Argue for or against the notion that the Nkhamanga was more of an economic ‘empire than a political kingdom
MZUZU UNIVERSITY
FACULTY OF EDUCATION
DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY
Assignment number one.
COURSE TITLE : History of Malawi
COURSE CODE : EHS 3601
TASK : Argue for or against the notion that the Nkhamanga was more of an economic ‘empire than a political kingdom
SUBMITTED BY : Frances Simwinga.
REGISTRATION NUMBER: BAE/2A/169/10
SUBMITTED TO : Mr. C. Mphande.
DATE OF SUBMISSION: November 1st, 2013.
It is rather a daunting task to sort out the way the kingdom of Nkhamanga was organised. The contrasting views by historians give testimony to this. There are those historians who contend that Chikulamayembe exercised both political and economic influence in vast kingdom that stretched from Dwangwa to the south to Songwe River in the north and from Lake Malawi in the east to Luangwa River in the west. The opposing school of thought challenges the idea of a political kingdom arguing that economic factors were more important than political factors in the state of Nkhamanga. Despite these disputing interpretations of the organisation of the kingdom of Nkhamanga, the theme that runs in most literature is that the Tumbuka, long before the intrusion of immigrant in the 19th century, has been a feeble political organisation where clans were independent of each. Every clan had a leader who controlled the affairs of that clan in a loose decentralised political system. In this essay, it is argued that the kingdom of Nkhamanga was more of an economic ‘empire’ than a political kingdom. As much as some of these clan leaders were more powerful and could control more than one clan such as the Luhanga clan, absence of a strong centralised political organisation explains that the influence of the state was anchored in the economy. It was the economic activities that expanded the kingdom other than political transformation.
Trade in ivory, animal skins such as lions and leopards and control of trade routes were of greatest concern to
FACULTY OF EDUCATION
DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY
Assignment number one.
COURSE TITLE : History of Malawi
COURSE CODE : EHS 3601
TASK : Argue for or against the notion that the Nkhamanga was more of an economic ‘empire than a political kingdom
SUBMITTED BY : Frances Simwinga.
REGISTRATION NUMBER: BAE/2A/169/10
SUBMITTED TO : Mr. C. Mphande.
DATE OF SUBMISSION: November 1st, 2013.
It is rather a daunting task to sort out the way the kingdom of Nkhamanga was organised. The contrasting views by historians give testimony to this. There are those historians who contend that Chikulamayembe exercised both political and economic influence in vast kingdom that stretched from Dwangwa to the south to Songwe River in the north and from Lake Malawi in the east to Luangwa River in the west. The opposing school of thought challenges the idea of a political kingdom arguing that economic factors were more important than political factors in the state of Nkhamanga. Despite these disputing interpretations of the organisation of the kingdom of Nkhamanga, the theme that runs in most literature is that the Tumbuka, long before the intrusion of immigrant in the 19th century, has been a feeble political organisation where clans were independent of each. Every clan had a leader who controlled the affairs of that clan in a loose decentralised political system. In this essay, it is argued that the kingdom of Nkhamanga was more of an economic ‘empire’ than a political kingdom. As much as some of these clan leaders were more powerful and could control more than one clan such as the Luhanga clan, absence of a strong centralised political organisation explains that the influence of the state was anchored in the economy. It was the economic activities that expanded the kingdom other than political transformation.
Trade in ivory, animal skins such as lions and leopards and control of trade routes were of greatest concern to