Editing Zambia (section)

=====The Maravi Confederacy=====
In the 1200s, before the founding of the Luba-Lunda states, a group of Bantu people started migrating from the [[Congo Basin]] to [[Lake Mweru]] then finally settled around [[Lake Malawi]]. These migrants are believed to have been one of the inhabitants around the [[Upemba Depression|Upemba]] area in the [[Democratic Republic of the Congo|Democratic Republic of Congo]]. By the 1400s these groups of migrants collectively called the Maravi, and most prominently among them was the [[Chewa people]] (AChewa), who started assimilating other Bantu groups like the [[Tumbuka people|Tumbuka]].<ref name="Team">{{Cite web|last=Team|first=Editorial|date=26 December 2018|title=The Maravi Confederacy|url=https://thinkafrica.net/maravi-confederacy/|access-date=13 December 2020|website=Think Africa|language=en-US|archive-date=29 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201129190111/https://thinkafrica.net/maravi-confederacy/|url-status=live}}</ref>[[File:Kalonga.jpg|thumb|left|The kalonga (ruler) of the [[Chewa people|AChewa]] today descends from the kalonga of the Maravi Empire]]

In 1480 the [[Maravi]] Empire was founded by the kalonga (paramount chief of the Maravi) from the Phiri clan, one of the main clans, with the others being Banda, Mwale and Nkhoma. The Maravi Empire stretched from the Indian Ocean through what today is [[Mozambique]] to Zambia and large parts of [[Malawi]]. The political organisation of the Maravi resembled that of the Luba and is believed to have originated from there. The primary export of the Maravi was ivory, which was transported to Swahili brokers.<ref name="Team"/>

Iron was also manufactured and exported. In the 1590s the Portuguese endeavoured to take monopoly over Maravi export trade. This attempt was met with outrage by the Maravi of Lundu, who unleashed their WaZimba armed force. The WaZimba sacked the Portuguese trade towns of Tete, Sena and various other towns.<ref name="thinkafrica.net">{{Cite web|last=Team|first=Editorial|date=26 December 2018|title=The Maravi Confederacy|url=https://thinkafrica.net/maravi-confederacy/|access-date=14 December 2020|website=Think Africa|language=en-US|archive-date=29 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201129190111/https://thinkafrica.net/maravi-confederacy/|url-status=live}}</ref>

The Maravi are also believed to have brought the traditions that would become [[Nyau]] secret society from [[Upemba Depression|Upemba]]. The Nyau form the cosmology or indigenous religion of the people of Maravi. The [[Nyau]] society consists of ritual dance performances and masks used for the dances; this belief system spread around the region.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Maptia|title=The Secret Cult of Nyau Dancers|url=https://maptia.com/vlad_sokhin/stories/the-secret-cult-of-nyau-dancers|access-date=3 January 2021|website=Maptia|language=en|archive-date=8 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201108130415/https://maptia.com/vlad_sokhin/stories/the-secret-cult-of-nyau-dancers}}</ref>

The Maravi declined as a result of succession disputes within the confederacy, attack by the [[Ngoni people|Ngoni]] and slave raids from the [[Yao people (East Africa)|Yao]].<ref name="thinkafrica.net"/>