Undi’s Chewa kingdom

Now we shall discuss the Undi’s Chewa kingdom in now Eastern part of Zambia. Read as we explore its birth, expansion and finally the decline.

Origin of Chewa kingdom

• The Chewa Kingdom of Undi originated as a result of a succession dispute.
• Undi broke away from the Kalonga Kingdom in present day Malawi around 1700.
• Undi established his Capital at Mano, south of Tete district in Mozambique.
• His Kingdom went as far as south of Katete in Zambia’s Eastern Province.
• He spread his control throughout the Katete and Chadiza areas.
• In these areas, the conquered local groups such as Mkanda are Chewa, the Nsenga of Petauke and the Chewa of Tete.
• He was given the praise name of Gawa Undi. “Gawa” meant “share”.
• This was because Undi shared the Land among his subordinate chiefs.
• Gawa Undi became the official title of the Chewa Paramount Chiefs.

Development of undi’s kingdom

The factors that led to the Development of Undi’s Kingdom were:

A well-organized political structure:

• Undi organized a centralised political structure as compared to the Kalonga, s Kingdom.
• He organized the Kingdom according to levels of Hierarchy of rulers i.e.

Undi -was the overall boss

• This ensured that Undi had firm control of political affairs in the Kingdom.

Religious Powers

• Undi was also perceived to be a semi-divine ruler.
• He controlled the important rainmaking Shrine.
• He also established a female rainmaker called Makewane, who was in charge of the Shrine.
• This contributed to the political power of Undi and it was also a very important factor in uniting the Chewa people.

Raids

• This was an important factor in the development of the Kingdom.
• Undi conquered and assimilated weaker groups such as the, Nsenga, Chewa and the Tumbuka.
• These were incorporated into the Kingdom. At its height, Undi,s Kingdom was vast.
• It included the Eastern Province of Zambia, parts of Mozambique’s Tete districts and parts of Malawi.

The concentration of Power in the Phiri Clan:

• Undi gave posts of Sub-chiefs to members of the Phiri Clan.
• He also encouraged the members of the clan to intermarry with women from other clans and the defeated tribes.
• The sub-chiefs were loyal to Undi because of Family relationship ties.
• In this way, Undi was able to maintain Unity in the Kingdom.

Natural Resources

• Undi’s Kingdom was also very rich in Natural Resources.
• To begin with, Undi’s area was well watered and had fertile soils.
• Besides there were other natural resources such as salt, iron ore, ivory and gold.
• In addition, by mid 1700, the mining of Gold in the Kingdom by the Portuguese became very important.
• The Portuguese and their Chikunda agents mined the gold got their share and gave a percentage to Undi.
• All these natural resources enabled Undi to participate in the Long Distance Trade. Tribute System:
• Tribute was collected from the defeated chiefs and the subordinate chiefs as a sign of loyalty to Undi.
• This tribute was in form of ivory, slaves and gold.
• This also enabled the Undi to participate in the Long Distance Trade.

Monopoly of the Long Distance Trade

• The rich natural resources and the Tribute System enabled Undi to participate in and later monopolize the Long distance Trade.
• In exchange for local products such as ivory, gold and slaves, Undi was given items such as guns, gunpowder and beads.
• This economic factor greatly contributed to the development of Undi’s Kingdom.

Slave Trading

• It also contributed to the development of the Kingdom.
• At about the same time that Gold mining was at its peak, trade in slaves had also started and was highly profitable.
• Many people were sold as slaves.
• This led to an increase in Undi,s Economic power.
• This human labour was needed for the huge plantations called the Prazoes in the Zambezi valley.

Decline of the Undi’s Kingdom

After 1750, Undi’s Kingdom began to decline because:

• It had no strong centralized government system.
• Sub -chiefs tried as much to decentralize power with the help of external traders.
• Hence, conflicts arose between Undi and his sub – Chiefs and this weakened his position.
• Undi did not have a permanent army and this made foreigners and sub – chiefs undermine his authority because they had nothing serious to fear.
• Sub – chiefs stopped paying tribute to Undi.
• The Portuguese and their Chikunda agents began undermining Undi’s authority by trading directly with Undi’s sub – chiefs.
• Consequently, Undi’s lost his monopoly of trade.
• The slave trading activites of the Portuguese and the Chikundi created insecurity and weakened the kingdom.
• Undi lost control of the Makewana rain making shrines. This weakened his position and negatively affected the unity in the Kingdom.
• The final destruction of the Kingdom was done by the Ngoni Zwangendaba’s Ngoni settled in Nsenga country for four years on their way to the north.
• They raided Undi’s people and put the Kingdom in more trouble.
• From the north, Mpezeni’s ngoni terrorized the Kingdom again. They permanently settled in Nsenga land and this led to the final destruction of the Kingdom.