CHAPTER 57
ANCIENT WEALTH OF BUSOGA
The whole country had many things which were considered to be worth much but what was taken to be the most important mark of wealth was the attainment of a large number of wives; A person having any number of ivory or cattle, goats, hoes, bark cloth, fowls or any other valuable property was not actually considered to be a rich person if he had only one or five wives.
1. To be really well-off a man had to have very many wives with houses ranging from 50 to 100, and about 200 children. The head wife of a rich man had a house which accommodated about 4 to 10 wives. Such a man was much respected in the country, as he was assumed to be very rich. Even the chiefs paid him much respect. He would not stay a commoner but would immediately be made a chief. In addition to wives and children he had many other people living and serving him in his enclosure. Because of the large number of wives, he used to have much land in the village on which to grow food. He also obtained many things from his wives’ daughters, and also from his crops. The more things he obtained, the more wives he married, for every woman was paid for by a considerable amount of dowry.
2. Another form of wealth was the possession of ivory. Only a Chief could possess ivory because it could only be obtained from far away places like Masaba in Bugisu and it was impossible for a lay-man to get there as he was not permitted to pass through other parts of the country. A chief, however, was allowed in the following way he would make acquaintance with the rulers of the parts through which his men or himself would pass when to or from the place where he bought the ivory. He also had to pay to pass through and had to preserve some goods with which he and his men could buy food on the way, as well as to give to the residents of the places in order that they had free passage. This was because sometimes people living in the places through which they had to pass ambushed them on their way back and killed them taking the ivory for themselves.
Therefore it was very difficult to obtain ivory. If a person could get ivory and offer it to his ruler, he was immediately given whatever he liked, normally a village. Ivory was not presented for the purchase of a wife or for anything else, except for the purchase of a village.
Ivory was needed for making ornaments for wearing on the legs, hands and around necks. A person wearing an ivory ornament was highly admired. It can be compared with the wearing of a distinguished imperial medal these days. There were several ways in which an ivory ornament could be presented to a person worthy to receive it, such as when a person was very brave, much loved, a remarkable doctor, one of the royal family, a beloved wife, an outstanding play performer or in any other way which the chief appreciated, in order to warrant an ivory ornament as a present to the person.
3. The third thing which made a man to be considered rich was the possession of cattle. A person who kept cattle ranging between 10 and 100 heads of cattle, was taken to be a very rich person because in those days it was not easy for a lay-man to acquire cattle, as it is now.
Cattle used to be possessed by higher people who were then senior chiefs and a non-senior chiefs would not possess more than 15 heads of cattle. Moreover, a peasant was not able to look after such cattle, only a chief could. Cattle were very scarce among people in those days.
4. The fourth valuable possession was goods, which anyone who managed could possess.
5. The fifth valued property was the possession of a certain number of hoes which anyone could manage to obtain from Bunyoro.
6. The sixth property of reputed value was the possession of a considerable number of barkcloth; fig trees would be planted by anyone in his banana plantation.
7. The seventh possession of value was of fowls, which anyone in the country could have.
8. The eighth valuable property was money, which was later introduced into the country; it became an easy possession of wealth among all people. Because it was simple to get, it enabled people to buy property with it in a quicker way, as a much valued thing could be paid for on the spot.
9. The ninth possession of valuable property was composed of other property besides that mentioned above. Such things included crops, prepared metal sundries, carpentry, crafts, hand crafts or pottery goods.