THE KINGDOM OF ANKOLE IN UGANDA 133
right being derived from the underlying racial similarity and clan rights. The breaking up of the Abatoro as a class was gradual and went through a process of individual shift of allegiance to the Mugabe. On the other hand, the Mugabe's representative in these districts sometimes endeavoured to establish himself as an independent chief by rebelling against the Mugabe. Repeated rebellion often meant the complete confiscation of the cattle of the Abatoro and the killing off of the cattle-owners, the women and children of these cattle-owners being taken and distributed by the Mugabe among his followers.
The Abahuku, or slaves, were another class of subject people in the Banyankole kingdom. Very little could be learned about slavery in Ankole. Slaves were owned by the Mugabe, the leading chiefs, and the wealthier cattle-owners, and they consisted entirely of Bairu captured in raids made upon neighbouring kingdoms. Slaves had their ears cut off so that if they ran away they could be recognized and recaptured. Slaves were used as hewers of wood, drawers of water, and as butchers. There is nothing to indicate that slaves were sold or exchanged, although chiefs gave each other slaves as presents. While the slaves performed menial tasks, it cannot be said that their lot was any harder than that of the Bairu craftsmen who formed a part of every chief's household. Being a prisoner of war, the slave had no legal status in the community and was the private property of the person who owned him and who had the right to do as he pleased with him.
From all accounts, slavery was restricted to the very wealthy and slaves were restricted in numbers. Only those individuals who had sufficient surplus wealth could afford to keep slaves. When the Bahima are asked why they did not keep slaves as herdsmen, they answer that they could not trust them and that they would have had to accompany them while herding. Slaves, they say, were used only to clean the kraals and to bring wood and water. In agriculture, with Bairu tools and techniques, slavery would not pay. Neither agricultural technique nor craft specialization had developed far enough to make slavery on a large-scale economically profitable.
Although supreme political and judicial authority was invested in the Mugabe as the representative of the politically organized Bahima, a certain amount of judicial and political power was left to both the Bahima and Bairu extended families. The function