Western Tanzania - Tanzania - page 485

Market Area MARKET
Iringa's market is piled high with fruits and vegetables, plus other wares, including large-
weave, locally made Iringa baskets. On its southern edge, in front of the police station, is a
monument honouring Africans who fell during the Maji Maji uprising between 1905 and
1907. West along this same street is the main trading area, dominated by the German-built
Ismaili Mosque with its distinctive clock tower.
Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery CEMETERY
At the southeastern edge of town is this cemetery, with graves of the deceased from both
world wars.
Iringa Rock Paintings ROCK PAINTINGS
This large, recently discovered frieze, similar in style to the Kondoa rock paintings ( Click
here ) , is on the edge of town off the Dodoma road. Go with a guide from Neema Crafts.
Gangilonga Rock HIKING
This large rock northeast of town is where Chief Mkwawa meditated and where he learned
that the Germans were after him. Its name, gangilonga, means 'talking stone' in Hehe. It's
an easy climb to the top, with views over town. Iringa Info or staff at Neema Craft Centre
Internet Café can provide directions and a guide.
CHIEF MKWAWA
Mtwa (Chief) Mkwawa, chief of the Hehe and one of German colonialism's
most vociferous resisters, is a legendary figure in Tanzanian history. He is par-
ticularly revered in Iringa, near which he had his headquarters. Under Mk-
wawa's leadership during the second half of the 19th century, the Hehe became
one of the most powerful tribes in central Tanzania. They overpowered one
group after another until, by the late 1880s, they were threatening trade traffic
along the caravan route from western Tanzania to Bagamoyo. In 1891, after sev-
eral attempts by Mkwawa to negotiate with the Germans were rejected, his men
trounced the colonial troops in the infamous battle of Lugalo, just outside Iringa
on the Mikumi road. The next year, Mkwawa's troops launched a damaging at-
tack on a German fort at Kilosa, further to the east.
The Germans placed a bounty on Mkwawa's head and, once they had re-
grouped, initiated a counterattack in which Mkwawa's headquarters at Kalenga
were taken. Mkwawa escaped, but later, in 1898, committed suicide rather than
surrender to a contingent that had been sent after him. His head was cut off and