Maji Maji Uprising

Maji Maji Uprising, native rebellion against colonial rule in German East Africa (now Tanzania) in 1905-1907. The immediate cause of the uprising was a government-instituted program of cotton culture, to which black farmers objected, but the underlying reason was a general resentment of harsh colonial policies that included forced labor and ruthless tax collection. The rebellion began in July 1905 in the hill country south and west of Dar es Salaam. The rebellion was religiously sanctioned by the distribution of special water, maji, believed to render the warriors immune to gunfire, and spread quickly. The German authorities were unprepared for the conflict and, besides military action, finally resorted to scorched-earth tactics to crush the rebellion. Some 70,000 Africans perished in the uprising.