Tumbuka people

thumb|The Tumbuka cultural festival

The Tumbuka (also known as Yombe, Tonga, Kamanga, Senga and Henga) is a group of Bantu people found in Malawi, Zambia, Tanzania and Zimbabwe. The Tumbuka group is made up of over fifteen sub groups of peoples such as the Senga, Nyika, Henga, Yombe, Phoka, Tonga and Tumbuka, who are part of the larger Tumbuka family. Their language is called Chitumbuka and has 12 total known dialects such as Yombe, Senga, and Wenya, among others. Together with these groups united under one ruler, they formed a kingdom known as Nkhamanga Kingdom.

There are also many smaller subsidiary Tumbuka groups by origin found mainly in the north-western corner of their original kingdom between Kalonga and Isoka as well as Tanzania. Many of these belong to the Kalonga wa Nkhonde segment of the Mulonga Mbulalubilo Tumbuka.

The Tumbuka tribe was one of the first tribes who originated from Luba in what is currently known as Democratic Republic of the Congo. That was before any formal government setup and they had been staying there for hundreds of years after breaking away from the Bantu tribes in upper central Africa.

The Tumbuka tribe and other tribes were driven out of Luba by a warrior tribe known as Kongolo. He merged with the tribes that remained in Luba after they tried to subdue the Tumbuka people and failed.

Demography and language

Various estimates suggest that over ten million Tumbuka speakers live in Malawi, Zambia and Tanzania, with few others in Zimbabwe. However, Ember et al. estimated that about an additional million Tumbuka people live in central and southern African countries such as Tanzania and Zimbabwe because of the diffusion of Tumbuka people as migrant labor. The Chitumbuka language is mutually intelligible with the Tonga language which is its dialect. In 19th Century, missionaries treated two such dialects as the standard Chitumbuka and Tonga languages, which are one language.

Before a British protectorate was created over Nyasaland, there were many ethnic groups in what is now Malawi's Northern Region including a substantial group culturally-related people, scattered widely and loosely organized under largely autonomous village headmen who spoke dialects of the Chitumbuka language. Missionaries in the late 19th century standardised these languages into a relatively small number of groups, and chose the standardised Chitumbuka language as the usual medium for teaching in the north of the country, in preference to the Ngoni, Tonga or Ngonde languages which were minor dialects.

In 1934, Chitumbuka was made an official language of Malawi along with Chewa and English. The three languages were used in government, national radio, school curriculum and public. The languages enjoyed official status for over 21 years before Banda removed Chichewa and Chitumbuka as official languages in 1968, leaving English alone on the official status.

Even though Chitumbuka and Chichewa were removed as official languages in 1968, Chitumbuka was completely removed as a medium of instruction and in examinations, leaving Chichewa to continue in education. The secondary school entrance system was manipulated to assist candidates from the Central Region and disadvantage those from the Northern Region. Some of those that objected to the ban on the use of Chitumbuka were arrested or harassed in public but both the Church of Central Africa Presbyterian and the Catholic Church continued to preach and use religious texts in Chitumbuka in the Northern and Central Region.

After the advent of multi-party democracy, Tumbuka language programmes began to be broadcast on national radio in 1994 but a 1996 proposal for the reintroduced of Tumbuka as a medium for teaching in the first four years of compulsory education was denied.

History

thumb|A 1906 British Central Africa map showing the distribution of various ethnic groups. Tumbuka are marked as Batumbuka and shown near the German East Africa region in this map.

The Tumbuka probably entered the area between the Luangwa valley and northern Lake Malawi in the 15th century. At the start of the 18th century, they formed a number of groups, of which the Henga was one, living in small, independent communities without a central organisation, spread thinly over this area. By the mid-18th century, traders dressed “as Arabs”, although coming from the Unyamwezi region of what is now Tanzania were involved in trading for ivory and to some extent slaves as far inland as the Luangwa valley. They formed alliances with groups of Henga, and their leader established the Chikulamayembe Dynasty ruling a federation of small chiefdoms. However, by the 1830s, this Chikulamayembe dynasty was in decline and the area reverted to a state of political and military disorganisation

The large elephant herds of the region attracted groups of coastal Swahili ivory hunters and traders followed in the colonial era by European ivory traders. In the 1840s, Swahili Arabs entered northern Malawi region, with Jumbe Salim bin Abdallah establishing a trading centre at Nkhotakota near Lake Malawi. Jumbe Abdallah's trade in slaves to satisfy the demand for slaves on Zanzibar plantations of cloves and for the Middle East triggered raids and violence against the Tumbuka people. A male slave was known as muzga or kapolo, while a chituntulu meant a young female slave.

thumb|left|200px|The demand for elephant ivory from northern Malawi, along with the slavery market devastated the Tumbuka people in 18th and 19th centuries. The rising demand for ivory in the European market led to conflicts to control the export trade, resulting in greater social distinctions and politically centralized chiefdoms among the Tumbuka. These ruling groups collapsed around 1855, when the highly militarized warriors of the Ngoni ethnic group from South Africa arrived seeking agricultural slaves and recruits, in addition to those acquired by the Swahili traders.

Sub groups

Tonga sub group

When the Tumbuka were attacked in the East of the Nkhamanga Kingdom, they split into two groups. The first group went to settle eastwards in the present day Nkhata Bay District. Over time and due to isolation, the group's original language which was Chitumbuka, began having a different accent known as Tonga, which is still part of the Tumbuka language. Glottolog categorizes Tonga language and Tumbuka language in a single language family. The difference in language from its parent Tumbuka is the addition of the letter "u" at the end of some words while Tumbuka uses "o". The group is also known as Nyasa Tongas to distinguish it from other different groups of the same name. The Tonga group speak a dialect of Chitumbuka called Chitonga.

The Tonga dialect and Tonga group is different from the Tonga language and people of Zambia and Zimbabwe who belong to different branches of the Bantu family. During colonial time, the Tonga sub group learnt Chitumbuka in school as it was one of the official languages of Malawi.

Warfare

The Ngoni of Mbelwa (also known as M'mbelwa) were a branch of Zwangendaba's Ngoni, which began its migration from South Africa between 1819 and 1822, eventually reaching southern Tanzania and remained there until Zwangendaba's death in the mid-1840s. After this, his followers split into several groups, one of which under his son Mbelwa settled permanently in what is now the Mzimba district of northern Malawi around 1855. Mbelwa's Ngoni treated the Henga as subjects, exacting tribute and taking captives through raiding. These captives were rarely sold to the Swahili traders, but retained as unfree agricultural workers or enrolled in Ngoni regiments. Some of these Henga conscript soldiers revolted and fled north, entering Ngonde territory around 1881, where the Ngonde settled them as a buffer against their enemies.

The Swahili traders had built most of their stockades in the area in which the Henga had been settled and, after the African Lakes Company set up a trading base at Karonga, and as the threat of Ngoni raids had declined, the usefulness of Henga and Swahili to the Ngonde state lessened. Both groups were aliens among the Ngonde majority, and were suspicious of cooperation between the company and Ngonde, so they allied with each other. The alliance of the Swahili and the Henga faced a rival alliance between the Ngonde and the African Lakes Company which eventually led to the so-called Karonga War between them, a series of skirmishes and sieges of stockades between 1887 and 1889

The Ngoni invasion led initially to a devastation of the Tumbuka people, through the death, destruction, loss of family members, abandonment of the settled valleys, and disruption of their traditional agricultural methods as the Tumbuka people hid in mountains, small islands, and marshes to escape from the violence associated with large-scale human raids and elephant hunting. It also led to intermingling and intermarriage between the people of Tumbuka and the Ngoni cultures. Christian missionaries arrived in this region in the 1870s.

In the pre-colonial period, the Tumbuka people, like most of the people of what became Nyasaland relied on subsistence farming to support their families. However, attempts to introduce commercial agriculture into the Northern Region were frustrated by a lack of suitable crops and high transport costs arising from its distance from the available markets. As early as the 1880s, Tumbuka and Tonga men began to leave the region to work as porters and estate workers in the Southern Region of Nyasaland and, once those Tumbuka that had received a mission education reached adulthood, they travelled to Southern Rhodesia and South Africa where their literacy and numeracy commanded much high wages than they could earn in within Nyasaland. Although the colonial government was concerned about the scale of labour migration, it was a virtual necessity for many in the north of the country where there were few alternatives besides subsistence agriculture.

The colonial government were concerned that the Tumbuka-speaking areas had become the "Dead North" of the country but only invested small amounts in developing infrastructure or promoting commercial crops This was worsened by the mid-19th century incursion of Ngoni people, which caused a further loss of status of among the Tumbuka people, who become Ngoni serfs or refugees with limited access to land. Ngoni agricultural practices of shifting or slash-and-burn cultivation and overstocking cattle were said to impoverish the soil and promoted the spread of the tsetse fly. According to Vail, the effect of the Ngoni invasions was exacerbated during the period of colonial rule up to 1939 as, at best, local African men in the "Dead North" of Nyasaland had little choice but to become labour migrants and, at worst, their recruitment for the mines, farms and other employers of Southern Rhodesia and South Africa was forced.

Much of Vail's account of environmental degradation in Northern Nyasaland is based on the views of 19th century missionaries who regarded Ngoni farming practices as environmentally destructive, wasteful and therefore morally wrong, although modern agronomists believe shifting cultivation may be efficient and sympathetic to the environment. His suggestions that both the recruitment of labour and the consumption of foreign goods was forced on the Tumbuka, seem overstated, and the first labour migrancy from this area was entirely voluntary and, in later years, was more often disapproved of by the Nyasaland government than promoted by them.

Since independence, the economic conditions of the Tumbuka people have remained largely unchanged, their political power limited given the numerous ethnic groups in this region of Africa.

Levi Mumba, Charles Chinula and many of the leading figures in organisations that later became part of Nyasaland African Congress, or of Congress itself, were Tumbuka-speaking northerners or graduates of Blantyre Mission. This movement ultimately gained independence for Malawi in 1964. To help the conversion process, hymnbook and mythologies of Christianity were written into Tumbuka language, into a Tumbuka hymnbook. In contemporary times, the Tumbuka people are officially Christian, but they retain their traditional beliefs and folklores. This religious belief has yield a rich mythology filled with morals. In a manner similar to neighboring regions of Africa, the Tumbuka have also revered ancestor worship, spirit possession, witchcraft and similar practices. Their spirit possession and witchcraft is related to folk therapies for illnesses. This practice is locally called Vimbuza, includes a therapeutic dance performed by those possessed, and this is a part of modern syncretistic Christianity observed by the Tumbuka people.

The Tumbuka people have been rural, living in villages or dispersed agnatically related clusters of rectangular thatched houses. A circular thatched granaries and kitchen would traditionally be a part of each household. The male members would spend their time mostly in a part of the house called Mpara and females in Ntanganini. In the crop season, family members dispersed, sometimes residing in isolated thatched houses near the cultivated land.

Traditional dances and ceremonies

Kulonga Traditional ceremony

The Kulonga Traditional Ceremony is an annual harvest festival of the Tumbuka people in the Lundazi District of Eastern Province, Zambia. It is held under the leadership of Chief Mphamba and is named after the central ritual of kulonga in which the chief pours harvested foodstuffs into baskets, symbolizing the storing of a harvest and giving thanks for food security. The ceremony usually takes place in August and brings together the community to celebrate culture, music, and traditional dances, while also strengthening cultural identity. In 2024, notable attendees of the ceremony was president of Zambia, Hichilema Hakainde.

Vinkhakanimba Traditional Ceremony

The Vinkhakanimba Traditional Ceremony is an annual event celebrated by the Tumbuka people under Senior Chief Muyombe in Mafinga District, Muchinga Province, Zambia. Held between 15 and 28 September, the ceremony commemorates the Tumbuka people's migration from Ujiji in Tanzania and honors their cultural heritage. The festival features traditional dances, including the popular mganda, a military-inspired dance that evolved from Tumbuka men who served in the British Army during colonial times. These soldiers brought back marching styles, which were incorporated into the dance, blending military precision with traditional rhythms. The ceremony also serves as a platform for community leaders to address local issues and celebrate Tumbuka identity.

Vimbuza Traditional Dance

thumb|180px|Tumbuka people's Vimbuza dance is on [[UNESCO cultural heritage list. As a cultural practice, Vimbuza is a local version of a more widespread therapeutic complex known as ngoma, which is found throughout much of central and southern Africa and has been the focus of important scholarship by John M. Janzen and others, and even earlier by Victor Turner in his writings about Ndembu drums of affliction.

Vimbuza, in the traditional Tumbuka people's belief, are category of spirits that cause illnesses, a concept that according to James Peoples and Garrick Bailey is similar to "bodily humours" in early European texts. The Vimbuza causes imbalance in the hot and cold forces within the human body, whose healing process, to Tumbuka people, is a ritual dance with singing and music. The UNESCO inscribed the ritualistic Vimbuza dance as Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2008. The musical instruments that accompany the Vimbuza includes a Ng’oma or “drums of affliction”. A healer diagnoses spirit possession, and with the patient undertakes dance healing ritual treatment over several weeks or months.The dance tries to bring the patient into a trance, while the songs call the spirits to help. Men participate by creating drum rhythms that are spirit-specific and sometimes as the healer. Vimbuza, states UNESCO, creates a "space for patients to dance their disease”.

The Vimbuza tradition is effectively a set of practices and beliefs of which the Vimbuza dance is part; is a traditional healing procedure, to cure psychological illnesses as well as exorcise demons. In some places it is specifically called mkhalachitatu Vimbuza. Mkhalachitatu Vimbuza is one of the names given to Vimbuza dances performed as an exorcism rite when one is possessed by demons or evil spirits.

It is predominantly performed in Rumphi, but has spread to Mzimba, Karonga, Kasungu and other districts. The dance is also performed in Nkhata Bay where it is called masyabi and here it incorporates indigenous variations.

Zengani Traditional Ceremony

thumb|left|268x268px|Zengani traditional dance among Tumbukas of Zambia. Zengani Traditional Ceremony is a traditional annual event held for Tumbuka speakers of Lundazi, Chasefu and Lumezi District in Eastern Province of Zambia, typically in October. Zengani means bringing together two tribes of the Ngoni and Tumbuka speaking people. During the ceremony people are expected to be entertained to various traditional dances like ingoma, vimbuza, muganda, and chiwoda. Traditional leaders such as chiefs attend the events.

Kwenje Traditional Ceremony

The Kwenje Traditional Ceremony is an annual cultural event celebrated by the Tumbuka people in Chama District, Eastern Province, Zambia. Held every October under the leadership of Senior Chief Kambombo, the ceremony marks the end of the harvest season and serves as a time for the community to give thanks for the year's crops. The festival features traditional dances, including the popular mganda, a military-inspired dance that evolved from Tumbuka men who served in the British Army during colonial times. The ceremony also serves as a platform for community leaders to address local issues and celebrate Tumbuka identity.

Mtungo (Magali) dance

Mtungo, also known as Magali, is a traditional dance that originated by the Tumbuka in the Nkhamanga and Hewe areas of Rumphi District in Northern Malawi. It is performed at beer gatherings by both men and women. The songs that accompany the dance are often educative. The main instrument is a gourd with a small opening at the top, partly filled with small stones. During the performance, the gourd is shaken while the hand alternately covers and uncovers the opening, creating sound variations that accompany the singing and hand clapping.

Ulumba

Ulumba is a traditional dance of the Tumbuka people in Hewe and Nkhamanga, Rumphi. It is performed by men to celebrate the bravery of a hunter who has successfully killed large game or marauding wild animals. The dance involves villagers mimicking a charging animal with songs and clapping, while the hunter enacts the act of slaying the animal.

Mulindafwa festival

Mulindafwa is a cultural festival observed by the Tumbuka people of Hewe in Rumphi. It commemorates the migration of their ancestor, the first Katumbi, who crossed Lake Malawi to settle in Hewe. Katumbi was recognized as a chief in his own right, independent of the Chikulamayembe. The ceremony includes recounting the history of the Katumbi lineage and the display of a symbolic stone believed to have been collected from Kapiri Nthemba. Oral tradition holds that Katumbi rested on this stone after climbing a hill, which he later named Themba Hill (originally called Romani Hill). The stone is regarded as a symbol of authority among the Tumbuka of Hewe.