East Africa's influential Karagwe Kingdom was ruled by a hereditary monarchs whom were reputed to be Bachwezi descendants.

[2] However, the ruler of the most northern Haya Kingdom, Kiziba, belonged to a rival clan, the Bito, which also ruled Bunyoro to the north.

Their legends claimed that a hero by the name of Ruhinda had created a single kingdom in the area and that his descendants, the Hinda clan, ruled the successor chiefdoms.

[3] Both classes of men, outlawing clan-to-clan blood feuds, appointing royal relatives as sub-chiefs and village headmen who resided on nyarubanja estates, waging a protracted and largely successful battle to control the Kubandwa cult mediums who predominated local religion, and setting up elaborate courts where each clan served a specific purpose.

[4] The interlacustrine territory had been ruled by Bunyoro up until the end of the eighteenth century, but Karagwe drove out a Nyoro force, whose monarch became known as Ntare the Nyoro-slayer.

Lacking Nyoro's protection, the Bito kingdom of Kiziba turned to Buganda for assistance in fighting its Hinda neighbors.

Many Karagwe were cattle herders and so cows were a measure of wealth and power.Iron production also played a key part in the economic balances within the kingdom.