The origin of undi’s kingdom was based on the succession dispute between undi and kalonga.
After conceding defeat in the dispute, Undi broke away from the Kalonga kingdom with the
narrative of establishing his own kingdom elsewhere. He voyaged westwards into present day
Mozambique where he established his Capital at Mano, south of Tete District. His kingdom
expanded as far as south of Katete in Zambia’s Eastern Province. He proliferated his dominance
all the way through Katete and Chadiza region. In this region, he conquered the local groups
such as the Mkanda, the Nsenga of Petauke and the Chewa of Tete. After the successful raids of
the local groups, he attained a praise name of Gawa Undi. “Gawa” meant “share”. This title came
into being because Undi was generous enough to share the land among his subordinate chiefs.
Therefore, Gawa Undi became the official title of the Chewa Paramount Chiefs. This generous
gesture or act was the difference in the expansion and development of the 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. The administrative
system was one commonly used by kings in Africa. The king appointed chiefs in the outlying
villages; the chiefs ruled over several headmen. The chiefs would generally be family members
or would be married to one of the king’s relatives. Through this arrangement loyalty was
preserved. Tribute was collected from all the people via the chiefs; it could be cattle, grain, tools,
salt, elephant tusks. In exchange for tribute the king distributed items including cloth and other
imports. The king was also in charge of spiritual matters including the ancestral shrine and
ensured the good will of the gods. In the case of Undi his spiritual centre remained in Makewana.
Undi-was the overall boss
Subordinate chief-from the Phiri and Banda Clans
Tributary chiefs-from the conquered people
Headmen- from the villages.
Ordinary people
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 main trade for the Chewa was through the
Portuguese along the Zambezi River who initially came to collect elephant tusks. By the 1700s
the trade also included gold and slaves
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.
his human labour was needed for the huge plantations called the Prazoes in the Zambezi valley.
Decline
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.
Arnold, G.. Junior Secondary History for Zambia. Zambia: Longman Zambia, 2001.
Birmingham, David. Central Africa to 1870 : Zambezia, Zaïre, and the South Atlantic : chapters
from The Cambridge history of Africa. United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press, 1981.
The Cambridge History of Africa. United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press, 1975.
