King Ndagara

Substantiated by oral tradition, records show that in the 15th century, some tribes started appointing chiefs who established kingships - but these small organised states were not grouped into any unified empires. One known exception is the Karagwe Kingdom in the extreme North-West near Kagera River. Here the Bachwezi and Basita established a dynasty founded by Rubinda, Chief of the Hima. Tradition has it that one King Ndagara was such a gifted ironsmith that he forged a special hammer which he threw across the Kagera Valley, killing his arch-enemy King Gahindiro of Rwanda.