Mtyela Kasanda -- Tanzania

Mtyela Kasanda, better known as Mirambo (which means "corpses"), was a Nyamwezi warlord, from 1860 to 1884. He was born into the royal family of the small chiefdom of Uyowa, western Tanzania, Mirambo owned trade caravans traveling from the Great Lakes region in western Tanzania to the coast, mostly dealing in ivory.  Through trade with Europeans he able to acquire firearms and money, this allowed him to organise armies and establish his military supremacy in the region.  

With his newly gained power, he toppled the traditional monarchy of the kingdom Urambo, and installed himself as ntemi (king). The Nyamwezi aristocracy was appalled that someone who was not royalty took over the religious ceremonial office of ntemi.  Mirambo also made enemies in the trading community of Tabora in the kingdom of Unyanyembe.  

The desire to take control of trade in the region was a key driving force behind Mirambo’s political expansion.   By unifying several Nyamwezi tribes, Mirambo gained control over major Swahili-Arab trade routes, establishing the Nyamwezi kingdom as a major regional economic and military power.  

Mirambo continued to expand the kingdom of Urambo, eventually controlling trade routes north to Buganda and west to Lake Tanganyika.  As European trade increased in the East Africa, Mirambo came into armed conflict with the Arab allies of Sir Henry Morton Stanley, over trade routes. However, Mirambo continued to successfully defend his kingdom and trade routes.  Impressed by Mirambo’s military success, Stanley called him "the African Bonaparte." Mirambo shared much of the east central African territory with Kabaka Mutesa, ruler of the Buganda kingdom.  The two kings managed to maintain an uneasy peace while vying for control of the region.  By the time of his death, Mirambo had united most of northern Unyamwezi in an alliance under his leadership, but he never managed to conquer Tabora.  

Despite the substantial gains he established, the expanded Urambo Kingdom collapsed within a few years of Mirambo's death in 1884.  His successor, Mpandashalo, could not provide the type of leadership or commitment that was needed to ensure the continuity of the developments Mirambo had overseen.