*** Welcome to piglix ***

Nyakyusa people


The Nyakyusa (also called the Sokile, Ngonde or Nkonde) are an African ethnic and linguistic group who live in the fertile mountains of southern Tanzania and northern Malawi—former German East Africa. They speak the Nyakyusa language, a member of the Bantu language family. In 1993 the Nyakusa population was estimated to number 1,050,000, with 750,000 living in Tanzania and 300,000 in Malawi [1].

Historically, they were called the 'Ngonde' below the Songwe River in British Nyasaland, and 'Nyakyusa' above the river in German territory. The two groups were identical in language and culture, so much so that the Germans referred to the Nyakyusa region above the Songwe River and its people as 'Konde', at least until 1935.

The Nyakyusa people trace their origins to Nyanseba, a Nubian Queen who was abducted by a ruthless warrior and his herdsmen. These herdsmen turned the rulership of Empresses to Emperors, but the power and influence of women among the Nyakyusa can still be seen through the naming of children. Boys take their mother's clan name while girls take their father's. This is to enforce the fact that her name would remain with equal prestige among the nations.

The Scots had founded Karonga in 1875. In 1889, the treaties of Harry Johnston reduced the state of regular war between the Konde Chiefs and the Arabs. In 1895 the British hanged Mlozi, a slave trader. Finally the area was incorporated as 'British Central Africa', with Karonga itself fortified with palisades on the lake and defended on the other three sides with trenches, which could be swept from brick bastions. Gates protected the trenches of the fort with two cannons, one Norden field machine-gun, and 300 to 400 armed inhabitants, who were ready even during peacetime. Administrators and warehouses were to be found inside—the houses of the inhabitants were outside—within their own palisades, protected by the guns of the fort. It is said that slave raids were conducted almost within sight of Karonga, leaving the Nyakyusa and others uncertain as to whether or not to support Mlozi or a European power. Three hundred to five hundred warriors finally supported England. Karonga was important as England's main support base for the 'Stephenson Road', from Lake Nyasa to Lake Tanganyika, which by 1892 was already falling apart due to a lack of funds.


...
Wikipedia

...