An Archaeological Identity of the Majimaji: Toward an Historical Archaeology of Resistance to German Colonization in Southern Tanzania

Abstract

This paper presents new insights on the Majimaji war, which is one of the least studied topics in Eastern Africa's colonial history. The Majimaji (1905)(1906)(1907) was a large scale war of resistance against German colonial rule in Tanzania. This war started in the Lindi Region and spread rapidly to other areas of southern Tanzania. It was primarily a reaction to the exploitative nature of German colonial rule. The archival records that exist are biased toward German sources and information supplied by their African agents who wished to please the colonists and spare their lives. Although local oral histories on the war existed, this has been poorly documented or the accounts have been lost. In this circumstance, archaeology provides an alternative source of evidence about the Majimaji war. This paper presents the intellectual arguments that underpin this research. It explains why archaeology is still important to study popular historical events. Using archaeology, the Majimaji battle sites can be identified and documented so as to enhance understandings of the war and to fill in gaps that arise from the limitations of documentary archival records and oral histories. In addition, this research has elicited public awareness and perception of the battle sites and obtained new insights into how the memories of the war resonate in people's minds.Résumé: Cet article présente de nouveaux éclairages sur la guerre Maji-Maji, qui est l'un des sujets les moins étudiés de l'histoire coloniale de l'Afrique orientale. La guerre Maji-Maji (1905-1907 fut une guerre de résistance à grande échelle contre le pouvoir colonial allemand en Tanzanie. Elle commença dans la région de Lindi et s'étendit rapidement à d'autres régions du sud de la Tanzanie. Elle fut avant tout une réaction à l'exploitation du pouvoir colonial allemand. Les documents d'archives qui existent font la part belle aux sources allemandes et aux informations fournies par leurs agents africains, qui souhaitaient satisfaire les colons et 1 sauver leur vie. Bien qu'il existât des histoires orales locales sur la guerre, elles furent mal documentées ou les récits furent perdus. L'archéologie offre, en pareil cas, une autre source d'éléments probants sur la guerre Maji-Maji. Cet article présente les arguments intellectuels qui soutiennent ces recherches. Il explique pourquoi l'archéologie est essentielle pour l'étude des évènements historiques populaires. À l'aide de l'archéologie, les sites de batailles des Maji-Maji peuvent être identifiés et documentés afin d'améliorer la compréhension de la guerre et combler les lacunes découlant des limites des documents d'archives documentaires et des histoires orales. En outre, ces recherches suscitèrent la sensibilisation du public et la perception des sites de batailles et obtinrent de nouvelles connaissances sur la façon dont les souvenirs de la guerre sont évoqués dans les esprits.Resumen: El presente documento presenta nuevas perspectivas sobre la guerra de Maji Maji, que es uno de los temas menos estudiados de la ...

A German Rifle Casing and Chief Mkwawa of the Wahehe: the Colonial and Post-Colonial Significance of Mlambalasi Rockshelter, Iringa Region, Tanzania

“…It has been described by historians such as Iliffe (1979) as the final attempt to destroy the colonial order by force. First centred on the coast at Lindi, it quickly spread to many inland groups (Iliffe 1979: 168;Rushohora 2015Rushohora , 2019. Interestingly, the Hehe stayed loyal to and supported the Germans against the Majimaji rebels (Pizzo 2007: 40).…”

Cults, Crosses, and Crescents: Religion and Healing from Colonial Violence in Tanzania

“…Individual Muslims joined the Germans to fight against the Majimaji warriors. Masoud of Kikole in Ungoni, for example, fought against Chief Mputa and his slaves joined the German army during Majimaji (Rushohora 2015;Mapunda 2010). In some battles, the leaders of the Majimaji War were Christians; take the case of Gabriel Mbuwu of Umwera.…”

“…On both occasional tests, the Maji failed. Yet Chief Chabruma accepted it and ordered his people to do the same (Rushohora 2015). Explanation of the Maji failure during the testing by Chief Chabruma was offered by Kinjala-the Maji messenger-that it was due to the circumstance under which the Maji was prepared.…”

“…The Majimaji War was organized around pre-existing beliefs in water cults by a ritualist, healer, and religious leader Kinjekitile Ngwale. For this, the Majimaji War managed to unify more than twenty different ethnic groups geographically located faraway from one another from the southeastern coast of Tanzania to its interior (Rushohora 2015). The medicine famously known as Maji from which the war obtained its name, was spread as a cult propagated through emissaries called hongo.…”

The Role of Women in Maji Maji War from 1905 to 1907 in Matumbiland, Ngindo and Ngoniland War Zones, Tanzania

“…In the earliest secondary nationalist resistance struggle in German East Africa, Tanganyika, both men and women warriors organized themselves to fight the Germans in the Maji Maji war (Shiraz, 1984;Rushohora & Kurmann, 2017). They were drawn from about 20 different ethnic groups such as Matumbi, Ngindo, Pogoro, Mwera, Yao and Ngoni, just to mention a few (Rushohora, 2005). Narrators of history keep saying that women were in the frontline fighting for their lost freedom (Elijah, 2010).…”