Title:
The Bwile people of Northern Zambia, their
movement and settlement in the Lake Mweru, Chiengi District area
The Bwile are a minority ethnic group in Luapula
Province of Zambia. However, taken together with the now Bwile of the DRC (
most of whom were formerly under the de jure jurisdiction of Northern Rhodesia
and remain in the disputed Lunchinda-Mpweto enclave), the Bwile, ruled by the
ANZA Clan (Monkey clan) are a significant minority.The historical ascendancy of
the Bwile in Zambia cannot be understood clearly without a factual appreciation
of the unfolding historical events in
the Lunda-Luba emprire in the now Congo Democratic Republic that led to a major bifurcation around the
middle 18th century (S.L. Hinde, The Fall of Congo Arabs, London
1897 pp 184, 187).
The Bwile originally known as ABakuha or
progressively as Abakuasimba, like the Bahemba broke off from the sovereign imperial
authority of the Luba kingdom after Mulopwe
Ilunga sungu who reigned as a Luba
king between 1790 to 1810 died. His
successor Mulopwe Kumwimbe Ngombe
lost effective control over many clans and tribes under the Luba imperial rule
. Having moved from the kola area of Kienge Haut-Katanga, through Kienge Haut-Lomami and further down to Kienge –Takanyika in the DRC
before the death of Ilunga Sungu, the Bahemba had moved with smaller clans
close to the Takanyika area and later settled
back around the area between the ruvua and Lualaba rivers . The Bakuha
sometimes referred to as Abakuasimba moved from the Kasonga region
around Kienge area
of bena chimPuta down the Lualaba
river, going eastward to join bena kasanga
or abashimba under Chomba Chalusombo.
The area from which they came of Kasongo Kongolo in the now Maniema
province after moving from Kienge Haut-Katanga,
included areas controlled by Mulolwa Kiluba, Kalembwe , Kiofwe in
addition to Pene- Kimpunta, Seya, Sulumba
and Ponde. In their search for a peaceful area to settle from the Kienge Tanganyika
area they appear to have moved into the area now known as KiAnza east of Kibalange,
As seen, within the areas of KiengeTanganyika in the
DRC , Kasongo and around Pene- Kimpunta,, there
are many names similar to those the Bwile now carry for their royal
chiefs in Zambia and Congo DR in the
District of Pweto. In the Kienge area of Haut-Katanga you find a mighty rock on
the hill called Kabwekantanda. The place where the chiefdom is today very much
reflects the scenary, fauna and flora of the many areas they travelled through
in the Congo DR particularly in KiengeTanganyika area.
As noted , the Bwile people originally known as
ABakuha or Abakua seemed to have seceded from Luba imperial authority at the
time of the reign of the Luba emperor Mulopwe
Kumwimbe Ngombe after he succeeded to the thrown around 1810. This is about the
same time that the Bahemba also seceded from Luba central authority Mukulumpe.
For the Bakuha, Kasongo Wakumwimba is credited in their folklore with the
beginning of their split from other Luba clans searching for peaceful areas to
settle. There is no evidence that Kasongo wa Kumwimba exercised the authority
of a tribal chief nor that he actually reached this area of Bwileland. Kasongo
wa Kumwimba appear to have guided the Bakuha
into the KiengeTanganyika areas of Kasongo, Kalembwe, Mwehu and Kimputa away
from the chaos that had beset the Luba kingdom
in central Katanga or kola area during the Chokwe dismemberment of the Luba/Songye empires and the penetration
of Banyamwezi into Lunda kingdoms.
After the death of MulopweIlunga Sungu who reigned between 1790-1810, the Chokwe armed
with Portuguese traders’ supplied guns , the Chokwe backed by Ovimbundu
penetrated deep into Luba land. Kasongo
wa kumwimbwa may have been part of the Chokwe
invaders who split-off. Among the Chokwe , there is reference to Kasonga waile ku Lualaba and Amakuha
area in Eastern Angola.
Under Kumwimbe Ngombe, there were many occasions of
conflict as he appeared to have lost his grip over the who;e Luba kingdom. There were marauding warlords, tribes and
clans that thrived on war and plunder, confiscating property, ivory, slaves,
and the produce of the more civil and enterprising tribes and clans. The split
with the Bahemba who appear to have been more organized and provided smaller
clans with leadership and protection within the area between Luvua and Lualaba
around Mulenga, may have created even greater insecurity.
The avoidance of conflict and the intrinsic desire
to be in more peaceful lands were catalystic factors that forced Bwile
ancestors to migrate from Luba land. Equally their migration from the area of Mulolwa
Kiluba and Kienge and now Pene-KimPuta, travelling long distances up to lake Tanganyika where
they joined up with Abena Kasanga clan
led by Chomba Chalusombo may
have been precipitated as much by the search for peace as for increasing
commerce that had started with Arabs and
Banyamwezi around Tanganyika. During this time the Bakuha appear to have
aligned themselves with bena Kasanga (Abashimba)
under Chomba through the marriage of Seya Bulanda a Mukuha and Chomba Chalusombo .
Chomba
Chalusombo effectively
reigned as a sovereign in the lake area of Tanganyika until a rebellion by Chomba’s relations strategized by the Bakuha which was
exposed by Seya Bulanda herself, led to another birfucation, a split with one rebel
group of Abena Kasanga going south ward to the area of Mweru Wantipa. These
were known as AbenaTtanga (people from Tanganyika) or Abashimba (utunama
twamala ). These clan still exists in
the Pepa area of Moba District in Eastern DRC.This group considered itself to
have been let down by the Bakuha. Consequently, and perhaps more out of spite
than adoration for the cunning nature of aBakuha, they called aBakuha as aba Anza (monkeys or tricksters who are
good at setting up “Ubwile”). This became a clan name instead of Bakuha and aba Bwile
characterized the name of the entire group led by the Anza clan leaders. “Ubwile”
in Bemba refers to a “trick” or “strategy”.
One of the ba
Anza groups appear to have settled around Kianza
area of Tanganyika initially and later migrated led by Pembe Chandalala, a
brother of Seya Bulanda. Another group following the rebel segment of Chomba’s
relatives who went to Mweru Wantipa area was led by Mutumpa Numbi with his brother Chongo . These travelled with a
relative who waa a skilled hunter was called Lambwe who was left in Chitunda.
This group appear to have identified itself closely with Chomba Chalusombo’s
paternal lineage of abashimba (and may have identified themselves as
abakuasimba) than Pembe’s group who were
stricly now called aba-Anza. Mutumpa numbi’s group may have broken off from Kyando’s led group,
a nephew of Pembe who was left in Vilumbi at Kinswa..
Pembe left the Tanganyika area and travelled
westward right down to the shores of Lake area of Mweru. This journey
took several years of going round and round,up the Lualaba and Luvua
rivers , down through now Kasama and Kizabi areas to the shores of lake Mweru.
Pembe Chandalala travelled with his sister Mulumbwa Mwanto Ikolo, his three
nephews namely Katunu Kamubangula,, Kyando Chalukulika Ng’ombe na
Bantu and Mutengu,Kyofwe Mwine Menda Nalelamilimba Kizabi Kya Menda.
He also had his two nieces, Mapemba and Mubanda (names in italics were praise
names).
As earlier noted, Kyando
was left in the area of Vilumbi around Kianza
with his two sisters Mapemba and Mubanda.
Katunu was left in the Kapeta area while Pembe, his nephew Mutengu and
his sister Mulumbwa Mwanto Ikolo settled at Mutantula in the present area of Nsomboshi,now
Pweto District of DRC. The land where Katunu and Pembe settled belonged to the
Shila people at the time whose paramount chief was Nkuba. However, a royal marriage between Muchelenge,
( son of Nkuba who had taken refuge in the Chitutu area after the death of
Nkuba under the Lunda Mwata Ilunga and Nkuba’s sister NaChituti’s betrayal) and
Mulumbwa Ikolo Mwanto triggered a series of power play and tragic events that eventually secured the ba Anza
people the sovereign ownership of the area now known as Bwileland from the Congo DR to Kalobwa in Zambia. (Cf Father Labreques’s history of the Babemba
September 1936" and Peter R. Chanshi, The
Heritage and Mysteries of the Mwata Kazembe Dynasty, 2007) ). (More research
needed about Lunda claims in respect to Bwile-Lunda relations as written by
Chanshi) The land was
secured, after a miscarriage by Mwanto Ikolo, as a concession by Mchelenge of Chitutu
to a demand by Pembe Chandalala. The
concession was inevitable and was achieved in two stages. First Mchelenge
conceeded the area of now Kasama, the Ngansa (now Pweto) and Kizabi. But
because of the sense of insult visited on Kaleba (or Kalewa), a brother of Ikolo
by forcing him to eat dog meat, Pembe refused to be appeased. Because the Shila chief Mchelenge was at the
time battling with the Lunda under Mwata Kazembe Keleka, he could not open up
another war front with the ba-Anza led people who threatened war, he eventually
conceded to the claim by Pembe who rested the pot of water and salt soil at Kalobwa where the Shila had buried the
stillborn.
When Katunu died in Kapeta , the area he now
controlled as an Anza chief, Pembe who had been nicknamed Musangwa ( the found one) by Muchelenge, took Mutengu to go and
inherit his brother. His royal title was
Mutengu Kyofwe Nalelamilimba Mpweto Kizabi wa Kapeta. The name Kizabi was a
nickname by his people who used to refer
to him as “ Ozu Kizabi Kyapamenda” while he referred to himself as Kyofwe Mwine
Menda for his love of water but also a reflection of the Kiofwe chiefdom up the
Lualaba in Luba land.. The royal house of Kizabi effectively
started with Mutengu. After his death , Musangwa Pembe installed Kyando as Kizabi (II). At the same
time, he took his other young nephew Matipaa
and installed him as Mpweto in the Mitungulu area for
effective management of the new Bwile chiefdom thus creating two chiefdoms out
of kizabi. Thus, the Royal house of Mpweto
started with Matipa.
The installation of Matipaa as Mpweto by Pembe did
not please the first born son of Mwanto Mulumbwa Ikolo born of Mchelenge known as Kasonga Wamudimo he travelled from the Chitutu area and went
and killed his uncle Musangwa Pembe effectively taking over from his uncle, the
sovereign authority. However, he never settled at nsomboshi where Pembe was but
in the present area of Kasama . He pronounced himself as Kasama in his own
praise “Nine Kasama Malungo LIkolo Lisama Malungo”. He was thus recognized as a nephew of Pembe
like kizabi and thus Kasongo wamudimo effectively started the royal house
of Kasama..
Matipa
Mpweto retained sovereign authority of all the Bwile.
And to effectively control the new land secured from the Shila and after consultation
with his brother Kyando Kizabi, he
proceeded to allocate to his three
nephews the land across the Nchinda river (now called Lunchinda). He
appointed Mulolwa from Kalamba who
praised himself as as Chimpuntami uwapuntamina akaBwile. He also appointed Katuka
who praised himself as Kalembwe and Mukomboli who praised
himself as Mwabu (Muehu) . ChimPuta
and Kalembwe and Mwabu were known royal
names from the Kienge area near Kongolo and Kasonga in Luba land.
The Puta (a shortname for Kumpunta which had already
been abbreviated enroute from Kianza by
descendants of Mulolwa Kiluba) leneage therefore proceeded as follows:
1. Mulolwa
chimpuntami as Puta I
2. Mulubi
as Puta II
3. Mufinsa
Puta III
4. Chipalabwe
Puta IV
5. Chongo
Puta V
6. Kasoma
IPuta VI
7. Shebele
Puta VII
8. Kasoma
IIPuta VIII
The longest serving of all the eight Putas was Kasoma
IPuta vi who reigned on the throne for
62 years from 1937-1999. He was awarded a medal of honor by Zambian government
posthumous for this long service to his
people. On the other side, the Bwile’s of DRC under Mpweto, the Mpweto lineage
was as follows: (ref: Chola Manda Jean Songs of Ukwanga Kwa Ba Bwile as
Literary genre, Open University of
Katanga, 2011 , p3)
1. Mpweto
Matipa
2. Mpweto
Kayembwe
3. Mpweto
Muntala
4. Mpweto
Chipungu
5. Mpweto
Shebele
6. Mpweto
Lubasa Nkonde (temp)
7. Mpweto
Augustin Musosa 1922-1955)
8. Mpweto
Myolo Mukala mathias (1955-1986)
9. Mpweto
Yuma Chikalipa (1986-199)
10. Mpweto
Mumba Medard Lulimi (Since 17th Sept 1999)
Authority
and title of the ruling clan
The Bwile chiefdoms in both Zambia and the congo
democratic republic are ruled by the ba-Anza clan, descendants of Seya Bulanda,
Musangwa Pembe, Mulumbwa Mwanto Ikolo, Kyando, Katunu, Mutengu, Mapemba and Mubanda.
Consistent with the Luba traditions from Mulolwa Kiluba and Kasongo, royalty
was addressed as Mulopwe. However,
it appears clan seniority was designated by adding a seniority title like
Gombe-Nkulu, Piana- Nkulu while lower clan house leaders were designated by
prefixing, Mwana as in Mwana Ngongo,
Mwana-Ngio-Kasanga, Mwana Mumba, a practice that appear to have continued in
our area of origin to today. It is within this tradition that the senior houses
of the Anza clans in Zambia and Congo DR must be referred to as Mu-Anzankulu in respect of M’pweto in the Congo and Puta
in Zambia instead of the common references of bemba traditions of Kanabesa. If this original formulation
is followed, the ba-Anza ruling clan in Zambia are under mu-Anzankulu Puta VIII Kasoma II
Tefwetefwe. When we address him using
government designation then he is referred to as mu-Anzankulu Senior chief Puta
Ref: S.L. Hinde, The Fall of Congo Arabs, London
1897 pp 184, 187
Father Labreques’s history of the Babemba September 1936 reported by
Kasama District Commissioner Bresfold"
Peter R.
Chanshi, The Heritage and Mysteries of the Mwata Kazembe Dynasty, 2007
Petit,P Proud To Be Bwile
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