The Batetela rebellion () was a series of three military mutinies and a subsequent low-level insurgency which was attributed to members of the Tetela ethnic group in the

Congo Free State The Congo Free State, also known as the Independent State of the Congo (), was a large Sovereign state, state and absolute monarchy in Central Africa from 1885 to 1908. It was privately owned by Leopold II of Belgium, King Leopold II, the const ...

between 1895 and 1908. Beginning in a mutiny among Tetela troops of the ''

Force Publique The ''Force Publique'' (, "Public Force"; ) was the military of the Congo Free State and the Belgian Congo from 1885 to 1960. It was established after Belgian Army officers travelled to the Free State to found an armed force in the colony on L ...

'' of Luluabourg (modern-day

Kananga Kananga, formerly known as Luluabourg or Luluaburg, is the capital Cities of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, city of the Kasai-Central, Kasai-Central Province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and was the capital of the former Kasaï ...

) in January 1895, the revolt sparked a prolonged insurgency and two further mutinies subsequently took place elsewhere in the Congo. The second rebellion occurred among the troops serving in the military expedition under Francis Dhanis to the Upper Nile in 1897. The third and final mutiny took place among the garrison of Fort de Shinkakasa near Boma in April 1900. The rebellion was one of the most important anti-colonial rebellions in the history of the Congo and the last Tetela rebels were only defeated in 1901.

Mutinies

The ''Force Publique'' recruited heavily from the Tetela ethnic group in the

Sankuru Sankuru is one of the 21 provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo created in the 2015 repartitioning. Sankuru, Kasaï-Oriental, and Lomami provinces are the result of the dismemberment of the former Kasaï-Oriental province. Sankuru ...

Maniema Maniema Province (''Jimbo la Maniema'', in Swahili) is one of 26 provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Its capital is Kindu. The 2020 population was estimated to be 2,856,300. Toponymy Henry Morton Stanley explored the area ...

and Lomami regions, especially during the

Congo Arab war The Congo Arab war was a colonial war between the Congo Free State and Arab-Swahili warlords associated with the Indian Ocean slave trade in the eastern regions of the Congo Basin between 1892 and 1894. The war was caused by the Free State and ...

(1892–1894).

Luluabourg mutiny of 1895

In January 1895, the garrison of Luluabourg mutinied in response to the execution of the warlord

Gongo Lutete Ngongo Lutete (or Gongo Lutete or Ngongo Leteta) was a Songye leader and chieftain during the late 19th century. Biography As a boy Ngongo Lutete was enslaved by Arabs, but after winning his freedom he became a respected leader of the Watetera & ...

for treachery during the war against the

Arabs Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world. Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of yea ...

.Verbeken, A. La révolte des Batetela en 1895. Brussels, 1958 In October 1896, there were approximately 3,000–4,000 Batetela rebels. The mutineers killed one of their white officers and escaped, being joined by Tetela soldiers from across the colony over the coming years.

Dhanis expedition mutiny of 1897

1,300 troops from the Tetela and Kusu ethnic groups in an expeditionary force sent to the Upper Nile in 1897 under the command of Baron Francis Dhanis mutinied, complaining of poor treatment. The force, the largest military force assembled in colonial Africa up to that point, had been sent to annex the Fashoda region in the collapsing

Mahdist State The Mahdist State, also known as Mahdist Sudan or the Sudanese Mahdiyya, was a state based on a religious and political movement launched in 1881 by Muammad Ahmad bin Abdullah, Muhammad Ahmad bin Abdullah (later Muhammad Mahdi, al-Mahdi) against ...

Sudan Sudan, officially the Republic of the Sudan, is a country in Northeast Africa. It borders the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, Libya to the northwest, Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the east, Eritrea and Ethiopi ...

(modern-day Kodok,

South Sudan South Sudan (), officially the Republic of South Sudan, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered on the north by Sudan; on the east by Ethiopia; on the south by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda and Kenya; and on the ...

). The expedition's collapse as a result of the mutiny meant that the Free State would ultimately avoid becoming a party in Anglo-French confrontation in the

Fashoda Incident The Fashoda Incident, also known as the Fashoda Crisis ( French: ''Crise de Fachoda''), was the climax of imperialist territorial disputes between Britain and France in East Africa, occurring between 10 July to 3 November 1898. A French expedit ...

. The mutineers killed 10 Belgian officers and took a French priest hostage, though he was ultimately released unharmed.

Shinkakasa mutiny of 1900

The third rebellion broke out in the garrison of Fort de Shinkakasa on the

Congo River The Congo River, formerly also known as the Zaire River, is the second-longest river in Africa, shorter only than the Nile, as well as the third-largest river in the world list of rivers by discharge, by discharge volume, following the Amazon Ri ...

on 17 April 1900. The rebels gained control of the fort and opened fire on a moored ship and threatened the safety of the colonial capital, Boma. Despite being repeatedly defeated, the last Tetela mutineers held out around

Lake Kisale Lake Kisale is a lake in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), in Bukama Territory, Haut-Lomami District. At about in area, it is the second largest of the lakes in the Upemba Depression (Kamolondo Depression), an extensive marshy area part ...

until 1901 or 1908. After the conflict the Belgians reformed the ''Force Publique'' so that no single ethnic group represented a majority in any given unit.

Footnotes

References

Bibliography

* * * *