. The Baganda . sor his slaves ; these free women also helped to provide foodfor him and his retainers. Women often formed the principalitem of a mans wealth ; they were not so conspicuous ascattle, and did not excite the envy of his District-Chief, or ofthe King, as was the case when a man became possessed oflarge herds of ^eemtn. Men who went to live on the private lands of a chief werecalled his freemen (basenze); they worked or fought for himin return for the land which they tenanted. Peasants did notcare to live long in the capital, because food was scarceand because the danger of
. The Baganda . sor his slaves ; these free women also helped to provide foodfor him and his retainers. Women often formed the principalitem of a mans wealth ; they were not so conspicuous ascattle, and did not excite the envy of his District-Chief, or ofthe King, as was the case when a man became possessed oflarge herds of ^eemtn. Men who went to live on the private lands of a chief werecalled his freemen (basenze); they worked or fought for himin return for the land which they tenanted. Peasants did notcare to live long in the capital, because food was scarceand because the danger of being seized and put to death wasgreat; they only went there when they were obliged to do so VIII GOVERNMENT 247 to perform some work, and they returned to the covmtryas soon as they were free to do so. Chiefs had to Hve formonths at a time in the capital in order to attend the Council(Lukiko); if they failed to do so, they were accused ofdisloyalty, and were deposed and possibly robbed of all FIG. 39.—NATIVE HOUSE WITH PINNACLE. A District-Chief never interfered between a sub-chief andany of his men ; he held him responsible for the deeds of hisown men, just as the King held the District-Chief responsiblefor the whole of his district. The district of Kyadondo was formerly much larger than Theit is now ; at one time it comprised the whole of Bulemezi. iYsut?^The Kago, the chief of Kyadondo, took precedence in Council 248 THE BAGANDA chap. (Lukiko) of all the other District-Chiefs, owing to the specialduties which he performed for the King. The Kago, asSabadu, had to fulfil the taboos for the King, such as death-and birth-ceremonies, and those after the coronation-ceremonies which the King could not perform in person,because some of them required the person who performedthem to be secluded for months. The Kago superintendedthe servants in the royal enclosure, which necessitated hisconstant presence in the capital. For many years, too, thecapitals of the Kin
Size: 1448px × 1725px
Photo credit: © Reading Room 2020 / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, bookidbaganda00joh, bookyear1911
