Diskussion:Longwe

Menno Welling

Leiden, Netherlands. mennowelling@yahoo.com

In 2005 archeological investigation was conducted at three places of offering in southernmost Malawi devoted to the rain deity Mbona. The site of Mwalaumodzi is locally known for the rock carrying the buttock imprints of Mbona. As evidenced by the abundance of microliths at the site, the boulder, located in the Thangadzi Riverbed was probably used for axe grinding by stonetool using hunter-gatherers. At the opposite river bank, pottery was found dating to all ages. At the sacred pool of Ndione, according to myth the location of Mbona’s assassination, Longwe pottery was found scattered in a wide area. Close to the former place of sacrifice there, this ware formed a 2m thick deposit. Further Longwe pottery settlement deposits were discovered in and around Khulubvi, and again at Nsanje Township. Khulubvi is the site, where allegedly Mbona’s head was buried after his murder. At this grove, Chief Ngabu and others still perform occasional sacrifice to Mbona in order to secure proper rainfall and an abundant harvest. That the main Mbona shrines are located on settlements probably dating to around the 10th or 11th century C.E., begs the question if the mythical Mbona could have been a historical chief residing at those localities at that particular time. Although former researchers of the Mbona cult, such as Rangeley and Schoffeleers, have not considered this possibility, there is historical and ethnographic data to support such a claim. If Mbona really were a historical chief dating to the very beginning of the 2nd millennium, this would have great implications for the history of the Maravi States as a whole. In myth, Mbona is represented as a Chipeta from central Malawi, or as the nephew of the powerful Lundu king of the Mang’anja people. If his chieftaincy dates this far back in time probably so must those of the Lundu and of the senior King Kalonga, who resided on the lake shore to the North. To date, historians have dated the origin of these kingdoms to the 14th, 15th or 16th century on the basis of their interpretation of the late 15th and 16th century Portuguese records (cf. works by Alpers, McFarren, Phiri, Newitt). Also the presumed Phiri immigration from Luba country that is thought to have triggered the Maravi state formation process needs to be pushed back in time. That is, if this migration actually took place