Statecraft & Independence
Landmark
Chief Mkwawa
c. 1855 – 1898
Inflicted the first major defeat on German colonial forces in Africa
Landmark is level 2 of 4 in the Tanzania Hall of Fame: a first that opened a door, or the pre-eminent figure of their generation in this country. See how the levels work.
Why they are here
At Lugalo in 1891 his three thousand spearmen destroyed a German column and killed its commissioner — the Schutztruppe's first serious defeat. He fought on for seven years and shot himself rather than be captured.
Mkwavinyika Munyigumba Mwamuyinga, known as Chief Mkwawa, ruled the Hehe from Kalenga in the Iringa region of what was then German East Africa.
On 17 August 1891 his army of some three thousand, armed largely with spears and a handful of guns, overwhelmed a German force at Lugalo and killed Commissioner Emil von Zelewski — the first major defeat suffered by the German Schutztruppe in Africa, and the opening of the Hehe wars. He resisted for seven more years and took his own life in 1898 rather than be captured.
On 17 August 1891 his army of some three thousand, armed largely with spears and a handful of guns, overwhelmed a German force at Lugalo and killed Commissioner Emil von Zelewski — the first major defeat suffered by the German Schutztruppe in Africa, and the opening of the Hehe wars. He resisted for seven more years and took his own life in 1898 rather than be captured.
- Wikipedia — Chief Mkwawa
- Britannica — Mkwawa
- D+C Development and Cooperation — No surrender to the Germans
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