Kigali Gisaka. By playing these neighbours against each other, the early kingdom flourished in the area, expanding westwards towards Lake Kivu and taking the Kigali area in the process. In the late 16th or early 17th centuries, the kingdom of Rwanda was invaded by the Banyoro and the kings forced to flee westward, leaving Kigali and eastern Rwanda in the hands of Bugesera and Gisaka. The formation in the 17th century of a new Rwandan dynasty by mwami Ruganzu Ndori, followed by eastward invasions and the conquest of Bugesera, marked the beginning of the Rwandan kingdom's dominance in the area. The
Kigali sidelining Rwandans in the judiciary. In this period, Kigali was one of two provincial capitals, alongside Gisenyi. The difficulty of governing the complex Rwandan society, and a crippling famine, led the Belgians to re-establish the German-style indirect rule at the end of 1917. Musinga was restored to his throne at Nyanza, with Kigali remaining home to the colonial administration. This arrangement persisted until the mid-1920s, but from 1924 the Belgians began once more to sideline the monarchy, this time permanently. Belgium took over control of dispute resolution, appointment of officials and expansion of control. Kigali remained relatively small through the