Ruga-Ruga

Ruga-Ruga in Deutsch-Ostafrika, 1914

Ruga-Ruga (sometimes called Rugaruga) were irregular troops in Eastern Africa, often deployed by western colonial forces.[1] They often served as mercenaries or local auxiliaries alongside the regular Askari, professional soldiers who were often hired in other regions of Africa.[2] While the latter were trained by officers of the European colonial powers in Africa, the Ruga-Ruga were mostly hired from tribal warriors during times of conflict.[3]

  1. ^ Karl Weule: Rugaruga, in: Heinrich Schnee (Hrsg.); Deutsches Koloniallexikon. Band III, Berlin: Quelle & Meyer, 1920, S. 192. German
  2. ^ Heiko Möhle: Kolonialismus und Erinnerungspolitik. Die Debatte um die Hamburger „Askari-Reliefs“ In: Umbrüche in afrikanischen Gesellschaften und ihre Bewältigung. herausgegeben von Ludwig Gerhardt; Heiko Möhle; Jürgen Oßenbrügge; Wolfram Weisse, LIT, Afrikanische Studien, Universität Hamburg, 2006, ISBN 3-8258-7518-0, S. 277f. German
  3. ^ Moyd, Michelle "Askari and Askari Myth" in Prem Poddar et al. Historical Companion to Postcolonial Literatures: Continental Europe and its Colonies, Edinburgh University Press, 2008.