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xxi E’ N This text is in large part the dissertation of Alison Liebhafsky Des Forges as originally presented to the Yale University Department of History in 1972. Because the author was not able to revise the dissertation for publication, I have addressed some very minor issues of copyediting . I have also added more explicit titles to the chapters originally headed only by proverbs, and I have inserted section headings in the text to aid the reader. The citations have been retained in their entirety. However, to allow a smoother flow of the text, they have been grouped at the end of paragraphs (except where a specific quotation requires a specific reference) and placed as endnotes. Occasionally, I have added to the notes relevant publications that have appeared since the dissertation was written. Where more precise references are required in the notes, the reader is referred to the original dissertation. I have added occasional explanatory footnotes to the original text to identify individuals, places, or issues that might not be familiar to a broader readership than that for which this dissertation was originally intended. Kinyarwanda is a lovely and poetic language, and an elegant and refined art form. In part, this derives from its flexibility, and I draw on that tradition. Here, Kinyarwanda terms have been italicized in the first usage only. For the first and second noun-classes (referring to singular and plural personal references) the terms of reference begin with “umu-” (singular) or “aba-” (plural). To make the work more accessible to a wider readership, I have followed the conventions of the International African Institute (IAI) and replaced these Kinyarwanda prefixes with “mu-” (singular) and “ba-” (plural): for example, “mugaragu” and “bagaragu.” Similarly for clan names: for example, “Banyiginya” rather than “Abanyginya ” (elided where necessary, so “Bega” is the plural for “Ba-ega”). References to ethnic groups also follow IAI conventions, omitting all prefixes; hence “Hutu” instead of “Umuhutu” or “Abahutu.” However, there are exceptions; I have retained the IAI convention of prefixes for references associated with regional groupings, even when applied to an acknowledged social group; hence “Bakiga” (the people of the mountains), “Bashiru” (the people of Bushiru), and so forth. I have also generally omitted the Rwandan prefix in terms such as “umwami” or “abagaragu”; they appear as “mwami” and “bagaragu.” However, there are some deviations from this practice for common cultural terms where an altered form would make no sense; I have therefore retained the full form for “ikoro” (prestations/taxes), “ubuhake” (a form of cattle clientship), “uburetwa” (required work for a patron), and “akazi” (colonial forced labor). Where the term refers not to a person but to a quality, I have retained the full Kinyarwanda prefix; thus, “ubwami” refers to the concept, the essence, of “kingship.” Following IAI convention, the “c” is pronounced as in “ch” in English: Rucunshu is pronounced “Ru-CHUN-shu.” Conventions on the transliteration of Kinyarwanda terms have evolved over time; here I omit double vowels and diacritical signs: e.g., “mwami,” not “umwaami.” Finally, in Kinyarwanda transcriptions every syllable is vocalized, with the emphasis normally on the penultimate syllable; hence, for example, “Save” is pronounced “SAH-vay.” xxii Editor’s Note ...

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