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| Title: | The Zimba and the Lundu State in the Late Sixteenth and Early Seventeenth Centuries |
| Author: | Schoffeleers, Matthew |
| Year: | 1987 |
| Periodical: | The Journal of African History |
| Volume: | 28 |
| Issue: | 3 |
| Pages: | 337-355 |
| Language: | English |
| Geographic term: | Malawi |
| Subjects: | history Lundu polity Zimba polity Peoples of Africa (Ethnic Groups) History and Exploration |
| External link: | https://www.jstor.org/stable/182189 |
| Abstract: | This article is a partial answer to M.D.D. NEWITT (In: J. Afr. Hist., Vol. 23, no. 2 (1982)), who proposed that settled Maravi States were established in Malawi as a result of the rise of Muzura in the first half of the 17th century. Newitt thereby challenged the more orthodox view that a formal Maravi State system existed already by the middle of the 16th century, if not earlier. It is argued here that the orthodox view is still valid in the case of the Lundu State, and perhaps also in the case of some of the neighbouring States. It is shown that around 1590 the then Lundu incumbent embarked on a course of strong State centralization, which was achieved with the help of the Zimba, an army of fugitives from the south bank of the Zambezi. However, the present article challenges Malawian historiographical orthodoxy on a very different point, by maintaining that Muzura is not to be identified with the Kalonga dynasty on the southwestern shores of Lake Malawi, but with a separate State system in the western Shire Highlands, which gained prominence well before the Kalongas came to the fore. With a comment by NEWITT and a reply by the author. Notes, ref. |
