Empire, Religious Conflicts, and State intervention in Buha and Unyamwezi, Colonial Tanganyika, 1920s-1960

Abstract

This article uses western Tanganyika (formerly, part of colonial Tanganyika) as a case study to examine issues of empire, religious conflicts, and state intervention. As missionaries spread the Christian faith, tensions became apparent between Catholics and Protestants in colonial Tanganyika. The British colonial authorities kept a close eye on the activities of missionaries to end religious conflicts.In some areas, Catholic and Protestant missionaries reached informal agreements to maintain ‘religious spheres of influence.’The current article draws on archival and secondary records to examine the creation of religious spheres of evangelisation and their consequences. It also explores Catholic-Protestant rivalries and resulting government interventions to deal with the work of missionaries in western Tanganyika.