The History of Malawi covers the area of present-day Malawi. The region was once part of the Maravi Empire. In colonial times, the territory was ruled by the British, under whose control it was known first as British Central Africa and later Nyasaland. It became part of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland. The country achieved full independence, as Malawi, in 1964. After independence, Malawi was ruled as a one-party state under Hastings Banda until 1994.
The Mfecane, also known by the Sesotho names Difaqane or Lifaqane, is a historical period of heightened military conflict and migration associated with state formation and expansion in Southern Africa. The exact range of dates that comprise the Mfecane varies between sources. At its broadest, the period lasted from the late eighteenth century to the mid-nineteenth century, but scholars often focus on an intensive period from the 1810s to the 1840s. The concept first emerged in the 1830s and blamed the disruption on the actions of Shaka Zulu, who was alleged to have waged near-genocidal wars that depopulated the land and sparked a chain reaction of violence as fleeing groups sought to conquer new lands. Since the latter half of the 20th century, this interpretation has fallen out of favor among scholars due to a lack of historical evidence.
The Tumbuka is a Bantu ethnic group found in Malawi, Zambia and Tanzania. Tumbuka is classified as a part of the Bantu language family, and with origins in a geographic region between the Dwangwa River to the south, the North Rukuru River to the north, Lake Malawi to the east, and the Luangwa River. They are found in the valleys near the rivers, lake as well as the highlands of Nyika Plateau, where they are frequently referred to as Henga although this is strictly speaking the name of a subdivision.
The Ndwandwe–Zulu War of 1817–1819 was a war fought between the expanding Zulu Kingdom and the Ndwandwe tribe in South Africa.
The Ndwandwe are a Bantu Nguni-speaking people who populate sections of southern Africa. They are also known as the Nxumalo's
Chipata is a city and administrative centre of the Eastern Province of Zambia and Chipata District. It was declared the 5th city of the country, after Lusaka, Ndola, Kitwe and Livingstone, by President Edgar Lungu on 24 February 2017. The city has undergone rapid economic and infrastructure growth in the years, leading up to city status.
Zwangendaba kaZiguda Jele Gumbi was the king of the Ngoni people for more than thirty years, from approximately 1815 to his death in 1848. He was the older brother of Somkhanda kaZiguda Jele who was also known as Gumbi and founded the Gumbi clan in Kwazulu-Natal in areas of Pongola. Zwangendaba was a King of a clan of the Nguni or Mungoni people who broke away from the Ndwandwe Kingdom alliance under King Zwide. He was related to Zulu king Shaka and served under him as a military commander. After a dispute with Shaka over the payment of tribute from raids undertaken by Zwangendaba on Shaka's behalf, Zwangendaba gathered his clan and fled from the control from the Zulus during the Mfecane, which he was partly responsible for. Zwangendaba led his people, then called the "Jele", on a wandering migration of more than 1,600 kilometres (1,000 mi) lasting more than twenty years. Their journey took them through the areas of what is now northern South Africa, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Zambia and Malawi to the western part of Tanzania, where Zwangendaba set up a base at Mapupo. The Ngoni, originally a small royal clan that left Kwa-Zulu Natal, extended their dominion even further through present-day Tanzania, Malawi, and Zambia when they fragmented into five separate groups following his death.
Mzimba is a district in the Northern Region of Malawi. The capital is Mzimba. The district covers an area of 10,430 km.² and has a population of 610,944. It is the largest district in Malawi.
Soshangana Ka Gasa Zikode, born Soshangana Nxumalo, was the Founder and the Monarch of the Gaza Empire, which at the height of its power stretched from the Limpopo river in southern Mozambique up to the Zambezi river in the north. Soshangana ruled over the Gaza state from 1825 until his death in 1858. Soshangana was also known by the name of Manukosi.
The Gaza Empire (1824–1895) was an African empire established by general Soshangane and was located in southeastern Africa in the area of southern Mozambique and southeastern Zimbabwe. The Gaza Empire, at its height in the 1860s, covered all of Mozambique between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers, known as Gazaland.
The Nguni people are a linguistic cultural group in southern Africa made up of Bantu ethnic groups from central Africa, with offshoots in neighboring countries in Southern Africa. Swazi people live in both South Africa and Eswatini, while Ndebele people live in both South Africa and Zimbabwe.
'Mphezeni was warrior-king of one of the largest Ngoni groups of central Africa, based in what is now the Chipata District of Zambia, at a time when the British South Africa Company (BSAC) of Cecil Rhodes was trying to assume control over the territory for the British Empire. Mpezeni was courted by the Portuguese and the BSAC sent agents to obtain a treaty — Alfred Sharpe in 1889, and Joseph Maloney in 1895, who were both unsuccessful.
Inyandezulu Inkosi Yamakhosi Mphezeni KaZwangendaba is the King of the Ngoni people of Zambia's Eastern Province, East Africa and Malawi's Mchinji district. He is from the lineage of Prince Jele KaMfeka of the Ncwangeni Nguni family. His mother was Queen Soseya Nxumalo of the Ndwandwe royal house. Both his motherm and her elder sister, Queen Loziwawa were nieces of King Zwide.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Zambia:
Zambia, officially known as the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. The neighbouring countries are the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the north, Tanzania to the north-east, Malawi to the east, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana, and Namibia to the south, and Angola to the west. The capital city is Lusaka, located in the southeast of the country. The population is concentrated mainly around the capital and the Copperbelt to the northwest.
Ngoni is a Bantu language of Zambia, Tanzania, and Mozambique. There is a 'hard break' across the Tanzanian–Mozambican border, with marginal mutual intelligibility. It is one of several languages of the Ngoni people, who descend from the Nguni people of southern Africa, and the language is a member of the Nguni subgroup, with the variety spoken in Malawi sometimes referred to as a dialect of Zulu. Other languages spoken by the Ngoni may also be referred to as "Chingoni"; many Ngoni in Malawi, for instance, speak Chewa, and other Ngoni speak Tumbuka or Nsenga.
Lubimbi people are scattered all over Africa, mostly found in Southern Africa. Notable countries being South Africa, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Zambia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Tanzania and Uganda.
Leroy Vail whose birth name was Hazen Leroy Vail, was an American specialist in African studies and educator who specialized in the history and linguistics of Central Africa and later extended his interests to Southern Africa. He taught in universities in Malawi, Zambia and the United States and his research in the first two countries inclined him toward the view that Central Africa underwent a period of underdevelopment that began in the mid-19th century and accelerated under colonial rule. After his return to the United States, he cooperated with Landeg White on studies of colonial Mozambique and on the value of African poetry and songs as a source of oral history.
Inkosi Ya Makhosi M'mbelwa V is the reigning King of the Ngoni and Tumbuka people in Malawi, Zambia and Tanzania. M'mbelwa V is the fifth surviving son of the great-grandfather King Zwangendaba Jele and Queen Munene of the Nzima clan of present-day Eswatini. M'mbelwa V inherited his father's kingdom when he passed away in February 2013 at Mwaiwathu Private Hospital in Malawi's commercial city, Blantyre, where he was diagnosed with diabetes attack and hypertension. During his death, he was 56 years old. M'mbelwa V's headquarters is in Edingeni, Mzimba. He is married to Inkosikazi M'mbelwa V. During COVID-19 in 2020, he instructed the government to avoid mass gatherings of people.
Zongendawa Jere or Inkosi Ya Makhosi M'mbelwa IV was the King of the Ngoni and Tumbuka people in Malawi, Zambia and Tanzania. He passed away in February 2013 at Mwaiwathu Private Hospital in Malawi's commercial city, Blantyre, where he was diagnosed with diabetes attack and hypertension. At his death, he was 60 years old. His son, M'Mbelwa V, inherited the crown in 2013.
