John Hanning Speke (4 May 1827 -- 15 September 1864) was an officer in the British Indian Army who made three exploratory expeditions to Africa. He is most associated with the search for the source of the Nile and was the first European to reach Lake Victoria. He is also known for propounding the Hamitic hypothesis in 1863, in which he supposed that the Tutsi ethnic group were descendants of the biblical figure Ham, and had lighter skin and more "European '' features than the Bantu - featured Hutu over whom they ruled.
british indian army officer who reached lake victoria
John Hanning Speke