Before the introduction of the Gregorian calendar and modern devices such as watches, Rwandans relied on nature to measure time. According to a 2023 journal published by the Cultural Heritage Academy, the moon, its phases and seasonal patterns formed the foundation of timekeeping, shaping agriculture, medicine, royal rituals and public ceremonies.

The journal notes that years were organised into 12 months, with a 13th month added when the first Umuganura (harvest festival) was expected to arrive before the sorghum had fully ripened.

Rwandan philosopher and historian Alexis Kagame explains in his book La Notion de génération (1959) that this extra month, called "Ihagiko,” fell roughly between April and May.

ALSO READ: The history of Umuganura: Rwanda’s festival of unity and gratitude

The months of Gicurasi (May), Kamena (June) and Nyakanga (July) were devoted to nationwide annual rituals. For example, the mourning period (Icyunamo) was in May, while ceremonies marking the end of mourning happened in June, and "Umuganura” took place in July.

Adding "Ihagiko” ensured these ritual months remained in their proper period, bridging the dry and early rainy seasons, even though the lunar year did not fully align with agricultural seasons governed by the sun.

How times and seasons were counted

Rwandans counted days, months and years primarily based on the moon. Time was measured from one new moon to the next, roughly 29 days, and after 12 lunar months, a year was considered complete.

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Calculation and timekeeping were essential in ancient Rwanda, particularly in agriculture, medicine, and both royal and community rituals. Although not everyone mastered these calculations, the population broadly followed the lunar cycle.

Sorghum for Umuganura was planted at the new moon, while the ceremony itself took place during the full moon. Some medicinal plants were also harvested according to lunar phases.

The journal explains that Rwanda observed annual rituals, alongside others held every four reigns, roughly once a century. Each ceremony corresponded either to a specific lunar phase or a particular constellation. The king, assisted by the abiru, the guardians of royal knowledge, was responsible for organising and synchronising these events.

Traditional Rwandan months

1. Ukwakira: August – September
2. Ugushyingo: September – October
3. Ukuboza: October – November
4. Mutarama: November – December
5. Gashyantare: December – January
6. Werurwe: January – February
7. Mata: February – March
8. Gicurasi: March – April
9. Kamena: April – May
10. Nyakanga: May – June
11. Kanama: June – July
12. Nzeri: July – August

According to the Cultural Heritage Academy journal, later attempts made to simplify the traditional calendar by aligning it with the Gregorian system failed to reflect the true structure of the indigenous calendar, which was anchored in lunar cycles rather than fixed solar months.

The journal argues that compilers overlooked the fact that since the abolition of Umuganura and its associated rituals in 1925, the traditional year has no longer been marked in the same way and cannot be directly aligned with the Gregorian calendar. It also points out there was an error of equating traditional months with Gregorian months, an approach the journal describes as culturally inaccurate.

The journal notes that this practice effectively amounted to attaching Kinyarwanda names to English month names. In contrast, other societies with indigenous calendars use their systems alongside the Gregorian calendar rather than forcing equivalence.

As a result, two distinct years existed in Rwanda: one for religion and ritual, beginning in May, and another for agriculture and routine activities, beginning in September.

Gregorian calendar equivalents

1. Mutarama: January
2. Gashyantare: February
3. Werurwe: March
4. Mata: April
5. Gicurasi: May
6. Kamena: June
7. Nyakanga: July
8. Kanama: August
9. Nzeri: September
10. Ukwakira: October
11. Ugushyingo: November
12. Ukuboza: December

Jean de Dieu Nsanzabera, a researcher in Rwandan traditional culture, told The New Times that although traditional timekeeping was later aligned with modern systems, much of its meaning was lost in the process.

"The names are still there, but they were simply aligned to numbers on watches or dates on calendars,” he said.

He explained that age was once expressed through experience rather than numbers. "If someone said they had witnessed 90 Umuganura celebrations, which were traditionally held between June and September, you would know they were about 90 years old.”

Nsanzabera added that certain numbers held particular significance in Rwandan history. "Eight and 100 were important reference numbers,” he said.

"That is why, during the reign of King Yuhi IV Gahindiro, a week had eight days, unlike the seven-day week we use today, which originates from Jewish traditions.”

What about the hours?

According to Fratri Jean de Dieu Ndindabahizi, writing in Imvaho No. 734 (1988), Rwandans had a detailed system of timekeeping long before the introduction of watches.

Time was read from nature, guided by the movement of the sun, animals, birds and daily human activity.

Below is a list of traditional Rwandan hours (amasaha gakondo), their meanings, and their approximate equivalents on the modern clock:

1. Igicuku cya mbere: Literally "the first darkness”, marking the beginning of deep night (≈ 12am, midnight).
2. Igicuku cya kabiri: The second phase of the night, when sleep is deepest (≈ 1am).
3. Igicuku gishyira inkoko: The moment before cockcrow (≈ 2am).
4. Mu nkoko za mbere: First cockcrow (≈ 2:30am).
5. Mu nkoko za kabiri: Second cockcrow (≈ 3am).
6. Mu nkoko zanaga: Final cockcrow before dawn (≈ 4am).
7. Mu museke w’abashotsi: First faint light in the sky (≈ 4:30am).
8. Giti na muntu: Time when shapes of trees and people become visible (≈ 4:45am).
9. Umuseke w’abannyi: Pre-dawn moment of discreet relief before the community awoke (≈ 5am).
10. Mu bunyoni: Time when birds begin singing (≈ 5:15am).
11. Mu museso: At dawn (≈ 5:30am).
12. Mu rukerera: Early morning proper (≈ 5:45am).
13. Mu gatondo: Morning has fully arrived (≈ 6am).
14. Mu gitondo: Late morning (≈ 6:30am).
15. Inka zivuye mu rugo: Cows begin moving from home (≈ 7am).
16. Inka zikamwa: Milking time (≈ 7:15am).
17. Inka zahutse: Livestock go for grazing (≈ 8am).
18. Inyana zahutse: Calves go for grazing (≈ 8:15am).
19. Ku gasusuruko: Late morning approaching midday (≈ 9am).
20. Inyana zitaha: Calves return home (≈ 10am).
21. Inka zimenyereye mu rwuri: Cattle settled in the pasture (≈ 11am).
22. Ku manywa: Midday (≈ 12pm).
23. Mu mashoka y’inka: Cattle heading to watering (≈ 1pm).
24. Inka zikutse: Cows finish drinking water (≈ 2pm).
25. Inyana zisubira iswa: Calves return for grazing (≈ 3pm).
26. Mu mahingura: People return home from cultivation activities (≈ 3:30pm).
27. Inka zihinduye: Cattle begin heading home (≈ 4pm).
28. Inyana zitaha: Calves return home (≈ 5pm).
29. Mu kirengazuba: Sun leaning westwards (≈ 5:30pm).
30. Mu kabwibwi: Twilight (≈ 6pm).
31. Inka zitaha: Cattle fully return (≈ 6:30pm).
32. Inka zikamwa: Evening milking time (≈ 7pm).
33. Ku mugoroba: Evening (≈ 7:30pm).
34. Inka zihumuje: Livestock resting (≈ 8pm).
35. Amatarama: Night-time gathering for socialising and discussions (≈ 8:30pm).
36. Amaryama: Sleeping time (≈ 9pm).
37. Akavamashyiga: Time when fires die down (≈ 10pm).
38. Igicuku kinishye: New darkness begins (≈ 11pm).
39. Mu gacubiro: Late night approaching midnight (≈ 11:30pm).

Some older Rwandans continued to use traditional ways of telling time, even in an era of watches and calendars.

Euphrasie Mukanandori, an 87-year-old resident of Runda Sector in Kamonyi District, said that although watches existed when she was growing up, her family rarely used them.

She recalled working in the fields with others and instinctively knowing when it was midday.

"I would know when it was time to stop farming, and liberate them” she said.

"Even when I checked with people who had watches, my sense of time was usually correct.”

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