1. This essay is based on research carried out in the Public Record Office, London (P.R.O.); the National Library of Scotland, Edinburgh (N.L.S.); and the Malawi National Archives, Zomba. In addition, we have used field data from research carried out in Malawi between 1967 and 1971, in Zambia in 1974, and again in Malawi in 1982 and 1985. We have also drawn on material collected by various researchers of the University of Malawi's Zomba History Project and, in particular, that of Drs Kings Phiri and Megan Vaughn. Citations for field interviews indicate the names of the informant(s), village (vge.), district, and date of interview. Unless otherwise specified, all references are to files in the Malawi National Archives. We acknowledge with thanks financial support from the University of Malawi and from the Leverhulme Trust. Earlier versions of this essay have benefited from many critics, but we would especially like to thank Swanzie, the Dowager Lady Agnew of Lochnau, for her most useful suggestions. [BACK]

2. 'The President Ngwazi H. Kamuzu Banda speaks to the Women's League at State House in Blantyre on January 1st, 1970', cyclostyled speech issued by the Malawi Government's Department of Information (Blantyre, 1970). [BACK]

3. 'Installation of Paramount Chief Lundu at Chikwawa, by His Excellency the President, Dr. Kamuzu Banda on July 5, 1969', cyclostyled speech issued by the Malawi Government's Department of Information (Blantyre, 1969), p.4. [BACK]

4. For a discussion of the decline in the real income of the peasantry during the years of independence, see J. Kydd and R. Christiansen, 'Structural change in Malawi since independence: consequences of a development strategy based on large scale agriculture', World Development, 10, 5 (1982), pp.335-75. [BACK]

5. The most notable of the studies that concentrate upon the growth of nationalism as the key to an understanding of Malawi's modern history are G. Shepperson and T. Price, continue

Independent African: John Chilembwe and the Origins, Setting and Significance of the Nyasaland Native Rising of 1915 (Edinburgh, 1958); R.I. Rotburg, The Rise of Nationalism in Central Africa: The Making of Malawi and Zambia (Cambridge, Mass., 1964); B. Pachai, Malawi: The History of the Nation (London, 1973); and many articles, including J. van Velsen, 'Some early pressure groups in Malawi', in E. Stokes and R. Brown, eds., The Zambesian Past: Studies in Central African History (Manchester, 1966), pp.376-412; R.K. Tangri, 'Inter-War "Native Associations" and the formation of the Nyasaland African Congress', Transafrican Journal of History, 1, 1 (1971), pp.84-102; idem, 'Colonial and settler pressures and the African move to the politics of representation and union in Nyasaland', Journal of African History, 13, 2 (1972), pp.291-304; and idem, 'From the politics of union to mass nationalism: the Nyasaland African Congress, 1944-59', in R.J. Macdonald, ed., From Nyasaland to Malawi: Studies in Colonial History (Nairobi, 1975), pp.235-81, among others. [BACK]

6. See J.D. Omer-Cooper, The Zulu Aftermath (London, 1966), pp.64-85, for an outline of Ngoni history. [BACK]

7. For a discussion of earlier Tumbuka history, see H.L. Vail, 'Suggestions towards a reinterpreted Tumbuka history', in B. Pachai, ed., The Early History of Malawi (London, 1971), pp.150-54. [BACK]

8. Free Church of Scotland—Livingstonia Mission, 'Report on a journey of exploration, September to December, 1879' (n.p., n.d), 2; also N.L. S. MS 7878, Laws to Mission Board, n.d. [1894]. [BACK]

9. Interviews with Zakeyo Soko, Embangweni vge., Mzimba dist., 1 Aug. 1970; with Nelson Nkhata, Thombololo vge., Mzimba dist., 17 Sept. 1970; and with Eliyah Mphangula, Kapela vge., Mzimba dist., 3 Aug. 1970; Group Interview with Chief Mabilawo and councillors, Emgeni vge., Mzimba dist., 30 July 1970; Vulakayina Ngwenya, Edingeni vge., Mzimba dist., 19 Sept. 1971; Zachariyah Mwandila, Nemon Manda, et al., Chimemu vge., Lundazi dist., Zambia, 27 March 1974. See also D. Fraser, Winning a Primitive People: Sixteen Years' Work among the Warlike Ngoni and the Senga and Tumbuka Peoples of Central Africa (London, 1914), pp.121-3. [BACK]

10. L. Vail, 'The making of the "Dead North": a study of the Ngoni rule in northern Malawi, c. 1855-1907', in J. Peires, ed., Before and After Shaka: Papers in Nguni History (Grahamstown, 1981), pp.143-5. [BACK]

11. Interviews with Mayibale Munthali, Kaporo vge., Karonga dist., 10 Aug. 1971; and with Nelson Kapila, Katumbi vge., Karonga dist., 11 Aug. 1971. [BACK]

12. N.L.S. MS 7896, Elmslie to Laws, 22 Oct. 1892. [BACK]

13. N.L.S. MS 7879, Minutes of the Mission Council at Livingstonia, 12 Nov. 1896; Colonial Office, The Handbook of Nyasaland (London, 1910), p. 106; J.W. Jack, Daybreak in Livingstonia: The Story of the Livingstonia Mission, British Central Africa (London, 1901), pp.328-30. [BACK]

14. Colonial Office, Handbook of Nyasaland, p.120; J.W. Jack, Daybreak in Livingstonia, p.342. [BACK]

15. Much of the material in this section of the essay was covered in an earlier working paper published as L. Vail, 'Ethnicity, language and national unity: the case of Malawi', in P. Bonner, ed., Working Papers in Southern African Studies, Vol. 2 (Johannesburg, 1981), pp. 121-63. [BACK]

16. See, for example, L.M. Fotheringham, Adventures in Nyasaland (London, 1891), pp.21-5; D. Kerr-Cross, 'Reminiscences of Karonga', The Central African Times [CAT], 26 Aug. 1899. [BACK]

17. J. McCracken, Politics and Christianity in Malawi, 1875-1940: The Impact of the Livingstonia Mission in the Northern Province (Cambridge, 1977), p. 106, quoting a mission report of 1899-1900. [BACK]

18. Livingstonia Mission Report, 1911, p.38, quoted in McCracken, Politics and continue

Christianity in Malawi, p.106; also NNK 2/4/1, 'Monthly Reports, North Nyasa, 1901/1910', Report for Sept. 1910. In 1929 the Henga—'intelligent and progressive'—were still being contrasted with the 'slack and lethargic' Ngonde. Sl/1631/629, 'District Administration, North Nyasa, 1929', O'Brien to Chief Secretary, 30 Oct. 1929. [BACK]

19. J. McCracken, 'Religion and politics in northern Ngoniland, 1848-1904', in B. Pachai, ed., The Early History of Malawi (London, 1972), p.225. [BACK]

20. Interviews with David Sibande, Emoneni vge., Mzimba dist., 14 Sept. 1971; and with Mopho Jere, Ekwalkweni vge., Mzimba dist., 22 Sept. 1971. Also, N. L.S., MS 7879, Walter Elmslie, 'Report for Ngoniland of the Livingstonia Mission, 1895'. [BACK]

21. McCracken, Politics and Christianity in Malawi, pp.118-19. [BACK]

22. W.P. Livingstone, Laws of Livingstonia: A Narrative of Missionary Adventure and Achievement (London, n.d.), p.341.

23. Ibid ., p.ll8. [BACK]

22. W.P. Livingstone, Laws of Livingstonia: A Narrative of Missionary Adventure and Achievement (London, n.d.), p.341.

23. Ibid ., p.ll8. [BACK]

24. Fraser, Winning a Primitive People, p.195; McCracken, Politics and Christianity in Malawi, p.277. [BACK]

25. Interviews with Group Village Headman Mucinanguwo, Mwazisi vge., Rumphi dist., 3 Aug 1971; and with Chitamo Gondwe, Mwenilondo vge., Karonga dist., 13 Aug. 1971; T. C. Young, Notes on the History of the Tumbuka-Kamanga Peoples in the Northern Province of Nyasaland, 2nd ed. (London, 1970), p.124. [BACK]

26. Interview with Chitamo Gondwe, Mwenilondo vge., Karonga dist., 13 Aug. 1971; North Nyasa District Book, III, 92, loose typescript enclosure covering backgrounds of various chiefs of the area. [BACK]

27. Interview with Group Village Headman Mucinanguwo, Mwazisi vge., Rumphi dist., 3 Aug. 1971.

28. Ibid .; Interview with Chitamo Gondwe, Mwenilondo vge., Karonga dist., 13 Aug. 1971.

29. Ibid . [BACK]

27. Interview with Group Village Headman Mucinanguwo, Mwazisi vge., Rumphi dist., 3 Aug. 1971.

28. Ibid .; Interview with Chitamo Gondwe, Mwenilondo vge., Karonga dist., 13 Aug. 1971.

29. Ibid . [BACK]

27. Interview with Group Village Headman Mucinanguwo, Mwazisi vge., Rumphi dist., 3 Aug. 1971.

28. Ibid .; Interview with Chitamo Gondwe, Mwenilondo vge., Karonga dist., 13 Aug. 1971.

29. Ibid . [BACK]

30. Interview with S.P.K. Nyasulu, Mwenilondo vge., Karonga dist., 12 Aug. 1971; Malawi Society Library, Blantyre, Rangeley Papers, File 1/2/1, T.C. Young to Rangeley, 30 Aug. 1950; Saulos Nyirenda, 'History of the Tumbuka-Henga people', trans. and ed. by T.C. Young, Bantu Studies, 5, 1 (1930), pp. 1-75. [BACK]

31. Interview with Chitamo Gondwe, Mwenilondo vge., Karonga dist., 13 Aug. 1971. For Nkhonjera's account, see 'History of the Kamanga tribe of Lake Nyasa: a native account', African Affairs, 10, 39 (1911), pp.331-41, and 11, 42 (1912), pp.421-4. Martin Chanock has discussed the northern petty bourgeoisie's enthusiastic embrace of ideas of political hierarchy in his 'Ambiguities in the Malawian political tradition', African Affairs, 84, 296 (1975), pp.327-30. [BACK]

32. Young's most important works were his Notes on the Speech and History of the Tuumbuka-Henga Peoples (Livingstonia, 1923), Notes on the Speech of the Tumbuka-Kamanga People in the Northern Province of Nyasaland (London, 1932), and Notes on the History of the Tumbuka-Kamanga Peoples in the Northern Province of Nyasaland (London, 1932). [BACK]

33. Young, History of the Tumbuka-Kamanga, passim, but especially pp. 54-5, 84-6. It is worth noting that at the very time when Young was preparing his history, he was teaching John Gondwe, the son of Chief Chikulamayembe, and was hence in direct contact with the font of 'official' history. [BACK]

34. In fact, the Tumbuka were divided into many highly localized regional groupings that were frequently almost coterminous with ancient clan boundaries. [BACK]

35. His interpretation surfaced again in the most recent popular account of Malawi's history, which unaccountably ignores the latest professional historical writing. Pachai, Malawi, pp.10-12. [BACK]

36. For most of this information about the life of Edward Manda, we are indebted to Dr T.J. Thompson, letter dated 10 March 1977. break [BACK]

37. S1/2065/19, 'West Nyasa Native Association', Chief Secretary to Laws, 5 Dec. 1919. For a discussion of Nyasaland's 'Native Associations', see Van Velsen, 'Some early pressure groups', passim, and Tangri, 'Inter-war "Native Associations"', passim . [BACK]

38. NN 1/21/27, 'Native Affairs, North Nyasa', O'Brien to Provincial Commissioner, 1 March 1932. [BACK]

39. Manda saw himself explicitly as the representative 'for all the educated Henga people, both [in Nkhamanga] and at Karonga'. NN 1/7/4, 'Chiefs and Headmen, 1930-32', Encl. A in Burden to Provincial Commissioner, 28 Aug. 1931. [BACK]

40. NN 2/1/1, 'Annual Report, North Nyasa, 1930'. [BACK]

41. For a general discussion of this change, see L. Vail, 'The political economy of East Central Africa', in D. Birmingham and P.M. Martin, eds., History of Central Africa, Vol. 2 (New York, 1983), pp.200-211. [BACK]

42. See, for example, E.P. Makambe, 'The Nyasaland African labour "ulendos" to Southern Rhodesia and the problem of African "highwaymen", 1903-1923: a study in the limitations of early independent labour migration', African Affairs, 317 (1980), pp.548-66. [BACK]

43. GOA 5/3//3, 'Major Pearce's confidential notes on Nyasaland (August 1913)'. [BACK]

44. Interviews with Mopho Jere, Ekwalwani vge., Mzimba dist., Malawi, 22 Sept. 1971; and with Timoti Zimba et al., Mjulu vge., Lundazi dist., Zambia, 11 May 1974; S1/1008/19, 'Annual Report, Mombera, 1918'; S1/1347/19, 'Nyasaland Civil Servants Asscn: petition to Secretary of State for improved conditions of service'; P.R.O. CO 525/97, Smith to Churchill, 29 Aug. 1921, and enclosures. [BACK]

45. The literature on this aspect of labour migrancy is already substantial. Although written about contemporary Lesotho, Colin Murray's admirable study, Families Divided: The Impact of Migrant Labour in Lesotho (Cambridge, 1981), has much relevance to the general pattern of changes in family life in migrant labour areas in the inter-war period. [BACK]

46. Nyasaland Protectorate. Orders in Council, Ordinances, Proclamations, Rules & Orders, etc., Promulgated in the Nyasaland Protectorate 1912 (Zomba, n. d.), Ordinance No. 13 of 1912, District Administration (Native) Ordinance—1912. [BACK]

47. Nyasaland Protectorate. Ordinances of the Nyasaland Protectorate for the Year Ended 31/12/1924 (Zomba, n.d.), The District Administration (Native) Ordinance—1924. [BACK]

48. This insight is perhaps best brought out in Martin Chanock's seminal study, Law, Custom and Social Order: The Colonial Experience in Malawi and Zambia (Cambridge, 1985), passim, but especially pp.192-216. [BACK]

49. NN 1/21/17, 'Native Affairs, North Nyasa', O'Brien to Provincial Commissioner, 1 March 1932; NNM 1/15/9, 'Native Authority Chikulamayembe', Memorandum of District Commissioner reporting meeting of 9 July 1931, dated 15 July 1931; NN 1/7/4, Encl. A, in Burden to Provincial Commissioner, 28 Aug. 1931. Interview with S.P.T. Nyasulu, Mwenilondo vge., Karonga dist., 12 Aug. 1971. [BACK]

50. NN 1/7/4, Encls. A and C in Burden to Provincial Commissioner, 28 Aug. 1931.

51. Ibid., reporting comments of Councillor Juanini. [BACK]

50. NN 1/7/4, Encls. A and C in Burden to Provincial Commissioner, 28 Aug. 1931.

51. Ibid., reporting comments of Councillor Juanini. [BACK]

52. SEC 1/67F/37, 'Annual Report, Mzimba District, 1936'. [BACK]

53. For an example of Manda's mixing of Christianity with African institutions, see NN 1/21/27, 'Native Affairs—North Nyasa', 'Vows of Chieftainship', which Manda drew up for the installation of the chief, but which the British disallowed on the grounds that they would establish Christianity as the official religion of the chieftainship. [BACK]

54. NN 1/20/4, 'District Councils, North Nyasa', Report of a meeting on 1 May 1932, and minute of District Commissioner. [BACK]

55. S1/112/34, 'Annual Report, Northern Province, 1933'; NN 1/20/5, 'Native Affairs, North Nyasa', Report of a meeting of Nkhamanga chiefs on 18 April 1933. break [BACK]

56. S1/89F/35, 'Annual Report, Mzimba District, 1934'. [BACK]

57. Quoted in McCracken, Politics and Christianity in Malawi, p.289. [BACK]

58. See, for example, NNM 1/14/6, 'Administration, 1936-37', undated memorandum by G.M. Kayima Mwachanda, encl. in Jennings to Provincial Commissioner, Northern Province, 26 June 1937. Despite the fact that Tumbuka ethnic particularism later became largely subsumed in northern regionalism, these claims have kept alive amongst some Tumbuka a degree of anti-Ngoni animus down to the present. Interview with Chief Mphamba and James Dokowe, Mphamba vge., Lundazi dist., Zambia, 1 May 1974. [BACK]

59. Nyasaland Protectorate, Report on the Census of 1931 (Zomba, 1932), p.21. [BACK]

60. For the work of Read, who had been hired by the government to study the effects of labour migrancy on northern Nyasaland, see Vail, 'The making of the "Dead North'", pp.231-3. [BACK]

61. This process in discussed in some detail in Vail, 'The making of the "Dead North"', pp.238-43. [BACK]

62. J. Henderson, 'Northern Nyasaland', The Scottish Geographical Magazine, 16 (1900), p.86. [BACK]

63. Interviews with Chief Mzukuzuku and councillors, Embangweni vge., Mzimba dist., 16 Sept. 1971; and with Paramount Chief Mbelwa III and councillors, Edingeni vge., Mzimba dist., 19 Sept. 1971; P.R.O. C.O. 525/66, Smith to Bonar Law, 17 Jan. 1916. The Mombera District Book, I (1904-07), p.183, has the actual terms of the agreement between Alfred Sharpe and the Ngoni chiefs. [BACK]

64. Interview with Councillors of Chief Mzukuzuku, Embangweni vge., Mzimba dist., 16 Sept. 1971. [BACK]

65. GOA 5/3/3, 'Major Pearce's confidential notes on Nyasaland (August 1913)'. [BACK]

66. P.R.O. C.O. 525/66, Smith to Bonar Law, 17 Jan. 1916, encls. 1 and 4. [BACK]

67. Interview with Chief Mzukuzuku and councillors, Embangweni vge., Mzimba dist., 16 Aug. 1971. [BACK]

68. Personal communication from Ching'anya Mkandawire, 10 Dec. 1977. [BACK]

69. Interview with Levy Mbalo Mtonga, Euthini vge., Mzimba dist., 15 Sept. 1971. [BACK]

70. Malawi National Archives, Zomba. Charles Chinula Papers, Mombera Native Association Minute Book, Entry for 26/27 Sept. 1921; S1/1182/24, 'Famine relief in Mombera', Provincial Commissioner, Northern Province, to Chief Secretary, 29 Nov. 1924. [BACK]

71. Obituary of Charles Chinula, The Times (of Blantyre), 19 Nov. 1970. [BACK]

72. S1/210/20, 'Minutes of Mombera Native Association', meeting of 1-2 Sept. 1920. [BACK]

74. Personal communication, Dr J. Thompson, 11 May 1978. This book was later translated as My Ngoni of Nyasaland (London, n.d.). When the British anthropologist Margaret Read came to study the Ngoni, her guide was the Rev. Chibambo, who influenced her perceptions so as to produce a favourable view of Ngoni history and institutions in publications.

Evidence of Ngoni decline is present in great abundance in archival files of the 1930s, e.g., S1/18/38, 'Annual Reports, 1937', passim ; Zambian National Archives, Lusaka, ZA 7/1/16/4, 'Annual Report—East Luangwa, 1933: Lundazi District', among others in both the Malawi and Zambian Archives. See also L. Vail, "The state and the creation of colonial Malawi's agricultural economy', in R.I. Rotburg, ed., Imperialism, Colonialism and Hunger: East and Central Africa (Lexington, Ma., 1983), pp.53-65. [BACK]

75. NC 1/3/5, 'Native Associations', Minute by Brackenbury, 30 Aug. 1930. [BACK]

76. S1/1365/24, 'Mombera Native Association, 1924-29', Minutes of 12 June 1924 and 1 July 1929. break [BACK]

77. NN 1/7/1, 'Chiefs and Headmen, 1926-30', Fairfax-Franklin to Provincial Commissioner, 11 Feb. 1927; Provincial Commissioner to Chief Secretary, 17 Feb. 1927. [BACK]

78. Mombera District Notebook, I, p. 7. [BACK]

79. B. Pachai, 'African initiatives in the local administration in colonial Malawi: the case of the M'Mbelwa African Administrative Council of Mzimba District', in Macdonald, ed., From Nyasaland to Malawi, p. 196; NN 1/4/1, 'Mombera, North Nyasa and Angoni Highlands Native Associations, 1930-31', Minutes of meeting of the Mombera Native Association, 1 July 1930. [BACK]

80. S1/112/34, 'Annual Report, Northern Province, 1933'; S1/89F/35, 'Annual Report, Mzimba District, 1934'. See also Zambian National Archives, ZA 7/1/17/1, 'Annual Report, Eastern Province: Lundazi District, 1934', Interview with Chief Magodi and councillors, Egichekeni vge., Lundazi dist., Zambia, 29 April 1974. [BACK]

81. Pachai, 'African initiatives in local administration', p. 209. [BACK]

82. Zambia National Archives, Lusaka. SEC/NAT/36, 'Tour Reports, Ft. Jameson, 1938/39', Vol. 3, Tour Report No. 12 of 1938. [BACK]

83. S1/1008/19, 'Annual Report, Mombera District, 1918', Gov. Smith to Chief Secretary, 7 May 1919. [BACK]

84. S1/449/32, 'Nyanja as a school language', Minutes of the 4th Session of the Legislative Council. [BACK]

85. P. R. O. C. O. 525/153, Young to Cunliffe-Lister, 9 Feb. 1934, reporting Thomas's earlier arguments.

86. Quoted in ibid .

87. Ibid . [BACK]

85. P. R. O. C. O. 525/153, Young to Cunliffe-Lister, 9 Feb. 1934, reporting Thomas's earlier arguments.

86. Quoted in ibid .

87. Ibid . [BACK]

85. P. R. O. C. O. 525/153, Young to Cunliffe-Lister, 9 Feb. 1934, reporting Thomas's earlier arguments.

86. Quoted in ibid .

87. Ibid . [BACK]

88. Minute of Livingstonia Mission Council, 15 July 1933, end. in P.R.O. C.O. 525/150. [BACK]

89. LB 15/1/1, 'Chinjanja as a lingua franca' . Memorandum of W.P. Young, July 1933. [BACK]

90. NNM 1/16/4, 'Mombera District Council, 1931/39', Meeting of 16 Sept. 1933. [BACK]

91. NN 1/2005,'Native Administration, Mzimba, 1932-34', Minutes of barazas. [BACK]

92. S1/449/32, Minute of 19 Oct. 1933. [BACK]

93. S1/339/32, Chief Kyungu to District Commissioner, 9 Nov. 1932. See also S1/54/33. 'Annual Report, Karonga District, 1932'. [BACK]

94. P.R.O. C.O. 525/153, Young to Cunliffe-Lister, 9 Feb. 1934. [BACK]

95. P.R.O. C.O. 525/158, Turner to Vischer, 29 April 1935.

96. Ibid., Minute of Lee, 13 May 1935.

97. Ibid., Bottomley to Kittermaster, 7 June 1935. [BACK]

95. P.R.O. C.O. 525/158, Turner to Vischer, 29 April 1935.

96. Ibid., Minute of Lee, 13 May 1935.

97. Ibid., Bottomley to Kittermaster, 7 June 1935. [BACK]

95. P.R.O. C.O. 525/158, Turner to Vischer, 29 April 1935.

96. Ibid., Minute of Lee, 13 May 1935.

97. Ibid., Bottomley to Kittermaster, 7 June 1935. [BACK]

98. S1/449/32, Minutes of a meeting on 22 June 1936. [BACK]

99. File 14, 143, 'Vernacular language policy'. Acting Chief Secretary to Provincial Commissioner, Northern Province, 8 July 1947. [BACK]

100. Mlanje, Blantyre, and Zomba District Books, Vol. 1; Centra] African Planter, 12 May 1897; Chikowi Historical Texts, collected by Kings Phiri, with C. Chidzero and G. Maluza, nos. 1, 3, 6, 7, etc. (deposited in the University of Malawi Library, Zomba, Malawi). For a full account, see Megan Vaughan, 'Social and economic change in southern Malawi: a study of rural communities in the Shire Highlands from the mid-nineteenth century to 1915', unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, University of London, 1981. [BACK]

101. Nyasaland Protectorate. Ordinances, Rules, Proclamations and Notices Promulgated in the British Central African Protectorate (Zomba, 1905), pp. 10-11; COM 6/2/1/1, 'Chilembwe rising—oral evidence', Evidence of A.L. Bruce. [BACK]

102. P.R.O. C.O. 525/44, Manning to C.O., 2 Nov. 1912, with minute of Parkinson and W. C. S., 23 Dec. 1912. [BACK]

103. BCAG, 1 June 1895; Chikowi Historical Texts, nos. 4, 17, 20, etc. Group interviews in Chiradzulo district in Mpawa vge., 9 Feb. 1982; Komiha vge., 19 July continue

1982; Bowadi vge., 22 July 1982; and Mpotola vge., 5 Aug. 1982. Mianje, Blantyre, and Zomba District Books, Vol. 1; interviews by Megan Vaughan in Zomba district at Kabango vge., 2 Feb. 1978; Kapichi vge., 19 May 1979; and Chikanda vge., 9 May 1979. [BACK]

104. Central African Planter, 12 May 1897; BCGA, 29 Nov. 1897. [BACK]

105. The classic study of the Rising remains Shepperson and Price, Independent African .

106. See ibid., pp.323-59, passim . [BACK]

105. The classic study of the Rising remains Shepperson and Price, Independent African .

106. See ibid., pp.323-59, passim . [BACK]

107. See L. White, "Tribes" and the aftermath of the Chilembwe Rising', African Affairs, 84 (1984), pp.511-41, for a discussion of this process. [BACK]

108. The British were aware that there were Nyanja people in the area, but these were largely disregarded as but a remnant of an inferior people displaced by the superior Yao in the mid-nineteenth century. [BACK]

109. COM 6/3/1. 'Chilembwe Rising: Judge's records', No. 29; COM 6/3/4/1, 'Magistrate's Court', passim .

110. Ibid., nos. 156-275; COM 6/3/2/3 'Chilembwe Rising: war roll'; S10/1/2, 'Chilembwe Rising: statement of Aida Chilembwe'. [BACK]

109. COM 6/3/1. 'Chilembwe Rising: Judge's records', No. 29; COM 6/3/4/1, 'Magistrate's Court', passim .

110. Ibid., nos. 156-275; COM 6/3/2/3 'Chilembwe Rising: war roll'; S10/1/2, 'Chilembwe Rising: statement of Aida Chilembwe'. [BACK]

111. COM 6/2/1/1. 'Chilembwe Rising: oral evidence', evidence of Moggridge. NSB 7/3/2, Chiradzulu. Monthly Reports, reports for February and March 1915, including letters of Milthorpe to Moggridge, 27 Jan. 1915, 28 Jan. 1915, 2 Feb. 1915 and 4 Feb. 1915. [BACK]

112. S.S. Murray, A Handbook of Nyasaland (Zomba, 1922), pp.45-7; 55-7; 95. [BACK]

113. NSB 7/3/2, Report for Aug. 1915 and Wade to Moggridge, 17 Aug. 1915; 11 Oct. 1915; 4 Dec. 1915; NSB 7/3/3, Reports for Feb. and March 1916 and Wade to Moggridge, 11 March 1916, 8 July 1916; NSB 2/1/1, Moggridge to Wade, 12 Oct. 1915. [BACK]

114. NSB 7/3/3, Reports for April 1916 and March and April 1919; District Book for Chiradzulu. [BACK]

115. Y. Abdallah, The Yaos (Zomba, 1919), preface. [BACK]

116. NSD 2/1/1, Annual Report for Chiradzulu, 1936. [BACK]

117. GOB/G, 'A.L. Bruce Estates, Ltd.', Phillips to Ellis, 16 Dec. 1939 and file, passim . [BACK]

118. Nyasaland Times, 13 July 1942 and 6 Aug. 1942. [BACK]

119. This sketch of Bandawe's life is taken from L.E. White, Magomero: Portrait of an African Village (Cambridge, 1987), pp.193-4. [BACK]

120. Nyasaland Times, 30 July 1942; see also L. Bandawe, Memoirs of a Malawian, ed. B. Pachai (Blantyre, 1971), pp.128-9. [BACK]

121. The literature touching nyau is substantial, but perhaps the most useful in this context is Page, 'The Great War and Chewa society', pp.171-82. [BACK]

122. Cf. NC 1/3/2, 'Central Province Native Association, 1923-29', Meeting of 19 Nov. 1927; S1/556/29, 'Annual Report, Central Province-1928'. [BACK]

123. See, for example, J.L. Pretorious, 'An introduction to the history of the Dutch Reformed Church in Malawi, 1889-1914', in Pachai, ed., The Early History, pp.372-5; Linden, Catholics, Peasants and Chewa Resistance, pp.143-4.

124. Ibid ., p.l20. [BACK]

123. See, for example, J.L. Pretorious, 'An introduction to the history of the Dutch Reformed Church in Malawi, 1889-1914', in Pachai, ed., The Early History, pp.372-5; Linden, Catholics, Peasants and Chewa Resistance, pp.143-4.

124. Ibid ., p.l20. [BACK]

125. NC 1/2/9, 'Tobacco', Provincial Commissioner, Central Province, to Chief Secretary, 23 June 1924. [BACK]

126. S2/23/25, 'Native labour, 1925-27', Rankine to Amery, 6 Oct. 1926. For a discussion of the elaboration of this ideological position, see Vail, 'The state and Malawi's agricultural economy', pp.62-3. [BACK]

127. For a full discussion, see J. McCracken, 'Planters, peasants and the colonial state: the impact of the Native Tobacco Board in the Central Province of Malawi', Journal of Southern African Studies, 9,: (1983), pp.172-92.

128. Ibid., passim . [BACK]

127. For a full discussion, see J. McCracken, 'Planters, peasants and the colonial state: the impact of the Native Tobacco Board in the Central Province of Malawi', Journal of Southern African Studies, 9,: (1983), pp.172-92.

128. Ibid., passim . [BACK]

129. Nyasaland Protectorate, Report on the Native Tobacco Industry (Zomba, 1931), p.4; P.R.O.C.O. 525/135, Thomas to Passfield, 6 Dec. 1930. [BACK]

130. NC 1/2/9, Tobacco, 1923-1930', Memorandum of Murray, 25 June 1930. break [BACK]

131. S1/3263/23, 'Blantyre Native Association, 1923-1937', Association to Chief Secretary, 25 Feb. 1936. [BACK]

132. S1/89A-E/35, 'Annual Reports, 1934', Reports for Dedza and Lilongwe districts. [BACK]

133. H. Rangeley, 'A brief history of the tobacco industry in Nyasaland, Part II', Nyasaland Journal, 11, pp.40-41. [BACK]

134. G.S. Mwase, Strike a Blow and Die, ed. by R.I. Rotburg (London, 1975). [BACK]

135. McCracken, 'Peasants, planters, and the colonial state', p.184. [BACK]

136. For a brief discussion of the roots of this crisis, see Vail, 'The state and the creation of colonial Malawi's agricultural economy', pp.67-72. [BACK]

137. Nyasaland Protectorate, Reports on the Census of 1945 (Zomba, 1946), passim . [BACK]

138. Chiradzulu District Notebook; see also W. Allen, The African Husbandman (Edinburgh, 1965), passim . [BACK]

139. Personal communication, J. Killick, Aug. 1983. [BACK]

140. NSD 2/1/1-4, 'Annual Reports for Chiradzulu District, 1930-41', passim . [BACK]

141. G. Coleman, 'Regional and district origins of migrant labour from Malawi to 1946', Journal of Social Science, 6 (1977), p.47. [BACK]

142. Colonial Office, Report of the Commission Appointed to Enquire into the Financial Position and Further Development of Nyasaland (London, 1938), p.l3. [BACK]

143. Coleman, 'Regional and district origins', p.55. [BACK]

144. See Vaughan, 'The 1949 Famine', paper presented at the Malawi Social Science Conference, July 1982. [BACK]

145. For a discussion of this famine, see M. Vaughan, 'Poverty and famine: 1949 in Nyasaland', Journal of Social Sciences, 11 (1984), pp.46-72. [BACK]

146. Nyasaland Protectorate, Annual Report of the Department of Agriculture for the year 1954 (Zomba, 1955), p.3; Annual Report of the Department of Agriculture for the Year Ended 31st December 1957, I (Zomba, 1958), p.4. [BACK]

147. Vaughan, 'Poverty and famine', pp.59-63. [BACK]

148. For a discussion of the institutional development of this movement, see Rotburg, Rise of Nationalism in Central Africa, pp.179-99. [BACK]

149. C. Dunn, Central African Witness (London, 1959), pp.107-8; T.D. Williams, Malawi: The Politics of Despair (Cornell, 1978), pp.126-8. [BACK]

150. See M. W. Kanyame Chiume, Kwacha: An Autobiography (Nairobi, 1975), p.211, for a discussion of post-independence reductions in civil service salaries and benefits. [BACK]

151. Rotburg, Rise of Nationalism, p.318. [BACK]

152. Cited in Andrew Ross, 'The crisis in Malawi, 1964-1965', unpublished essay, 1984. [BACK]

153. C. McMasters, Malawi: Foreign Policy and Development (London, 1974), p.65. [BACK]

154. Chiradzulu District Notebook. [BACK]

155. The existence of the Lomwe/Chewa alliance is well known in Malawi, but little concrete information is available as to what the Lomwe leaders have obtained from it. It is generally believed, however, that the majority of the Malawian army is Lomwe in origin as are many of the police. For years MCP officials, including the President himself, could not appear publicly in predominantly Yao areas, such as Mangoche and Mulanje districts. [BACK]

156. 'Installation of Paramount Chief Lundu', p.6. [BACK]

157. Personal communication, Lady Swanzie Agnew, 14 June 1978. Banda's deep concern for a paper majority for the so-called 'Chewa' was demonstrated when he ordered the University of Malawi to use no longer the services of the University of London's distinguished linguist, Professor Wilfred Whiteley, after he observed in a report prepared for the University that the number of Chewa-speakers was clearly exaggerated in official estimates. [BACK]

158. COM 6/2/1/1, 'Chilembwe Rising—oral evidence'. Evidence of R.S. Hynde. [BACK]

159. See Vail, 'The state and the creation of colonial Malawi's agricultural economy', pp.72-8. [BACK]

160. For a discussion of this process, see Kydd and Christiansen, 'Structural changes in continue

Malawi since independence', passim, and Clement H.S. Ng'ong'ola, 'Statutory law and agrarian change in Malawi', unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, University of London, 1983, pp.411-24. [BACK]

161. Graham H.R. Chipande, 'Smallholder agriculture as a rural development strategy: the case of Malawi', unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, University of Glasgow, 1983, p.75. [BACK]

162. John E. Hooper, 'The politics of patronage: an assessment of the political economy of Malawi since independence', unpublished M.A. thesis, University of York, 1984, pp.37-8. [BACK]

163. S. Thomas, 'Economic developments in Malawi since independence', Journal of Southern African Studies, II, 1 (1975), p.49. [BACK]

164. Unattributable interview; Thomas, 'Economic developments', p.49. [BACK]

165. M.H. Watkins, A Grammar of ChiChewa (Philadelphia, 1937), p.7. [BACK]

166. Short, Banda, p.93. [BACK]

167. Many of these themes may be found, for example, in speeches made by President Banda on the nature of the Chewa language at the University of Malawi, Limbe, 4 February 1966, and on the nature of Chewa history at the University of Malawi, Bunda, in 1968. See also Chiume, Kwacha, pp.166-76, for a discussion of Banda's earlier imperial desires. [BACK]

168. Personal observations, Chikwawa town, Chikwawa district, 10 June 1968. [BACK]

169. Chiume, Kwacha, p.225. [BACK]

170. M. Schoffeleers, 'The meaning and use of the name Malawi in oral tradition and pre-colonial documents', in Pachai, ed., Early History, pp.91-103; 'Myths and legends of creation'. Vision of Malawi (December 1972); 'Towards the identification of proto-Chewa culture: a preliminary contribution'. Journal of Social Science, 2 (1973), pp.47-60; M. Schoffeleers and I. Linden, 'The resistance of the nyau societies to the Roman Catholic missions in colonial Malawi', in T.O. Ranger and I.N. Kimambo, eds., The Historical Study of African Religion (London, 1972), pp.252-73; Linden, Chewa Resistance, passim, among other works by the two scholars. [BACK]

171. For example, J.B. Webster, 'From Yao Hill to Mulanje Mountain: ivory and slaves and the southwestern expansion of the Yao', unpublished seminar paper, University of Malawi, 30 Nov. 1977. [BACK]

172. Roderick J. Macdonald, 'A history of African education in Nyasaland, 1875-1945', unpublished Ph.D. dissertation. University of Edinburgh, 1969, pp.542-3. [BACK]

173. Personal communication, Mr C. Baker, former Under Secretary to the Malawi Government, 30 Jan. 1978. [BACK]

174. Short, Banda, p. 274. [BACK]

175. See Vail, 'Ethnicity, language and national unity', pp.121, 148. [BACK]

176. Unattributable interviews, August 1982 and September 1985. break [BACK]