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The Senga are an ethnic tribe of Zambia, distinct from the Nsenga.
The Senga are a tribe who migrated from the southern part of present-day Congo DRC. They re-settled in the Luangwa valley amongst the Tumbuka speaking people. The language they speak though similar to Tumbuka is distinct and also shares a common strain with Bisa/Bemba.
What the Senga can tell of their past begins with migration to their present home perhaps three centuries ago. There is unanimous agreement that their former home was a place called Uluwa which all evidence suggests was in what now is known as Katanga. There is evidence to suggest that prior to this time the Senga had no separate identity but were part of a larger group.
Donald Fraser who visited part of Senga land in 1897 takes the view that the Senga are a composite tribe partly of Tumbuka and Partly of Bisa Origin. But Senga tradition maintains that they were a separate group who broke away from the same chief (possibly Mwata Yamvo) as the Bisa and Bemba but at a different time. The Senga relate Passing through Bisa country – Led by Chibeza Kambombo, the leader of the main group in the migration who was given a young girl for a wife by one of the Bisa Chiefs. Because the woman he was with as his wife was not yet of Child bearing age. To safe guard his lineage he was given a woman to start having children with.
Among the Senga political hierarchy is senior chief, chief, group headman (headman over more than one village) and the village headman.
Like all Senga chiefs the senior chief inherits his position. Unlike some of them he inherits from his maternal uncle (a matrilineal system). The principal clans are Goma, Ng’uni, kumwenda, Nyirenda, Lungu, Zimba and Miti. Headmen like the chiefs are said to be selected from members of the chiefs clan (Goma Clan for the senior chiefs area). Senior chiefs usually are headmen before being senior chiefs.
While these clans in Zambia are matrilineal in nature, the same tribes which are based in Malawi have a patrilineal lineage. The Nyirendas, Kumwendas, Lungus, Zimbas who migrated to Malawi have had a partineal system of chieftainship. The person who becomes a chief of the village is the first-born son or eldest son where a girl is the first born in the royal family. In Malawi, these tribes are found predominantly in the northern districts of Malawi. However some clans have moved to various other districts in recent years because of work.
Today the Senga reside in Chama district of Muchinga province under the leadership of Senior Chief Kambombo. Other Chiefs that are under Senior Chief Kambombo includes; Chief Chifunda, Chief Chikwa and Chief Tembwe. These together with Senior Chief Kambombo makes what we call Chama District in the current Zambia.
Zambia, officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa. Its neighbors are the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the north, Tanzania to the northeast, Malawi to the east, Mozambique to the southeast, Zimbabwe and Botswana to the south, Namibia to the southwest, and Angola to the west. The capital city of Zambia is Lusaka, located in the south-central part of Zambia. The nation's population of around 19.5 million, is concentrated mainly around Lusaka in the south and the Copperbelt Province to the north, the core economic hubs of the country.
The history of Zambia experienced many stages from colonization to independence from Britain on October 24, 1964. Northern Rhodesia became a British sphere of influence in the present-day region of Zambia in 1888, and was officially proclaimed a British protectorate in 1924. After many years of suggested mergers, Southern Rhodesia, Northern Rhodesia, and Nyasaland were merged into the British Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland.
The Tumbuka is an ethnic group found in Northern Malawi, Eastern Zambia and Southern 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.
Northern Province is one of Zambia's ten provinces. It covers approximately one sixth of Zambia in land area. The provincial capital is Kasama. The province is made up of 12 districts, namely Kasama District, Chilubi District, Kaputa District, Luwingu District, Mbala District, Mporokoso District, Mpulungu District, Mungwi District, Nsama District, Lupososhi District, Lunte District and Senga Hill District. Currently, only Kasama and Mbala have attained municipal council status, while the rest are still district councils. It is widely considered to be the heartland of the Bemba, one of the largest tribes in Zambia.
The Nsenga, not to be confused with the Senga, are a Bantu ethnic tribe of Zambia and Mozambique. In Zambia, they are found in two districts of Eastern province namely Nyimba and Petauke. They are also dialects with the Nsenga Luzi of the Luangwa valley in Chief Nyalugwe, Mboloma and Lwembe and the Chikunda of Luangwa Boma (Feira). Their Senior Chief is Kalindawalo M'ndikula who resides in Merwe 10 kilometers from Petauke Boma. His subjects include Chief Mwape, Nyamphande, Nyanje, Mumbi, Sandwe, Nyalugwe, Ndake, Lwembe and Mwanjaw'anthu. They are well known for their culture and artwork which includes bead work and basketry. They also grow groundnuts, maize, millet and sorghum for consumption and cotton (Thonje) as cash crop, and are popular for their Mbewa (Mice), a practice which they are often teased for. The Nsenga language spoken by people of this tribe has been adopted by many groups in Zambia and diluted to Zambia’s widely spoken language Chinyanja.
Karonga is a district in the Northern Region of Malawi. The district covers an area of 3,355 km.² and has a population of 365,028. It is a border district between Malawi and Tanzania, mainly occupied by the Tumbuka and Nkhonde tribes. Other tribes include Henga tribe.
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.
The Chewa are a Bantu ethnic group native to central and southern Africa and the largest ethnic group in Malawi. The Chewa are closely related to people in surrounding regions such as the Tumbuka and Nsenga. They are historically also related to the Bemba, with whom they share a similar origin in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. As with the Nsenga and Tumbuka, a small part of Chewa territory came under the influence of the Ngoni, who were of Zulu or Natal/Transvaal origin. An alternative name, often used interchangeably with Chewa, is Nyanja. Their language is called Chichewa. Internationally, the Chewa are mainly known for their masks and their secret societies, called Nyau, as well as their agricultural techniques.
Eastern Province is one of Zambia's ten provinces. The province lies between the Luangwa River and borders with Malawi to the east and Mozambique to the south, from Isoka in the northeast to the north of Luangwa in the south. The provincial capital is Chipata. Eastern province has an area of 51,476 km2 (19,875 sq mi), locally shares border with three other provinces of the country and is divided into eleven districts.
The Bemba belong to a large group of Bantu peoples mainly in the Northern, Luapula, Muchinga, and the Northern part of the Central Province of Zambia. The Bemba entered modern-day Zambia through crossing the Luapula River, one of the groups first came to Zambia by 1328 from Kola. A few other ethnic groups in the Northern, Luapula, and Copperbelt provinces of Zambia speak languages that are similar to Bemba but do not share a similar origin. The Bemba people are not strictly indigenous to the Copperbelt Province, having reached here only in the 1930s due to employment opportunities from copper mining activities.
Namwanga or Nyamwanga are a Bantu ethnic group native to Momba District in Songwe Region of Tanzania, northeastern Zambia,and Northern Malawi. They speak Nyamwanga or Chinamwanga. In 1993 the Mwanga population was estimated to number 256,000, with 169,000 living in Zambia and 87,000 in Tanzania. At this point, the number of Namwanga people in Malawi is not yet known.
The Luvale people, also spelled Lovale, Balovale, Lubale, as well as Lwena or Luena in Angola, are a Bantu ethnic group found in northwestern Zambia and southeastern Angola. They are closely related to the Lunda and Ndembu to the northeast, but they also share cultural similarities to the Kaonde to the east, and to the Chokwe and Luchazi, important groups of eastern Angola.
The Chitimukulu is the King(Paramount Chief) of the Bemba, the largest ethnic group in Zambia. The King is named after Chiti Muluba, who changed his name to Chiti Mukulu who in the 18th century led the Bemba out from their original lands in the Luba Empire of Mukulumpe in DR Congo to eventually settle the country around Kasama in Zambia's Northern Province.
Nguni people are a group of closely related Bantu ethnic groups native to South Africa, with off-shoots in neighbouring countries in Southern Africa. Swazi people live in both South Africa and Eswatini, while Northern Ndebele people live in both South Africa and Zimbabwe.
Chama District with the headquarters at Chama is the largest district of the Eastern Province in Zambia and includes a large wilderness in the Upper Luangwa valley just north-east of the North Luangwa National Park. It is made up of two constituencies, namely Chama North and Chama South.
The Chikulamayembe are a dynasty of Kings established among the Tumbuka people in the Nkhamanga-Henga area of Northern Malawi. The Chikulamayembe originally ruled from around 1805, becoming weaker from the 1830s and losing power by the 1870s and their dynasty was re-established in 1907.
Lamba people are a Bantu ethnolinguistic group mainly located in the Central, Copperbelt, and North-Western provinces of Zambia. Lamba people speak the Lamba language, with Lamba and Lima the major dialects recognized.
The people who currently identify themselves as Basimba or BaShimba for many and Musimba or MuShimba for singular are a Bantu speaking community in Uganda. Before the 13th century they maintained a shared identity as Basimba, also defined in Swahili as "big lion," associated with either these people or the place which they came from.
The Lala people are a Bantu ethnic group found in the Serenje District of the Central Province of Zambia.
