Ganwa

Ganwa is the name for the princely group that traditionally ruled Burundi. They formed a distinct social class that was neither Hutu nor Tutsi, although they were affiliated with the latter.^[1][2] They have launched several appeals to be recognized as a distinct socio-cultural grouping.^[3][4]

Origins

Burundi's Ganwa dynasty were not from the Hima stock, as was the case for the Nyiginya dynasty of Rwanda.^[5]

The White Father Bernard Zuure reported that the first king of Burundi (Rufuku, father of Ntare) was a Hutu: "Everybody here says so, and the princes themselves told me they do not descend from a Tutsi". The Ganwa kings of Burundi did not like to be called Tutsi because the Tutsi were associated with the Hima, who were despised.^[6][7]