Western Tanzania - Tanzania - page 519

earliest seeds of Tanzanian nationalism. It began around the turn of the 20th
century when colonial administrators set about establishing enormous cotton
plantations in the southeast and along the railway line running from Dar es Sa-
laam towards Morogoro. These plantations required large numbers of workers,
most of whom were recruited as forced labour and required to work under
miserable salary and living conditions. Anger at this harsh treatment and long-
simmering resentment of the colonial government combined to ignite a power-
ful rebellion. The first outbreak was in 1905 in the area around Kilwa, on the
coast. Soon all of southern Tanzania was involved, from Kilwa and Lindi in the
southeast to Songea in the southwest. In addition to deaths on the battlefield,
thousands died of hunger brought about by the Germans' scorched-earth policy,
in which fields and grain silos in many villages were set on fire. Fatalities were
undoubtedly exacerbated by a widespread belief among the Africans that enemy
bullets would turn to water before reaching them, and so their warriors would
not be harmed - hence the name Maji Maji ( maji means 'water' in Swahili).
By 1907, when the rebellion was finally suppressed, close to 100,000 people
had lost their lives. In addition, large areas of the south were left devastated and
barren, and malnutrition was widespread. The Ngoni, a tribe of warriors much
feared by their neighbours, put up the strongest resistance to the Germans. Fol-
lowing the end of the rebellion, they continued to wage guerrilla-style war until
1908, when the last shreds of their military-based society were destroyed. In or-
der to quell Ngoni resistance once and for all, German troops hanged about 100
of their leaders and beheaded their most famous chief, Songea.
Among the effects of the Maji Maji uprising were a temporary liberalisation
of colonial rule and replacement of the military administration with a civilian
government. More significantly, the uprising promoted development of a nation-
al identity among many ethnic groups and intensified anti-colonial sentiment,
kindling the movement for independence.
SIGHTS & ACTIVITIES
Maji Maji Museum MUSEUM
(admission Tsh6000; 8am-4pm) About 1km from the town centre, off the Njombe road,
is this small museum commemorating the Maji Maji uprising. Behind it is Chief Songea's
tomb. From town, take the first tarmac road to the right after passing CRDB bank and con-
tinue about 200m. The museum entrance is on the left with a pale-blue archway.