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Growing disillusionment in the Uganda Rifles over issues such as loneliness, poor food, poor pay and frequent reassignments to remote areas led to a mutiny in 1897. Several British officers were killed, and discontent amongst Uganda’s moslem community, which was sympathetic to the Sudanese, erupted into violence in several places. The British despatched troops from India to put down the mutiny and to stop the violence, although this took until 1899 to complete.
As a result of the mutiny, towards the end of 1897 the colonial government decided to reorganise the Uganda Rifles on an urgent basis, and a number of commissioned and non-commissioned officers for the task of reorganisation were recruited in London. A newspaper report of the day said ,,,The Soudanese forming the force will be greatly reduced, and the vacancies filled up by recruiting from the East African Protectorate and, possibly, also from India… The non-commissioned officers were ready to depart for Uganda around 20th-21st January 1898, and the commissioned officers followed in due course.<ref> nhclark. [https://web.archive.org/web/20180607005433/http://www.victorianwars.com/viewtopic.php?f=82&t=12425#p66257 2nd Lt John Simeon WARD - Uganda Rifles (1899-1903)] ''Victorian Wars Forum'' 14 May 2018, now archived. Retrieved 7 June 201827 August 2019.</ref>
The King's African Rifles (KAR) was formed on 1 January 1902 from various local regiments, and were responsible for the defence of British colonies and protectorates in East Africa, initially Nyasaland, Kenya, Uganda, British Somaliland, and later Tanganyika Territory and Zanzibar. Each colony was responsible for recruiting and maintaining its own battalions.<ref>
The ''Army and Navy Gazette'' 15 February 1902 (page 2) stated
:"We alluded recently to the creation of the King's African Rifles, under the Foreign Office, embodying the East and Central Africa and Uganda Forces, as an example of an organisation having many features to commend it, since it brings all units under a single and controlling responsible authority, and will cause the whole to be disciplined upon a simple system under settled rules and regulations.<ref>LeoHickman. [https://web.archive.org/web/20180607005433/http://www.victorianwars.com/viewtopic.php?f=82&t=12425#p66479 2nd Lt John Simeon WARD - Uganda Rifles (1899-1903)] ''Victorian Wars Forum'' 6 June 2018. now archived. Retrieved 7 June 201827 August 2019.</ref>
Control of the King’s African Rifles appears to have passed to the Colonial Office in 1905.
===Records===
*Officers will generally be mentioned in the ''London Gazette'', and British ''Army List''s. It appears they are more likely to be mentioned in the official War Office publications ''Quarterly'' and ''Monthly Army List''s, or listed with more detail, compared with the commercial ''Army List''s. For more details of these publications, see [[British Army#Records|British Army - Records]]. As an (online) example: September 1919 ''Monthly List'', under "Special Lists", lists King's African Rifles officers in Staff, 1st-7th Regiments, Signal Company and Pay Department.<ref>[https://digital.nls.uk/british-military-lists/archive/123797119 September 1919 ''Monthly List''], page 2518 digital.nls.uk.</ref>
*A researcher found an officer of the Uganda Rifles 1901-2 mentioned in [[The National Archives]] record "Africa: Protectorate staff lists (East Africa, Uganda, Somali Coast, Central Africa, King's African Rifles), 1896-1905 FO 403/556"<ref>LeoHickman. [https://web.archive.org/web/20180607005433/http://www.victorianwars.com/viewtopic.php?f=82&t=12425#p66474 2nd Lt John Simeon WARD - Uganda Rifles (1899-1903)] ''Victorian Wars Forum'' 5 June 2018, now archived. Retrieved 7 June 201827 August 2019.</ref>
*Catalogue entry [http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C4724 CO 534 Colonial Office: King's African Rifles Original Correspondence] TNA. This series contains original correspondence relating to the King's African Rifles 1905-1926.
*Catalogue entry [http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/browse/r/h/C77646 Subseries within WO 106 King's African Rifles, including Somaliland Camel Corps] TNA. 1895-1937.
