KASUBI TOMBS

In 1882, Kabaka Mutesa relocated his palace to Nabulagala Hill, briefly the capital of his father Suuna II some 30 years earlier, and renamed it Kasubi Hill after his birth place some 50 km further east. Mutesa constructed a large hilltop palace called Muziba Azala Mpanga (roughly meaning 'a king is born of a king'), where he died in 1884 following a prolonged illness. As was the custom, Kasubi Hill was abandoned after the king's death-his successor Mwanga established a new capital at Mengo Hill- but rather less conventionally Mutesa was the first kabaka to be buried with his jawbone intact, in a casket built by the Anglican missionary Alexander Mackay. In a further break with tradition, Kasubi rather than Mengo was chosen as the burial palce of Kabaka Mwanga in 1910, seven years after his death in exile. It also houses the tombs of his successor Daudi Chwa II, who ruled from 1897 to 1939, and of Edward Mutesa II, whose body was returned to Uganda in 1971, two years his death in exile.

The tombs are housed within the original palace built by Mutesa, a fantastic domed structure of poles, reeds and thatch, which- aside from the addition of a concrete base and sliding glass doors in 1938- has changed little in appearance over the intervening 130 years. The former palace contains a fascinating collection of royal artifacts, ranging from traditional musical instruments, weapons, shields and fetishes to exotic gifts donated by Queen Victoria- as well as a stuffed leopard once kept as a pet by Mutesa I. The giant rings in the roof of the hut each represent one of the 52 clans of Buganda. The four royal tombs, obscured behind a red barkcloth veil, are off-limits to the public, and visitors must remove their shoes before entering the palace.

The tombs are maintained by the wives of the various kings- or more accurately by female descendants of their long-deceased wives- some of whom live on the property, while others do a one-month shift there twice every year. Many of the kings' wives, sisters and other female relations are also buried at Kasubi, not in the main palace but in  the series of smaller buildings that flank the driveway. The complex is entered via a large traditional reception hut known as a bujjabukula. This is tended by the chief gateman, known as mulamba (a hereditary title), who customarily dresses in a brilliant yello barkcloth robe, as do his assistants.

***Unfortunately on March, 16th 2010, the Kasubi Tombs were set ablaze by unknown persons or sources but UNESCO and the Ugandan government are working hard to restore the cultural site.