Abstract
The Twa—hunter-gatherer pygmies—were the frst people to inhabit Rwanda. Tey now comprise 1% of the population. The Hutu were the next group to settle in Rwanda. They arrived at some point between AD 500 and 1100. They were small-scale agriculturalists, led by a king who ruled over clan groups. The fnal group to migrate to Rwanda was the Tutsi around 1400. Their ownership of cattle and their combat skills gained for them the economic and political control of the country. A feudalistic system developed where the Tutsi lent cows to the Hutu in return for labour and military service. At the apex was the Tutsi king, the mwami (pl., abami), who was believed to be of divine origin. The abami consolidated their power by centralizing the monarchy and reducing the power of neighbouring chiefs. Mwami Kigeri IV (reigned 1853–95) established the borders of Rwanda in the 19th century.
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Further Reading
Braeckman, C., Rwanda: Histoire d’un Génocide. Paris, 1994
Dorsey, L., Historical Dictionary of Rwanda. Metuchen (NJ), 1995
Fegley, Randall, Rwanda. [Bibliography] ABC-Clio, Oxford and Santa Barbara (CA), 1993
Gourevitch, P., We Wish to Inform You Tat Tomorrow We Will Be Killed With Our Families. Picador, London, 1998
Prunier, G., The Rwanda Crisis: History of a Genocide. Farnborough, 1995
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© 2006 Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited
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Turner, B. (2006). Rwanda. In: Turner, B. (eds) The Statesman’s Yearbook 2007. The Statesman’s Yearbook. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230271357_254
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230271357_254
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
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