Showing posts with label maseko. Show all posts
Showing posts with label maseko. Show all posts

Friday, September 17, 2010

3

TRADITION AND PRESTIGE AMONG THE NGONI

  • Friday, September 17, 2010
  • Samuel Albert
  • Author(s): Margaret Read
    Source: Africa: Journal of the International African Institute, Vol. 9, No. 4 (Oct., 1936), pp.453-484 Published by: Edinburgh University Press


    Before I made my first camp in an Ngoni village, many Europeans had said to me, 'There are practically no Ngoni left today. They are all hopelessly mixed with other tribes. None of them keep to the Ngoni customs any longer. Their chiefs are no good.' From the doorway of my hut I saw people coming all day long to the Paramount Chief, behaving towards him with profound respect, bringing him presents, working for him. His children formed a special group in the village, easily recognizable by their bearing and their manners. Old indunas came to instruct me, as they had instructed chiefs in their day, on the duties of a ruler, and the code of Ngoni laws. Old warriors in war dress came and danced by the cattle kraal and sang praise songs. Courts were held with scrupulous regard for order and justice. Other chiefs came visiting from distant parts with their retinues, and were received ceremonially. It soon became apparent that here was the centre of a political state, whose head was invested with prestige and authority over a wide area, and where behaviour to the Paramount and to every one else was strictly regulated by custom, and as strictly observed. These were Ngoni, and they and their fellow Ngoni in other areas1 for the next ten months introduced me to the Ngoni people. The European assertion, that they no longer existed as a people, they laughed at, and proceeded to demonstrate that the contrary was true.

    The Ngoni are found to-day scattered over four East African territories. The largest groups are in Nyasaland in the districts of Mzimba, Dowa, Fort Manning, Dedza, and Ncheu. In Northern Rhodesia they are in the Fort Jameson and Lundazi districts bordering on Nyasaland. Another section is in Portuguese East Africa on the South-West border of Nyasaland. Under other names there are Ngoni settlements in Tanganyika Territory. The present divisions of the Ngoni are due partly to European frontiers, partly to the fact that more than one party of them came up from the south, and partly to divisions among the Ngoni during the period of settlement.

    Read more...

    Thursday, August 19, 2010

    0

    Ngoni Politics and Diplomacy 1848 - 1904 (part 2)

  • Thursday, August 19, 2010
  • Samuel Albert
  • B. Pachai, Professor of History, University of Malawi, 1970


    In the period covered in this article there were six different rulers and regents functioning at different times with varying degrees of success in the political life of the main Ngoni hosts in the north and south.28 After 1875 those in office had to contend in their external relations with three important influences, viz., indigenous and neighbouring peoples, missionaries, and the advent of British administration. Of these the first powerful impact came from the Scottish missionary factor represented in the work of the Livingstonia and Blantyre missionaries. In 1878 Dr Laws and Mr James Stewart visited Chikusi where they were kept waiting for four days before Chikusi would see them, an experience which Dr Stewart was to live through when he visited Mbelwa the following year. The British Consul, Hawes, on the other hand,lead a pleasant experience at Kujipore when he called on Chikusi in 1886. The Ngoni chiefs kept strict protocol in their dealing with Europeans. Where this was not respected by the visitors, as it happened in the case of the Chiwere Ndlovu Ngoni of Dowa district, the consequences were very serious. Dr Laws, who was kept waiting for days by Chikusi, was surprised when Jumbe came out of his village to meet him half-way at Nkhota Kota in 1879;29 but this is understandable when we consider that Jumbe was saddled with internal disaffection led by his headman, Chiwaura, and external threats from the Yao. The Ngoni were in no hurry to seek political alliances with Europeans.

    Read more...

    Wednesday, August 18, 2010

    0

    Ngoni Politics and Diplomacy 1848 - 19041 (Part 1)

  • Wednesday, August 18, 2010
  • Samuel Albert
  • B. Pachai, Professor of History, University of Malawi, 1970

    I

    By 1904 the Ngoni of Malawi were widely distributed through a large part of the country with main and subsidiary settlements of both the Jere and Maseko communities or tribal clusters. These settlements had a number of common characteristics. The chiefs (with few exceptions) could all claim linear political descent from those who had led them through most of the way to the chosen land; they were now under British protectorate rule ; each main settlement had an administrative system with central authority, executive authority, military and judicial authority, all of which were subsequently modified to suit the protectorate government from time to time; each had started off with little more than a simple kinship organization with leadership provided by a determined individual of a well-known clan fleeing for safety and security with a hard core of kinsmen; each tribal cluster had to work out its own immediate political salvation during the period of dispersion or at the point of permanent settlement. The difference between these Ngoni and those of the Northern and Southern Nguni was that political evolution in the case of the former was based on trial and error tempered by a transference of 'home' patterns of government far removed in both space and time. Things not only happened quickly; they happened very far from `home'; they happened, too, without precedents at first. Before political patterns and social adjustments could evolve, external intrusions brought about compelling side-effects. In the end a political system emerged. Hammond—Tooke has defined a political system broadly 'as the system of power-distribution in a society'.2 In looking at this power-distribution in the Ngoni society of Malawi a number of propositions constitute a good starting point.

    Read more...

    Sunday, August 15, 2010

    1

    Songs Of The Ngoni People (Lullabies, Umsindo and Mthimba songs)

  • Sunday, August 15, 2010
  • Samuel Albert
  • Margaret Read, 1937

    INTRODUCTION

    Nearly 120 years ago the Ngoni left their homeland in the South during the upheavals of Chaka's wars. In Nyasaland where the majority of them settled, they began to mix with the local tribes, preserving certain Ngoni institutions which they had brought from the south, to which they clung tenaciously as proof of their political and social superiority over their neighbours.1 Predominant among these exclusive Ngoni institutions were their songs and dances. The musician listening to the phrasing, rhythm and harmonies of Ngoni music knows that here is something of rare and distinctive beauty. The linguist studying the words of songs recognises the old Ngoni language, closely akin to old Zulu and Swazi. The social anthropologist watching the dancing and singing can see an expression of the " national" spirit of the Ngoni, and watch how social distinctions mark off the true aristocrats from the former slaves, the latter being excluded from taking part in the dance.

    Read more...

    Wednesday, August 11, 2010

    0

    NGUNI MIGRATIONS BETWEEN DELAGOA BAY AND THE ZAMBEZI, 1821-1839

  • Wednesday, August 11, 2010
  • Samuel Albert
  • Author: Gerhard Liesegang
    Source: African Historical Studies, Vol. 3, No. 2 (1970), pp. 317-337
    Published by: Boston University African Studies Center

    The area adjacent to the Portuguese possessions of Lourenco Marques, Inhambane, Sofala, and Rios de Sena was affected after July 1821 by the wars and migrations which had started in South Africa a few years before.1 At least four groups moved into the area under consideration; one of them, the Gaza Nguni under Sotshangane, continued to remain in possession of a part of it after 1839, when the other three had left, dominating an area where, before 1820, more than fifty independent political units had existed.

    The purpose of this paper is to discuss the written evidence on these migrations as contained in Portuguese sources, most of which are administrative records,2 though these are not as rich as might be supposed. They hardly ever contain the names of the leaders of the migrating groups, and none of the terms applied to their followers (Mazitis, Landins, Massitis, Mabzites, Vatuas, etc.) is applied exclusively to any one group of invaders. It is therefore impossible to reconstruct migration routes on the basis of the administrative records alone. Only if we take the scraps of recorded oral tradition and personal memories,3 is

    Read more...

    Monday, August 9, 2010

    0

    Tentative Chronology of The Ngoni, Genealogy of Their chiefs and Notes

  • Monday, August 9, 2010
  • Samuel Albert
  • BY D. GORDON LANCASTER. 1937.

    NOTE OF INTRODUCTION

    THESE tentative notes relating to the Ngoni are the result of many years of research amongst the natives in the Eastern Province of N. Rhodesia, with whom I have been in constant contact, firstly as a Government official and secondly as a friend. I have received the greatest assistance and courtesy from the Paramount Chief, Mpezeni Jere II, and I am further indebted to A. K. Jere, a son of old Chief Kapatamoyo Jere, without whose knowledge, assistance and tactful handling of the old indunas these notes and genealogy would never have been completed.

    NOTES

    (1) Zongendaba (Zwangendaba, Uzwangendaba) Kumalo, son of Hlatshwayo of theNgoni tribe and his wife, Mquamache Nzima, was born near St. Lucia Bay in 1780 circa.

    Zongendaba, when a young man, appears to have shown great promise as a military leader. Hlatshwayo, his father, and Ziwide, uncle of his wife, Loziwawa Nqumayo, appear to have been close neighbours and friends, and with other local clans for some time resisted Tshaka. The date of Hlatshwayo’s death is not known, but Zongendaba broke away from the district or tribal area with a large following, after the second attack by Tshaka on the Ndwandwe Tribe, whom the Ngoni were assisting. Mzilikazi, a younger member of the Kumalo, after this defeat served Tshaka as an Induna for approximately two years, during which time his bravery and leadership, under the eye of Tshaka, brought him promotion. Zongendaba and Gwaza Tole broke away with a followingin the year 1823 ; Mzilikazi followed towards the end of the year 1825.

    Read more...

    Sunday, August 8, 2010

    0

    Interesting Oral History of The Maseko Ngoni Under Mputa

  • Sunday, August 8, 2010
  • Samuel Albert
  • By William Perceval Johnson, Archdeacon of the Universities Mission to Central Africa

    Note from The moderator: I am of the opinion that the Zulu in paragraph 5 onwards was not the successor of Zwangendaba but rather broke away from the Zwangendaba's ngoni after his death. There are also other areas besides this where the author differs from the position of other historians. I guess it is all because all these are oral histories, It is therefore difficult to tell who is right or wrong.

    The Angoni were the first aggressors. They came up from the south with another clan, allied or akin, which was under a famous chief called Mputa, i.e. the Smiter, and the two parties separated near what is now Bulawayo. Mputa crossed the Zambesi low down — this is the Angoni account of him — and wandered about, going up to Mtonya and on to the Rovuma river and finally to the north end of the Lake, where he seems to have settled not far from Songea.

    As he went he brought desolation to the Lake side. The old men in various villages can remember this time of terror, and bring before us how the news flew from village to village that the Smiter was coming and how each village waited its turn in trembling. 'At Chilowelo,' said one man, ' we were well out of the way; not many of his people came down here.' An old man of Losefa said : ' When Mputa came we had heard that the Angoni cannot bear water and that if you are in the water,even up to your knees, they will not touch you. This was true, for we went in and Mputa passed us in the water ; but he burnt our village.' A headman of Mtengula told us : 'He took my mother as a slave, but I was a mere child.'

    Where there were no stockades built, the people could only escape to the reed-beds or to the rocks in the Lake. The village of Msumba, which had reeds and a marsh at the back, made a good stand. Mputa stayed some time near it, this gave the Nyasas time to gather, and after a battle or so he moved away. An old Ngoo man, still alive, is proud of having killed an Angoni on this occasion, and tells how he took his shield, his feathers, and his name, and Maendaenda of Pachia has the scar of a wound as a memento of the fight.

    It is certain that Mputa brought a rude awakening to the villages in the hills as well as to those on the Lake. Several old men tell of the good old days in the hills before he came to afflict them : 'We lived in our own villages quietly; each had its own burial ground and its own place for burning witches,' — and now their security was gone. Mputa, terrible as he was, did not stay long; he passed through the land like a comet. In judging of the resistance that the people of the Lake made to him, we must remember that they had no weapons but bows, while the Smiter had spears. Their archery was good — witness the fact that a man at Msumba had the reputation of having killed three Angoni with one arrow in the old days — but they were outmatched in arms.1

    Meanwhile the party of Angoni with whom Mputa had started on his travels had been going up the west side of the Lake and round the north end. On the west side their chief died and was succeeded by another called Zulu. Their progress was marked by destruction. 'We came by Waya to Sukuma, where we found people whom they call the Wa-Mapangwa continually playing the bamboo vilumbo (a musical instrument), said our Angoni authority. The Angoni soon put an end to this peaceful playing of the vilumbo.

    They settled near Mputa, at a place afterwards called Songea or Songela on the bend of the Rovuma river; the place chosen later on by the Germans for their headquarters and now occupied by our Government. The hill Ngolo'olo, where the Adonde (or Adendauli) seem to have lived before their coming, figures in any account they give of their country. Finding themselves near Mputa, they submitted to him.

    These Angoni were akin to Mputa, as we have said, but they were not of the same family. It is a custom among the Angoni to cry out some family name after sneezing or when they are excited, after drinking for instance. Zulu's people at such times shouted the name Gama (and the women Zinjama); Mputa's shouted Jere, both names of ancestors.2


    Mputa treated the Angoni with great severity and feeling against him grew. Nevertheless they went to raid with him near the river Lihuhu, by the place which is now called Wiethaven. The inhabitants drove them back and Mputa was killed.

    His funeral seems to have been the last united act of his people and the Angoni. It must have been impressive. They blocked the water of the upper Lihuhu with stones, put the body of the chief in the skin of a newly killed bull, and burnt it in the dry bed of the river. The Angoni stood in crowds on the banks, all silent till the heat of the fire made the bones of the corpse crack ; then together they beat their shields with their spears.

    A new chief was chosen. The candidate, apparently Mputa's next of kin, had to go through the ordeal of standing on one leg with his spear poised over his head from sunrise till the sun went down. (This is the only instance in which I have heard of this ordeal.) But the patience of Zulu's people was exhausted and they drove Mputa's people south to the hill Ngango, near the Rovuma river.

    There had been a little respite by the Lake, but now the raiders returned, driven south by the Angoni, Their leader was again named Mputa, and the Lake people believed him to be the same Mputa as before and assumed that he had met with a reverse, which was indeed the case.

    With this second Smiter, or following close behind, came Kaindi and other headmen. Kaindi made himself a name. He seems to have crossed the Lujenda river and to have attacked the clans on the river Meto, nearer the coast ; these Meto people had probably got gun-powder up from the coast,and Kaindi came back from the Meto with the name of 'Powder Eater'. He did not go away after raiding as the first Mputa did ; he lingered in the hills by the Lake, now here, now there, and everywhere he raided. 'We were after the time of Mputa,' said a man at Mbamba, 'but Kaindi caught me when I was keeping the herds, and killed my mother.' 'He meets, he kills,' it was said of him. At last he settled at Chisindo, the hill straight inland from Msumba, and made the Lakeside people pay tribute to him to escape being murdered by his men as they worked in their fields. The present chief at Chiwanga remembers carrying up food to him.


    Notes

    1. The archery deteriorated; it was very feeble when we came to the Lake.

    2. The custom has spread to other tribes who have come under Angoni influence and extends south into Msumba and other villages where men from the north have married. It varies in different places, all who come from the west by the north using, apparently, only one name, while others say : 'Son of so and so, grandson of so and so'. Sometimes, as above, the name of one ancestor is uttered (the Chiongwe or Chiongo), sometimes the family name of the father or the maternal grandfather (the Chilawa). The natives from the south and east, who trace through the female line, lay most stress on a man's maternal male relatives. There is not infrequently one Chilawa for the men of a family and another for the women.
    Read more...

    Wednesday, August 4, 2010

    0

    Maseko Ngoni At Domwe 1870 to 19001

  • Wednesday, August 4, 2010
  • Samuel Albert
  • By Dr. Ian Linden, Professor of Biology, University of Malawi1


    When the Maseko Ngoni settled in Domwe c.1870 their society had already been shaped by almost fifty years of warfare and migrations. The army, organized on an age-set principle, brought together 'captives from the march' with different tribal backgrounds. To avoid bids-for power by close relatives of the paramount alumuzana and izinduna, who occupied the positions of political power within the state, were chosen not from the royal family but from members of the aristocratic Swazi clans.

    Read more...

    Sunday, July 11, 2010

    0

    Maji Maji in Ungoni: A Reappraisal of Existing Historiography

  • Sunday, July 11, 2010
  • Samuel Albert
  • Author(s): Patrick M. Redmond, 1975.
    MAJI MAJI LEADERS HANGING BY THE GERMANS

    The Maji Maji rebellion of 1905-19061 was Tanzania's most spectacular manifestation of the rejection of colonial rule. It joined numerous peoples of very diverse political, economic, and social backgrounds in a struggle to oust the German power which had recently subjugated them. Of those who participated, the Ngoni of Songea district were among the most determined, some continuing the fight till mid-1906, and most suffering heavily from massive reprisals at German hands.

    While the largely independent nature of the Songea rebellion has been acknowledged elsewhere,2 in general scholars have held that the Ngoni had the same reason for participating as had others who fought: the belief that the maji (Swahili, water) which their prophets were dispensing would protect their warriors from bullets, enabling them to throw off cruel and repressive German rule and regain their independence.3 The reappraisal of this interpretation which follows is based onthe supposition that the attitudes of different groups among the Ngoni toward both the Germans and the advantages of independence were variable. Not all felt either severely oppressed under German dominance or looked forward to a better life without them. Moreover, where possible this variabilityd eterminedc ommitment to rebellion. The Maji Maji among the Ngoni was not a united struggle against a hated enemy,but a conflict fomented by those whom its successful outcome stood to benefit.

    Read more...

    Tuesday, July 6, 2010

    0

    POLITICAL EVOLUTION IN THE SONGEA NGONI CHIEFDOMS, 1850-1905

  • Tuesday, July 6, 2010
  • Samuel Albert
  • Author: P. H. Gulliver, 1974
    wangoni of Tanganyika

    Before he became a professional linguist, Wilfred Whiteley was employed in anthropological research by the then Government of Tanganyika in the Southern Province of that Territory (1948-51). In 1949 he was requested to investigate the customary law on chiefly succession in the Njelu Ngoni chiefdom of Songea District, where dispute had arisen over the appointment of a new chief. In 1952-3 I was asked to continue and to widen those inquiries, both as part of a general anthropological survey and because a succession dispute had developed in the other Ngoni chiefdom in the same District. Whiteley had left a brief memorandum and a few notes which I was able to use as a starting- point. Some of the resulting data have been published elsewhere (Gulliver, 1954, 1955, and 1971). It is fitting, however, to return to those materials in memory of my old friend and colleague, and as a reminder of his sustained interest in social anthropology.

    Read more...

    Tuesday, June 22, 2010

    0

    Pictures and Artist Impressions of Life among the Ngoni and other Ngunis in the early 19th Century

  • Tuesday, June 22, 2010
  • Samuel Albert
  • The following are pictures and artist impressions of life among the Ngoni and fellow Nguni (i.e. the Zulus, Swazis, Xhosa, Ndebeles and ngoni) that I have collected and continue to collect. This will help the study of the similarities and differences between us the Ngoni and our brothers and sisters down south.
    Artist Impression of the headrings (isicoco) of the Nguni family based on Keith Montagu explorations in 1880s. Isicoco used to be a badge for married Nguni men.
    From Some of the Earliest Pictures Of The Ngoni
    Zulu men in the 1880s mending the isicoco (headring made with wax) of his fellow. Isicoco was a badge for a matured, married man.
    From Zulu Photos

    Read more...

    Saturday, May 29, 2010

    0

    THE INSTALLATION OF INKOSI YA MAKOSI GOMANI III IN 1966

  • Saturday, May 29, 2010
  • Samuel Albert
  • Below is an eye witness account of the installation of Inkosi yamakhosi Gomani III in 1966. Another important piece of history that we dare not forget. Enjoy

    Author(s): G.T NURSE

    Only two persons in Malawi are entitled to be saluted, Bayete! On cold geographical grounds it is surprising that there should be so many. The eldest traditions of the Bantu speak of slow movements of people from north to south, west to east, less commonly east to west; only in comparatively recent and rare instances, from south to north. The sudden northward irruption in the second quarter of the last century, of Kalolo into the headwaters of the Zambesi, and that subsequent and lesser extension of theirs in the company of David Livingstone which ended in the assumption of a handful of minor chieftaincies in the Shire valley, were remarkable enough; but the convulsion which sent whole brave regiments of Zulu and Swazi warriors to extinguish what remained of the empire of Monomotapa, to establish a hegemony over the Tumbuka, to halt the Yao, to cleave the Marabvi in two and to set up outposts as far from their starting point as central Tanganyika, may not unworthily be compared with certain of the volkerwanderungen, so pregnant with consequences, of the dark ages of Europe.

    Read more...

    Sunday, April 25, 2010

    0

    AN ENCOUNTER BETWEEN DR ROBERT LAWS AND FELLOW MISSIONARIES WITH THE MASEKO NGONI AND CHIKUSE, PARAMOUNT CHIEF OF MASEKO NGONI IN 1878/79

  • Sunday, April 25, 2010
  • Samuel Albert
  • Below is a scottish missionary record of their meeting with Ngoni elders and eventually with the Paramount Chief of the Maseko Ngoni then, Chikuse. Apparently the missionaries had been trying to meet Chikuse but to no avail. They believed that he had a superstitous fear of the white man. I however think that there could have been other reasons why Chikuse did not want to meet them. In any case he might have seen them as opponents in the battle for control in his sphere of influence.

    I was particulary interested in the fact that the Ngoni elders spoke the ancient zulu or nguni language while most of the young warriors spoke nyanja. This is evidenced by william Koyi, the South African Xhosa missionary who conversed with some of the elders and Chikuse's mother NaMulangeni and acted as interpreter. Below is the record of the encounters:-


    Into the slow, sullen movement of village existence came another agony, the swift, arrow-like Ngoni raid—a savage war-chant in the night, blazing huts, spear-thrusts, frenzied slaughter, and a rapid ebb of naked warriors laden with maize, cattle, and goats, and every boy and girl they could lay hands upon.

    Read more...
    2

    Ntcheu In The 1890s And System Of Government of The Maseko Ngoni

  • Samuel Albert
  • Below is a very interesting and informative article on life,culture and eye witnesses testimonies on events sorrounding the killing of Inkosi yamakhosi Gomani Chikuse (Gomani I) by the British Colonial soilders in the 1890's. The article has largely been left intact, you may therefore note that names such as Chidyaonga were spellt differently by the author, who lived in Ntcheu in the 1930s. If you have any comment and clarifications on the names and events feel free to post your comments. We need those comments to gain more insights on these important events in the history and culture of our people.


    M. E. LESLIE.

    NEARLY 40 years ago I was Assistant D.C. at Ncheu under Mr. S. J. Pegler D.S.O. The Paramount Chief of the Angoni was then Philip Gomani. He, and his friend Bibole Chakumbera became, I like to think, my friends. We used to meet quite often because that was the period when the Portuguese Government was beginning to tighten its control after the Mocambique Company's Charter had run out, there was difficulty and high feeling all along the border over grazing rights, gardens and the precise boundary line.

    Read more...

    Tuesday, April 13, 2010

    0

    FUNERAL OF INKOSI YAMAKOSI GOMANI II IN MAY 1954

  • Tuesday, April 13, 2010
  • Samuel Albert
  • An Eye—Witness Account

    By A. H. Mell

    PHILIP Gomani was at one time Chief of the Maseko Ngoni of Ntcheu. His ancestors were of Nguni stock from Zululand in Natal, South Africa. They had been driven from their home there by the Chaka's Zulus, their former allies, and had subsequently trekked north to find a new area for settlement in what is now the Ntcheu District of Malawi.

    Read more...

    Wednesday, April 7, 2010

    0

    Inkosi Mtwalo of Northern Ngoniland in Nyasaland

  • Wednesday, April 7, 2010
  • Samuel Albert
  • By W. H. J. Rangeley

    This article is based entirely on information given to the author by numerous Africans, with the following exceptions:

    (1) The site of the battle between Zwide and Shaka is no longer remembered by the Ngoni and is quoted from "Olden Times in Zululand and Natal" by A. T. Bryant. Bryant says that Nxawa was one of the Mbekwane clan. The Ngoni say he was Nqumayo. Bryant is more likely to be correct. So also quoted is the route east of the Lubombo hills. The Ngoni merely record that they went north to the lower reaches of the Limpopo river. Bryant states (chapter 44) that Zwangendawa was "but a commonplace squire at home". The Ngoni agree that he was of humble birth but insist that he rose to be General of Zwide's army. The fact that Zwide gave him two daughters in marriage would indicate that Zwangendawa was a man of importance. Bryant states that Zwangendawa clashed in battle with Soshangane (chapter 44) With heavy losses on both sides. The Ngoni admit heavy losses in battle against Nxawa, and the names of many who died are remembered to this day, but they deny any clash with Soshangane. There is, however, evidence that there was a minor clash with Soshangane, according to Ngoni now dead.


    Read more...

    Monday, March 29, 2010

    0

    Some Oral Traditions From The Maseko Ngoni

  • Monday, March 29, 2010
  • Samuel Albert
  • Ian Linden

    University of Malawi

    THE MIGRATIONS that resulted from the conquests of Shaka Zulu and the disintegration of the Ndandwe Empire in the early 19th century have been subjected to extensive historical analysis. But where a study of the Maseko Ngoni of the Dedza district of Malawi might be expected there is a surprising gap. The tendency to treat Ngoni states as a whole, with each paramountcy an expression of the "Ngoni social system", has meant that in the past smaller groups, like the Maseko, have been simply assumed to illustrate principles of organization more impressively displayed by larger groups, like the Northern Ngoni. Now that the importance of differences between Ngoni states in their relationships with subject tribes, fission of segments, proximity to missions and trade routes, communications between paramounts and local indunas, is emphasised by historians no single state can be taken as paradigm. Rather than seeing Ngoni states in the context of the unfolding of general principles derived from the idea of the "martial society", increasing attention is being given to the unique circumstances in which the different refugee bands of the Mfecane found themselves. As a result the myth of the all-conquering Ngoni, dear to the hearts of the first Europeans in Malawi, has become increasingly suspect.

    In the sense that the northwards migration of the Ngoni from South Africa is attested to in Portuguese documents of the time, the Maseko cannot be said to have a pre-colonial history. However the problem of tracking this migration is similar to that of a physicist following electrons through a cloud-chamber; only when they collide with some other body can their position and direction be inferred. The Maseko did come into collision with a number of Portuguese settlements, but, as the settlers, fighting for their lives, rarely took any interest in the genealogy of their assailants, and as there were many different hands of refugees, this evidence is not very helpful. In large measure the early history of the Maseko 1825-1870 can only be reconstructed by a critical assessment of oral traditions.

    In this first article it is proposed to present what little oral history there has been collected from the Maseko and to show how much information can be sifted from these sources. The two available sources are interviews conducted by the anthropologist, Margaret Read, with Ishmael Mwale, treasurer to Inkosi Gomani II, between 1935-1939,1 and interviews conducted by a planter, Mr. Manser-Bartlett, who lived in the Ntakataka area between 1920-1969, with Nyathei, regentess for Abraham Kachindamoto, between 1898-1911, and with her husband Kautsiri.2

    The value of these testimonies above any that could be collected today lies not simply in their dating from the 1930's, but in their being collected before written histories of Malawi became available to the public: the informants are unlikely to be incorporating material of a secondary nature taken, for example from Ntara or Chibambo.3 The two branches of the Maseko, at Ntakataka and Dedza have, moreover, been separated since the climax of the civil war between Chikusi and Chifisi in 1891-1894. Testimonies from the two regions provide a useful cross-check on the influence of local factors on distortions and embellishments of the narrative.

    1. Ishmael Mwale. Treasurer to Gomani II recorded by M. Read.

    "Nqaba, son of Mbekani. made war on Shaka, but was defeated and retreated to Swaziland. Then Ngwana said 'If you run away from Shaka. he will trouble us, so I am going to leave' . . . . In the middle of the darkness Ngwana left together with Nqaba. They came to the country of Nancekwani at Mauwa and fought with the people. They defeated the four chiefs there and conquered the country. Ngwana went straight to Ulozi to the village of Mamba, father of Lewanika. He destroyed the land of the Lozi and died there . . . . When Magadlela left Ulozi he went to the country of Ndunduwali and from there to Nyika. He arrived at Cidima Mbirasweswe and there Zwangendabaa found them. There was fighting between Magadlela and Zwangendabaa and many people were killed and they did not know who they were because it was night. When Magadlela ran away he made for Golongozi where Nqaba was, and explained to him about the war. They mobilized the army to follow Zwangendaba. When they found him they destroyed many of his men. Somfuya and other brothers of Zwangendaba were killed. When they returned front the war they went to Cikwanda. There they found Gaza and fought with him and were defeated. Magadlela and Nqaba ran away. Nqaba took a friendly farewell because there was hunger .... Magadlela allowed him to leave and went straight to the country of the Makombe. They conquered it and came to Nyungwi and conquered them too. When they wanted to cross the Zambesi they made medicine and beat the water with a stick and separated it. All the army crossed and reached Kalumbi. They fought there and Mgoola took care of the chieftainship. Mgoola came with all the army to Ntumba and caught many Ntumba people. In Ntumba country Mputa entered the chieftainship."

    la. Praise poem to Ngwana, son of Goqweni, collected by M. Read.

    The last verses:

    "You who separated from the people of Shaka. Shaka of the Mbelebele kraal

    You who separated from the people of Nyathi, the son of Mashobane; it thundered, it was cloudy

    Thou resemblest cattle that were finished by wolves.

    You who originated with the people of Mzilikazi,

    You who originated with the people of Mpakana, son of Lidonga

    You who originated with the people of Ndandwe.'

    2.Nyathei and Kautsiri, regentess and her husband 1898-1911. notes of interviews recorded by Manser-Bartlett c. 1930.

    "Gassa chief. N'gawa chief (Transvaal) made war. People got tired of Ngawa (click) because he kept calling them out to dance ligubu and refused to allow them to marry. They went to see Par. Chief Gassa and asked him if they might go away to find war elsewhere and gain experience but had secretly made up mind to clear out to get land and wives for themselves. Chose Ngwana (Maseko) as their chief (son of N'gabe) -came to a river which they called Sawe when N'gwana died (land of Avenda) -all together at this time and fought and conquered the Avenda. Came to the country of the Maungwe, conquered them -who shall be the better? -quarrelled and parted- Jere to the West, Angoni East. Kafalamazani- Chuoko pa Nyambewo to Zambesi. Zambesi was in flood. Witch doctor took medicine, put it on stick and struck the water. River divided and the people passed. This side of the river conquered the Amalabvi, came to where the Nkondosi joins the Shire to the country of Mboola (Achikunda chief) and Kanyinda (Achikunda). By the time they had reached Maungwe country Chidiaonga was old enough to take over from his elder sister who acted as regent on N'gwana's death. Turned North to the country of the Antumba at Neno and settled. While there Sosala, son of Nankumba (Malawi) came to Chidiaonga at Muira (P.E.A.) and asked for his friendship. Here the people got tired of Chidiaonga because he made them shave the forward lock of hair and was cruel to them—so they deposed him and put Mputa in his place although he was still very young. Sosala offered to lead them up the East side of the lake to a country where there was cattle. The Angoni had none at the time--trekked to Ncheu. Banda; find only a few villages, Samara, Mpingangila (at that time there was no Mponda—he had not left Mataka's). Made a treaty of friendship with Mpingangila and crossed Shire on his canoes; crossed at Makandanji's to Chindamba's (present Malunda) and along the side of the lake to Makanjila's. Fought and conquered him and seized his cattle. Went to the country of the Matengo where we staved--gave Sosala some cattle and he came back. Stayed some time fighting the Matengo and built a village near a mountain called Ntapa-tapa--this was North of Songea. Then a fighting party looking for new country came from Nzongendaba. Agreement was reached about the division of country and there was no war. Mputa started a war with the Abena and during the fighting was killed. Chidiaonga was appointed chief but decided to leave because he did not want to stay where his brother had been killed. Mputa was cremated on the bed of the Rovuma. Mputa had seized cattle from the Ajere and Matengo and when they heard that Chidiaonga was going to move they got together in the early hours and raided him. He ran away as he was surprised and unprepared-fled to the East through the Yao country to the coast-Haruba, Mwanjira, Koloke to Liuli where they were told by the local natives not to sleep on the beach as the tide was coming in all the Angoni were surprised at this phenomenon. They returned through Yao, Makua and Anguru chiefs, Maonda, Mabaka, Nkanjila, Mzozozera - proceeded to Blantyre chasing out the Yao and a general war took place covering the country as far as Namwera. Chidiaonga made his headquarters at Chinamvu while his warriors swept through Kawinga's and fought with Jaliasi. During the war Mkata was the big chief at Mangoche. When the war was finished they moved to Domwe."

    2a. Anonymous story in Manser-Bartlett notebooks.

    "Chaka kept this particular tribe purely as warriors refusing to allow them to marry—refused to allow them even to kill cattle for themselves. So they agreed amongst themselves to send an nduna to Chaka to ask permission to make a raid and having obtained this permission not to return. The first to leave were the Jere under Nzongendaba and then some months after left the Maseko under Magazilla but became suspicious and sent an impi after them and a battle took place at Sojevana. An Ngoni killed Chaka's nduna. They travelled through the country of the Avenda and Makalanga and so came to the country of the Maswina. Then they went into the country of the Makombe and from there to the country of the Nyungwe and Achikunda. After taking the Makalanga they came up with the Ajere near Bulawayo and fought and parted. The Ajere proceeded North and the Angoni to Salisbury and so to the country of the Aswina. They crossed the Zambesi to the country of the Akapako and followed the Mawe river to another stream, the Nkondosi, rising near Sangano. Then they followed the Livelanji river to the country called Tambo (people Ambo)--crossed the Nkame river to Nyape and went to the country of the Ntumba, Ncheu. Stay for two years. Sosala appeared with buffalo droppings to make them believe there were good cattle and they go North — cross the Shire at Mpingangila and skirt the foothills around Malindi—move on to Kalanje where they fight the Yao (Chief Gwaza is from Kalanje). Continue to Mbamba Bay in the country of the Matengo and settle at Ntapa-tapa hill. Heavy fighting with a scouting party from Ajere (Zule Kanchenche-pfungo Gama). Zulu remains a vassal of Mputa. Soon after Mputa decides to fight the Abena and he was killed in this raid and burnt on the Rovuma at Lichiningo—the people stayed to make beer and dance ligubu. Then the Ajere rebelled and attacked during the night. The Maseko fled following the Rovuma to the sea at Liuli- arrived back at Chilwa and fought Nkanjila and Kawinga -to Chiradzulo. Then moved on to Njowe near Matope and went to Domwe."

    3 Genealogies from M. Read and Manser-Bartlett notebooks.


    An evaluation of these stories requires some knowledge of the probable bias of informants. Perhaps the most predictable is a tendency to convey an impression of unity and homogeneity where none in fact existed. There can be little doubt that from their origin the group of people now called the Maseko Ngoni were extremely heterogeneous in composition. Throughout their migrations the assimilation of captives formed the basis of their society. The presentation of Maseko history as a unified history of a clan is therefore artificial.

    It is instructive that an analysis of these stories does reveal a number of confused strands of tradition, products of the diversity within Ngoni society of incorporated groups. More particularly the two branches of the Maseko may be expected to use oral history to bolster their claims in relation to their subject peoples and to each other. So it is important to bear in mind that the Ntakataka branch is the product of a break-away movement by followers of the son of a former regent, while the Dedza branch can truthfully claim continuity with a line of paramounts going back as far as, and perhaps beyond, Mputa.

    Praise poems and songs provide a useful yardstick for the measuring the reliability of non-formal genealogies. In Ngoni society, with its migrations and assimilation of alien groups, popular stories can become distorted in a short space of time. Praise poems are more trustworthy; as a formal tradition relying on rhyme and rhythm for effect, entrusted to "Umbongi", official praisers of the paramount, the likelihood of major distortions over a period of less than one hundred years is remote. As far as accidental distortion is concerned the poem for Ngwana son of Goqweni provides the most reliable evidence for the origin of the Maseko, but, as a piece of functional history, belonging to the paramount, it may quite intentionally purvey a spurious impression of continuity and nobility of ancestry to the listener.

    There has clearly been some conflation of Ndebele, Shangaan and even Makololo traditions in the non-formal accounts. The reason for this conflation may either be that elements from all these groups became associated with the Maseko on their travels, so bringing their own traditions into the common pool, or that the Maseko merely met members of these groups early in their migrations and incorporated parts of their traditions into their history. It would be impossible to say with any accuracy when these contacts were made or when a particular group joined the Maseko. Temporary alliances were made between different parties and many battles fought between 1825 -1835. At any time a given band might be in alliance with any other around a camp fire, or victoriously incorporating fresh batch of captives: in every case there would be an opportunity for additions to he made to what ould be increasingly a common pool of stories.

    The origin of the Maseko during Mzilikazi's secession from Shaka after 1822 finds confirmation both from the poem and Ntakataka accounts. The tradition of a secret decision not to return to Shaka made as a result of his prohibition of marriage and personal assimilation of cattle, is the classic story of the secession of Mzilikazi's regiment. Ngwana would be a member of Mzilikazi's regiment who left with his fellow clansmen c. 1825. It would be difficult to disprove the contention, though, that Ngwana merely took with him fellow members of his age-set who later came to justify their position in relation to captives in terms of kinship, forming a spurious "royal clan". Mzilikazi's followers only amounted to about 300 people so Ngwana's hand must have been very small indeed and might possibly have been a few related families.1

    From references to "N'gawa" and "Nqaba" in all stories -both attempts at rendering the Zulu click in Nxaba- Nxaba and Ngwana appear to have met and formed a temporary alliance. Documentary sources would suggest that this alliance was formed in the area of Delagoa Bay where Shoshangane, Nxaba and Zwangendaba were raiding and forming alliances of convenience.5 Bryant refers to a battle between Mzilikazi and Nxaba c. 1825 after which Nxaba moved eastwards, so it may have been during this period that the alliance between Nxaba and Ngwana was struck.6 By way of support for the idea that the hand under Ngwana moved east, Elmslie mentions another battle between the Maseko and Zwangendaba in the Delagoa Bay area.7

    From the clan names to be found around Dedza (the Ndau in particular) it can be concluded that the Nxaba/Ngwana band captured Venda people and moved north from the Transvaal. From the fact that Ngwana and Nxaba then crop up in widely separated areas it must be assumed that the alliance broke up; Ngwana raided in the Zimbabwe area While Nxaba was further to the east. Raids by a "Musese Nyana" possibly Ngwana arc still remembered in the Zimbabwe area.8 The accounts of Ngwana's death on the "Sawe" (Sabi river) and, from the Dedza account, on the "Ulozi" are not as contradictory as might first appear. "Ulozi" is a plausible corruption of "Urozwi", a name that would be given to the major riser in the Rozwi area of Zimbabwe. i.e. the Sabi river."

    "Maswina" being a derogatory name for the Shona people, both accounts are in agreement that the Maseko moved north-east into Mashonaland; the "Nyika" of Mwale's story should then be read as "Manica". This movement might easily have been caused by a disastrous encounter with Zwangendaba's rearguard. Between 1831-1833 Vila Manica was attacked a number of times; this gives a probable date for Nxaba's and the Maseko's stay in Manicaland." Finally if "Golongosi" is taken to be "Gorongosa" in the Barwe district of Mozambique there seems no reason to question Mwale that the Maseko met Nxaba again after they had attacked Vila in successive years.

    The alliance between Nxaba and Ngwana was renewed in order to eliminate threat posed by Zwangendaba. Both bands moved west to locate their common enemy. By this time the Maseko party was led by "Magadlela" (Mwale), "Magazilla" (Nyathei) -- both attempts at rendering the click in Mgidla whom Bryant gives, interestingly enough, as a relative of Nxaba.11 The attack on Zwangendaba's Jere and the death of Somfuya are corroborated in Chibambo's vivid account of the same battle from Jere oral traditions. As a result Zwangendaba withdrew to the safety of the north-bank of the Zambezi south of Zumbo on November 19th, 1835, a date that can be fixed accurately owing to the occurrence of a solar eclipse.12


    Further proof for the presence of both Nxaba and Mgidla in this area is given in a diary entry made by Livingstone from Zumbo itself: "Zumbo. January 16th, 1856. The last of the population withdrew suddenly on learning of the approach of the Caffres under Changamara, Ngabe and Mpakana".13 It will be recalled that "Mpakana" was a name found in Ngwana's ancestry in the praise poem; Bryant also tantalisingly gives an "Mbekane" as father of Nxaba.14 It seems reasonable to suppose that Mgidla might have used this title.

    With the Jere put to flight the Maseko appear to have moved back again eastwards to the area of north Barwe where they might have had a settlement on the Mvira river (Muira in the Ntakataka accounts). On their return they passed through Chioco (Nyathei's "Chuoko") and reached NYUNGWE, a name used both for the town of Tete and the tribe in the area. Between 1836-1838 there is documentary evidence of Ngoni raids on the prazos around Sena; Mgidla and Nxaba would be the only groups in the area.15 In about 1838 Shangaan traditions record a battle between Nxaba and Shoshangane.16 This pressure from the south by Shoshangane's raiding parties provides an explanation why the Maseko moved north across the Zambezi the following year.

    Much of the confusion in both narratives surrounding the person of "Gaza" or "Gassa"---both, of course, Shoshangane ---might be explained by supposing that, as a result of attacks by Shoshangane, Nxaba was put to flight and his band dispersed, some going to the Shangaan, others going to the Maseko. Liesegang has recorded a story of a group defecting from Nxaba to the Shangaan almost identical to the Ntakataka accounts of a group leaving Nxaba. The Ntakataka accounts would thus represent a strand of tradition brought in by defectors from Nxaba. this would also provide an explanation for the genealogy giving Nxaba as the father of Ngwana; Ngwana's sonship would merely have been an expression of the relative importance of the two leaders. Ngwana might in fact have been , at the beginning, little more than an important induna under Nxaba.

    The fate of Nxaba is equally confused. According to Bryant he reached Barotseland only to die in a trap set by the Makololo.17 This is supported by a reference in Livingstone to an "Ndebele" raid on the Makololo led by "Mpakana".18 Mwale's account also brings in the Lozi area in his obviously misplaced reference to Lewanika. The only equivalent to be found in Kautsiri's story is a strange reference to the Angoni being warned about the tide at "Liuli". Now the Angoni were well acquainted with the sea and tidal movements in the Indian Ocean are not impressive. It is remotely possible that this "Luili" is a corruption of "Lealui" and the sea, the flood plain in Barotseland, where a large area is covered with water during the rainy season. The Maseko are known to have had some contact with Livingstone's Makololo porters, during the Trans-Shire raids of the 1880s from whom they might have got these stories. It is hard to think of any other way for such traditions to cover the immense distance between Dedza and Barotseland.

    Whatever the details, the origins of the Maseko are placed in the Ntakataka traditions from Nyathei, in the context of an event connected with Shoshangane, while in the Mwale and anonymous accounts their beginnings are linked with Mzilikazi or Shaka. Each tradition gives an aspect of the truth, for after their encounter with Shoshangane the Maseko crossed the Zambezi at the Lupata Gorge, south of Tete, to begin a new chapter in their history distinct from Nxaba. There are two clues to dating their crossing as 1839: firstly a statement by Nyathei recorded by Manser-Bartlett, that the Maseko were only a few months behind the Jere when they finally- moved north. It is known that the Jere stayed in Nsenga country on the north bank of the Zambezi for about four years, so their departure date would be late 1839.19 Secondly there are Portuguese records which mention "landeens- crossing the Zambezi in 1839.20

    Mgidla died shortly after this date and the regency was taken over by an elder sister, Mgoola, until Mputa was old enough to rule. The route north can be followed from the list of tribes conquered: Achikunda, the vassals of the Portuguese along the Zambezi, Ambo, further to the north and, around Ncheu, the Ntumba. Predictably the Ntakataka source tries to squeeze in Chidiaonga, the father of Chifisi, as paramount for a period in order to give credence to the Kachindamoto-Chifisi line over the Gomani-Chikusi line. The narrator is then faced with the difficulty of disposing of Chidiaonga to make way for the traditions associated with Mputa at Songea.21 The discrepancy between the genealogies Nxaba/Ngwana versus Goqweni/Ngwana might equally represent an attempt by the Ntakataka branch to play down the importance of the house of Mputa by supporting a popular genealogy against the "royal" one.22

    The movement of the Maseko from Ncheu to Songea is picked up in Chewa traditions collected by Ntara.23 The Maseko and Chewa versions are virtually identical: Sosala, the Kalonga, lured the Maseko across the Shire at Mpingangila near Fort Johnston c. 1846. Mputa trekked north along the east side of the lake in search of the promised rich cattle country. Both traditions further agree that Sosala and his Maravi accompanied the Ngoni to Songea to return later with a present of some cattle. It must therefore be assumed that their relationship was an alliance rather than that of a subject tribe.

    Apart from minor details, explicable in terms of a Maseko attempt to present their years at Songea in the noblest light, the Maseko stories for this period co-incide well with oral traditions collected from the Ngoni in Tanzania. Shortly after their settlement near Songea in 1850 two Jere segments led by Zulu Gama and Mbonani appeared around the north end of the lake. Mputa successfully attacked them and Zulu was roasted to death as a punishment, while Mbonani died shortly afterwards. After an interval two sons of Zulu, Hawai and Chipeta, roused the neighbouring Nindi, Bena, Pangwa and Ndendeuli tribes to revolt.24 The Maseko were defeated and Mputa killed. According to custom he was cremated where the Lichiningo river enters the Rovuma and Chidiaonga took over as regent for Chikusi.

    The movements of the Maseko after this are dificult to determine. Without field work in Mozambique it would be impossible to say whether the Maseko did move eastwards towards the sea and then swung round in an arch, or, what is more probable, retraced their steps and fled back south into Malawi.

    On reaching the Shire Highlands in the 1860s the Maseko come into Yao oral history.25 Settlements were made near Mulanje and Matope before they were finally lured by Sosala again into the crossing the Shire from where they moved north to settle on Domwe mountain c. 1870.

    It would be tempting to analyse these migrations in terms of some internal nnecessity of the Ngoni martial way of life. But it is too obvious that these great treks of the Maseko were not some northwards goldrush for cattle and captives, far less the triumphal march of a victorious army. Almost all the movements of the Maseko can be correlated with external threats. From 1825 onwards it is possible to give a list of threats with their consequences:

    (1) Fear of Shaka's army-move north-east into the Delagoa Bay area.

    (2) Presence of powerful bands under Zwangendaba and Shoshangane-form an alliance with Nxaba and trek northwards.

    (3) Make contact with Zwangendaba's rearguard--flee north-east to Manica and form a second alliance with Nxaba.

    (4) Successful battle against Zwangendaba c. 1834-return to the Barwe area and continue raiding. possibly from a settlement on the Mvira river.

    (5) Shoshangane's raiding parties defeat Nxabe --cross the Zambezi in 1839.

    (6) Find the Ncheu area already devastated by Zwangendaba and the route north blocked. Promise of rich cattle country to the north-form alliance with Maravi and move round to the east side of the lake and proceed north.

    (7) Settlement at Songea threatened attack Zulu and Mbonani and win.

    (8) Attacked by subject tribes under leadership of Hawai--- flee south again.

    (9) Settlements in the Shire Highlands but Yao presence gets stronger-move to Matope.

    (10) Yao chieftains still a threat-- move and settle at Domwe, at the extremity of Mpezeni's raiding territory and in good cattle country.

    This bald cause-and-effect catalogue exaggerates, of course, the passivity of the Ngoni. It does, however, emphasise the important point that their failure to form any permanent settlement before 1870 was not entirely a choice of their own making. Neither were the early relations of the Ngoni the blitzkrieg affair sometimes portrayed. According to the relative strengths of forces around them they went in for alliances quite as much as assimilation. A suitable alliance of 'subject' tribes against them, as occured at Songea was, moreover, enough to defeat them.

    In the next article the forces ranged against the Maseko during their permanent settlement at Domwe will be examined. An attempt will be made to show that the colonial period from 1870-1900, as well as their early history, found the Ngoni as much the victims of circumstance as the mighty warriors of missionary mythology.
    Wife of a Mozambican Ngoni chieftain in 1936

    References and notes

    1. Read M., The Ngoni of Nyasaland, Oxford University Press, 1956.

    2. Papers presented to the library of Chancellor College, 1969.

    3. Ntara S. J., Mbiri ya Achewa, Limbe, Malawi Publications, 1965 and Chibambo Y. M., My Ngoni of Nyasaland, 1942, London, United Society for Christian Literature.

    4. Lye W. L., "The Ndebele Kingdom South of the Limpopo River", J. Afr. History, Vol. X, No. 1, 1969.

    5. Warhurst P. R.. "The Scramble and African Politics in Gazaland", Zambesian Past, p. 47, ed. Stokes E. & Brown R., Manchester University Press, 1965.

    6. Bryant A. T., Olden Times in Zululand and Natal. Longmans, 1929. p. 424.

    7. Elmslie W. A., Among the Ngoni, Edinburgh, Oliphant, Anderson & Ferrier. 1899, p. 19.

    8. This and subsecuent references were supplied to me by Dr. G. Liesegang of Kola University to whom I am deeply indebted for details of Portuguese records.


    10. Warhurst, The Scramble, p. 48.

    11. Bryant. Olden Times, p. 280.

    12. Lancaster G. D.. "Tentative chronology of the Ngoni", J. Royal Anth. Soc., 1937, XVII. p. 78.

    13. Schapera I.. Livingstone's African Journal: 1853-1856, Chatto & Windus, 1963, p. 375.

    14. Bryant, Olden Times, p. 424.


    16. ibid.

    17. Bryant. Olden Times, p. 424.

    18. Scharer-a L. Livingstone's Private Journals, Chatto & Windus, 1960, p. 20.

    19. Lane-Poole E.H.The Native Tribes of the Eastern Province of Northern Rhodesia, Lusaka. 1949. p.6 and Fraser D., Wining a Primitive People, London, 1922, p. 312.


    21. Mputa's death and cremation on the Lichiningo River is a fixed point for all narratives.

    22. It is interesting that today the Kachindamoto's area go so far as to say that Chikusi and Chifisi were brothers with the same father.

    23. Mara. Mbiri ya Achewa. p. 30.

      
    Read more...

    Subscribe