Kingdom of Rwanda

Kingdom of Rwanda Ubwami bw'u Rwanda (Kinyarwanda) Koninkrijk Roeanda (Dutch) Royaume du Rwanda (French) Königreich Ruanda (German)
c. 15th century–1961
Coat of arms
Status	Independent state (15th century–1897) Part of German East Africa (1897–1916) Part of Ruanda-Urundi (1922–1961)
Capital	Nyanza
Common languages	Kinyarwanda French German (official from 1897–1916) Dutch (official from 1922–1961)
Government	Absolute monarchy
Mwami
• 15th century	Ruganzu I Bwimba (1st Dynasty) (first king)[1]
• 1959–1961	Kigeli V (3rd Dynasty) (last king)
History
• Established	c. 15th century
• Republic declared	1 July 1961
Succeeded by Rwanda
Today part of	Rwanda

Part of a series on the
History of Rwanda
Kingdom  ?–1962 German East Africa 1885–1919 Rumanura famine 1916–1918 Belgian mandate (Ruanda-Urundi) 1922–1962 Revolution 1959–1962 Coup of Gitarama 1961 Republic of Rwanda 1962–present Bugesera invasion 1963 Coup d'état of 5 July 1973 Civil War 1990–1994 Genocide 1993–1994 First Congo War 1996–1997 Second Congo War 1998–2003 COVID-19 pandemic 2020–present
v t e

The Kingdom of Rwanda (also known as the Nyiginya Kingdom or Nyginya Dynasty^[2]) was a Bantu kingdom in modern-day Rwanda, which grew to be ruled by a Tutsi monarchy.^[3] It was one of the most centralized kingdoms in Central and East Africa.^[4] 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.^[5] After a 1961 referendum, Rwanda became a Hutu-dominated republic and received its independence from Belgium in 1962.^[6]

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.^[7]