The Luyi kingdoms (Lozi Kingdom)

In this post we shall go through the history of The Luyi kingdoms (Lozi Kingdom) as part of our social studies and History series of presentations.

Origins of Luyi kingdoms

• Luyi mythology tells that the Luyi are descended from mwambwa, the daughter and wife of the god Nyambe.
• However, anthropologists know that the Luyi share many traditions with groups such as the lunda of kazembe and the Bemba of Chitimukulu, as well as the Bisa and Nkoya.
• This evidence suggests that the Luyi are descendants of the Luba-Lunda empire, in what is now the democratic republic of Congo.

Political organization and history of Luyi kingdoms

• The fist Luyi ruler was known as Mboo the wise one.
• His traditional title was Litunga.
• However, his youngest brothers broke away from the Litunga’s kingdom, and started new groups of their own.
• There are many conflicts between the different groups, until ngalama, the fourth Litunga (king), unified his kingdom.
• It became known as the Lozi kingdom.
• Because the Lozi believed that the king was descended from the gods, the Litunga was highly feared and respected.
• During the 1600s, the Lozi actively invaded new areas and took over from the decentralized societies that were living there.
• Their oral tradition is mostly concerned with the lineage of the Lozi rulers and kings, so we do not know much about the people they conquered and who became part of the Lozi.

Social organization and culture

• The Lozi people lived on the Zambezi floodplains.
• This area flooded each year during the rainy season.
• They built their villages on termite mounds or they made mounds of earth and stones to make their homes higher.
• Each year, when the floods came, the people had to move to escape the floods.
• The Lozi people traced their descent from either the father’s side of the family or the mother’s side of the family.
• They believe that the child belonged to both sides of the family. Instead of the clan names, they used mishuku.

Economic activities In The Luyi kingdoms

The Lozi had three main economic activities:

Farming annual:

• Floods ensured that the earths of the plains were rich and fertile.
• Crops on the plains included sorghum, maize and root crops.

Fishing:

• The Lozi caught fish from the Zambezi and its tributaries, and in large dams on the plains.
• In the dry season, they used nets and spears.
• When the water level was higher that trapped fish using reed fences and earth dams.

Keeping cattle

• The flood plains also offered good grazing.
• However during the floods the Lozi had to move their cattle to higher lands.
• The Lozi had to move to the highlands each year during the flood season.
• This became an annual event known as the kuomboka (meaning “getting out of the water”).
• The Litunga would travel in a barge boat called nalikwanda.On the highlands, the Lozi could farm different crops, including cassava, millet and groundnuts.

Decline of Luyi kingdoms and of Lozi kingdoms

• For nearly a century, the Lozi was one of the strongest kingdoms in the area.
• However after 1830, the Lozi kingdom declined.
• The death of the tenth Litunga mulambwa led to the power struggle between his successors, Silumelume and another junior Litunga, Mubukwanu.
• This caused a big divide between the north and the south.
• The lozi of the north considered themselves to be true Lozi people under the leadership of Silumelume.
• They saw the Lozi of the south as conquered people.
• Also the language of the southern Lozi was closer to Tonga. Soon after this, the kololo arrived in 1833.
• It was easy for the kololo to conquer the Lozi kingdom because of the divisions between the north and the south.
• The kololo deafened the Lozi and took over the kingdom under the leadership of Sebitwane.