July 3, 1868.
The East African Colonial Government was preparing for war, and the other four nations led by Buganda were not idle either. They continuously mobilized troops and recruited large numbers of soldiers along the border.
At this time, Buganda was the most powerful state in the entire Great Lakes Region apart from the East African colony, and its monarch, Mutesa I, was quite accomplished.
Buganda had once been a vassal of the powerful northern state of Bunyoro. However, after entering the nineteenth century, Bunyoro, like most old empires, embarked upon the road of decline. Buganda therefore rose with the tide and swiftly seized the ecological niche Bunyoro had once occupied.
During the same period, the Kingdom of Turu also broke away from the Bunyoro Empire.
Interestingly, both the Kingdom of Buganda and the Kingdom of Turu had been founded by members of the Bunyoro imperial family. Buganda had split off four or five hundred years earlier, while the Kingdom of Turu was established after the nineteenth century by the rebellion of the Bunyoro emperor's eldest son.
Though it had suffered many blows, the Bunyoro Empire had not vanished. The Kingdom of Kitara was its direct successor.
The Kingdom of Nkole was likewise an ancient state that had existed for centuries.
That was the basic information on the four northern states. It was clear that their relationships resembled those among European nations, so whether their relations were good or bad did not affect exchanges among their nobles.
Before the East African colony was established, Buganda already possessed a standing army of more than six thousand men, as well as a navy made up of three hundred vessels.
Buganda's strength was therefore quite considerable, fully worthy of its reputation as overlord of the Great Lakes Region. Moreover, Mutesa I was