Editing History of Zambia (section)

===First Bantu settlement===
[[File:Ba-Ila man.jpg|left|thumb|[[Ila people|Ila]] Headman's son in Southern Zambia, Cattle formed an important part of their society.]]

According to recent scholarship by Nicholas Katanekwa, the earliest Bantu people in Zambia were the "New Kalundu" culture, arriving from the west along the Zambezi valley from the fourth century CE. These groups are associated with Guthrie group R, as well as the ancestors of the Shona, Venda, ans especially Mbwela peoples.
The next Bantu people to arrive in Zambia came through the eastern route via the African Great Lakes.[[File:Ba-ila Village.jpg|thumb|Enormous [[Ila people|Ba-Ila]] settlement. These communities have been of interest to mathematicians due to their [[Fractal|fractal pattern]] design.]] They arrived later in the 1st millennium AD. Among them were the [[Tonga people of Zambia and Zimbabwe|Tonga people]] (also called Ba-Tonga, "Ba-" meaning "men") and the [[Ila people|Ba-Ila]] and other related groups who settled around [[Southern Province, Zambia|Southern Zambia]] near [[Zimbabwe]]. According to Ba-Tonga oral records, they are believed to have come from the east near the "big sea".

They were later joined by the [[Tumbuka people|Ba-Tumbuka]] who settled around [[Eastern Province, Zambia|Eastern Zambia]] and [[Malawi]].

These first Bantu people lived in large villages. They never had an organised unit under a chief or headman and worked as a community and help each other in times of field preparation for their crops. Villages moved around frequently as the soil became exhausted due to using the [[slash-and-burn]] technique of planting crops. They also kept large herds of cattle which formed an important part of their societies.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2019-01-12|title=Ila|url=https://traditionalzambia.home.blog/tribes-of-zambia/early-bantu-settlers/ila/|access-date=2020-10-27|website=Zambia's Traditional History|language=en}}</ref>

The first Bantu communities in Zambia were extremely self-sufficient. Many groups of people who encountered them were very impressed by this self-sufficiency. The early [[Missionary|European missionaries]] that settled in [[Southern Province, Zambia|Southern Zambia]] also noted the extreme independence of these Bantu societies, one of these missionaries noted:[[File:Ingombe.jpg|thumb|[[Ingombe Ilede]] trading post in Southern Zambia.]]

<blockquote>"[If] weapons for war, hunting, and domestic purposes are needed, the [Tonga] man goes to the hills and digs until he finds the iron ore. He smelts it and with the iron thus obtained makes axes, hoes, and other useful implements. He burns wood and makes charcoal for his forge. His bellows are made from the skins of animals and the pipes are clay tile, and the anvil and hammers are also pieces of the iron he has obtained. He moulds, welds, shapes, and performs all the work of the ordinary blacksmith."<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Project Gutenberg eBook of South and South Central Africa, by H. Frances Davidson.|url=https://www.gutenberg.org/files/37728/37728-h/37728-h.htm#CHAPTER_IXPART2|access-date=2020-10-29|website=www.gutenberg.org}}</ref></blockquote> [[File:Batonga women.png|left|thumb|[[Tonga people of Zambia and Zimbabwe|Batonga]] fisherwomen in Southern Zambia. Women have and continue to play important roles in many African societies.]] [[File:Great-Zimbabwe-ruins-outer-walls-3-1200.jpg|thumb|Ruins of [[Great Zimbabwe]], [[Kalanga people|Kalanga]]/[[Shona people|Shona]] rulers of this Kingdom dominated trade at Ingombe Ilede.]]

These early Bantu settlers also participated in the trade at the site [[Ingombe Ilede]] (which translate sleeping cow in [[Chitonga|Chi-Tonga]] because the fallen baobab tree appears to resembles a cow) in [[Southern Province, Zambia|Southern Zambia]], at this trading site they met numerous [[Kalanga people|Kalanga]]/[[Shona people|Shona]] traders from [[Great Zimbabwe]] and [[Swahili people|Swahili]] traders from the East African [[Swahili coast|Swahili Coast]]. Ingombe Ilede was one of the most important trading posts for rulers of Great Zimbabwe, others being the Swahili port cities like of [[Sofala]].

The goods traded at Ingombe Ilede included: fabrics, beads, gold, and bangles. Some of these items came from what is today southern [[the Democratic Republic of the Congo|Democratic Republic of Congo]] and [[Kilwa Kisiwani]] while others as far away as [[India]], [[China]] and the [[Arab world|Arab World]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Origins of trade - Zambia Travel Guide|url=http://www.zambia-travel-guide.com/bradt_guide.asp?bradt=1084|access-date=2020-10-28|website=www.zambia-travel-guide.com}}</ref> The African traders were later joined by the [[Portuguese people|Portuguese]] in the 16th century.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Pikirayi|first=Innocent|date=August 2017|title=Ingombe Ilede and the demise of Great Zimbabwe|journal=Antiquity|language=en|volume=91|issue=358|pages=1085–1086|doi=10.15184/aqy.2017.95|s2cid=158120419|issn=0003-598X|doi-access=free}}</ref>

The decline of Great Zimbabwe, due to increasing trade competition from other [[Kalanga people|Kalanga]]/[[Shona people|Shona]] kingdoms like [[Khami]] and [[Kingdom of Mutapa|Mutapa]], spelt the end of [[Ingombe Ilede]].