Most members of the royal house live in exile in France today. In the
2005 elections, Princess Esther Kamatari ran for president for the
Abahuza party ("Party for the Restoration of Monarchy and Dialogue
in Burundi"). Supporters argue that a restoration of a constitutional
monarchy could help to ease the tensions between the ethnic groups
and become a symbol of unity. The flag of  the kingdom contained a
karyenda in the center as a symbol of royal authority.

List of Kings of Burundi

The list contains two versions of the list of Kings of Burundi, the traditional
version before 1680 and the modern genealogy. The regnal names of Burundian
sovereigns, titled Mwami, followed a cycle: Ntare (meaning 'lion'), Mwezi
(meaning 'moon'), Mutaga, and Mwambutsa. Traditionally, it was thought that
there had been four complete cycles but the modern genealogy indicates that
there were only two complete cycles, starting with Ntare III Rushatsi.

In the 16th century, Burundi was a kingdom characterized by a hierarchical
political authority and tributary economic exchange. A king (mwami) headed
a princely aristocracy (ganwa) which owned most of the land governing its
subjects with superiority and required a tribute, or tax, from local farmers
and herders who lived in forests. The Tutsi monarchy ruled the nation for
centuries, but became largely ceremonial with the colonization of the nation
by the German Empire in 1899. The kings continued through the colonial period,
but each of the last kings was deposed in a coup d'état. Burundi ceased to
be a monarchy when king Ntare V Ndizeye was deposed by his Prime Minister
and Chief of Staff, Capt. Michel Micombero, who abolished the monarchy and
declared a republic in 1966. 

Kings of Burundi