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{{Infobox ethnic group
| group            = Banyole
| native_name      =
| native_name_lang =
| image            = File:Kikoyi worn by banyoli woman in eastern uganda.JPG
| image_caption    = Banyoli man playing musical instrument for his two wives, one making alcohol and the other sauce.
| image_alt        =
| total            = 530,120<ref>{{cite web |author1=Uganda Bureau of Statistics |title=National Population and Housing Census 2017 - Main Report |url=https://www.ubos.org/wp-content/uploads/publications/03_20182014_National_Census_Main_Report.pdf}}</ref>
| total_source     =
| total_ref        = <!-- references supporting total population -->
| genealogy        =
| regions          = {{flagcountry |Uganda}}
| languages        = [[Nyole language (Uganda)|Nyole]], [[English language|English]]
| religions        = [[Christianity in Africa|Christianity]], [[Islam]], [[Bantu mythology|traditional faiths]]
| related_groups   = [[Masaba people]] and [[Luhya people]]
| footnotes        =
}}
The '''Banyole''' or '''Banyuli''' are a [[Bantu peoples|Bantu]] ethnic group of Uganda that live mainly in [[Butaleja District]].
==Ethnicity==
The Banyole are one of the smaller Bantu ethnic groups in Uganda.
They are sometimes called "Abalya Lwooba", meaning "mushroom eaters".
They speak the [[Nyole language (Uganda)|Nyole language]].
They are mostly polygamous, and are divided into many clans.
They have similar language and traditional customs to the [[Bagwe]] people, and like the Bagwe claim origins with the [[Banyala]] of Kenya.{{sfn|Banyole Culture .. UTG}}
The traditional founder of the Banyole came from near the point where the [[Yala River]] enters [[Lake Victoria]].{{sfn|Owen|1932|p=67}}
He was named Omwa and lived {{convert|45|mi}} west of their present location.
They were forced to move east due to pressure from Nilotic people.{{sfn|Owen|1932|p=67}}
According to a 2014 report by the Uganda Bureau of Statistics the Banyole population is about 300,000.<ref>{{Cite web |title=One moment, please... |url=https://www.101lasttribes.com/tribes/banyole.html |access-date=2024-02-11 |website=www.101lasttribes.com}}</ref>{{sfn|Police deployed as Banyole clan leaders...}}
Possibly there is confusion with speakers of the related [[Nyole language (Kenya)|Nyole language of Kenya]].
In September 2019 the clan leaders of the Banyole elected their first cultural head.
At least 148 clan leaders participated.
There was controversy because one of the two candidates was not a resident of the district.{{sfn|Police deployed as Banyole clan leaders...}}
==Location and economy==
{{Location map+ | Uganda | width =240| float= |border= |caption=Locations in Uganda |relief =y |places =
{{Location map~ |Uganda |label=Butaleja District |position= |mark = |lat_deg =0.933333 |lon_deg=33.95}}
{{Location map~ |Uganda |label=Yala River |position= |mark =Blue pog.svg |lat_deg =-0.030212 |lon_deg=34.054677}}
{{Location map~ |Uganda |label=Lake Kyoga |position=left |mark =Blue pog.svg |lat_deg =1.5 |lon_deg=33}}
{{Location map~ |Uganda |label=Mount<br/>Elgon |position=bottom |mark =Orange pog.svg |lat_deg =1.118333 |lon_deg=34.525}}
}}
The Banyole were one of the ethnic groups in the plains between [[Lake Kyoga]] to the west and the slopes of [[Mount Elgon]] to the east when the British established the [[Bukedi District]] in this area at the start of the 20th century.
Bukedi district also contained [[Gisu people]] in the populous and mountainous northeast, and several other ethnic groups in the western and southern plains including the [[Nilotic]] [[Teso people]] and the [[Bantu peoples|Bantu]] [[Gwere people]].{{sfn|Heald|1989|pp=17–18}}
The plains peoples were mostly [[Acephalous society|acephalous]].{{sfn|Heald|1989|p=24}}
The Banyole today live mostly in [[Butaleja District]] in the east of Uganda.
They also live in the nearby [[Budaka District|Budaka]], [[Mbale District|Mbale]], [[Tororo District|Tororo]], [[Bugiri District|Bugiri]], [[Namutumba District|Namutumba]] and [[Pallisa District|Pallisa]] districts
The surrounding peoples are the [[Gisu people]] to the east, [[Adhola people]] to the south, [[Soga people]] to the west and [[Gwere people]] to the north.
The Banyole typically live by subsistence agriculture.{{citation needed|date=March 2024}}
The region is one of rolling grassland surrounded by [[papyrus]] swamps.
The land is now densely populated and mostly cultivated.
[[Rice]], [[cotton]] and [[coffee]] are grown for cash.
Their staple food crop is [[finger millet]], and they also grow [[sorghum]], [[maize]], [[cassava]] and [[sweet potato]].{{sfn|The Banyole People ... Wycliffe}}
==Religion==
According to the 2002 Census of Uganda
about 56.2% of the Banyole tribe are nominally [[Christian]], mostly [[Anglican]] estimated at 42.6%.
Due to low levels of literacy and lack of Christian texts in their language they have only a basic understanding of this religion, and may also follow traditional religious practices.
About 41.6% have converted to [[Islam]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ubos.org/wp-content/uploads/publications/03_20182002_CensusPopnCompostionAnalyticalReport_(1).pdf|title=Population Composition|website=ubos.org|access-date=7 August 2023}}</ref>
===Divination===
Nyole [[African divination|diviners]], known as ''lamuli'', commonly practice invocation as a form of divination.  When a person is visibly afflicted (usually determined by change of character, wellness, vocal exclamations, etc.), ''lamuli'' will ask "''ohwebusa''" in an attempt to ask a potentially malignant spirit who they are.{{sfn|Whyte|1990}}
''Lamuli'' are used by Nyole people solely to determine the causes of misfortune, which is believed to be the cause of malignant or upset spirits. It is believed by the Nyole people that the possession of a person is largely due to the spirits of his kin, who may feel as though the afflicted person has not done enough to honor them or their legacy. There are three main types of unhappy kin spirits. The first are known as ''ohulama'' or ''ohung'waba'', and are older family members such as grandparents. The second type are ancestor spirits known as ''emigu j'abafu,'' and the third type are known as ''ekuni'', or "clan spirits".{{sfn|Peek|1991|pp=2–4}}
The ''lamuli'' also use books for divination. The books used by the ''lamuli'' might be [[The Holy Qur'an]], the [[Sa'atili Habari]] and the [[Abu Mashari Faraki]]{{sfn|Olupona|2014|p=48}}
Divination by the use of books is thought to have begun by way of the first influence of Ali bin Nasoor, a [[Merchant|trader]] from [[Oman]] who settled in [[Busolwe]], and also by the influence of other [[Swahili people|Swahili]] or [[Arabic]] traders.{{sfn|Whyte|1997|pp=16,65}}
Findings of an investigation made by S. R. Whyte found that the majority of people (in the [[sample (statistics)|sample]]) went for divination consultations for reasons of their own bad or failed health.{{sfn|Whyte|1997|pp=16,65}}
== See also ==
* [[Buganda]]
* [[Acholi people|Acholi]]
* [[Gisu people|Gisu]]
==Notes==
{{notelist}}{{reflist|30em}}
==Sources==
{{refbegin}}
*{{citation |url=http://www.ugandatravelguide.com/banyole-culture.html |accessdate=2021-03-06
|title=Banyole Culture |work=Uganda Travel Guide |ref={{harvid|Banyole Culture .. UTG}} }}
*{{citation
|last=Heald|first=Suzette|title=Controlling Anger: The Sociology of Gisu Violence|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_hq8AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA17
|year=1989|publisher=Manchester University Press|isbn=978-0-7190-2566-2}}
*{{citation |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=yNjQAgAAQBAJ&q=African+divination&pg=PA48
|last=Olupona |first=J. K. ([[Harvard Divinity School]]) |title = African Religions: A Very Short Introduction |publisher = [[Oxford University Press#North America|OUP USA]]
|date = 2014 |isbn = 978-0-19-979058-6 |page = 48 |access-date = December 26, 2015 }}
*{{citation |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/content/part/EANHS/Nos.%2045-46_67_1932_Owen.pdf |accessdate=2021-03-06
|last=Owen |first=W.E. |title=The Bantu of Kavirondo |year=1932 |journal=Journal of the East Africa and Uganda Natural History Society |location=Nairobi}}
*{{citation |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=myc8X1eiKlUC&q=african+divination
|last =Peek |first=P. M. ([[Drew University]]) |title = African Divination Systems: Ways of Knowing |publisher = Indiana University Press |date = 1991
|isbn = 978-0-253-34309-3 |pages = 2, 3, 4 |access-date = December 25, 2015 }}
*{{citation |url=https://www.monitor.co.ug/uganda/news/national/police-deployed-as-banyole-clan-leaders-elect-first-cultural-head-1848952 |accessdate=2021-03-06
|title=Police deployed as Banyole clan leaders elect first cultural head |date=2019-09-21 |journal=Daily Monitor |ref={{harvid|Police deployed as Banyole clan leaders...}} }}
*{{citation |url=https://www.wycliffe.org.uk/what-we-do/featured-projects/the-banyole-people/ |accessdate=2021-03-06
|title=The Banyole People |publisher=Wycliffe UK Ltd |ref={{harvid|The Banyole People ... Wycliffe}} }}
*{{Citation
|last=Whyte|first=Susan Reynolds|date=1990|title=Uncertain Persons in Nyole Divination|journal=Journal of Religion in Africa|volume=20|issue=1|pages=41–62
|doi=10.2307/1581424|issn=0022-4200|jstor=1581424}}
*{{citation |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=6U9On_kV4oIC
|last=Whyte |first = S.R. ([[University of Copenhagen]]) |title = Questioning Misfortune: The Pragmatics of Uncertainty in Eastern Uganda
|publisher = [[Cambridge University Press]] |date = 1997 |isbn = 978-0-521-59558-2 |access-date = December 26, 2015 }}
{{refend}}
{{authority control}}
{{Ethnic groups in Uganda}}
[[Category:Bantu peoples]]
[[Category:Ethnic groups in Uganda]]