Editing Zambia (section)

===The Bantu (Abantu)===
The Bantu people or Abantu (meaning people) are an enormous and diverse ethnolinguistic group that comprise the majority of people in much of eastern, southern and central Africa. Due to Zambia's location at the crossroads of Central Africa, Southern Africa, and the [[African Great Lakes]], the history of the people that constitute modern Zambians is a history of these three regions.

Many of the historical events in these three regions happened simultaneously. Thus, Zambia's history, like that of many African nations, cannot be presented perfectly chronologically. The early history of the peoples of modern Zambia is deduced from oral records, archaeology, and written records, mostly from non-Africans.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Taylor|first1=Scott D.|title=Culture and Customs of Zambia|url=http://www.sahistory.org.za/sites/default/files/file%20uploads%20/scott_d._taylor_culture_and_customs_of_zambia_cbook4you.pdf|publisher=Greenwood Press|access-date=25 March 2018|archive-date=29 March 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180329102016/http://www.sahistory.org.za/sites/default/files/file%20uploads%20/scott_d._taylor_culture_and_customs_of_zambia_cbook4you.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>

====Bantu origins====
[[File:Batonga women.png|thumb|[[Tonga people (Zambia and Zimbabwe)|Batonga]] fisherwomen in Southern Zambia. Women have played and continue to play pivotal roles in many African societies]]
The Bantu people originally lived in West and Central Africa around what is today Cameroon and Nigeria.<ref name="unych">{{cite book | last=Flamming | first=D. | title=African Americans in the West | publisher=ABC-CLIO | series=Cultures in the American West | year=2009 | isbn=978-1-59884-003-2 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rUbyCAAAQBAJ&pg=PA15 | access-date=2023-06-17 | page=15 | archive-date=18 September 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230918071953/https://books.google.com/books?id=rUbyCAAAQBAJ&pg=PA15 | url-status=live }}</ref> Approximately 5000 years ago, they began a millennia-long expansion into much of the continent. This event has been called the [[Bantu expansion]];<ref name="qnr0r">{{cite journal | last1=Grollemund | first1=Rebecca | last2=Branford | first2=Simon | last3=Bostoen | first3=Koen | last4=Meade | first4=Andrew | last5=Venditti | first5=Chris | last6=Pagel | first6=Mark | title=Bantu expansion shows that habitat alters the route and pace of human dispersals | journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences | volume=112 | issue=43 | date=2015-09-14 | issn=0027-8424 | doi=10.1073/pnas.1503793112 | pages=13296–13301 | pmid=26371302 | pmc=4629331 | bibcode=2015PNAS..11213296G | doi-access=free }}</ref> it was one of the largest human migrations in history. The Bantu are believed to have been the first to have brought iron working technology into large parts of Africa. The Bantu Expansion happened primarily through two routes: a western one via the [[Congo Basin]] and an eastern one via the African Great Lakes.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Bostoen|first=Koen|date=26 April 2018|title=The Bantu Expansion|url=https://oxfordre.com/africanhistory/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780190277734.001.0001/acrefore-9780190277734-e-191|access-date=27 October 2020|website=Oxford Research Encyclopedia of African History|language=en|doi=10.1093/acrefore/9780190277734.013.191|isbn=978-0-19-027773-4|archive-date=7 August 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220807224432/https://oxfordre.com/africanhistory/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780190277734.001.0001/acrefore-9780190277734-e-191|url-status=live}}</ref>

====First Bantu settlement====
The first Bantu people to arrive in Zambia came through the eastern route via the African Great Lakes. They arrived around the first millennium C.E, and among them were the Tonga people (also called Ba-Tonga, "Ba-" meaning "men") and the [[Ila people|Ba-Ila]] and [[Mwanga people|Namwanga]] and other related groups, who settled around [[Southern Province, Zambia|Southern Zambia]] near Zimbabwe. Ba-Tonga oral records indicate that they came 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 lacked an organised unit under a chief or headman and worked as a community and helped each other in times of field preparation for their crops. Villages moved around frequently as the soil became exhausted as a result of the slash-and-burn technique of planting crops. The people also kept large herds of cattle, which formed an important part of their societies.<ref>{{Cite web|date=12 January 2019|title=Ila|url=https://traditionalzambia.home.blog/tribes-of-zambia/early-bantu-settlers/ila/|access-date=27 October 2020|website=Zambia's Traditional History|language=en|archive-date=30 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201030212745/https://traditionalzambia.home.blog/tribes-of-zambia/early-bantu-settlers/ila/|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[File:Great-Zimbabwe-ruins-outer-walls-3-1200.jpg|thumb|left|Ruins of [[Great Zimbabwe]]. [[Kalanga people|Kalanga]]/[[Shona people|Shona]] rulers of this kingdom dominated trade at Ingombe Ilede]]
The first Bantu communities in Zambia were highly self-sufficient. Early [[Missionary|European missionaries]] who settled in Southern Zambia noted the independence of these Bantu societies. One of these missionaries noted:
"[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=29 October 2020|website=www.gutenberg.org}}</ref>

These early Bantu settlers also participated in the trade at the site [[Ingombe Ilede]] (which translates to sleeping cow in Chi-Tonga because the fallen baobab tree appears to resemble a cow) in 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]]. Ingombe Ilede was one of the most important trading posts for rulers of Great Zimbabwe, others being the Swahili port cities like [[Sofala]].

The goods traded at Ingombe Ilede included fabrics, beads, gold, and bangles. Some of these items came from what is today southern Democratic Republic of Congo and [[Kilwa Kisiwani]] while others came from as far away as India, China and the [[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=28 October 2020|website=www.zambia-travel-guide.com|archive-date=2 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210802161402/http://www.zambia-travel-guide.com/bradt_guide.asp?bradt=1084|url-status=live}}</ref> The African traders were later joined by the 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/Shona kingdoms like [[Khami]] and [[Kingdom of Mutapa|Mutapa]], spelt the end of Ingombe Ilede.

====Second Bantu settlement====
The second mass settlement of Bantu people into Zambia was of people groups that are believed to have taken the western route of the Bantu migration through the Congo Basin. These Bantu people spent the majority of their existence in what is today the Democratic Republic of Congo and are ancestors of the majority of modern Zambians.<ref>{{Cite web|date=8 August 2019|title=Luba|url=https://traditionalzambia.home.blog/tribes-of-zambia/second-bantu-invasion/luba/|access-date=7 November 2020|website=Zambia's Traditional History|language=en|archive-date=3 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201103115702/https://traditionalzambia.home.blog/tribes-of-zambia/second-bantu-invasion/luba/|url-status=live}}</ref>

While there is some evidence that the Bemba people or [[Bemba people|AbaBemba]] have a strong ancient connection to the [[Kingdom of Kongo|Kongo Kingdom]] through [[Kongo people|BaKongo]] ruler [[Manikongo|Mwene Kongo VIII Mvemba]], this is not well documented.

=====Luba-Lunda states=====
[[File:Mwata.jpg|thumb|Drawing of the ruler of [[Lunda people|Lunda]], [[Kazembe|Mwata Kazembe]], receiving Portuguese in the royal courtyard in the 1800s]]
The Bemba, along with other related groups like the [[Lamba people (Zambia)|Lamba]], [[Lala-Bisa language|Bisa]], [[Senga people|Senga]], [[Kaonde language|Kaonde]], Swaka, Nkoya and [[Soli language|Soli]], formed integral parts of the [[Kingdom of Luba|Luba Kingdom]] in Upemba part of the Democratic Republic of Congo and have a strong relation to the [[Luba people|BaLuba people]]. The area which the Luba Kingdom occupied has been inhabited by early farmers and iron workers since the 300s C.E.

Over time, these communities learned to use nets and harpoons, make dugout canoes, clear canals through swamps and make dams as high as {{convert|2.5|meters}}. As a result, they grew a diverse economy trading fish, copper and iron items and salt for goods from other parts of Africa, like the Swahili coast and, later on, the Portuguese. From these communities arose the Luba Kingdom in the 14th century.<ref name="metmuseum.org">{{Cite web|last=Bortolot|first=Alexander Ives|title=Kingdoms of the Savanna: The Luba and Lunda Empires|url=https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/luba/hd_luba.htm|access-date=7 November 2020|website=[[Metropolitan Museum of Art]]|date=October 2003 |archive-date=6 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201106232343/http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/luba/hd_luba.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>

The Luba Kingdom was a large kingdom with a centralised government and smaller independent [[chiefdom]]s. It had large trading networks that linked the forests in the [[Congo Basin]] and the mineral-rich plateaus of what is today [[Copperbelt Province]] and stretched from the [[Atlantic Ocean|Atlantic coast]] to the Indian Ocean coast. The arts were also held in high esteem in the kingdom, and artisans were held in high regard.<ref name="metmuseum.org" />

Literature was well developed in the Luba Kingdom. One renowned [[Luba people|Luba]] genesis story that articulated the distinction between two types of Luba emperors goes as follows:

{{blockquote|[[Kongolo Mwamba|Nkongolo Mwamba]], the red king, and [[Ilunga Mbili|Ilunga Mbidi Kiluwe]], a prince of legendary black complexion. Nkongolo Mwamba is the drunken and cruel despot, Ilunga Mbidi Kiluwe the refined and gentle prince. Nkongolo the Red is a man without manners, a man who eats in public, gets drunk, and cannot control himself, whereas [Ilunga] Mbidi Kiluwe is a man of reservation, obsessed with good manners; he does not eat in public, controls his language and his behaviour, and keeps a distance from the vices and modus vivendi of ordinary people. Nkongolo Mwamba symbolises the embodiment of tyranny, whereas Mbidi Kiluwe remains the admired caring and compassionate kin.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Luba {{!}} people|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Luba-people|access-date=7 November 2020|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|language=en|archive-date=26 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201026134446/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Luba-people|url-status=live}}</ref>}}

[[File:Lunda houses-1854.jpg|thumb|left|upright|A drawing of [[Lunda people|Lunda]] houses by a Portuguese visitor. The size of the doorways relative to the building emphasizes the scale of the buildings]]

In the same region of Southern Congo, the [[Lunda people]] were made into a satellite of the Luba empire and adopted forms of Luba culture and governance, thus becoming the Lunda Empire to the south. According to Lunda genesis myths, a Luba hunter named [[Tshibinda Ilunga|Chibinda Ilunga]], son of [[Ilunga Mbili|Ilunga Mbidi Kiluwe]], introduced the Luba model of statecraft to the Lunda sometime around 1600 when he married a local Lunda princess named Lueji and was granted control of her kingdom. Most rulers who claimed descent from Luba ancestors were integrated into the Luba empire. The Lunda kings, however, remained separate and actively expanded their political and economic dominance over the region.<ref name="metmuseum.org" />

The Lunda, like its parent state Luba, also traded with both coasts, the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. While ruler [[List of rulers of the Lunda Empire|Mwaant Yaav Naweej]] had established trade routes to the Atlantic coast and initiated direct contact with European traders eager for slaves and forest products and controlling the regional Copper trade, and settlements around [[Lake Mweru]] regulated commerce with the East African coast.<ref name="metmuseum.org" />

The Luba-Lunda states eventually declined as a result of both [[Atlantic slave trade]] in the west and [[Indian Ocean slave trade]] in the east and wars with breakaway factions of the kingdoms. The [[Chokwe people|Chokwe]], a group that is closely related to the [[Luvale people|Luvale]] and formed a Lunda satellite state, initially suffered from the European demand for slaves, but once they broke away from the Lunda state, they themselves became notorious slave traders, exporting slaves to both coasts.

The Chokwe eventually were defeated by the other ethnic groups and the Portuguese.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Azuonye|first=Chukwuma|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ejao3vG6nfsC&pg=PA11|title=Chokwe: (Angola, Zambia)|date=15 December 1996|publisher=The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc|isbn=978-0-8239-1990-1|language=en}}</ref> This instability caused the collapse of the Luba-Lunda states and a dispersal of people into various parts of Zambia from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The majority of Zambians trace their ancestry to the Luba-Lunda and surrounding Central African states.<ref>{{Cite web|date=8 August 2019|title=Luba|url=https://traditionalzambia.home.blog/tribes-of-zambia/second-bantu-invasion/luba/|access-date=30 November 2020|website=Zambia's Traditional History|language=en|archive-date=3 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201103115702/https://traditionalzambia.home.blog/tribes-of-zambia/second-bantu-invasion/luba/|url-status=live}}</ref>

=====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"/>

=====Mutapa Empire and Mfecane=====
[[File:Ngoni Chiefs.jpg|thumb|Three young [[Ngoni people|Ngoni]] chiefs. The Ngoni made their way into [[Eastern Province, Zambia|Eastern Zambia]] from [[KwaZulu-Natal|KwaZulu]] in South Africa. They eventually assimilated into the local ethnic groups.]]
As [[Great Zimbabwe]] was in decline, one of its princes, [[Nyatsimba Mutota]], broke away from the state forming a new empire called [[Kingdom of Mutapa|Mutapa]]. The title of Mwene Mutapa, meaning "Ravager of the Lands", was bestowed on him and subsequent rulers.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Mwene Matapa {{!}} historical dynastic title, southern Africa|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Mwene-Matapa|access-date=31 December 2020|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|language=en|archive-date=20 May 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230520141810/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Mwene-Matapa|url-status=live}}</ref>

The Mutapa Empire ruled territory between the [[Zambezi]] and [[Limpopo]] rivers, in what is now Zambia, Zimbabwe and Mozambique, from the 14th to the 17th century. By its, peak Mutapa had conquered the Dande area of the [[Tonga people (Zambia and Zimbabwe)|Tonga]] and Tavara. The Mutapa Empire predominately engaged in the Indian Ocean transcontinental trade with and via the [[WaSwahili]]. The primary exported gold and ivory for silk and ceramics from Asia.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Mutapa|url=https://www.worldhistory.org/Mutapa/|access-date=31 December 2020|website=World History Encyclopedia|archive-date=18 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210418202600/https://www.worldhistory.org/Mutapa/|url-status=live}}</ref>

Like their contemporaries in Maravi, Mutapa had problems with the arriving Portuguese traders. The peak of this uneasy relationship was reached when the Portuguese attempted to influence the kingdoms internal affairs by establishing markets in the kingdom and converting the population to Christianity. This action caused outrage by the Muslim WaSwahili living in the capital, this chaos gave the Portuguese the excuse they were searching for to warrant an attack on the kingdom and try to control its gold mines and ivory routes. This attack failed when the Portuguese succumbed to disease along the Zambezi river.<ref name="Mutapa">{{Cite web|title=Mutapa|url=https://www.worldhistory.org/Mutapa/|access-date=1 January 2021|website=World History Encyclopedia|archive-date=18 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210418202600/https://www.worldhistory.org/Mutapa/|url-status=live}}</ref>

In the 1600s internal disputes and civil war began the decline of Mutapa. The weakened kingdom was finally conquered by the Portuguese and was eventually taken over by rival [[Shona people|Shona]] states.<ref name="Mutapa"/>

The Portuguese also had vast estates, known as Prazos, and they used slaves and ex-slaves as security guards and hunters. They trained the men in military tactics and gave them guns. These men became expert elephant hunters and were known as the [[Chikunda]]. After the decline of the Portuguese the Chikunda made their way to Zambia.<ref>{{Cite web|date=11 January 2019|title=Chikunda|url=https://traditionalzambia.home.blog/tribes-of-zambia/mozambique/chikunda/|access-date=12 January 2021|website=Zambia's Traditional History|language=en|archive-date=27 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210227184451/https://traditionalzambia.home.blog/tribes-of-zambia/mozambique/chikunda/|url-status=live}}</ref> [[File:Litunga.jpg|thumb|left|Inside the palace of the [[Litunga]], ruler of the Lozi. Due to the flooding on the Zambezi, the Litunga has two palaces one of which is on higher ground. The movement of Litunga to higher land is celebrated at the [[Kuomboka]] Ceremony]]

It is hypothesised by [[Julian Cobbing]] that the presence of early [[Ethnic groups in Europe|Europeans]] [[History of slavery|slave trading]] and attempts to control resources in various parts of [[Bantu languages|Bantu-speaking Africa]] caused the gradual militarisation of the people in the region. This can be observed with the Maravi's WaZimba warrior caste, who, once defeating the Portuguese, remained quite militaristic afterwards.

The Portuguese presence in the region was also a major reason for the founding of the [[Rozvi Empire]], a breakaway state of Mutapa. The ruler of the Rozvi, Changamire Dombo, became one of the most powerful leaders in South-Central Africa's history. Under his leadership, the Rozvi defeated the Portuguese and expelled them from their trading posts along the Zambezi river.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Rozwi {{!}} historical state, Africa|url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Rozwi-historical-state-Africa|access-date=2 January 2021|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|language=en|archive-date=25 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210125203243/https://www.britannica.com/place/Rozwi-historical-state-Africa|url-status=live}}</ref>

But perhaps the most notable instance of this increased militarisation was the rise of the [[Zulu people|Zulu]] under the leadership of [[Shaka]]. Pressures from the English colonialists in the [[Cape of Good Hope|Cape]] and increased militarisation of the Zulu resulted in the [[Mfecane]] (the crushing). The Zulu expanded by assimilating the women and children of tribes they defeated, if the men of these [[Nguni people|Nguni tribes]] escaped slaughter, they used the military tactics of the Zulu to attack other groups.<ref name="Mfecane {{!}} African history">{{Cite web|title=Mfecane {{!}} African history|url=https://www.britannica.com/event/Mfecane|access-date=2 January 2021|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|language=en|archive-date=12 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201112032255/https://www.britannica.com/event/Mfecane|url-status=live}}</ref>

This caused mass displacements, wars and raids throughout Southern, Central and Eastern Africa as Nguni or [[Ngoni people|Ngoni]] tribes made their way throughout the region and is referred to as the Mfecane. The arriving Nguni under the leadership of [[Zwangendaba|Zwagendaba]] crossed the Zambezi river moving northwards. The Ngoni were the final blow to the already weakened [[Maravi]] Empire. Many Nguni eventually settled around what is today Zambia, Malawi, Mozambique and Tanzania and assimilated into neighbouring tribes.<ref name="Mfecane {{!}} African history"/>

In the [[Western Province, Zambia|western part]] of Zambia, another Southern African group of [[Sotho-Tswana peoples|Sotho-Tswana]] heritage called the [[Kololo people|Kololo]] manage to conquer the local inhabitants who were migrants from the fallen Luba and Lunda states called the [[Luyana language|Luyana]] or Aluyi. The Luyana established the [[Barotseland|Barotse Kingdom]] on the [[Barotse Floodplain|floodplains of the Zambezi]] upon their arrival from Katanga. Under the Kololo, the Kololo language was imposed upon the Luyana until the Luyana revolted and overthrew the Kololo by this time the Luyana language was largely forgotten and a new hybrid language emerged, [[Lozi language|SiLozi]] and the Luyana began to refer to themselves as [[Lozi people|Lozi]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Lozi {{!}} people|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Lozi|access-date=2 January 2021|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|language=en|archive-date=28 May 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230528092724/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Lozi|url-status=live}}</ref>

At the end of the 18th century, some of the [[Mbunda people|Mbunda]] migrated to [[Barotseland]], [[Mongu]] upon the migration of among others, the [[Rulers of Mbundaland|Ciyengele]].<ref>'' The elites of Barotseland, 1878–1969: a political history of Zambia's Western Province'': a. Gerald L. Caplan, C. Hurst & Co Publishers Ltd, 1970, {{ISBN|0-900966-38-6}}</ref><ref>[http://www.bantu-languages.com/fr/zonek.html Bantu-Languages.com] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140411045127/http://www.bantu-languages.com/fr/zonek.html |date=11 April 2014 }}, citing Maniacky 1997</ref> The Aluyi and their leader, the Litunga Mulambwa, especially valued the Mbunda for their fighting ability.

By the late 18th century, most of the various peoples of Zambia were established in their current areas.