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

2. The founding of the Lozi State and the emergence of a Luyana central kingship

2 The founding of the Lozi State and the emergence of a Luyana central kingship In this chapterand the next an attempt is made to describe the Lozi Statesystemas itexisted before the Kololo invasion in the middleof the nineteenth century, and to show how this system had evolved. Thisisnoteasytodo. In the absence of contemporary descriptive records of Lozi institutions forthe period before the nineteenth century, one has to rely mainly on late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century accounts for a reconstruction of the pre-Makololo Lozi State. This presents a number of problems. First of all, because of the Kololo invasion there is a distortion of the oral evidence. The preKololo period has taken on the character of a myth of 'pure' Lozi institutions before the intrusions from outside. During Lewanika's reign in the last quarter of the nineteenth century a deliberate 1 attempt was made to 'restore the Lozi State'. This meant that Lewanika and his party defined what they took to be the essential Lozi institutions, butsuchaslogandid not make foradifferentiated orhistoricalviewof thepast. On theother hand, much written evidenceso farsuffers from the tendency to talk of Lozi institutions as if they were static, and their descriptions are very much limited to the 'pure' institutions of 2 Lewanika. Most of the available evidence, therefore, both oral and SeemyChapter7. The earliest recorded descriptions of traditional Lozi institutions are by early European travellers, missionaries and local Colonial Administrators. E.g. 'Administration of Barotseland by Lewanika and former Chiefs', D. C. Lealui to Sec. for Native Affairs, Kalomo, 3 January 1906 in No. 235/1/06 (N.A.Z.). See also relevant section in 'History of Barotseland Notes and Documents, 1900-1936', K.D.E. 2/44/4 (N.A.Z.). 'Barotse Form of Government' based on information by Mataa (the Ngambela Mutiba, Induna Kalonga), 21 (footnote continued on next page) 1 2 written, isconcerned with putting forward static modelsof the Lozi State rather than with exploring its dynamics of change and development. In this chapter an attempt will be made not only to describe butto inferfromwhatevidenceexists the broad outlinesof developmentwithintheLozi StatebeforetheKololoinvasion. Thefirstproblem that hasto betackled is: Howdid the Lozi State originate? Asalreadyseen, establishment traditions in Bulozi of the founding of the Lozi State seek to give it the prestige of a divinely ordained event. The Lozi State is shown as springing up where nothing was before. It has been said in the previous chapter that thesetraditionsgiveaquite inadequateaccountof thesettlementof Bulozi. They might, however, haveasymbolic truth as an accountof thefoundingof theState. The Lozi State might have been set up through a rapid military conquest,carriedoutbyleaderswhobroughtwiththemasetof fully developed ideas about administration and political organisation. The Lozi State might have sprung almost fully grown from such a conquest. All indications, however, suggest that this was not the case. The second level of Lozi tradition suggests rather the movement into Bulozi of a number of related leaders and their followers. There is no suggestion that the newcomers constituted a horde or an army, like the later Kololo invasion. They were certainly 3 not always resisted by force of arms. In some cases they overthrew 4 and inothers theycametotermswithexisting political authorities. Theprocessseemstohavebeenagradualone. If the newcomers were Lunda, as suggested in the previous chapter, itwould notappearthattheybroughtwiththemanevolved system of state centralisation, for there are few explicit Lunda 5 echoesinLozipolitical institutionsand history. K.D.E. 2/44/18(N.A.Z.). R.V.Roach,'NotesonLoziInstitutions',1907-20inMonguDistrictNotebook,K.D.E.10/Ii,pp.30-4. Reference will be made to certain studies of Lozi institutions by Professor Max Gluckman, a full list of whoseworksonBuloziappearsintheBibliography. Muhongo Sakanga: said to have been over 100 years old in 1963. Village: Nalitoya Liunga; District: Mongu-Lealui. According to the version by Mr. Sakanga the newcomers won their following by their greatgenerosity. For instance lists of groups conquered by Mboo the first king are always given in all traditions, but at the same time there is the story of the friendly encounter with one Isimwaa at Mutungi; Jalla, 1921, p. 4. SikotaAkufunatypescript,p.2. For a general description of Lunda political organisation following the Luba-Lunda merger see: D. Birmingham, Trade and Conflict inAngola, The Clarendon Press 1966, pp. 76-7. I. Cunnison, 'Perpetual Kingship:APolitical Institution of the Luapula Peoples', Rhodes Livingstone Journal, 1956, 20, pp. 2848 . Bulozi under the Luyana Kings 22 3 4 5 It appears from the various Lozi oral traditions that the situation was something like this: the...