Empire of Kitara
The Kingdom of the Banyakitara, also known as Empire of Kitara or Chwezi Empire (meaning Empire of the sunlight or Empire of the Moonlight), was an empire in East Africa. History. The kingdom arose when the Kingdom of Aksum disintegrated around 940 AD, when the southern part broke away. According to oral tradition, at the height of its power (XIV-XV centuries), the kingdom included much of Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, northern Tanzania and eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. It was ruled by two dynasties, the Batembuzi and their successors the Bachwezi. The empire is said to have  fragmented after the invasion of the Luo in around 1500 CE. The Chwezi dynasty is thought to have been related to the Tembuzi through King Isaza, the last ruler of the Batembuzi dynasty, who married Nyamate daughter of Nyamuyonga King of the underworld. This union produced King Isimbwa who later fathered Ndahura in Runyakitara (known in Rwanda as Ndahiro and in Buganda as Ndaula), the first of the Chwezi dynastic kings. Timeline. Preceded by: Succeeded by: