIjoC
| isbn =0-85255-097-9 }}</ref> Present-day Tanzanians consider the failed rebellion to have been the first stirring of nationalism, and Kinjikitile "Bokero" Ngwale a proto-national hero.<ref name="GM" />
| isbn =0-85255-097-9 }}</ref> or 200-300,000 Africans killed in the German suppression of the revolt.<ref name="worlds" /> Present-day Tanzanians consider the failed rebellion to have been the first stirring of nationalism, and Kinjikitile "Bokero" Ngwale a proto-national hero.<ref name="GM" />


== Legacy in literature ==
== Legacy in literature ==
Tanzanian playwright [[Ebrahim Hussein]] wrote a popular play in Swahili language called ''Kinjeketile'', based on the Maji Maji Rebellion.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Ricard|first=Alain|date=1992|title=Ebrahim's Predicament|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3819960|journal=Research in African Literatures|volume=23|issue=1|pages=175–178|issn=0034-5210}}</ref>
In 1969, Tanzanian playwright [[Ebrahim Hussein]] wrote a popular play in the [[Swahili language]] entitled ''Kinjeketile'', based on the Maji Maji Rebellion.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Ricard|first=Alain|date=1992|title=Ebrahim's Predicament|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3819960|journal=Research in African Literatures|volume=23|issue=1|pages=175–178|jstor=3819960 |issn=0034-5210}}</ref>


==References==
==References==
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== Further reading ==
== Further reading ==
* {{cite web |url=http://www.reall.org/newsletter/v06/n06/bullets-into-water.html |title=Bullets into Water: The Sorcerers of Africa |last=Petraitis |first=Richard |publisher=REALL |access-date=2008-03-09}}
* {{cite book |last=Iliffe |first=John |title=Modern History of Tanganyika |year=1979 |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |isbn=0-521-29611-0 |pages=168–172}}
* {{cite book |last=Iliffe |first=John |title=Modern History of Tanganyika |year=1979 |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |isbn=0-521-29611-0 |pages=168–172}}


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[[Category:People executed for treason against Germany]]
[[Category:People executed for treason against Germany]]
[[Category:People executed by Germany by hanging]]
[[Category:People executed by Germany by hanging]]
[[Category:People from German East Africa]]
[[Category:People from Lindi Region]]
[[Category:Spiritual mediums]]
[[Category:Tanzanian revolutionaries]]
[[Category:20th-century executions by Germany]]
[[Category:20th-century executions by Germany]]

Latest revision as of 17:48, 31 October 2024

Kinjikitile "Bokero" Ngwale (died August 4, 1905) was a spiritual medium and a leader of the 1905–1907 Maji Maji Rebellion against colonial rule in German East Africa (present day Tanzania).

Biography

[edit]

Kinjikitile was a member of the Matumbi people, living in what is now Kilwa District of Lindi Region in 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 Ngarambe. He returned after a few days and claimed 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 Bokera through the spirit Hongo.[2] He encouraged his followers to overlook tribal differences and unite against the Germans.[4] Kinjitkile's reputation grew rapidly, drawing followers from the 100,000 square kilometers the territory encompassed.[5] 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] His leadership was successful in uniting peoples of separate ethnic groups in German East Africa in a single movement against colonial rule, which is claimed as the first predecessor of a shared Tanzanian national identity.[6] Kinjikitile gave his people 'holy water' (Swahili: maji) - consisting of water mixed with millet and castor oil[7] - claiming that it would protect them from German bullets.[2][3] His followers wore millet stalks around their foreheads, and were equipped with an arsenal that included cap guns, spears and arrows.[8] The rebellion is considered to have begun on 20 July 1905, with the symbolic destruction of a cotton field worked with forced labour.[9] After a group of Matumbi people attacked the home of a local official in July 1905, Kinjikitile was arrested by German troops.[10]

He was hanged for treason on August 4, 1905.[4][10] His brother continued Kinjikitile's work and the rebellion continued until 1907, with over 100,000[11] or 200-300,000 Africans killed in the German suppression of the revolt.[5] 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

[edit]

In 1969, Tanzanian playwright Ebrahim Hussein wrote a popular play in the Swahili language entitled Kinjeketile, based on the Maji Maji Rebellion.[12]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Hoehler-Fatton, Cynthia (1996). Women of Fire and Spirit. Oxford University Press US. p. 73. ISBN 0-19-509790-4.
  2. ^ 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.
  3. ^ a b "The Story of Africa - Religious Resistance". BBC World Service. Retrieved 2008-03-24.
  4. ^ a b c Mwakikagile, Godfrey (2000). Africa and the West. Nova Publishers. p. 70. ISBN 1-56072-840-X.
  5. ^ a b Worlds together, worlds apart (3 ed.). W. W. Norton & Co. 2011. p. 669. ISBN 978-0-393-93492-2.
  6. ^ "Kinjeketile and the Maji Maji rebellion". Deutsche Welle. 2018-04-23. Retrieved 2024-05-14.
  7. ^ Pakenham, Thomas (1992). The Scramble for Africa: White Man's Conquest of the Dark Continent from 1876 to 1912. HarperCollins. pp. 616–621. ISBN 0380719991.
  8. ^ Petraitis, Richard. "Bullets into Water: The Sorcerers of Africa". REALL. Retrieved 2008-03-09.
  9. ^ "Vor 115 Jahren: Der Maji-Maji-Aufstand". Federal Agency for Civic Education (in German). 2020-08-26. Retrieved 2024-05-14.
  10. ^ a b Roupp, Heidi (1997). Teaching World History: A Resource Book. M.E. Sharpe. p. 229. ISBN 1-56324-420-9.
  11. ^ Boahen, A. Adu (1990). Africa Under Colonial Domination, 1880-1935. James Currey Publishers. p. 80. ISBN 0-85255-097-9.
  12. ^ Ricard, Alain (1992). "Ebrahim's Predicament". Research in African Literatures. 23 (1): 175–178. ISSN 0034-5210. JSTOR 3819960.

Further reading

[edit]
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