Hehe

Hehe, Bantu-speaking agricultural people occupying the Iringa region of southern Tanzania. Numbering about 192,000 in the late 20th century, the Hehe are a cluster of peoples with similar language and culture. They were amalgamated into a single polity by Munyigumba, head of the Muyinga family, in the mid-19th century. Using a military organization and tactics borrowed from the Ngoni, the Hehe under Munyigumba, and later his son Mkwawa, greatly expanded their domain. They were subdued by German forces in 1898, but only after seven years of severe fighting and after Mkwawa had committed suicide to avoid capture. The paramountcy was restored in 1926, the heads of the formerly independent peoples being mostly subchiefs under the paramount.

The Hehe are divided into dispersed patrilineal and exogamous clans. Religion centres upon the cult of ancestors, but Christianity and Islām have made many converts.

The Hehe practice a cereal agriculture, corn (maize) being the major crop. They are also cattle owners. They hire out as farm labourers to obtain a cash income.