 Gervas Clay | sitemap | log in
|
 |
||
| This is a free Spanglefish 1 website. | ||
History of the Mankoya DistrictThis is a Monograph written by Gervas, and published by the Rhodes-Livingstone Institute in 1945 (copy in the British Library) I have scanned it, and then OCRed it, but I guess there are still a large number of transcription errors. If you spot one, please tell me ! This is the "text only" version ! For a map and satellite view, go to http://travelingluck.com/Africa/Zambia/Western/_907787_Mankoya.html#local_map INTRODUCTION by Robin Clay (Gervas's eldest son, who lived in Mankoya until the age of two).
In the Nguni languages, the prefix "Mu", "Ma" or "M'" means "a man", while the prefix "Ba" is the plural, "men", and the prefix "Si" or "Chi" refers to the language. Roughly. Hence "Muntu", a man; "Bantu", men For example, in the country once called "Basutoland", "Ba-suto" means the men of the tribe, or the tribe as a whole. "Ma-suto" means a man of that tribe, while "Si-suto" is the language that he speaks. The languages were not written until the Europeans transcribed them, so there is variation with the vowels, and also some consonants vary - in particular, B and W are sometimes interchangeable, for example, the Bemba tribe in North Eastern Zambia speak "Chiwemba".
Thus in what follows, "Mankoya" strictly should be "Ma-Nkoya" when it refers to a man of the Nkoya tribe, but "Mankoya" when used as a place-name. I have tried to change the text in accordance with this rule.
The Colonial Government set up a Government Office (always called a "Boma") in the middle of the area inhabited by the Nkoya tribe, and called this place "Mankoya". Gervas was posted there in 1933 (to be confirmed), and returned there from leave with his new bride in October 1936.
In 2008, Gervas's daughter re-visited Zambia and brought back a modern map of Zambia. When shown it, the first place that Gervas looked for was Mankoya. It wasn't there. The town is now called Kaoma. I'll post a fuller introduction later...
C O M M U N I C A T I O N S THE RHODES-LIVINGSTONE INSTITUTE.
G. C. R. Clay.
LUSAKA, Re-roneod March 1955, Rhodes-Livingstone Institute, Lusaka. A. THE MANK0YA TRIBE. This tribe is not at present, and, as far as it can be traced historically, never has been confined to one district. Like all Bantu, the Mankoya must have come from the north at some distant date, and it appears that their first settlements within the bounds of the present territory of Northern Rhodesia were probably in the Balovale, Mwinilunga and Kasempa districts, gradually working south into Mankoya. Today there are Mankoya in the following districts: Balovale, Mankoya, Mongu-Lealui, Kalabo, Senanga, Sesheke and Livingstone. From Kasempa the tribe has withdrawn within the last hundred years into Mankoya, and there are not large numbers still living in the Balovale district. In Mwinilunga there are blocks of Ambwera in the south and these are probably closely allied to the Mankoya in origin. In the Mankoya district the tribe is at present almost entirely confined to the centre of the district, mainly on the Luena itself, and its tributaries, the Namimbwe, Namaloba, Kaoma, Mukunkiki, Shikombwe, Nyango and Naboa, while there are also a few villages on the Luampa in its middle stretches to the west, and on some tributaries of the Lalafuta to the east. This block in the centre of the Mankoya is cut off to the north by Balukolwe, and immigrants from the Balovale Mankoya;
According to the present Mwenemutondo (Kanyasha) the Mankoya had no dealings with the Malozi before about 1860. The Malozi history of Mr. Jalla, however, relates that the Mankoya were conquered at a much earlier date by one of the early - Malozi Paramount Chiefs. However that may be, Mwenemutondo relates that the Mankoya were defeated in the time of their Chief Mwenemutondo Lushiko, by "Mbololo and his Malozi". In fact Mbololo was the last of the Makololo chiefs, who was killed when Njekwa, the Ngambela of Sipopa, came down from the Lukwakwa and defeated and annihilated the Makololo in 1864. Prior to becoming Chief of all the Makololo, Mbololo had been a small sub-chief for many years and was found in that position by Livingstone in 18514. It is not therefore Possible to state the date of Mankoya subjection with any certainty. Many of the Mankoya were taken into the Barotse Plain together with the drums of their chief, which remain to this day as the Mankoya band of the Paramount Chief of the Barotse. On the defeat of the Makololo by the Malozi, the Paramount Chief of the Malozi, Sipopa, appointed Munangisha as the chief of the Mankoya, and sent him to live at the Mavukwavukwa Rapids, just north of the Luena-Luampa junction, and thus considerably further west than the Mankoya had lived for many years. Some members of the Mankoya "royal" family were sent to Kalabo where their descedants still live. Mwenenyanti and Nfungu, the Mankoya chiefs living in the Mongu-Lealui district, are also connections of the Royal Family, though whether they came down from the north long ago or whether they were settled there by Sipopa, is not clear. The language, or rather dialect, spoken by the Mankoya in the Mongu-Lealui district differs from that of Mwenemutondo's people in the Mankoya district, and is said to resemble closely the dialect of the Balushange and Bashikalu (q.v.) I have no doubt that the Mankoya are the earliest inhabitants of the Mankoya district, among the tribes that at present live there. All the other tribes agree that this is so, and that when they respectively entered the district they found that the Mankoya were already there. The Bashikalu, who live near the source of the Luampa, state that when they came from the Barotse Valley in the time of the Mulozi Paramount Chief Mulambwa (circa 1820), they did not find any inhabitants of the district and that the Mankoya were not then there. It may well be that this was in the time of the Mankoya chiefs Mwene-Manenga or Mwene- Kayambila, when the tribal headquarters was on tributaries running east into the Kafue, or earlier, when the tribe inhabited the north-eastern half of the district. Until more is known as to how the Mankoya came to inhabit so many different districts, it is of little use to speculate whether they were in fact the aboriginal inhabitants of Barotseland, though this must be borne in mind as a possibility. Some of the notes in the Mankoya district note book concerning the Mankoya are not of great accuracy or value, and appear to confuse Mankoya and Bamashasha. A note written in 1926 states that at that date no Mankoya headman could say that his father and grandfather had been born on the Luena. This is certainly not true in 1939, though certainly some of the headmen questioned must have held the same positions in 1926. Three headmen questioned together recently stated that their immediate ancestors came respectively from the Balovale, Kasempa and Mankoya districts, and numerous old men stated that their fathers and grand-fathers were born on the banks of the Luena River.
The above list was given to me by Mwene-Mutondo Kanisha in 1939. Other sources speak of a Chief called Siwowa prior to Munangisha. It is not clear whether this is another name for Lushiko or not. Another source speaks of Mwene mutondo Siwowa living as a Chief at Mayukwayukwa at the same time that Kayambila was chief at Kalimbata, but it is perhaps safer to stick to the above list as being the most authentic. The Mwenensula found in the family tree given in the District Note Book is said by Kanyisha to be merely mythological, and to refer to the origin of Chieftainship from "Rain". (Mwene is the Sinkoya word for Chief). Another note in the District Note Book states that after the death of Munangisha, two years elapsed, and then his brother Musunga was chosen but was deposed by Lewanika, who appointed Wahila.
Mutondo Lushiko (m) Mutondo Munangisha Sikongi (m) (m) II
B. THE BA-LUSHANGE TRIBE. This very small tribe lives on the middle Luena close to the Mongu-Lealui border. The Ma-lushange are under Induna called Ikandula. Little has been found out about this tribe and there is need of further research. Ikandula claims to be a Mulozi originally sent out as Ndumeleti to the tribe, but successive lkandula's have married local women and the present holder is much more Ma-lushange than Mulozi. The language spoken by this tribe is closely allied to Sinkoya and in fact numbers of Ma-lushange villages on the Lufusi and Kahuli, under Kandombwe and Ma-yankwa, now prefer to call themselves Ma-nkoya. Situated midway between the Ma-nkoya under Mwene-Mutondo and the Ma-nkoya under Mwenenyanti and Mjungu, their language is said to approximate more nearly to that spoken by Mwenenyanti and Njungu's people, but there seems little doubt that the differences are merely dialectical. The Ba-lushange are the most primitive of the older tribes of the district, and as late as 1925 they still lived in mere grass or leaf shelters. It has sometimes been thought that they were the earliest inhabitants of the district.
A small number of villages near the source of the Luampa belong to this tribe, as do some villages in the Livingstone district. According to their own accounts, they came from the Barotse Valley in the time of Paramount Chief Mulambwa of the Ma-lozi (circa 1820) who settled them where they now are. They state that the district was empty when they arrived. Their language is very similar to that spoken by the Ma-nkoya of the Mongu-Lealui district and differs considerably from that of the Ma-nkoya in the Mankoya district. Very little has been discovered about this tribe, but Mwenemutondo claims that they are Ma-nkoya. An early district note-book note discussing the difference between the Ma-nkoya and Ba-mashasha states: 'The only apparent difference between the two tribes is that the Ma-nkoya circumcise all the male children, while the Ba-mashasha do not. Nowadays, however, the practice of circumcision is dying out among the Ma-nkoya'. Ba-mashasha recently questioned on this point state that it is not and never has been the Ma-nkoya who circumcise, but the Ba-shikalu, who always have and still do. The Ba-shikalu may be an important link in the early history of the indigenous tribes of Barotseland, and more information about them is required.
Unlike the Ma-nkoya, the Ba-mashasha are not scattered over a number of different districts with portions of other tribes between them. The present day distribution of the Ba-mashasha is almost confined to the Mankoya and Mumbwa districts, though there are no doubt a few villages still in the Kasempa district which was the original home of the tribe. These villages would today be counted, no doubt, as Ambwela or Ushanga. Another point of dissimilarity with the Ma-nkoya is that whereas Mwenemutondo is the only chief of the Ma-nkoya, so far as the Mankoya district is concerned, the Ba-mashasha have a number of subchiefs in the district, all of whom recognise that Kahari is their Paramount, though their own individual importance varies. The one block of Ba-mashasha definitely outside Mankoya is that under Kabulwebulwe in the Mumbwa district, and his people are now very mixed, having inter-married with Ba-kaonde and other tribes. It is doubtful whether Kabulwebulwe admits the superiority of Kahari. The sub-chiefs in the Mankoya district are the following: Yuvwenu and Funkafunka, Kumina, Tapula and Kupupa. Two others, Kayambila and Muleka, have ceased to exist. Of these sub-chiefs, Yuvwenu and Funkafunka were the most important, and it seems likely that they were in charge of parts of the tribe which split up, as will be described shortly. The areas at present occupied by the tribe are the eastern, south-eastern, southern and south-central areas. Originally the north-eastern area had a few scattered Ba-mashasha villages and was otherwise unpopulated. Today these villages remain among a large number of immigrant Ba-kaonde in a predominantly Ba-kaonde area. This tribe has only come into the district in the last forty or fifty years. The real home of the tribe was round the present Kasempa boma, while an off-shoot has occupied the area round the Kafue hook for a considerable time.
The earliest mention of the Bamashasha tribe is to be found on one of the maps made by David Livingstone after his journey up the Zambezi in 11854. In the text of his book I have not been able to trace any mention of the tribe, but on the map the 'Bama-sasa' are shown in the hook of the Kafue area north of the 'Mashukulompo' (Mashukulumbwe or Baila) . Underneath the word 'Bama-sasa' is written- 'They cultivate large quantities of grain, sweet potatoes, etc'`. Presumably Livingstone, having heard of the Kafue River (which he did not visit) to the east of the Zambezi, asked the Makololo who lived beyond it, and recorded on his map their answer. The Mankoya are not written on his map, nor is any other tribe with which we are concerned. The District Note Book has a fairly full account of this tribe, and this account is confirmed as regards its accuracy by the present Kahari. This account will be given in full, with certain additional information in brackets, marked with asterisks. Notes in plain brackets are in the original. "Kahari, the first known chief of the Bamashasha, is said to have been a younger brother or nephew of Shihoka, and came with him from Barotse. After Shihoka had been chief of the Balukolwe (and Bamashasha?) for some time, Kahari became discontented and, gaining the support of the Bamashasha, made war on the Ba-Ushanga, who lived on the Lufupa River. he married an Ushanga woman, and ruled over both tribes. He was succeeded in tun by his sons (more probably nephews according to their laws of succession) Kadembi, Ndondora, and Shikanda, who all in their turn took the name Kahari. The last name, Shikanda, had his chief kraal at the present Kasempa station. Living on the north of the Bamashasha on a large river were the Mapupushi (or Mayeki) (Maidi's adherents) and the Mabemba, and on the south bank, opposite the Mabemba, the Ba-Kaonde. During Shikonda's reign the Ba-Kaonde came down and raided his people, and finally Shikanda himself was wounded, and died at Kasempa. (Shikanda, by taking medicine, was able to fly, and it was while flying over the heads of the enemy that he was wounded by an arrow). The Bakaonde returned north with their captured slaves etc. and Kabimba, a cousin of Shikanda, succeeded to the Chieftainship. "About this time, the Bamashasha, who had for a long time apparently been in the habit of paying tribute to the Barotse (+ this is confirmed by Kahari in 1939+) ? refused to pay and killed two of the collectors, Simunga and Singala. Simuliankumba, a third collector, fled back to Barotse and reported to the Chief Sipopa. (+The latter became Paramount Chief in 1864 and was killed about 1876, so we have now a rough date in the story+). Having raised an impi, Simuliankumba returned to Kasempa and defeated the Bamashasha and Ba-Ushanga on the Mushonoti River. The Ba-Ushanga having fled, found refuge in the marshes of the Lufupa river.
(+It may be of interest to insert here an opposition from Jalla's Barotse history, Chapter IX, concerning Mwenda:- Mwanambinyi, the second brother of Mwanasilundu, the first Paramount Chief, after his successful attack on Soke, fled south with his son Mulia, and after many fights and wanderings died. Then (say about 1730-40) Mulia his son "travelled on going to Msili, the chief of the Bayeke (Maluba?) with whom he divided the chieftainship. Afterwards his son, Mwenda, abused Msili's people, so Mulia left together with Kalunda's grandson and went to Kalunda in the Lunda country and was given a place by Kalunda to build at the head waters of the Kabompo river. He died at Msili's village in the Garanganze Country (in Congo Belge). This story, though apparently earlier in date, may be connected with that already given concerning Mwenda "said to have been a Barotse", and is quoted for that reason+). Kabwata, who was married to Mutolwa, daughter of Shikanda, took refuge with a second party on the Lunga River. "Funjo (Tamboka) with a third party went to the Lufupa River. Meanwhile Kabwata's sons Sambanjo, Liwemina, Mwinuna, with a fourth party went to Sezongo (Namwala) in the Mashukulumbwe country. Here they remained until 1888, (+say twelve years later+) when the Mashukulumbwe, having been beaten by the Barotse, at Mwengwa, Sambanjo and his party came and settled on the Mukupila, a tributary of the Loashanda river. (+ The area between he Kafue and the Provincial boundary is now practically uninhabited, but has very many old village sites of Bamashasha+). Sambanjo now called himself a Chief, and took the name of Shamamano. "At this time (the present) Simuliankumba was sent by Lewanika to the Lunga to bring Kabwata and his people, andKabimba being dead, to give the chieftainship to Kabwata. (+Kahari in 1939 said that it was the Malozi who collected together the different parties of Bamashasha+) This was done, and Kabwata came to Mukupila and took the name Kabimba (about 1889).." At this point in the story one may insert the story of the death of Kabimba taken from elsewhere in the District Note Book:- "The last occasion when the Ba-Kaonde raided the Bamashasha was in the time of Kabimba, father of.... To return to the previous story:- "At his (+ Kabimba @ Kabwata +) death, Sambanjo succeeded and took the name Kahari V. On his succession the Bamashasha, either attracted by the old title of Kahari, or oppressed by their neighbours, began to rally round Kahari, and came into this district. Kahari built his kraal on the Yangi - headwaters of the Luena River - and most of his people lived round him. Lewanika sent him a large number of cattle, and an Induna, Masokeleza, to live with him. ''Kahari appears at this time to have been of a fierce disposition, and whenever he was angry there was trouble for someone. He was in the habit of drinking huge quantities of beer, accompanied by large joints of beef of Masokelesa's providing. In his cups he would threaten all and sundry.
(+ To quote again from another part of the District Note Book:- "Subsequently, Kahari appears to have developed into a bloodthirsty tyrant, and so great was the fear he inspired amongst his people that none ventured to oppose him. Kraals whose inmates had offended him were laid waste, the men killed, the women and children becoming his slaves; there would seem to have been one punishment - death. In these days he had an immense kraal covering about an acre. . . "+) 3. List of the Chiefs of the Bamashasha tribe, with the places at which they lived. I. Kahari I Kasempa district The above list, taken from the family tree in the District Note Book, differs from that given by Kahari VII @ Timuna in 1939, in that Kahari at first left out Nos. 2, 3, 4 and 6. He later agreed that the above list was correct and this shows the shortness of tribal memory and the difficulties in the way of historical research.
Kabwata = Mutolwa (f) (Kabimba II) Timuna (Kahari VII) Many others
E. THE BALUKOLWE TRIBE. This tribe is at present to be found in only two places in the district: along the Dongwe river and in Kalubi's area on the Luena. We shall see later that the Balukolwe in Kalubi's area went there in 1924, or about that date, for a special reason. Mr. Jalla's history of the Barotse contains many mentions of the Balukolwe in the earlier chapters, from which we gather that they had their own Chief, and were formerly a considerable tribe. The name "Ambwela" really means "people of the east" in the same way that "Mawiko" means "people of the west". Looking at a tribal map of Northern Rhodesia we find the expression Ambwela used for the people under Kabulwebulwe in the Mumbwa district, who are really Bamashasha, and for the people under Kangombe and Pumpola in the south of the Mwinilunga district, who are probably properly Balukolwe. Originally Mankoya, Bamashasha and Balukolwe were probably one tribe, and it is suggested that when the tribe broke up under the Malozi attacks, the three present branches were formed. The Balukolwe then inhabit - apart from those in Mwinilunga district - the Dongwe area in the north of the Mankoya district, the area in the west of the Kasempa district between the Dongwe and the Kabompo, and a very small area in the south of the Balovale district adjoining the other two areas to the north.
For some reason, that part of the old Mankoya District Note Book devoted to "history" makes no mention of any tribe other than the Mankoya and Bamashasha. The Notes under "History" are also undated. It is possible that when they were made the Boma of Makwangwa on the Siowa stream was in existence, and that notes on the tribes now to be discussed therefore figured in some lost Makwangwa district note book. Neither the Mankoya nor the Bamashasha have ever lived in or laid claim to the area west of the Luampa River since one of the very early Mankoya chiefs, Mwene Welema, lived just across the Luampa on the Konga stream. The Luampa river, or rather the watershed west of it, must have been a sort of unofficial boundary between the Makwangwa and the Mankoya. About one third in area of the district of Mankoya therefore fell into the direct Barotse sphere of influence, rather than into the Mankoya sphere, or, if this statement is too sweeping, at any rate that area was a no-man's land coming into the Barotse sphere of influence after their return from Lukwakwa. To the north on the Luena River there is a site called Mwito, close to the present village of Induna Mayankwa, which has early Barotse connections, and must definitely be considered in the direct Barotse sphere of influence from early times. Mwito itself, curiously enough, is the name of a tree which grows in water and has the same meaning as Litoya. The site is on the Luena river, below, but not far below, the place where the Luena, after flowing between forested banks, spreads out into swampy country in which herds of lechwe may be found. It seems likely that for many decodes, or even centuries, Barotse Game hunters came to Mwito to hunt lechwe, for that buck is swamp-leaving and would not therefore follow the Luena any further pstream than the place just above Mwito, where the Luena flows out into the swamp. A ring of trees, not of considerable size, have grown from the posts planted to mark the area of Lewanika's camp when he came to hunt lechwe about the year 1910. In Mr. Jalla's Barotse history we find the earliest mention of Mwito in Chapter IV, when "Soke (or Siokenalinanga separated from her (Mbuyamwambwa) and went to Lukulu and to Mwito". This must have been in the 18th century at latest, and possibly long before. It is believed that there are other mentions of Mwito in the same book, the translation of which is not available for reference. The tribes at present under discussion can best be considered in three sections under the three Induna of Barotse origin: Mufaya, Mwanambuyu and Siwaliondo, and they will be considered accordingly. 1. Mufaya Name of area Liombo. The Indunaship was made by the Barotse Paramount Chief Mulambwa who died circa 1820. The first holder was one Nanganga, and he was sent by Mulambwa from the Barotse valley together with Induna Muyonga, Sibofu and Sifuwe to collect tribute from the Matotela, then living near the source of the Njoko River in the present Sesheke district. In passing, it may be noted that Munyonga, Sibofu and Sifuwe are still at the present day the names of Sesheke Silalo Indunas in this area.
But it was not only the people from Sesheke who fled, but many of the Makwangwa too, so that when in 1864 Mbololo, the last of the Makololo chiefs, was defeated by Njekwa, the Ngambela of the Barotse Paramount Chief Sipopa, there was a general return of many different tribes to the areas from which they had come 35 years ago, and to other areas now open to them. However, before Sipopa could settle down to rule in peace he had to deal with another claimant called lmbua. The Makwangwa, who inhabit the bush country adjoining the Barotse valley, were supporters of Imbua, but Njekwa defeated the Makwangwa before they could join him and later killed lmbua. Imbua's heirs however fled back to the Lukwakwa and numbers of the Makwangwa fled there too. Throughout his reign Sipopa dealt with the Makwangwa most strictly, and as will be seen later, they were only allowed to inhabit certain areas. Sipopa then went to Sesheke where he made the old Makololo centre his capital, and he ruled there with great severity. Throughout the next 35 years there were constant fears of invasions by Matabele from the south, and more than one of these invasions in fact materialised, causing another flight from northern Sesheke to Lukwakwa. One Matabele impi at any rate followed an easterly route and went down the Luampa and across to the Lukute and Likolomani stream in the present Mankoya district. All these flights to and returns from the Lukwakwa make it particularly difficult to discover of which flight any present-day native is talking, but it is significant that of the tribes at present under discussion almost every old man in the age group 55 and upward was born either in the Lukwakwa, if very old, or on the journey down from the Lukwakwa if 55 or a few years older. Even more significant may be the fact that so many of the Makwangwa and Makwangwa-Lima state today that they were born in the uninhabited country between Luena and Dongwe rivers, and it may be that it was to this area that these tribes fled after their defeat by Njekwa when they rose in support of Imbua. To return to the Mufaya Indunaship, when Sipopa became Paramount Chief, Nanganga I was dead and his son Nanganga II was sent by Sipopa to live at Mwito, that old Barotse site on the Luena swamp near Mayankwa's present village. With Nanganga II, or under him, were Makwangwa, Makwangwa-Lima, Matotela and Mambowela. Of these, it seems that the Nambowela are iron-makers and have acquired their name from their trade or trade-guild; the Matotela are the remnants of the Sesheke tribe who fled to the Lukwakwa and returned to settle with Nanganga II. Who the Lima were is doubtful, but they may be connected with the Lima who were one of the branches of the Mashukulumbwe or Ba-Ila mentioned in Smith and Dale's book, "The Ila-speaking peoples of northern Rhodesia". It is possible that some Lima fled west from Mashukulumbwe country and settled in the uninhabited area round the sources of the Luampa, Loasanda, Machile and Njoko rivers, and thus came under Barotse control and fled to Lukwakwa in one of the flights already described. A discussion of the differences between Makwangwa and To close this section, a list is given of the Mufaya Indunaship up to the present day, with dates where known and places at which they lived: 1. Nanganga
The first Induna in this line was Kabila, who lived at Nambwawata near Sefula on the edge of the Barotse valley. He fled to the Lukwakwa at the Makololo invasion, but possibly returned before the Makololo were overthrown, for he was living on the Mataa stream, a tributary of the Lumbe in the Senanga district, when sent by Paramount Chief Sipopa to live at ' Sikenge at the mouth of the Likolomani stream - a tributary of the Luena, close to the present Mankoya-Mongu-Lealui border. All the villagers that went with him were his relatives, and the majority call themselves Makwangwa-Lima at the present day. After a number of years at Sikenge a move was made to the Lukute stream in the present Mankoya district, also on the border but further south than the Likolomani. Little is known of this unit except that some villagers fled before the Matabele impi which passed that way and that these villages were then on the Lukute. One Matabele warrior slept with a local woman and left her with a child of his, whose descendants still live near the same area. Mwanambuyu's people were the earliest of the Barotse people to settle in the present Mankoya district, and Mwanambuyu had some importance in the early days of white administration for that reason. 3. Siwaliondo. This area cosists of villages on the Siowe, and its tributaries the Mulwe, Kawandwa and Nyakayembe. The Siowe flows directly to the west, aad not into the Luena or Luampa like almost every other stream in the Mankoya district. This area should rightly be in the Mongu-Lealui district with the watershed between Siowe and Luampa as the natural boundary. The Makwangwa live in the nine areas in the Mongu-Lealui district, four areas in Senanga, with a number of villages in the area under discussion and in the areas of Mwanambuyu and Mufaya. Originally the Makwangwa inhabited the bush country of the Mongu-Lealui and Senanga districts, while the Malozi inhabited the plains. There is no tribal recollection of any movement from elsewhere, and it is generally accepted nowadays among the natives themselves that they have always lived where most of them are living today. There has been no chief of the Makwangwa since the time of one Mange, said to have been the contemporary of the Barotse Paramount Chief Ngombala, and who must therefore have lived at least 150 years ago. Since that time the Makwangwa have been under the Malozi .and have looked to no other chiefs but theirs, though, as has been already noted, they have sometimes backed one claimant against another in internecine struggles. It seems that their blood has had less intermixture than that of the Malozi, among whom the blood of other tribes is ubiquitous. As a tribe the Makwangwa are bi-lingual, speaking Sikwangwa and Silozi. Sikwangwa is said to be very similar indeed to the old Silui or Siluyana spoken by the Malozi before the Makololo invasion. The fact that Sikwangwa has survived while Siluyana has disappeared is a good proof that the Makololo, though extracting tribute from what remained of the Makwangwa, did not in fact penetrate to any extent into the bush country off the plains, and that is also borne out by native memory. When the Makololo invaded the country, the important Makwangwa fled with the Malozi to the Lukwakwa and returned to their old country after Sipopa became settled in his Chieftainship. many o the common people however continued to exist in the bush for a number of years near their old homes until they were discovered by the Makololo, who made them }pay tribute. After the driving out of the Makololo, the Makwangwa fought for Imbua against Sipopa, and though. the latter, having conquered them, killed Imbua, and lived at Sesheke, he is still remembered by the Makwangwa for his severity to them, and because he drew them all in from the outlying streams and made them live on the Lui river. The Makwangwa in the Mongu-Lealui and Senanga districts have their own Indunas, who are neither related to one another nor descended from Mange. The area now under discussion formed part of a much larger area now under the Indunas, Litungi and Imamuna, in the Mongu-Lealui district and running into the Senanga district, until the arrival of the administration, and for a few years after that. The Malozi had a visiting Induna by name Wamulume in charge of the area. He was succeeded by the elder brother of the present Induna Siwaliondo, and this man died of small-pox brought back by the army sent against the Balovale in 1892. The present induna Siwiwaliondo succeeded on his brother's death. The later history of this area will be given later. 4. The difference between Makwangwa and Makwangwa-Lima. The problem of who the Makwangwa-Lima are cannot be answered. The solutions offered by natives may be mentioned, though they appear extremely unlikely. The first is that the Mkwangwa-Lima are the children of Makwangwa fathers and Mankoya mothers. The second is that the term Makwangwa-Lima was nob heard before the arrival of the white men. Personally I incline to the view. that the distinction may have something to do with the difference between those who went up to the Lukwaka in the Makololo times and those who remained behind.
It has been suggested that the Lima may be a remnant from the Mashukulumbwe, while the Totela are admitted to have originated from Sesheke, where the greater part of the tribe still remains. The Mambowela are closely connected with iron-working and appear to have Sesheke origin. G. BAROTSE INFLUENCE OVER THE MANKOYA DISTRICT.
Certain notes in the Mankoya district note book may be quoted to show the state of affairs before the war, though those notes cannot be allocated to my one period: ".....then harassed, and their villages burnt by the Bakaonde, they (the Mankoya) have become careless of cultivation on account of the frequent raids and incursions of their warlike neighbours on the north =d east". "The Mankoya and Bamashasha originally lived on the east side of the Lalafuta River, hut the ta-Kaonde were repeatedly attacking them, killing the men and taking away their women, children and cattle, so that they gradually were driven over the west side. Even then, and until comparatively recently, the Ba-Kaonde made repeated raids upon them, the Mankoya being, apparently, a faint-hearted people, and running away, at the first news of their approach, to the kraal of their Induna, Mwene Mutondo, on the Luena River, where a strong and high stockade vas Erected in which all the people collected as much food and water as could be obtained before the arrival of their enemies. "Inside this stockade they were quite content to remain, shooting with guns, bows and arrows, and throwing spears at those the enemy who beleaguered them, while others laid waste their kraals and crops. No attempt at a sortie ever appears to have been made. "When the enemy eventually retired there was no pursuit, But after allowing some time to elapse so as to be ouite sure the enemy had really gone, they would at length emerge and return to their villages - or what was left of them. During these raids Ba-Kaonde would kill all the men whom they captured, also old women who were unable to walk; while the rest of the women and children would be taken away as slaves". From the history of the Bamasbasha it has been seen already that the Ba-Kaonde were still raiding the Bamasha sha when Kabimba II had been established at Litoya, and this was id to have been their last raid. As Kabimba II was killed during this raid, which is said to have taken place in 1898, it seems clear that neither the Ba-Kaonde war nor the sending by Lewanika of Ndumeleti to them in 1894 (as will be noted later) had any effect on the raiding parties. The leader of the Barotse war party was called Kasiapu. I have not discovered what regiment he took with him from Barotse, it he was (as usual) joined by other tribes, among whom were the braver Mankoya and Bamashasha. The fight (such as it was) took lace on a hill close to the present Kasempa Boma, to which the Ba-Kaonde had retired. The barotse tried to storm the hill with the aid of their superior weapons (guns, of which the Ba-Kaonde must have had few) while the Ba-Kaonde rolled stones down the hill. The Barotse retired. As this is P. Barotse account of the action it can hardly be claimed as a Barotse victory, nor as sufficient reason for the sending of Barotse tribute collectors to the Ba-Kaonde. 2. The Mashukulumbwe War. 3. The Balovale War. This war took place in 1892. A war party composed chiefly of Makwangwa and Makwangwa-Lima passed northwards through the -. sending of the Barotse Mandumeleti and Indunas to the M Mankoya (a) Nyango. About the year 189L Lewanika suddenly decided to send ;ndumeleti to the :kaonde. It must have been almost the same time that he decided to send Mandumeleti to the Balovale According to the story given me by Kasimba II, himself the son of one of the Mandumeleti called Kafunya Kasimba, whom he accompanied as a youth, Kasimba I was sent as tribute collector to a chief of the Bakaonde called Mubambi, while other Indunas Sikelenge and Boyani were sent to chief Kasempa. At that time Mubambi used to live on the Lunga, but Kasimba took him to live on the Lalafuta (the present Mankoya-Kasempa boundary). Sikelenge first built near the hill close to the present Kasempa Boma, at which the fight had taken place. Later he returned to the Nyango and Kasimba II gave three reasons for this, one after another: first, that he didn't like the soil at Kasempa, then that there were tsetse fly there so that he couldn't take his cattle (a reason suggested to him) and finally that the first Native Commissioner at Kasempa drove him away. Lewanika told them to live at Kalimbata's near the Kamuni stream, but when they objected they were allowed to go to the Nyango (where the soil is good for mealie growing.) Kasimba could give me no reason why the akaonde should have agreed to send tribute, and indeed the early Bakaonde chief Kasempa denied to white officials that such tribute was ever sent, and "gnashed his teeth with fury at the mention of the Barotse''. However presents were certainly sent, and it seems possible that in Mubambi's case this was actually tribute, for Kubambi has always been friendly towards the Malozi and has even tried to cross the border and live in the Mankoya district. Without consulting Kasempa records, it is impossible to know what the exact position was, and indeed it hardly concerns this record, for at that date there were no Bakaonde inside the present boundaries of the Mankoya district, only the Barotse Mandumeleti settled on the Nyango. It is curious that Kasimba was of Mbunda extraction and Sikelenge of Matabele extraction: the descendants of both are now Indunas in the Mankoya district, but Boyani is just a headman under Kasimba. There must be some foundation for the tribute-giving, for, according to Barotse custom, Indunas in the Lealui Kuta represent to this day the Bakaonde tribe's interests, Katema representing Mubambi's people and Muyumbana representing Kasempa's. At the same time, as the Barotse failed to conquer the Kaonde, any tribute given must have been more Dane-geld. If it is true that Mubambi was moved by Kasimba to the lalafuta, it seems possible that this was after a quarrel between him and Kasempa, and that he was moved nearer to Barotse influence and protection. His village is still just across the border.
About five years later, Lewanika sent a further body of Mandumeleti to Litoya, to live with Kahari. This was about the year 1899; the Kahari then was Sambanjo Kahari V. These indunas were Mabilamwandi, Simuliankumba, Libinga, Kakumba, Kabangu and Lilombo. In addition, Mutoka (afterwards Mufaya I) also went to Litoya. Later these Indunas were sent to look after different portions of the Bamashasha tribe who fled in all directions when Kahari V became a tyrant.
In 1902 on the return of the Paramount Chief from his visit to England, Siwaliondo was ordered to go to the Luampa and live there as resident induna.
When Kahari V became a tyrant and began to oppress his (f) Sikotamutumwa. This Induna was the visiting Induna of the Barotse to the Mankoya who have never had a resident Induna He has ceased to visit Mankoya, but still represents the tribe in the Lealui Kuta.
H. FIRST EUROPEANS TO VISIT MANKOYA DISTRICT: 1900. 1. Establishment and early years of the Boma 1906-7-8. An early entry in the Provincial Commissioner's district note book at Mongu states that mankoya was the first boma to be opened after Mongu. The date was 1906. There are apparently no records of te position chosen for the site of th Boma, and in fact there were several temporary sites. In that year, 1906, Kaebulwe's area was considered part of the Mankoya district, but has since been transferred to Mumbwa and out of the Barotse.
There exist early diaries at Mankoya but they are almost completely lacking in interest. The earliest, 1906, gives an account of various early journeys with the daily mileage and instructions to carriers. In the whole volume there is only one entry of interest. This was when Mwenemutondo was visited. He told the travellers that he knew Lewanika but not the white men - so the white men returned to Mongu. The files prior to 1910 show that there was a certain amount of movement into the Province, chiefly from the Kasempa district. No doubt when the Provincial boundary was fixed a certain number of villages, particularly in the triangle between the Kabompo and the Dongwe (not to be confused with the Kasempa salient) wished to remain under the Barotse but in this area there were and still are a number of headmen of turbulent disposition who continued for a number of years to jump the boundary one way or the other to Mankoya, Kasempa or Balovale, whenever Messengers from one district arrived.. This practice has remained to this day, but it is not now the exact science it must have been once. Early notes are as follows:- ''Headman Katuta (Katoka) came from Kasempa in 1903. later to Balovale. Is a Mambwera.' (This last statement is not true for Katuta, who is alive today, 1939, is a Mabunda and was born in Portuguese territory.) "Headman Pumpora (Pumpola) to Mankoya from Kasempa 1903. Denies Mutondo is his Induna". "Headman Tapula and others from Kasempa 1908. To be under their induna Kayambila. (Kayambila used to be of the same rank as Funkafunka The old Kayambila and Tapula were brothers). Tapula used to be on the Kawaya stream'. "Tapula is a small headman 1908 who formerly acknowledged Kayambila as his Induna." About 1909 a temporary Boma (called Makwankwa) was set up at Liambango's for the Makwankwa, but in 1910 or 1911 this was moved to another temporary Boma near the present Mankoya-Mongu-
At the foundation of the Boma, the Balukolwe were living between the kabompo and the Dongwe, with settlements on both rivers and on the Sefuwe. Many of them gradually moved into the Mankoya district. The earliest officials to be sent to Mankoya seemed to be
The early official of the Kasempa Province found on the Lunga both Sinyama Imasiku and Mayankwa, Malozi Indunas who were turned out in 1911 and sent to live within the Barotse Province. Sinyama went to the Balovale district and Mayankwa was ordered by Lewanika to settle at the old Barotse site at Mwito in the Mankoya district. Mayankwa Kabila was a Mwana Mulena (literally son of the Paramount Chief - though in fact he was a great-grandson of the Paramount Chief Mulambwa) and his son the present Mayankwa is also called Mwana Mulena. His pedigree is of interest as showing how royal blood continues to keep the title though constantly adulterated: Mulambwa Paramount Chief Mayankwa therefore comes from the Lukwakwa country where his followers lived till 1911. Those followers appear to have comprised The two villages of Bamashasha were once under Kahari, but they had burnt a village at Litoya and fled in terror of their chief's anger to seek asylum with Mayankwa on the Lunga.
3. Death of Kahari V. Sambanjo. To return to the history of the Bamashasha we find in the Mankoya district note book "Kahari, during the last 6 years, Lewanika died in 1917 and was succeeded by Yeta III. 4. The Deposition of Kahari Timuna in 1923 and his subsequent re-installation. (2) he stopped eliphant tusks from being forwarded to Lealui; 5. End of tribute labour, 1923, and dispatch of Kalubi to Mankoya
From the west came immigrants of several Angola tribe. Some came from Angola direct, while others came from other Barotse districts, where they had stayed. for a short while.
Since 1920 the population of the district has doubled in 20 years, entirely owing to immigration. In certain cases chiefs of the immigrating tribes entered the district and were given areas to settle in, while in other cases headmen seem to have persuaded the Lealui kuta that they were chiefs and so have been recognised as such. It will be convenient to consider in turn these immigrant Kasabi. This man is a Makwangala by tribe. The Makwangala are a Kandombwe. This man is a petty Mulovale Chief of the male line
Kasimba. We have already seen how Kasimba was appointed to look after the Bakaonde settling near him. Kabilamwandi. This man was the senior of the Mandumeleti appointed to look after the Bamashasha and collect their tribute. When the first Native Commissioner was sent to Mankoya, Kabilamwandi built a village near him and became an assessor in civil cases and general advisor. It was not until about 1927 that he was sent by Mr. Warrington to live on the Luambua stream, a southern tributary of the Luena, and look after the many immigrants settling there. Mayankwa. This man, who settled, as we have seen, at Mwito in 1911, used to be written in Mwanambuyu's book. When immigrant Mawiko (people of the west) began to settle near him on the Luena, he was put in charge of them. Sikelenge. As we have seen, the first Sikelenge was one of the Mwito Ndumeleti to the Bakaonde. By tribe he was of Mutabele descent. When the immigrants began to enter the district in the twenties, the present Sikelenge was appointed to control those who settled, mainly on the Kanga stream, near the Luampa crossing. Owing to the illness of the late Mufaya, Sikelenge often acted for him and he gradually acquired the position of a silalo Induna over a small area on the Luampa river and on plains to west and east (Ilombe and Chacha respectively). Immigrants continue to come into the district. Today there is no order about their settling, though in fact tribes tend to settle together, so that, for example, the settlers on the Ilombe plain are all Luchazi, and those on the Chacha are all Mambunda. They move in and out at will, nearly always without permission. Some no doubt make good citizens and of recent years they have begun to pay tax well. Most of them were born in Angola. It is not unusual to find men coming in to be written on with the scars of Portuguese bullets on their bodies. They are experts at ravaging the country, and in many way are worse than locusts (a name which is often applied to them). Some instances may be given of their mentality and methods: fruit trees of whatever size or age ruthlessly cut down so that the fruit may be gathered; immature buck are chased to the point of collapse by dogs, so that there is no replacement of herds by breeding, while rivers and streams are fished out to the last and tiniest tiddler.
Mwanatete, being the most influential headman, assumed control as sub–lnduna, and because he was a Mankoya and looked to Mwenemutondo as his chief this area came under Mwenemutondo. It does end sort of suddenly, doesn't it ! |  |
|
 | ||