Kingdom of Rwanda
Kingdom of Rwanda Ubwami bw'u Rwanda (Kinyarwanda) Koninkrijk Roeanda (Dutch) Royaume du Rwanda (French) Königreich Ruanda (German) | |||||||
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| c. 15th century–1961 | |||||||
| Status | Independent state (15th century–1897) Part of German East Africa (1897–1916) Part of Ruanda-Urundi (1922–1961) | ||||||
| Capital | Nyanza | ||||||
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| Government | Absolute monarchy | ||||||
| Mwami | |||||||
• 15th century | Ruganzu I Bwimba | ||||||
• 1959–1961 | Kigeli V (3rd Dynasty) (last king) | ||||||
| History | |||||||
• Established | c. 15th century | ||||||
| 1 July 1961 | |||||||
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| Today part of | Rwanda | ||||||
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The Kingdom of Rwanda (also known as the Nyiginya Kingdom or Nyginya Dynasty) was a Bantu kingdom in modern-day Rwanda, which grew to be ruled by a Tutsi monarchy. It was one of the most centralized kingdoms in Central and East Africa. It was later annexed under German and Belgian colonial rule while retaining some of its autonomy. The Tutsi monarchy was abolished in 1961 after ethnic violence erupted between the Hutu and the Tutsi during the Rwandan Revolution which started in 1959. After a 1961 referendum, Rwanda became a Hutu-dominated republic and received its independence from Belgium in 1962.
After the revolution and abolition of the monarchy, the deposed Kigeli V eventually settled in the United States, and since then monarchists have maintained a court-in-exile outside of Rwanda. The current pretender to the Rwandan throne is Yuhi VI.