Ankole is Home to some of the most favorable grazing lands in Africa:[5] The very fact that the Hima can live almost entirely on cattle bespeaks the richness of their homeland among so many arid or semi-arid areas of primitive pastoralism in the world.

In contrast, Himaland, called Kaaro Karungi (the good land) by both its inhabitants and their neighbours, is known for the fertility of its soil, the abundance of its pastures, and its rainfall well spread out both seasonally and perennially.

Hence, Ankole cattle yield milk almost daily throughout the year, providing their owners’ families with a continuous food supply.The kingdom was ruled by a monarch known as the Mugabe or Omugabe.

[6] According to legend, the first (and semi-legendary)[6] king of Ankole, Ruhinda Rwa Njunaki, was born as the illegitimate[7] son of Wamara[7][8] (or Ndahura),[9] the last emperor of the Empire of Kitara.

[12] In many cases, conquered herders were incorporated into the dominant Hima stratum of society, and Bantu agricultural populations were adopted slaves and treated as legal inferiors.

[12] Ankole society evolved into a system of ranked statuses, where even among the cattle-owning elite, patron-client ties were important in maintaining social order.

[12] In return for homage and military service, a man received protection from the king, both from external enemies and from factional disputes with other cattle owners.

[12] The mugabe authorized his most powerful chiefs to recruit and lead armies on his behalf, and these warrior bands were charged with protecting Ankole borders.

[12] Miscegenation took place despite prohibitions on intermarriage, and children of these unions (abambari) often demanded their rights as cattle owners, leading to feuding and cattle-raiding.

Murogo and her female descendants were allegedly able to turn themselves into cows and mingle with the cattle herds of the enemy and they worked for the kings for several generation in the Ibanda areaNames and Dates taken from John Stewart's African States and Rulers (1989).