mwami
Mwami is the title used for the king or sovereign in the traditional kingdoms of the Great Lakes region, most notably the Kingdoms of Rwanda and Burundi. The word mwami comes from the Bantu languages spoken there (Kinyarwanda and Kirundi) and is commonly translated as “lord” or “king.”
In the pre-colonial period the mwami held broad political, military, and religious authority. The office was
Succession was generally hereditary within established royal lineages, with installation often requiring the assent of elders,
With the advent of colonial rule in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the mwami system
Today the term mwami remains a central symbol in historical and cultural memory, cited in literature and