Bulozi under the Luyana Kings: Political Evolution and State Formation in Pre-Colonial Zambia

1. Migration and settlement

1 Migrationandsettlement The Lozi traditionally claim that they were the first in the Plain and have always been there, and that they were the result of a union between Nyambe (God) and the female ancestress figure Mbuyu. Viewed within the historical context of traditions of other Zambian groups, the Lozi claims, as recorded by the missionary Adolphe 1 Jalla, have been described by C. M. N. White as 'a disappointing source of ethno-historical data. They provide no corroboration for cross-references from other traditions and in fact are in 2 contradictiontothem.' White points out that the legend of a divine and autonomous origincontrastswithlong-established historiesof thefoundationof the Lozi Stategiven byotherchieflydynasties, such as the Kazembe Lunda of Luapula, and the Ndembu Lunda of the North-Western Province. According to these, the Lozi rulers belong to one of many Zambian dynasties whose origins are traced back to the Mwata Yamvodynastyof theold Lunda Kingdom in the Katangaareaof the Congo. Similar contradictions of Lozi claims for an autonomous origin, and also of stories linking them with Mwata Yamvo, were encountered in the course of this study among the Nkoya, 3 particularly the Ba Mashasha group of Mwene Kahare. Furthermore, in thecourseof this study, asecond, more factual and historical layer of Lozi tradition has come to light, suggesting A. Jalla, History, Traditions and Legends of the Barotse Nation, translated S. B. Jones, typed Lealui 1921,p. 4. C.M.N.White,'TheEthno-Historyof theUpperZambezi', AfricanStudies,xxi,1962. Mwene Kahare Kabambi Timuna: Born 1921. Kuta: Litoya; District: Mankoya; Mwene Kahare since1952. 7 1 2 3 4 possiblelinkswiththeLundaintheCongo. In view of the evidence and claims above, it would be absurd to assumetherewasan independentcentreof origin forthe Lozi in the Plain on the Zambezi. Settlement in Bulozi, indeed, can now be looked at within the general perspective of settlement patterns in Zambiaand CentralAfrica. Recent archaeological studies have traced the settlement patterns in Zambia through the Early Stone Age nearly 50,000 years ago, theMiddleStoneAge, LaterStoneAgetotheEarlyIronAgeand the present. The Stone Age inhabitants of Zambia as in the rest of southern Africa appear to have been Khoisan or Bushmen type of people. They bore a close resemblance to the surviving types of 5 bushmensuchasthoseintheKalahari Desert. Theformerexistence of Bushmen type of people in southern Africa is borne out by the existenceof talesof small peoplein mostof thetraditionsof existing Bantu-speaking groups. The same traditions link the small people with rock paintings such as those found in the Central, Northern, Eastern and Luapula Provinces of Zambia. Moreover, in certain parts of Zambia there still live groups of people believed to be remnants of the pre-Bantu populations, such as the Ba Twa groups intheBangweoloand Kafueswamps. Little archaeological work has yet been done in Bulozi, but the 6 results so far suggest a pattern similar to that described above. No Early Stone Age sites have yet been found in Bulozi. Middle Stone Agesiteswere, however, discovered along theriverbetween Sesheke and Senanga, MankoyaBomaandatChavumatothenorthof Bulozi in the North-Western Province. The deposits here are all comparable to those found elsewhere in Zambia for this period, the Kalomo/Livingstoneand the Kalambo Fallsareas, for instance. Late Stone Age sites are common along rivers, in caves and rock shelters all over Zambia. In Bulozi similarsites were found between Sesheke and Senanga, and to the north of Bulozi in Chavuma area and Balovale Boma. The settlement pattern so farappears to be uniform Mutumba Mainga, 'The Origin of the Lozi: Some oral traditions', Zambesian Past, eds Stokes and Brown,ManchesterUniversityPress,1965,pp.238-47. B. M. Fagan, Southern Africa, Thames and Hudson, London 1965, p. 33. J. Desmond Clark, 'A Note on the pre-Bantu inhabitants of Northem Rhodesia and Nyasaland', Northern Rhodesia Journal, 1950-2, i,2,pp.42-52. Some of the archaeological information on Bulozi results from interviews with Mr. David Phillipson in Livingstone, Zambia, in November 1968. Mr. Phillipson and his wife had located a number of archaeological sites in Bulozi which they hoped to follow up and from which they had collected some interestingfindings. Bulozi under the Luyana Kings 8 4 5 6 although no Stone Age sites have yet been found in the Plain. The absenceof Stone Age finds in the Plain may bedue to theabsenceof stoneortothefactthatdepositsareburieddeepinthesandand have 7 not yet been located. This seems a reasonable assumption since in Bulozi, including the Plain, as in therestof Zambiatherearetalesof small people, bo Mbonezi Kai, and it is also interesting to note the existence of bushmen...