My drum is meant for royalty. It has a sleek black calfskin drumhead, and the cords that keep it taut are carefully knotted in precise geometric patterns. There is something pleasing about the proportions of this drum. I bought it at a road-side workshop, from Baganda drum-makers who are part of a generations-old lineage that serves the royal court of the kabaka of Buganda.
Some definitions: Buganda is a sub-national kingdom in Uganda comprising 56 clans and nearly 17 percent of Uganda’s 36,000,000 people. The people are called the Baganda; the kabaka is their king. While Buganda has no official status outside Uganda, inside this east-central African country, it is semi-autonomous, and is the largest of several extant kingdoms. Dating from the 14th Century, the Baganda have survived western exploitation, colonization, and the home-grown butchery of Idi Amin.
Drums like these, I am told, were and remain an important part of the symbolism of this centuries-old dynasty — so important that at the tombs of the Kabaka (the most sacred site in Buganda) the royal drums have their own house, called the Ndoga-Obukaba.
In Your Bucket Because…
- The Baganda culture dates back for centuries — longer than the major European houses of royalty.
- The drums are a thing of beauty.
- Good for history buffs and culture hounds interested in learning about an indigenous African culture.
At the shack that serves as store and workshop, rows of drums are displayed. In back, craftsmen sit on the ground, using simple tools and centuries-old skills to carve, shape, and cover a drum. I must have the aura of someone who loves drums — either that, or I look like a sucker for souvenirs. After admiring a few drums, I am congratulated for my keen eye and good taste, and brought into a back room where a drum is presented for my approval. It is gorgeous: The black calfskin almost glows, the workmanship of the rope knots is delicate, the proportions are perfect. It is love at first thwack: The drum feels right, and has the quietly compelling sound of a heartbeat. It is, of course more expensive than the drums in the front, but I am hooked before a price is uttered. For the first and only time in my African journeys, there is no bargaining: For $25, I am the proud owner of a drum worthy of a king.
The Kasubi Tombs of the Kabaka of Budanga
On an earlier trip, I had visited the Tombs of the Kabaka of Buganda, a UNESCO World Heritage Site located on Kasubi Hill in Kampala. As the resting place for the last four kabakas of Buganda, the large thatched building called the Muzibu-Azaala-Mpanga was a place where communication links with the spiritual world were honored and maintained. There was a palpable hush as caretakers, usually members of the royal family, quietly went about their business of making offerings and sweeping the floors. Made of natural materials — bark and grasses, thatch and wood — the building tomb had the feeling of being half indoors and half outdoors, sheltered from the environment, but part of it at the same time. The flammability of its natural materials had long been a concern.
Unfortunately, that concern became reality in 2010, when the main building — the center of the spiritual life of the kingdom — burned down. Fortunately, the skills and workmanship required to recreate the building have been handed down through the generations and still exist among the Baganda; reconstruction work for an authentic re-creation and installation of safeguards to prevent future conflagrations are underway.
And the culture lives on — in the ritual, the thatching, the architecture, and in the voices of the drums.
I took mine, and headed off a cross-country road trip to western Uganda to see the mountain gorillas. For the next few hours, I held my drum in my lap, tapping gently, unable to resist the sound. Inside the drum a small pebble rattled; it is, I was told, the soul of the drum. My companions in the van smiled indulgently as I tapped, which you must admit is not the normal reaction to aimless drumming. But they insisted I wasn’t bothering anyone. My drum, they said, sounded like a human heart.
Practicalities
Buganda is in south central Uganda, including Kampala. While the Kasubi tombs are being renovated, visitors can explore other aspects of the royal culture of this ancient kingdom. Libri, the Kabaka’s palace, is on Mengo Hill, along with the Bulange (the Parliament building). Tours are available.
Updated 2018
