The National Archives UK - CO 1069-159-87

Chief Mkwavinyika Munyigumba Mwamuyinga (1855 – 19 July 1898), more commonly known as Chief Mkwawa or Sultan Mkwawa, was a Hehe tribal leader in

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 Mozam ...

, based in

Kalenga Kalenga is an administrative ward in the Iringa Rural district of the Iringa Region of Tanzania. In 2016 the Tanzania National Bureau of Statistics reported its population to be 7,286, up from 6,963 in 2012. Kalenga, which is situated along ...

, Iringa region, who opposed the German colonization. The name "Mkwawa" is derived from ''Mukwava'', itself a shortened form of ''Mukwavinyika'', meaning "conqueror of many lands". As a young child he was named Ndesalasi, meaning "troublemaker". As an adult he was named Mtwa Mkwava Mkwavinyika Mahinya Yilimwiganga Mkali Kuvagosi Kuvadala Tage Matenengo Manwiwage Seguniwagula Gumganga, meaning: "A leader who takes control of the forests, who is aggressive to men and polite to women, who is unpredictable and unbeatable, and who has the power that it is only death who can take him away."

Life

The National Archives UK - CO 1069-159-51

Mkwawa was born in Luhota and was the son and successor of Sultan Munyigumba, who died in 1879. In July 1891, the German commissioner, Emil von Zelewski, led a battalion of soldiers (320 askaris with officers and porters) to suppress the Hehe. On 17 August, they were attacked by Mkwawa's 3,000-strong army at

Lugalo Lugalo is a village in Tanzania near Iringa which in 1891 was the site of a battle in which a German colonial military force under Emil von Zelewski was decisively defeated and almost annihilated by the Hehe army of Chief Mkwawa. This was the fir ...

, who, despite only being equipped with spears and a few guns, quickly overpowered the Germans and killed Zelewski. On 28 October 1894, the Germans, under the new commissioner Colonel

Freiherr (; male, abbreviated as ), (; his wife, abbreviated as , literally "free lord" or "free lady") and (, his unmarried daughters and maiden aunts) are designations used as titles of nobility in the German-speaking areas of the Holy Roman Empire ...

, attacked Mkwawa's

fortress A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

at Kalenga. Although they took the fort, Mkwawa managed to escape. Subsequently, Mkwawa conducted a campaign of

guerrilla warfare Guerrilla warfare is a form of irregular warfare in which small groups of combatants, such as paramilitary personnel, armed civilians, or Irregular military, irregulars, use military tactics including ambushes, sabotage, Raid (military), raids ...

, harassing the Germans until 1898 when, on 19 July, he was surrounded and shot himself to avoid capture at the site of the

Mlambalasi Rock Shelter The Mlambalasi Rock Shelter is a historic site located in Iringa District of Iringa Region in southern Tanzania, 50 km away from Iringa City. Excavations in 2006 and 2010 by the Iringa Region Archaeological Project uncovered artifactual dep ...

. Mkwawa's body was buried a few meters away from the rockshelter. His brother Chambila, who was given the name (roughly meaning "hero") for his heroism in battle, fought alongside him to his last breath. Mkwawa and his brother descended from an immigrant from the North named Myinga, a traditional name meaning "traveler on foot" or simply "traveler".

Skull

The National Archives UK - CO 1069-159-89

After his death, German soldiers removed Mkwawa's head. The skull was sent to Berlin and probably ended up in the

Übersee-Museum Bremen The Overseas Museum in Bremen (german: Übersee Museum Bremen) is a Natural History and ethnographic museum in northern Germany. In an integrated exhibition of Nature, Culture and Trading, the museum presents aspects of overseas regions with perm ...

. In 1918 the then British Administrator of German East Africa

Horace Byatt Sir Horace Archer Byatt (22 March 1875 – 8 April 1933) was a British colonial governor. In the early part of his career he served in Nyasaland, British Somaliland, Gibraltar and Malta. Later, he served in British East Africa, becoming the first ...

proposed to his government that it should demand a return of the skull to Tanganyika in order to reward the

Wahehe The Hehe ( Swahili collective: Wahehe) are a Bantu ethnolinguistic group based in Iringa Region in south-central Tanzania, speaking the Bantu Hehe language. In 2006, the Hehe population was estimated at 805,000, up from the just over 250,000 r ...

for their cooperation with the British during the war and in order to have a symbol assuring the locals of the definitive end of German power. The skull's return was stipulated in the 1919

Treaty of Versailles The Treaty of Versailles (french: Traité de Versailles; german: Versailler Vertrag, ) was the most important of the peace treaties of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June ...

: The Germans disputed that Mkwawa's skull had been removed from East Africa and the British government took the position that the whereabouts could not be traced. However, after World War II the Governor of

Tanganyika Tanganyika may refer to: Places * Tanganyika Territory (1916–1961), a former British territory which preceded the sovereign state * Tanganyika (1961–1964), a sovereign state, comprising the mainland part of present-day Tanzania * Tanzania Main ...

, Sir Edward Twining, took up the issue again. After enquiries he was directed to the Bremen Museum which he visited himself in 1953. The Museum had a collection of 2000 skulls, 84 of which originated from the former German East Africa. He short-listed the ones which showed measurements similar to surviving relatives of Chief Mkwawa; from this selection he picked the only skull with a bullet-hole as the skull of chief Mkwawa. The skull was finally returned on 9 July 1954, and now resides at the Mkwawa Memorial Museum in Kalenga, near the town of

Iringa Iringa is a city in Tanzania with a population of 151,345 (). It is situated at a latitude of 7.77°S and longitude of 35.69°E. The name is derived from the Hehe language, Hehe word ''lilinga'', meaning fort. Iringa is the administrative capita ...

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Mkwawa, Chief 1855 births 1898 deaths African resistance to colonialism Tanzanian chiefs Colonial people of German East Africa Rebellions in Africa Suicides by firearm in Tanzania African warriors 1890s suicides

Life

Skull

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External links