Mwezi IV Gisabo

Who is Mwezi IV Gisabo?

Mwezi IV Gisabo Bikata-Bijoga (circa 1840 - 21 August 1908) was the mwami, or king, of Burundi from around 1850 until his death, and the last ruler to govern the kingdom before it fell fully under German colonial control. During his long reign he presided over the country's traditional four-tiered administrative system and was regarded by his people as a semi-sacred, unifying father figure of the nation, seen as more religious than political in his role. In 1884 he led Burundian forces to a major victory over the slave-raiding army of Rumaliza along the Kivu-Tanganyika road, halting its incursion into the kingdom. When German colonizers arrived in the 1890s he initially refused to submit, fighting to preserve Burundi's independence, but after Burundian rivals such as Maconco allied themselves with the Germans, he was driven from his compound and forced into a 1890 agreement recognizing German authority over Burundi, respecting foreign missionaries, and accepting German-allied administrators in parts of the kingdom. That year Burundi became part of German East Africa alongside Rwanda and Tanganyika. Mwezi Gisabo died of malaria while traveling home to Gitega after a meeting with the German colonial Resident in Bujumbura.

Sources: Mwezi IV of Burundi, Wikipedia · Academic Kids Encyclopedia, 'Mwezi IV Gisabo of Burundi' · World Biographical Encyclopedia (Prabook), 'Mwami Mwezi IV Gisabo Bikata-Bijoga'