The Kingdom of Toro in Uganda

First published in 1975, The Kingdom of Toro in Uganda describes the foundation of the Toro kingdom in the nineteenth century by the rebel prince Kaboyo, and investigates how Kasagama, Kaboyo’s grandson, was able to recreate, with little local support, a kingdom far more extensive than Kaboyo had ever envisaged. His personal authority was established by his insistence that its root were traditional, thus satisfying the requirements of ‘indirect rules’ at a time when this ill-defined concept served both as the shibboleth and the escape clause for an overstretched British colonial administration. Although Kasagama’s son, Rukidi, was able to combine authority with personal popularity and to take advantage of colonial innovations without losing control of his kingdom, the ending of colonial rule brought an end to Toro as he knew it. In an independent Uganda the particularism stressed by Toro’s rulers could not survive. This book will be of interest to students of history, colonialism, African studies and ethnic studies.