Misplaced Pages

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 128.8.141.32 (talk) at 18:30, 20 May 2009 ("Malawi's official language" => "Malawi's national language." Malawi's official language is English.). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Maravi was a state established by Bantu people in the area of Lake Malawi, in present-day Malawi, sometime during the 16th century. (The present-day name "Malawi" is said to derive from "Maravi".) At its greatest extent, the state included territory from the Tumbuka and Tonga areas to the north to the Lower Shire in the south, and west to Luangwa and Zambezi valleys. It is also a generic name of the black tribes in Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and Mozambique.

Maravi's rulers belonged to the Phiri matriclan and held the title Kalonga. They ruled from Manthimba.

In the 19th century, the Maravi were frequently raided by their neighbors the Yao and captured for sale as slaves. David Livingstone visited Lake Nyasa in 1859, and Protestant missionaries soon followed.

Maravi peoples speak several dialects, including Chichewa (Malawi’s national language), and speak other official languages: Portuguese in Mozambique and English in Malawi, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

See also

• Rulers of Maravi

External links

• Maravi culture
• History of Maravi

This African history–related article is a stub. You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it.

• v
• t
• e

This Malawi-related article is a stub. You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it.

• v
• t
• e

• Former countries in Africa
• History of Malawi
• States and territories established in the 16th century
• African history stubs
• Malawi stubs