Digital illustration of Ndabaga

Born around 1700, Ndabaga, daughter to Nyamutezi was a single child, famous for her bravery in defying traditional gender roles by replacing his father on the the battlefield, an act that was done by males only. According to the military organization, the recruitment was done on lineage basis. Every adult man was called upon to defend his country and serve in the king's army until old age, only earning a peaceful retirement upon being replaced by his son. Ndabaga had no brothers or uncles so her father’s fate was to die a warrior in the king’s service. So, she started practicing and spent her adolescent days learning how to fight for not disappointing his father. Soon she fought better than any other boy of her age in her village. She bound her breasts, flattened her chest so that she would appear as a man. After recovering and feeling that she was ready, she went to replace her father at the palace. Disguised as a man, she excelled in all duties with cleanliness, war games and the war itself. Ndabaga drew the King’s attention and was promoted as a leader of her peers.
Being jealous of her, her peers had noticed that Ndabaga never bathed with the rest of the warriors, and always dressed in private.
Rumors circulated that Ndabaga was really a girl in disguise. The King heard the rumors, he asked Ndabaga to prove her gender in a fighting contest. She won at every contest.
She explained why she had to disguised herself. She never met her father, who was growing old and tired in service of the kingdom, because he had no son to redeem him. Realizing how exceptional she was, the King rewarded his father and was send home.
He took her as his wife but also changed the rules that made free those fathers without sons.