IDNO

N.19683.ROS

Description

Group portrait of the King of Bunyoro, Andereya Bisereko Duhaga II, with his wife and two daughters. The King is seated and wears his official ‘modern dress’ consisting of a dark-coloured fez, kanzu (white tunic) covered by a black waistcoat and a dark robe with an embroidered neckline and tassels. To his left, one of his daughters stands next to him, wearing a coloured dress with lace around the neckline. The King’s wife (also seated) and younger daughter (standing) wear white tunic-style dresses and simple jewellery. [ED 15/1/2008]

Place

E Africa; Uganda; western Uganda; Western District; Bunyoro

Cultural Affliation

Banyoro (Bakitara)

Named Person

Andereya Bisereko Duhaga II (b. 1882 - d. 1924)

Photographer

?Roscoe, John R.

Collector / Expedition

Roscoe, John R. [Mackie Ethnological Expedition, Uganda, 1919 - 1920]

Date

1919 - 1920

Collection Name

Roscoe Collection

Source

Format

Glass Negative Halfplate

Primary Documentation

Other Information

This negative was kept in glass negative box marked C32/2/ by the cataloguer. The glass negative box was kept in box marked C32/ by the cataloguer.
Previously stored on Shelf 4, in group of 4 wooden boxes numbered 180.

Publication: Image published in Roscoe, J., 1922. The Soul of Central Africa: An Account of the Mackie Ethnological Expedition. (London: Cassell and Co.), p. 140, with the caption: "The King with his wife and daughters”. [ED 13/11/2007]

Context: "It was not often that a wife of a king had a second child; there were a few instances of this when some special charm in the woman had made an impression on the king, but as a rule a wife was never called again to his bed.
In the general treatment of children no difference was made between princes and princesses: they were both called princes and received the same honour from the people.” (Roscoe, J., 1923. The Bakitara (or Banyoro): The First Part of the Report of The Mackie Ethnological Expedition to Central Africa. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press), p. 161). [ED 13/11/2007]

Context: "The King’s marriage to the queen, his half-sister, was the only ceremony of marriage that he went through, but he could have in his harem any number of women, who were recognised as his wives and whose sons had equal rights to claim and fight for the throne on his death. In addition to the queen, the king might take others of his half-sisters to wife without any ceremony, and he showed his desire to do so by giving the favoured princess a gift of cows or an estate, when she came to visit him after he had drunk the evening milk. A princess who thus became wife to the king was rarely taken into the royal enclosure to live, but the kings placed guards over her to protect her from any other prince who might wish to make love to her.
The king could also take any girl from any family among his subjects to wife, and in this case the girl came to live in the royal enclosure. These wives of the king who were not of royal blood were never accepted as equals by princesses. They might hold offices of importance in the royal enclosure and they were treated with great respect and honour by any chiefs or other people who came into their presence, but to princesses they were always commoners who were never admitted to any intimacy and had to kneel to speak to those of royal blood. The highest rank to which one of them might hope to attain was that of Mother of the King, but even then the barrier of birth separated her from the princesses.
When the King desired to add to the number of his wives, he sent a woman, who official title was Mulanga, to visit the kraals and see the girls for herself and choose those who would please him. The office of Mulanga was one of importance; she was chosen by the King, on his accession, from among the wives he already possessed as prince, and her special duties were to bring the sacred milk for the queen and any chief who was being admitted into the Sacred Guild, and to seek out suitable girl’s for the king’s harem. This latter duty called for considerable insight into her character and also for a wide knowledge of the country. She had secret agents who informed her where suitable girls were to be found, so that she might visit them and ascertain for herself whether they were likely to please the King. ...” (Roscoe, J., 1923. The Bakitara (or Banyoro): The First Part of the Report of The Mackie Ethnological Expedition to Central Africa. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press), p. 150 - 151). [ED 13/11/2007]

MAA Facebook: Image published on 13/10/2020 with the caption: "The Museum has a new online portal at https://collections.maa.cam.ac.uk and we’ve been busy digitising collections to make them available to you at home.
This week we digitised this glass plate negative to reveal this regal portrait of the King of Bunyoro, Andereya Bisereko Duhaga II, with his wife and two daughters.
Bunyoro, Western District, Uganda
Photo by Rev. John Roscoe, 1919-1920
N.19683.ROS."
Likes; Shares; Comments. [JD 13/10/2020]

This catalogue record has been updated with the support of the Getty Grant Program Two. [Elisabeth Deane 13/11/2007]