Tutsi

People of Rwanda and Burundi who are traditionally considered Nilotic. They speak Rundi or Rwanda (mutually intelligible languages of the Niger-Congo family) and number some 1.5 million. The Tutsi represent a traditional aristocratic minority, which has dominated the more populous Hutu. Originally warrior-herders, the Tutsi entered the area in the 14th or 15th century and later, assisted by German and Belgian colonial regimes, cultivated a lord-vassal relationship with the Hutu. At the head of the pyramidal political structure was the mwami (“king”), considered to be of divine origin. Today Hutu and Tutsi cultures have largely become integrated. In addition to sharing languages, they both adhere to similar traditional and/or Christian religious beliefs. The Tutsi retained their dominant position over the Hutu in Rwanda until 1961, when the monarch was overthrown. An unsuccessful Hutu revolt in Burundi in 1972 led to 100,000 deaths, mostly Hutu. In 1993 in Burundi and in 1994 in Rwanda, further clashes occurred, the latter including a genocidal campaign by Hutu militia and civilians in which more than a million Tutsi and their Hutu allies were killed and one to two million Hutu fled to refugee camps in Congo (Kinshasa; then Zaire) and Tanzania.

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