Chagga states

The Chagga States or Chagga Kingdoms also historically referred to as the Chaggaland (Uchaggani, in Swahili) were a pre-colonial series of Bantu sovereign states of the Chagga people on Mount Kilimanjaro in modern-day northern Kilimanjaro Region of Tanzania. The Chagga kingdoms existed as far back as the 17th century according to oral tradition, a lot of recorded history of the Chagga states was written with the arrival and colonial occupation of Europeans in the mid to late 19th century. On the mountain, many minor dialects of one language are divided into three main groupings that are defined geographically from west to east: West Kilimanjaro, East Kilimanjaro, and Rombo. One word they all have in common is Mangi, meaning king in Kichagga. The British called them chiefs as they were deemed subjects to the British crown, thereby rendered unequal. After the conquest, substantial social disruption, domination, and reorganization by the German and British colonial administrations, the Chagga states were officially abolished in 1963 by the Nyerere administration during its third year as the newly independent nation of Tanganyika.
The Bantu peoples began migrating to the Kilimanjaro region approximately five to six centuries ago, with some evidence suggesting even earlier settlements. Local traditions indicate that the mountain was already inhabited by the Wakonyingo or Wateremba pygmies prior to the arrival of the Bantu. Archaeological discoveries on Western Kilimanjaro, including stone bowls, obsidian flakes, pottery fragments, and tools, suggest human activity in the area dating back around 2,000 years.
The initial Bantu settlers are believed to have migrated either directly from the Taita region or later from a more northern location known as 'Shungwaya,' situated between the Tana and Juba rivers. Scholars debate the timeframe of these migrations, with some proposing a dispersal between A.D. 1200 and 1300, while others suggest it may have occurred three to five centuries later. Support for the later timeline is found in oral traditions of the Mbokomu clan, which asserts that their founding ancestor originated from Gonja in Usambara and migrated north to the Pokomo area before reaching Kilimanjaro approximately six generations before the mid-19th century. Additionally, there are accounts of the 'Umbo' people from Usambara who migrated in large numbers across the southern slopes of the mountain.
Kilimanjaro lacked native iron ore, necessitating the acquisition of iron through trade. The Chagga people primarily sourced iron from the Pare and possibly the Kamba communities. The extent of iron usage prior to the mid-18th century remains unclear, although Chagga oral traditions reference a period before the introduction of iron spear technology. While the exact timeline for the arrival of iron is debated, it is acknowledged that from the late 18th century onward, the availability of iron increased significantly, leading to widespread use of iron spears.
Furthermore, the inhabitants of Kilimanjaro generally did not possess the means to produce pottery, likely due to a scarcity of clay. Consequently, they obtained pottery from settlements in the plains, such as Kahe, although some localized production occurred in areas like Usseri in the northeast and Narumu in the south. Overall, the Chagga relied heavily on trade with neighboring communities for essential commodities, including iron, pottery, and magadi—a type of soda used in cooking.
The term "Chagga" is an exonym referring to the area around Mount Kilimanjaro and its slopes, rather than the mountain itself. Its origin is unclear, but some linguists believe it was coined by Bantu language speakers, including Swahili speakers, to describe the mountain's inhabitants following the arrival of coastal traders in the early 19th century. In contrast, the endonym "Wakirima," meaning "People of the Mountain" in Kichagga, is used locally, while "Chagga" does not have a specific meaning among the inhabitants.
The word was taken by European explorers who arrived on the mountain in the middle to end of the nineteenth century from their Swahili guides. A pioneer in this was Johannes Rebmann. He referred to both individuals as "Jagga" in his letters and journal entries. While mentioning the various kingdoms, he thought of the mountain as one social and cultural realm. He was followed by explorers like Karl Klaus von der Decken who visited in 1869, Charles New in 1871, Harry Johnston in 1886–7, Hans Meyer in 1887, and William Abbott in 1888, and they all came to refer to the mountain as Kilimanjaro and the locals as Chagga.
The mountain was already referred to by the Swahili as "Kilima Ndsharo" (or "Dscharo"), "The Country of Dschagga," at the coast in the early 19th century. Rebmann said the mountains meaning from Swhaili is "Great Mountain" or "the Mountain of the Caravans" in 1848–1849, referring to the mountain that could be seen from a great distance and acted as a signpost for travelers. He and Krapf discovered that different adjacent peoples had different names for it: the Taita just reduced the coastal Swahili name to "Ndscharo." The Kamba termed it "Kima ja Jeu," or "Mountain of Whiteness." The Maasai dubbed it "Ol Donyo Eibor," or "White Mountain." It was simply referred to as "Kibo" by the Chagga themselves, particularly the Kilema and Machame. By 1860, Rebmann's German spelling of Kilimandscharo from 1848 to 1849 had adopted the anglicized name "Kilimanjaro".
The most striking illustration came from Johnston, who built a homestead on the slopes of the mountain and spent close to six months there. He described the kingdom in which he lived, Moshi, as one of many "Chagga states" on the mountain in his texts. He speaks to the mountain as if they are a single group, destined in the natural order of events to become politically unified, despite the division and animosity existing on the mountain.
The usage of a single name to describe Kilimanjaro sounded reasonable from a distance. The people spoke what was thought to be a dialect of the same language, lived on the same mountain slopes, engaged in the same types of agriculture, and shared many other cultural practices, spiritual beliefs, and social structures. Nevertheless, it also revealed a basic misunderstanding of Africa, based on the presumption that individuals could and ought to be divided into tribes, regardless of their individual histories and ideas about what constitutes diversity.
This misconception quickly turned into the foundation of colonial rule. German expeditionary forces took over military command of the Kilimanjaro kingdoms in 1892, incorporating them into German East Africa. German control in the region drastically changed regional government in the years that followed. At the newly established town of Moshi, mangis were appointed local administrators who were tasked with keeping the peace, allocating land, organizing corvée labor, and collecting taxes under the supervision of a government official. Their prosperity now came from extorting money and labor from their subjects rather than through trade or combat.
Moreover, the Germans started to combine many of the lesser kingdoms into bigger ones. By 1916, the total had dropped to 28 as a result. The mountain was significantly impacted by Christian missionaries as well. Following the Germans into Kilimanjaro in the middle of the 1890s, the Catholic Holy Fathers and the Leipzig Lutheran Mission soon spread across the mountain, erecting churches, schools, and clinics. Every chiefdom on the mountain had a resident European missionary by the year 1915. Kilimanjaro was approached by these officials and missionaries in the same manner as it was by the explorers—as one mountain, one community.
For instance, Widenmann concluded that specific behaviors were distinctive to the "Chagga" people in his publications from the late nineteenth century concerning health on the mountain. The people were seen by missionaries as belonging to a single "tribe" that had only been divided by a century of inter-chiefdom conflict. Bruno Gutmann, a Leipzig missionary, provides one of the most extreme instances of this alleged oneness. Between 1907 and 1950, he wrote more than thirty books and essays about the inhabitants of the mountain. Along with acknowledging that they were all members of one tribe and shared an identity, he also recorded what he believed to be their shared cultural norms and rules.
On the slope of Mount Kilimanjaro, which rises 5,895 meters above sea level, were the Chagga kingdoms and states. Without any prior foothills, the mountain rises directly from the plain. The Shira plateau, which blends into the main shape, was created by one volcanic spout; the jagged spur Mawenzi, by another; and the summit Kibo, which is the highest point in all of Africa, by the third and final enormous eruption, which forced its way between the two.
Despite being only 3 degrees south of the equator, Kibo is a natural wonder since it is permanently covered in snow and ice. The Chagga gave their mountain the name "Kibo," which in some areas of Chaggaland means "Speckled" and in others is pronounced with a remarkable felicity as "Kiboo!"
This having a mountain as focus, a precise position, in a single grate mountain which is one of the great spots of naturally fertile earth in the world, has bred the Chagga sense of identity. The sum of the individualistic histories of each tiny, long-established portion of the mountain rooted in that location, which itself drew its own identity from a mountain stream, ravine, spur of the hill, or a wall of the impenetrable forest; has colored their history, which is detailed and complex. Kahe and Arusha Chini are a part of the plain that is a component of the Chagga realm.
According to Johannes Rebmann's journals and correspondence with Johann Krapf and the Church Missionary Society, people called themselves "mountain people or "Wakirima,"and those who lived elsewhere were known as "Wanyika" or "people of the plains." Moritz Merker also made note of the classification word "wandu wa mndeni," which translates to "people of the banana groves." They used this to contrast themselves with the Humba and Kuavi, which are pastoralists, and the Kasi, or hunter-gatherers. They show how the Chagga's conception of themselves and other people was shaped by the landscape. The importance of the mountain next to the lowlands is suggested by the terms Wakirima and Wanyika.
In contrast to those who lived in the semiarid steppe, as the Maasai, those who lived on the mountain regarded themselves to be the benefactors of divine favor because they lived in a lush, well-watered environment. Meanwhile, Wandu wa Mdneny, Wasi, Humba, and Kuavi emphasize the value of sustenance. The mountain's main crop, bananas were also the defining element of the kihamba and daily life. They suggested a particular kind of social and political structure, which was viewed as lacking among the inhabitants of the plains.
Kilimanjaro has served as a signpost from which other distant tribes, trading caravans, and travelers can get their bearings in addition to providing the Chagga with a focal point. The great snow dome can be seen high in the sky for up to 240 kilometers in all directions: to the east, just inland from the Swahili coral stone coastal cities of the Indian Ocean; to the west, deep in the Serengeti plains leading through to Lake Victoria; to the south, from the Great Rift Valley on the way to Unyamwezi and Lake Tanganyika; and to the north, across an endless plain, from Mount Kenya.
The Chagga's northern neighbors are the Kamba, who are thinly spread throughout the arid region and have only one visible point, the Kamba hills; the Taita live to the east in the Taita Hills, which are visible from Chaggaland. The Taveta are situated next to them on the Lumi River's banks, down a plain that is concealed by a small area of forest. The Pare people reside to the south, concealed by the Pare Mountains' naked shoulder. The Maasai, who just recently migrated to the region from Kenya in the late 18th century, are to the south and west. Located on the slopes of Mount Meru, to the northwest, are the Meru and the Arusha.
Kilimanjaro is first mentioned in the Geography of Ptolemy, which was written in the second century AD. Ptolemy mentions a "huge snow mountain" that is located inland from the coastal city of Rhapta. Rhapta's location is still a mystery; it may have been in the Rufiji delta or to the north of the Pangani River's mouth, although Kilimanjaro is certainly in the background. The second-oldest surviving account of the East African coast and the ancient cities that grew along it from Mogadishu to Kilwa, on the Indian Ocean Trade, is found in Ptolemy's Geography. The Periplus of the Erythrean Sea, the first reference, dates from AD 90. Residents of coastal cities, especially those along the line from Malindi to Pangani, from whose hinterland the mountain was most easily visible, must have known this.
A white mountain was mentioned by Arab geographer Abu'l Fida in the 13th century. Although no early Portuguese records of it have been discovered, it seems improbable that the Portuguese were unaware of it when they occupied the Swahili coast in the 16th century. Yet Martín Fernández de Enciso, a contemporary Spanish author, claims in his Suma de Geographia, which was published in 1519, that "west (of Mombasa) stands the Ethiopian Mount Olympus, which is exceedingly high, and beyond it are the Mountains of the Moon, in which are the headwaters of the Nile." It has been assumed that Kilimanjaro is meant by this.
Kilimanjaro can be seen on top of Yombo hill just inland from the coast or eastward and seen across the Indian Ocean, the island of Zanzibar on a clear day. On early maps of the East African coast, the great mountain lying in the interior was set down. The world inside the mountain area was recorded much later, one fragment of knowledge being gradually added to another in the 19th century. Certainly, the Swahili knew about it for centuries, when Rebmann's colleague, Krapf, landed at Takaungu in 1844 there was plenty of information available concerning the great mountain which lay on the way to the inland sea of the great central lakes.
The first recorded account we have is of the Swahili caravan leader Bwana Kheri, thanks to Rebmann writing it down. Kheri was a friend of the governor of Mombasa, who in 1848 commended him to Rebmann. It happened that Kheri was on the point of making one of his periodic journeys to Kilimanjaro with his caravan, and Rebmann joined him. He visited Kilema making Kilema the first kingdom visited by a European. Machame and Kilema were visited on the second and third visits by Rebmann.
Von der Decken traveled to the mountain twice in 1861. In 1861, he visited Kilema and Machame, traveling from Mombasa via Taita and Taveta, following a course parallel to the Pnagani River, passing through the southern part of the Usambaras and arriving at his chosen port of Wanga. In 1862, he visited Uru and Moshi, traveling from Wanga via Usambara, Ugweno in north Pare, Lake Jipe through Ndara and Buru mountains to Mombasa.
In 1871 an English Methodist missionary, Charles New, Journeyed to Kilimanjaro when he visit the kingdoms of Marangu, Mamba, and Msae; going from, and returning to, Mombasa he took the route through Taita and Taveta. To the Chagga, the European explorers were unusual visitors since they didn't come to trade anything. Rebmann intended to spread the word of the Christian God among the heathen, and von der Decken and Charles New planned to climb the mountain. They were all seen as magicians with their instruments and Holy Book. The three travelers, separated from each other by ten-year intervals, left written accounts for which Chagga's life can be seen this time in the 19th century. They allowed for dating of the rule of certain mangis and even handed down by oral tradition.
Sir Harry Johnston and Hnas Meyer also visited Moshi in the 1880s and wrote reports of the place. The German Roman Catholic Fathers of the Holy Ghost established their station in Kilema in 1892, the same year that the English Church Missionary Society (CMS) withdrew from Kilimanjaro and was replaced by the German Lutheran Mission operating out of Leipzig. The first station was established by the CMS in Moshi in 1885.
The German government entered the picture last but not least. Mangi Rindi of Moshi signed a piece of paper given to him by von Juhlke, an emissary of the German government, in 1885, and the church's influence helped make Kilimanjaro German territory the following year when Britain and Germany signed a treaty outlining the borders of German and British East Africa.
In the 19th century, the Chagga people were organized into numerous small, politically autonomous kingdoms that engaged in frequent conflicts and raids against one another, as well as against neighboring tribes. These raids were motivated by a desire to acquire cattle, iron tools, and other goods, as well as to capture women to serve as auxiliary wives, thereby avoiding the costs of bridewealth. Initially reliant on external sources for iron and weaponry, the Chagga sought to augment their supplies through raids, which also served as a rite of passage for young warriors.
Cattle were a crucial resource, and while some Chagga households maintained herds, many had limited livestock. The cultural significance of cattle was reflected in lineage feasts, which often involved animal slaughter. This practice created a continual demand for cattle, further incentivizing raids against the eastern Chagga and other tribes.
The political landscape among the Chagga was characterized by shifting alliances and rivalries influenced by the burgeoning slave and ivory trades. Raiding activities were not merely opportunistic but were deeply intertwined with the political dynamics of the time, as kingdoms vied for dominance over trade routes and external resources. Tribute payments were a common practice, serving both as a means of ensuring protection against raids and as a symbol of subjugation to more powerful kingdoms.
Throughout the century, the competition for political supremacy led to temporary dominance by certain kingdoms over broader territories, while many remained politically insignificant. The instability in power dynamics was influenced by both internal organizational structures and external relations, including conflicts with neighboring groups such as the Maasai and the Pare. Additionally, significant political changes in the coastal regions impacted the Chagga kingdoms, leading to reorganizations driven by trade and migratory movements. Thus, the conflicts among the Chagga were fundamentally rooted in political and economic concerns, rather than merely the ambitions of individual leaders.
n the mid-19th century, the kingdom of Moshi, located in present-day Kilimajaro Region, organized its warrior age-grade into distinct groups for military purposes, including looters and fighters. Prior to the introduction of firearms, the Chagga people utilized a range of traditional weapons such as bows and arrows, clubs, daggers, iron spears, and axes, complemented by hide shields for protection. Defensive strategies employed by the Chagga included the construction of ditches, stone walls, and palisaded enclosures, as well as the excavation of large subterranean chambers, known as bolt holes, which served as refuge for both people and livestock during attacks.
The kingdom was organized into several settlements, each governed by a local headman (Mchili) appointed by the king (Mangi). These settlements typically comprised localized branches of various patrilineages, with no formal villages present. Each household within a patrilineage maintained a separate homestead situated amid fenced banana groves. The localized patrilineal groups operated corporately, enjoying significant internal autonomy and considerable bargaining power in dealings with other lineages. These groups were part of a broader, non-corporate system of dispersed patricians, which could undergo segmentary fission when they expanded beyond a certain size.
The kings ruled alongside a council of lineage heads known as the njamaa. Their authority was significantly derived from control over the warrior age-class. A structured age-grade system, which intersected with lineage organization, facilitated the mobilization of labor for both communal tasks and warfare. Young boys who underwent circumcision together formed a named age-set (rika), while those who participated in various instructional phases constituted divisions within the age-set (ilumbo). Each age-set typically included senior and junior levels (malunbo). After a period during which several groups of boys were circumcised, the king would declare the rika complete, allowing all age-sets to advance in the hierarchy, resulting in a diverse age range within each rika.
Historically, there was a customary period of forest seclusion and instruction for boys circumcised together, with the last such event in the Moshi kingdom occurring in 1850. Similar to the Maasai system, the Chagga age classification aligned individual life cycle progressions with specific time markers, enabling a generation of men of varying ages to collectively advance in the age-grade hierarchy. For instance, a man transitioned from the warrior age-grade to the elder age-grade upon the circumcision of his child, with all members of his rika eventually following suit.
Scholar Dundas posits that the decision to declare a rika complete was a political one, subject to the king's discretion, allowing for potential acceleration or deferment. He also suggests that the naming of rikas in both Maasai and Chagga cultures allows for cross-dating, indicating some level of political coordination among contemporaneous groups. However, these assertions appear contradictory, underscoring the significance of shared age-set periods in illustrating potential political connections.
In the Chagga kingdom, it was customary for a king to transfer his authority to his senior son during his lifetime. Historical evidence suggests that this transition often coincided with the ceremonial stepping down of one warrior age-class in favor of a new generation, exemplified by the transfer of power to King Rindi of Moshi upon the ascension of his age-set to warrior status.
A key aspect of the public ceremony involved the king symbolically handing over sacred war horns to his successor, marking the shift in power. The king's authority was largely based on his ability to summon warriors and mobilize labor. During the colonial period and possibly earlier, a herald would blow the sacred war horn along public paths to call people for corvée work, a horn also used to summon men to battle. This horn was believed to possess magical effects, capable of enchanting allies and cursing those who disobeyed the king.
The Chagga contributed to the king's power by providing fighting manpower and various tributary gifts, which could be offered voluntarily, levied, or considered the king's due. This included a share of all animals slaughtered and beer brewed. Requests for gifts were often made metaphorically, such as asking for a banana, which would prompt the subject to bring a goat or calf. These contributions were especially important during gatherings for guests, sacrifices, or when feeding colonial troops.
Special levies could also be imposed for specific needs, such as acquiring elephant tusks for trade. The king would gather warriors to seek their cooperation in mustering the necessary animals. Contributions were expected for significant occasions, such as the inauguration of a new king, and in emergencies requiring large ransoms.
Cattle taxes were typically levied lineage by lineage, with individual contributions determined internally. Taxpayers received specific portions of meat from their slaughtered beasts, fostering a communal sense of obligation. In pre-colonial times, households could also voluntarily provide gifts to curry favor with the king, such as a fattened goat.
Additionally, the king could demand children for service, particularly boys as herders and girls as helpers for the king's wives. This practice persisted into the German colonial era, although male servitude ended.
By the mid-19th century, the institution of kingship among the Chagga had developed significantly, supported by a robust economic and military structure. The age-grade system provided kings with a larger pool of manpower than any individual lineage could offer. When Rebmann, the first European to visit the Chagga, arrived in Kilimanjaro in 1848, he noted the stark contrast between Chagga political organization and that of neighboring egalitarian tribes, remarking that the Chagga elevated a single individual to a position of power that rendered others nearly subservient.
The Chagga people traditionally form localized clusters of patrilineal kin, often organized into sub-branches of noncorporate, exogamous patrician lineages. Each lineage is named after its founder and follows specific customs and taboos. Migration has influenced the size of these clusters, with newer settlements being smaller and older areas having larger clusters.
Each household typically has its own fenced plot of land, often situated within banana groves, leading to defined territories for local branches of clans. Land rights are mainly held by males, while women have some usage rights.
Historically, these patrilineal groups functioned as corporate entities, with a legal representative managing external dealings and collective obligations. However, this corporateness is declining, affecting their traditional roles in lineage obligations and interactions with outsiders.
Localized patrilineages among the Chagga people are organized through genealogical segmentation, with male descendants of a common grandfather forming small goat slaughtering groups, while larger cattle groups may include multiple goat groups. These kinship units are defined by genealogy but can integrate smaller branches as needed..
Historically, these groups shared meals frequently, but modern practices have led to less regular communal slaughtering. Today, lineages gather for festive occasions but typically do not slaughter together. While past representatives facilitated negotiations, contemporary lineages lack a singular legal representative, complicating external relations..
Despite these changes, patrilineages remain vital for ritual celebrations and mutual support among households, continuing to play a role in land acquisition. Cohesion is maintained through a system of norms and resource allocation, allowing for expulsion of members and reallocation of land when necessary. Members may request land from the lineage head if their family cannot provide it, reflecting contingent interests rather than collective ownership. If lineage resources are insufficient, individuals may seek permission from local authorities to cultivate unoccupied land..
In the Chagga lineage system, allocations of property and rights are largely discretionary, subject to negotiation and adjustments based on individual circumstances. Rules governing inheritance and succession are not absolute; for instance, a designated heir may be disqualified if implicated in the decedent's death. Similarly, a father may withhold land from a son deemed incompetent or disrespectful..
The ritual head of a localized lineage is the senior male, with succession typically following age order. However, the legal representative, chosen for oratory skills, may be younger. Senior male members convene to discuss matters of collective importance, ensuring representation from each sub-branch..
Property is individually held and transferred, making the lineage sub-branch a key social unit for men regarding property and status. Allocations occur during a man's lifetime, with responsibilities including providing land and livestock for wives and sons. The eldest son usually inherits significant property, while middle sons are expected to seek land elsewhere. Cattle distributions upon the father’s death favor the first and last sons, with specific arrangements for inheritance based on the number of cattle and their location..
Widows are typically inherited by a brother of the deceased, although both the widow and the brother can refuse this arrangement. Children born to the widow after remarriage are considered the biological offspring of the new husband. Inheritance among brothers follows a pattern based on their order and pairing, with the deceased's property passing to his offspring rather than to brothers..
Dispositions of a deceased individual’s property and obligations are discussed in a meeting held four days after death, attended by kinsmen, friends, and creditors, where claims against the estate must be made or are considered invalid.
Traditional Chagga society employed a variety of methods to address grievances and resolve disputes, integrating both social and supernatural elements. Key practices included revenge, self-help, negotiated settlements often facilitated by intermediaries, and a structured network of lay tribunals that offered authoritative rulings. Self-help measures included acts of vengeance, such as killing or property seizure, as well as persistent harassment by creditors, who might camp outside a debtor's home or extinguish cooking fires.
Tribunals could impose penalties or require compensation, which might be paid in forms such as beer, livestock, or tools. Punishments could range from expulsion from local lineages or chiefdoms to more severe measures, including flogging, torture, or death, particularly at the discretion of a chief.
In pre-colonial Chagga society, various forums existed for dispute resolution at every social level. The marriage go-between, known as mkara, played a crucial role in mediating marital disputes. Additionally, elders from lineage sub-branches, local lineages, age-mate groups, and chiefdom assemblies were responsible for hearing and adjudicating cases. Both oral testimony and magical practices were employed to ascertain the truth, with techniques such as haruspicy, legal wagers, and ordeals used to establish guilt.
Conditional curses were also a common method for accusing distant or unknown adversaries. In instances where earthly penalties were inadequate, supernatural sanctions provided an alternative avenue for addressing grievances, often invoked through various rituals.
In Chagga society, actionable wrongs can be categorized into two main types: those harming individuals or their lineages, and those posing challenges to public authority or societal well-being.
Wrongdoings against individuals included offenses such as witchcraft, physical injury or killing, adultery, slander, insults, theft, arson, fraud (particularly in agistment), and debts related to livestock. Notably, the resolution of these issues relied heavily on the initiative of the wronged party or their lineage; chiefs and their subordinates typically did not intervene unless formally approached.
Public wrongs, which warranted intervention by the mangi (king), fell into two categories: those that endangered the community through violations of taboos and those that directly challenged authority. Examples of the first category include a father's failure to circumcise his daughter before menstruation, sexual relations between uncircumcised youths and girls, or the killing of sacred animals, such as colobus monkeys or pythons. The second category encompassed acts of disobedience to chiefly orders, such as evasion of corvée duties, offenses against the chief, or failure to contribute to communal activities like sharing beer.
Land in the banana belt holds significant economic and social value, particularly following the introduction of coffee cultivation, which transformed it into a lucrative cash resource. As population density increased, land became scarcer, enhancing its importance. Traditional landholding practices, including inheritance and transfer rules overseen by local chiefs, have largely persisted, with inheritance from male relatives remaining the primary method of land access in historically settled areas.
However, these traditional regulations have evolved to accommodate modern transactions, including the buying and selling of land for cash. Since the widespread adoption of coffee farming in the 1930s, cash transactions have become more prevalent, introducing new contractual forms for sales and labor. The Chagga community engages in various cash-based purchases, from food and clothing to services such as construction and tailoring.
Additionally, land-related financial transactions have emerged, where loans are secured against future coffee yields or land ownership. Contemporary disputes frequently arise concerning these sales, labor contracts, and loans, leading to the development of detailed regulations governing such matters. These evolving dynamics reflect the intersection of tradition and modernity in land use and economic activity in the region.
The substantive rules of Chagga law are extensive, reflecting the complexities of daily life. Over time, the nature of property considered most important has shifted, influencing the focus of legal rules and litigation. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, cattle emerged as a vital form of property, leading to the establishment of comprehensive regulations concerning cattle rights, loans, inheritance, marriage payments, and tribute obligations. While some of these rules remain relevant, the significance of cattle transactions has diminished in contemporary Chagga society compared to earlier periods.
During the Pre-colonial era the mountain was divided into kingdoms, which the British authorities eventually reduced to them chiefdoms in the 20th century. Historical records use the terms "king" and "chief" interchangeably to refer to the same Chagga leadership. By 1886, these small kingdoms were still governed by a few sovereign monarchs known as "Mangis" (Kings in Kichagga). Subsequently, Kilimanjaro was incorporated into the colonial governing structure, and the authority of the chiefs was increasingly restricted first by the Germans and then by the British.
The Mangi, who can also be called sultans are not autocrats. Their power is held in check by the advice of the elders and by what seem to be the feelings of the people; they are, however, very respected, and can rely on their people’s obedience. The "chiefdom" passes from father to son, and, when a son is not old enough to rule, his mother acts as queen regent. A chief will always have three or four people who act as ministers.
During warfare, the Chagga adhere to specific rules of conduct governing their engagements. While it is considered lawful to kill combatants, capture women and children, seize cattle, destroy banana plantations, burn houses, and disrupt irrigation channels, certain prohibitions are observed. Notably, it is deemed unacceptable to kill or capture chiefs or blacksmiths, reflecting the importance of these roles within Chagga society.
From 1886 to 1916, Kilimanjaro was governed by the Germans as part of German East Africa. From 1916 to 1961, it was governed by the British as a part of the territory that had been renamed Tanganyika. In December 1961, it was incorporated into the independent sovereign state of Tanganyika.
In pre-colonial Chagga society, the Mangi served as the nominal leaders and principal sources of innovation within their kinhdoms. The extent of their consultation with age-grade assemblies and councils prior to issuing edicts remains unclear. The Mangi possessed significant powers, including the authority to abolish specific rituals, such as grove-seclusion associated with male circumcision, impose tributes and taxes, condemn individuals to death, and command corvée labor, often overseen by their lineage brothers. Additionally, the mangi acted as intermediaries and peacemakers between lineages, offered asylum in cases of blood revenge, allocated land, and reorganized warrior age-grades, with land reverting to the mangi if grantees failed to produce male heirs.
The Mangi derived much of their internal power from their control over external relations, negotiating alliances and tribute agreements with other Chagga chiefdoms long before colonial influences. They facilitated the redistribution of war booty and managed trade with neighboring tribes and coastal traders.
Despite their external connections bolstering their prestige, mangi faced the challenge of balancing power within their chiefdoms. Strong lineages could threaten stability by leaving, forming treasonable alliances, or supporting rival candidates for the mangi position. The appointment of local headmen by the mangi established a centralized administrative system; however, these headmen, also members of local lineages, posed potential political competition. Local headmen managed their own courts, supervised corvée labor, and handled tax levies.
Historical accounts suggest that some mangi faced significant challenges, occasionally leading to their flight or assassination when internal pressures escalated. The attribution of changes in legislation to a mangi's rule may obscure the complex political dynamics and struggles that characterized Chagga chiefdoms throughout their history.
As of 1899, there were more than 37 small Chagga Kingdoms around the mountain, according to August Windenmann, a German surgeon stationed at Moshi in the 1890s
Kahe and Arusha Chini are not located on the mountain like other Chagga states but are linked to the Chagga for administrative reasons. Historically part of an ancient trade route, their narratives differ from the Chagga's. Today, the Chagga recognize Kahe as part of their community but see Arusha Chini as distinct.
From Kibongoto to Usseri, kingdoms stretch from the forest to the plains, using natural landmarks like ravines as borders. Land holdings aren't measured, but Kibosho, Machame, Masama, and Kibongoto are larger, while Kilema and Kirua are more compact. Mamba lacks access to the plains.
Chaggaland is divided between Sanya and Moshi. Eastward toward Tarakea, the land gets drier with less rainfall. Rombo relies on seasonal rains, as most rivers dry up except for the Lumi River. Despite being the least fertile in Chaggaland, it still features rich vegetation and meadows.
The names of former chiefdoms became geographical designations for various parts of the mountain region. In 1899, there were 37 chiefdoms . By 1924, this number had decreased to 28 .
By 1968, these entities were reorganized into 17 administrative units, which were formerly chiefdoms. Located high on the mountain, from west to east, these were: Kibongoto (Siha), Masama, Machame, Kibosho, Uru, Old Moshi, Kirua Vunjo, Kilema, Marangu, Mamba, Mwika, Keni-Mriti-Mengwe, Mkuu, Mashati, and Usseri, with Arusha Chini and Kahe situated on the plain.
From 1946 to 1961, the entire Uchagga area was divided into three major administrative divisions: the western division known as Hai, the central as Vunjo, and the eastern as Rombo. Vunjo and Rombo were traditional Chagga names for these regions, while Hai was formerly referred to as Kipoo.
The Chagga were at the vanguard of tactical and weaponry advancements for the majority of the 19th century, undoubtedly aided by their proximity to both the Maasai and the Arabs. Traditional reports of the warfare between the Maasai and the Rombo clan of the Ngasseni undoubtedly give a decent indication of how the rest of the Chaga fought at the beginning of the century. Rombo was the region most open to attacks from the steppe to the north. The Ngasseni, whose battle cry is Wuui! Wuui! Otiemagati! would ambush the enemy in the woods and banana groves, set up in three lines: spearmen in front, shield-carrying men behind them, and archers in the back. Throughout the century, the traditionalist Rombo continued to employ these strategies, while elsewhere in Chagga, Maasai influence grew significantly beginning in the 1860s. It is known that at least two chiefs, Orio of Kilema and Mdusio of Siha, resided with the Maasai at this time and studied their combat techniques.
Sina of Kibosho, who seems to have been a remarkable innovator, was the other significant impact on tactics. He kept his warriors under severe discipline and housed and trained them in his stone palace; it was rumored that the punishment for sleeping at home was death. The broad-bladed Maasai spear is thought to have been given to Kibosho by him, and he is also credited with designing his own throwing spear with a narrow blade "as long as the human arm." He kept all of their weapons in his arsenal and only released them when necessary.
His troops typically launched their assaults at dawn, with the advance guard initially dispersing and setting a few sparsely placed huts on fire to mislead the adversary about the direction in which the main body was moving. They then advanced in three waves, with men with stabbing spears in reserve in the back and men wielding throwing spears in front, accompanied by a line of musketeers.
Chagga first encountered firearms in the 1860s. Through his connections with the Arabs, Mandara of Moshi was the first Mangi to obtain them, and he used them naturally to gain an advantage over his competitors. By the 1880s, Swahili dealers had begun purchasing Snider rifles from soldiers returned from European missions and selling them in Chagga, where the new bunduki snap design was obviously preferred to the traditional bunduki za fataki or muzzle-loader.
400 warriors of Mangi Marealle of Marangu were equipped with Snider rifles in 1884. Even though he already had a few tiny cannons to protect his stockade, Mandara asked Johnston to show his smiths how to make more of them. Despite this, Johnston was sure that the spearmen continued to cause the vast majority of losses in Chagga combat since so few men had any understanding of how to shoot their firearms correctly.
Across all the mountain runs an intricate network of tracks. In modern times broad dirt roads have been made leading from Moshi town up to the center of each kingdom and on the mountain itself, notably, the horizontal road linking Usseri to Moshi. For the most part, these tracks go back to the olden days. Many in the first place were probably made by elephants, finding the easiest ways through the forest and down and across the steep ravines. By innumerable paths, still known today, the Chagga of old communicated with each other, going not only from one kingdom to the next but from one far-flung kingdom to another and down into the world outside the mountain. There are other Kichagga dialects, some of which are unintelligible, in Siha and the eastern region of Usseri where people speak Kingassa, a different tongue. Taita and Kichagga are related.
The history of the Chagga is shaped by three main horizontal routes that pass through various altitudes: the lower track traverses the plain, the middle track travels through Chaggaland's most populous region, and the upper track passes through the high forest or even above it via the high open savanna. When communicating with one another, the ancient Chagga had to decide strategically between these three sources of power and whether their kingdom had friendly or hostile relations with the states they had to pass through. Generally speaking, the intermediate track was the most practical and efficient since it spanned the ravines where they were less steep than either above or below.
For safety reasons, people frequently took the upper and lower tracks to avoid unfavorable situations. Yet, there are times when the upper track is the most practical and direct option. For instance, the route from Marangu to Mkuu passes through a high forest, and the upper routes were particularly popular between the countries of Rombo and Vunjo. The discovery of an upper track that circumnavigated Kilimanjaro and reached Siha on the far west is one of the most intriguing pieces of evidence gleaned from a study of these ancient trails. This upper track ran from the Kingdom of Usseri, the furthest eastern boundary of then-inhabited Chaggaland.
The other network running across the mountain is that indigenous marvel, the Chagga irrigation system using furrows (Mfongo in Kichaga). Each furrow is cut from an intake high up on a mountain stream whence it is led by a circuitous course for miles following the contours of the land. From each main furrow branches and sub-branches are led off until one gets down to the unit of the modest channel of clear flowing water which runs through every homestead, providing the Chagga with water for drinking, washing, and cultivating his land.
Furrow surveyors used little sticks as their only tool to draw the required course in the furrows and cut them. Their biggest talent was used in the initial phase when determining where to make the intake and how to organize the course of action. In some places today, for instance across the hillside of the boundary at Kilema, a series of up to five main furrows run one above the other, appearing to defy gravity and to be running back to the river rather than down towards the plain. This is because their plotting was so exact that it prevented future landslides. In the kingdom of Mbokomu, there was a special art associated with surveying, particularly a method by which furrows were carried right over the oddly precipitous ravines using hollowed tree trunks arranged horizontally and resting one on top of the other.
Plotted within the kingdoms, each furrow has a name and historical significance, ranging from the earliest, which are less in length and are located higher up the mountain, to the lengthy, magnificent constructions of the 19th century. Mangi Mlatie of Mbokomu, a former king, was one of the illustrious surveyors. No mangi is more joyfully remembered because Mlatie, who was temporarily exiled, surveyed furrows throughout the highlands wherever he happened to be. These furrows still hold his name and are still used by the Chagga today.
In the Machame kingdom, as in other areas of Chagga country, the social organization does not conform to the conventional notion of villages. Instead, each family occupies an individual household, which is contained within its own enclosure and surrounded by agricultural land. This arrangement functions effectively during periods of peace. However, during times of conflict, the vulnerability of this system becomes apparent, as families may face the threat of massacre or capture.
To mitigate these risks, large refuge camps have been established along the banks of rivers with deep beds that are not susceptible to blockage or diversion. These camps, carved into the landscape, serve as secure havens where individuals can congregate, often in close quarters, bringing with them essential belongings such as furniture, provisions, and livestock.
The camps are fortified by substantial trenches, typically measuring three to four meters in width and six to eight meters in depth. Access to these refuge areas is controlled by a gangway that can be easily retracted. The construction of these ditches involves significant labor, utilizing the natural flow of water to soften and remove earth, alongside the incorporation of large wooden structures to aid in the fortification process.
In the 19th century, the Chagga people did not form villages; instead, each household was situated within its own banana grove. Ideally, a man's plot was near those of his patrilineage. At that time, unoccupied spaces existed between lineage territories. Today, however, there is little open space, and the lands of different lineage clusters are closely intertwined at their boundaries.
In Chaggaland, each family lives in the seclusion of their farmhouse, known as a kihamba in Kichagga, surrounded by a shrubbery fence. The sacred Masala plant (Dracaena fragrans) encircles each home. Within the property, a banana grove shades crops like tomatoes, onions, and various yams. At the center is a round, beehive-shaped house made of mud and thatched with grass or banana leaves. The sleeping area is near the entrance, along with space for tools. A central fire, supported by three stones, burns inside, with a loft above for drying bananas.
Outside, beehives made of hollowed-out tree trunk lengths with stoppers are hung from the trees; hides are stretched on pegs to dry at the door; in some homesteads, a blacksmith may be seen hunched over hot embers with his anvil and goatskin bellows; in others, a woman shaping and firing earthen pots is more rarely seen.
Neighbors usually belong to the same clan. Within the area covered by that clan interior connecting paths run between one homestead and another, and the whole area is demarcated by a bigger hedge or an earth bank from the adjacent dwellings of the next clan. Several clans comprise a mtaa, and several mtaa or chiefdom which united turn a kingdom. When Johannes Rebmann reached Kilema in 1848 he immediately remarked upon the orderliness which prevailed thanks to the strong authority exercised by the Mangi. He was captivated by the well-being and talents of the people, by the good climate and the beauty of the land.
The indigenous Chagga houses were of two types: a conical, grass-thatched structure resembling a pointed haystack, and a flatter, curved-roof design often thatched with banana leaves. Constructing the conical houses required multiple people and significant skill. These large structures featured a circular base up to 25 feet in diameter and exceeded 20 feet in height. Made with a framework of wattle and covered with nine-inch-thick thatch, these windowless houses had only one door and were durable, lasting over twenty years with maintenance.
Inside, four central posts supported the structure. The husband's place was immediately to the right of the entrance for defensive purposes, with his column nearby. Toward the back on the same side were the sleeping quarters for the wife and children, with a small partitioned area for souring milk at the rear. The wife's column was the inner right column. The left side housed animals, with space for goats near the door and a cow stall further inside, opposite the family's area. The hearth stones occupied the center. Bedding included a base of banana leaves topped with cattle skins, which were also used as covers. The hearth and cows provided warmth for the hut.
Married Chagga men initially lived with their wives in the main house. After having children, they built a smaller sleeping hut, called a "tengo," which the father eventually shared with his sons. Another structure on the property was a large, roofed basketry grain bin for storing eleusine, used in beer production.
By the late 19th century, "Swahili houses" with rectangular, mud-and-wattle walls began to appear, initially thatched and later roofed with corrugated metal. Wealthy individuals now build cinderblock houses with cement floors and metal roofs, while those with fewer resources use mud bricks and beaten earth floors. Traditional conical houses still exist and are favored by older women. Every part of the traditional Chagga house held sacred symbolic significance and was ritually consecrated during construction.
During the second half of the 19th century, the Chagga independently ruled over several Chagga kingdoms. When the Germans invaded, there was a period of unrest and rivalry that resulted in several wars, including the Battle of Moshi and the Great Hanging at Old Moshi.
Following the First World War, Kilimanjaro underwent a further set of political and economic upheavals as British rule began. Similar to the Germans, the British also accepted the idea of "one mountain, one people," and they took several actions to turn cultural "reality" into political reality. The mangis were combined into a single organizational structure known as the Chagga Native Authority in 1919, and they were made into salaried workers by the district headquarters in Moshi town. These actions aimed to strengthen the authority and lessen corruption. The agency also established three regional Chagga councils, each of which was made up of the mangis for that region as well as their separate treasuries.
The emergence of coffee was the most important economic development throughout the British era. As early as 1900, Catholic missionaries brought Arabica coffee to the mountain. Nonetheless, coffee production increased during the 1920s, partly as a result of Charles Dundas' activities. When he was appointed as the Moshi district officer in 1920, he thought that coffee was "the sine qua non" of the growth of the indigenous economy and started to provide mountain farmers with direct government assistance in growing the commodity. The outcomes were extraordinary, to put it mildly. The Dar es Salaam government began to view the Kilimanjaro people as economically progressive in the 1930s.
The extraordinary success of African coffee farming thrilled the government and brought great income to Chagga farmers, but it also intimidated the European settlers in the area, the majority of whom were also actively engaged in coffee cultivation. In the 1920s, settlers turned into aggressive opponents of African coffee production. They worried that a booming African coffee market would not only drive down prices but would also make it harder for them to acquire the low-cost agricultural labor they needed to manage their estates. The Kilimanjaro Planters Association (KPA), an organization that actively pressured the government to outlaw all African coffee cultivation on Kilimanjaro as had been done in Kenya, was founded in 1923 by a group of settlers.
By the 1930s disputes over land, water, and coffee farming did not develop in a vacuum; rather, they occurred in the context of a society that was changing quickly, one that was characterized by an increase in educational opportunities and Christian conversions. People first turned to their mangis when they wanted to voice their complaints. But, the mangis had taken on a dangerous stance. Although they were paid agents of colonial power, they pretended to represent the interests of their people. A new generation of educated elites, coffee growers, and clan headmen were the other three significant power players on the mountain that they had managed to alienate.
Kilimanjaro had nonetheless become a vital component of the colonial economy, but there was still a crippling lack of cohesion. For instance, the residents of the mountain still refused to identify as Chagga. "If a Chagga, preparing to give evidence in Court, is questioned about his tribe, he generally says, "Mkibosho" or "Mkilema" or whatever the name by which the people in his particular area are called: if he adds, "Mchagga," it is an afterthought,".
The registration requirement played a role in public outrage, which was significant, yet the majority of people opposed dissolving the KNPA. People were willing to resist the mangis to save the group since it had evolved into a type of uniting point against both them and the settlers. The organization continued to exist, indicating that people on the mountain were now identifying politically with an organization that transcended kingdom lines. For a few more years, the KNPA remained a formidable force on Mount Kilimanjaro, but an accounting scandal in 1932 eventually led to its dissolution. By this time, the government had firmly committed to promoting African coffee growing, which was now very profitable, but it also wished to purge the organ of its "radical" components. The scandal allowed the district office to remove the organization's current leadership, disband it, and replace it with the Kilimanjaro Cooperative Union (KNCU). Compared to its predecessor, the new co-op was less of a political forum, but it still operated independently of the mangis. Both KNPA and KNCU were successful in organizing people to defend their rights in coffee cultivation. People formed these organizations to defend themselves against foreigners beyond the mountain and their mangis, not from one another.
Clans used their connections with other clans as a source of resources to give the traders the food, water, ivory, and slaves they needed. Throughout time, the mangis in these alliances evolved as the main clan members. They were the male age groups responsible for organizing attacks on neighboring ridges to dominate trade and acquire slaves, as well as for defending against such incursions. They not only acted as trade negotiators on behalf of the clans. By 1890, the mountain's key political personalities and the monarchy as a significant political entity had emerged.
Though still the permanent units of authority on the mountain, the so-called "chiefdoms" underwent several modifications in the middle of the 20th century. They were formally divided into three divisions, each under the supervision of a divisional chief, from 1946 to 1961. From 1952 to 1960, the superstructure of the three divisional chiefs was expanded by the addition of a single supreme Paramount Chief. In 1960, the Paramount chief was replaced by the President, and in 1961 the divisions and the position of the divisional chief were abolished. The council's advice to the chiefs was developed at the same time. The 1932-founded Chagga Council made strides in 1952 and again in 1960. It gave a new democratic elected element a foothold that, starting in 1952, slowly started to undermine the hereditary main rulers' power.
Chiefdoms as of 1961, west to East:
The new divisional leaders were addressed by the existing Chagga Council. Despite allowing for some popular rule by the people, these reforms concentrated power in the hands of the divisional chiefs and strengthened the clan chiefs' dominance. Most significantly, they gave the divisional chiefs little to no checks on their authority and gave them control over land allocation. Beginning in 1945, a group of worried coffee farmers known as the Chagga Association was formed under the leadership of previous activists Merinyo and Njau. This organization developed an interest in issues of governance as well as the preservation of the general public's rights to land and water.
Merinyo and Njau argued for the appointment of a paramount chief to lead the current mangis. They believed that doing so would weaken the influence of the local rulers and increase local democracy and fairness in matters relating to land and water. The Chagga Association's adoption of the name by the mangis is possibly its most significant aspect. The term "traditional" authority" refers to colonial governance in a political context. Yet, this new group repurposed the phrase to refer to the unification of the populace as a whole in opposition to the mangis’ tyrannical exercise of power.
The divisional mangis received several hundred acres of excellent former German farmland from the government in 1947. The lands remained in their possession and were never transferred, just as the Chagga Association had prophesied. Merinyo and Njau established the Kilimanjaro Chagga Citizens Union as a new political organization in response to the lack of advancement (KCCU). Its two objectives were to change how the land was distributed and to create a more unified government by electing a mangi mkuu (Paramount Chief). The politically disaffected populace, including "dispossessed chiefs, ambitious traders and farmers, elderly KNPA militants, underprivileged Muslims, noblemen who despised mangi authority, and young educated men restless with the old system, were highly popular with the organization. In 1951, it expanded rapidly to 12,000 members.
The colonial administration had serious concerns about the KCCU because it thought that local indirect rule implementation might be threatened by this widespread opposition to colonial policy. Yet, it was united in its aim to establish central authority on the mountain to improve governance and cut expenditures. To adopt a paramount chieftaincy and even allow the mangi mkuu to be chosen by popular vote, the administration reached an agreement with the Chagga Council and the KCCU in 1951.
Three of the four candidates for the 8 October 1951 election were the divisional chiefs who were still in office: Petro Itosi Marealle of Vunjo, Abdiel Shangali of Hai, and John Maruma of Rombo. Thomas Marealle, the fourth, was somewhat of an outsider. He shared the same main clan as the other candidates, which was a prerequisite for running in the election. He was Petro Marealle's nephew, another candidate. However, Thomas Marealle had not been actively involved in local politics his entire life, in contrast to his rivals. He finished his secondary education on the mountain and then went on to study overseas at Trinity College, Cambridge, and the London School of Economics. Marealle distinguished himself from the divisional leaders by campaigning on behalf of the mountain's inhabitants rather than a specific chiefdom or division.
Marealle ultimately prevailed, gaining every chiefdom but one. His triumph was a significant turning point in Kilimanjaro's history. He not only served as Kilimanjaro's first paramount chief, but he also did it with widespread backing from the chiefdoms. Marealle was attractive for a variety of reasons, including his personality, his position as an outsider, and his advanced education. Yet, his victory was primarily a result of their battle for control of the mountain's resources and their conviction that he would be best able to represent their interests.
On January 17, 1952, Thomas Marealle became the paramount chief of Kilimanjaro. Governor Twining presided over the installation ceremony, which combined 'traditional' and modern rites and customs. Marealle utilized tax money from the booming coffee industry to engage with local authorities on important concerns for the following several years, such as water supply, road development, school, and dispensary construction. Regarding the matter of significant concern, he had little actual power.
The emerging sense of Chagga identity, which Marealle attempted to exploit, is best recognized during his time serving as paramount chief. He also took part in developing fresh cultural imagery. He ordered the creation of a Chagga flag in 1952. The background is anchored by the mountain's flag-like, snow-covered top. a banana tree on the right, a coffee tree on the left, and a masale plant connecting the two are the three photos in the foreground. The mountain's symbol of tradition and heritage is the banana tree, while the coffee plant symbolizes the mountain's present and future wealth. The masale, a traditional peace symbol on the mountain, connects the past and present in this way. The leopard, a symbol of strength, finally envelops the entire landscape.
Marealle pushed the idea that Chagga identity and political unification had to emerge over time, drawing on the colonial idea of "one mountain, one people." He refers to the 1951 election as "the historic come together of the whole tribe" in the introduction he penned for the Chagga Day 1955 booklet. Then he made extensive reference to Charles Dundas' works, who claimed in 1924 that a unique Chagga kingdom would have risen over time had a colonial rule not been interrupted. Marealle saw Chagga Day as a delayed realization of what Dundas and others had said—namely, that the peoples of Kilimanjaro were destined to unite as one.
He had some regional development triumphs, but did not deal with the main problem that helped him win the election: the land question. As a result, he lost the support of the clan leader coffee growers, who believed he had failed to bring about the necessary reforms to amend the policies governing land distribution (such as eliminating the system of divisional chiefs). In addition, he alienated educated youth who questioned his commitment to land reform as well as his preference for using archaic symbols and dictatorial political methods over more democratic ones. Marealle disagreed with the nationalist because of his political beliefs. One of the last areas in the colony to support the independence movement was Kilimanjaro.
The TANU leadership, especially Julius Nyerere, a former friend of Marealle, believed that the overt displays of identification on the mountain erred on the side of ethnic nationalism and were detrimental to their mission. The pressure mounted, and Marealle resigned in 1958. A second political reform referendum was held two years later, this time replacing the supreme chieftaincy with an elected president. As colonial control came to an end, primarily leadership in mountain politics underwent a significant shift in the year 1960. Almost immediately after Marealle's resignation as mangi Mkuu, the Chagga Day celebrations and the practically patriotic markers of Chagga identity that had arisen vanished.
Throughout the ensuing years, as the independent state of Tanzania took shape, a common Tanzanian identity started to emerge. Despite this, the sense of Chagga identity created by political conflict and competition for resources has persisted, particularly when residents of Kilimanjaro have moved to other regions of the nation. Today, it connotes a sense of belonging to the mountainous scenery as well as cultural and political legacy.