TWO NYASALAND RAIN SHRINES

Author(s): W. H. J. Rangeley
Source: The Nyasaland Journal , July, 1952, Vol. 5, No. 2 (July, 1952), pp. 31-50
Published by: Society of Malawi - Historical and Scientific

Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/29545670

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 MAKEWANA-THE MOTHER OF ALL PEOPLE 31

TWO NYASALAND RAIN SHRINES

By W. H. J. Rangeley

This article on two olden-time rain shrines in Nyasaland is based entirely on

information from living African informants, except where otherwise stated.

Since the first draft was written by the author, he had the opportunity to discuss
the article on Makewana with Mr. R. A. Hamilton of the School of Oriental
and African Studies, London, who had also inquired about Makewana. Most
of the Notes in brackets in the article on Makewana refer to comments made by
Mr. Hamilton, with his permission to do so. The author is not an anthropologist
and gathered the information contained in these articles while inquiring into
the history of the olden days in Nyasaland. The author is much indebted to Mr.
Samuel Nthara of Mkhoma Mission for much valuable information on Makewana
which was subsequently checked in the field.

In both cases, the "rain makers" are members of the "royal" Phiri clan of the
first Bantu inhabitants of Nyasaland, who are now known by various names.
Those now living in the area where Makewana formerly held sway are now known
as Gewa, or formerly perhaps more commonly as Cipeta (the people of the long
grass country), while those who live where the cult of Mbona still survives are
known as Mang'anja. The "rain-making" Banda clan of the Central Province
of Nyasaland, descendants of Cembe Banda of Mankhamba, and all offshoots
of the noted "priestess" Gauwa of Cirenje, never achieved such vast fame as did
these two Phiri rain-makers.

MAKEWANA?THE MOTHER OF ALL PEOPLE

WHEN Undi Phiri,

westwards son onofhisNyangu
from Malawi Phiri,
way to found travelled
the great
chiefdom of Undi, he was accompanied by a sister
named Mangadzi. Where the exact location of this Malawi
might be is not beyond dispute. Lundu and Kaphwiti, the
great chiefs of the south as far as the Zambezi River, budded
off from the Karonga at Mabere-a-Nyangu, near Ulongwe,
where the Yao chief Kalembo now holds sway. Here also did
Cangamile, the great chief of the rolling hills of the Kirk Range
and of Malawi itself, bud off. For Malawi was a great stretch
of country?from where the plains of the Shire Valley meet
the arid foothills in the south at the commencement of the
Murchison Rapids, to near the Lintipe River in the north,
where Malawi is bounded with Malimba. It seems that Undi
budded off from the parent stem at Mankhamba, at the
Nkadzipulu Stream, after the Karonga had moved his head?
quarters from Mabere-a-Nyangu to Phiri-Ulongwe to Ma

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32 THE NYASALAND JOURNAL

nkhamba, in the northern confines of Malawi and close to the

borders of Malimba.

One day, while Undi's company was halted at Mce

nga-wa-Malawi at the source of the Kanyungu Stream, which
enters the Diampwe River from the south, Mangadzi became
insensible, and while insensible (in a trance) started to make
strange prophesies, so that the people knew that God?Mpha
mbe or Cauta?had entered into her. It seems that Undi
settled here for a while, for we hear that Mangadzi stayed on
and settled nearby at Msinja, on the south bank of the Dia?
mpwe River, in what is now the Dedza District of Nyasaland,
while Undi then moved on to the west to settle eventually at
Maano. Round Mangadzi was built up a structure of religious
observance probably unparalleled in olden times in Nyasaland.
How this structure grew up is no longer known, but it can be
assumed that it was a gradual process as the people increased
in numbers, and the fame of Mangadzi spread far and wide.
By a few accounts, Mangadzi was a Banda, a daughter of
Gauwa of Cirenje, but there is overwhelming evidence against
such a belief.

The central figure was Mangadzi Phiri, who became most

widely known as Make?Wana (Mace-wa-Ana it would be
in the Southern Province of Nyasaland) which means "the
mother of children" and is intended to convey "the mother of
all people". She also continued to be known as Mangadzi, so
much so that Mangadzi became one of the names by which
God is known. She was also known as Cauta, one of the
recognised names for God, but it was by the name of Make wana
that she was most widely known.
If Mangadzi had a husband before the spirits entered her,
that is no longer remembered. By some accounts she was
indeed a married woman, and we must believe that was so,
for, in those days, how could we credit that a nubile woman
would not be married ? By such accounts, Mangadzi, like
other women who became possessed, such as Cauwa Banda of
Cirenje and other female priestesses, cast off her husband
when she became possessed. In any event, if she was married,
Mangadzi would have got rid of her husband, for no female
possessor of the spirits may possess a husband. As was common
elsewhere, her male consort (for there were times when she
must have a male consort) was referred to as a snake, by the

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 MAKEWANA-THE MOTHER OF ALL PEOPLE 33

term Nthunga (a snake), or by the term Nsato (a Python snake).

This will be referred to below.

Makewana was not only the keeper of a rain shrine, but

she was also a prophetess. She lived in her own hut around
which the huts of her attendants were built. She lay on a bed
of ivory tusks over which black cloth was laid (for nothing
near her might be white). She never cut her hair, and it is
said that the Makewana-s had hair that hung down to the
waist. The reason why she never cut her hair was because it
was believed that she controlled the rain, and that, by analogy,
if she cut her hair she would "cut the rain"; furthermore, a
shorn head was likened to a brazen rainless sky. It is said that
she never cut her finger nails for the same reasons, but tradition
is divided on this point. According to some tradition, Make?
wana was always well dressed according to the fashions of
those days, according to other traditions she was no better
dressed than any other Cewa woman of those days, and some
say that she walked about naked on occasion. Tradition is
uncertain as to whether Makewana ever washed. According
to some people, she washed occasionally in boiling water,
for such was her command over water that even boiling water
could not harm her. According to others, she washed in the
Diampwe River. According to yet others, she washed only
in the sacred pool of Malawi, which is referred to below.
Near the shrine at Msinja, Makewana could walk about,
but if she went any distance away she was always carried, as
were chiefs, sitting on the shoulders of a man with her legs
dangling down each side of his neck. No special man carried
her, and any man might do so.
At first, Makewana was responsible for the rites attending
the initiation of girls, the Cinamwali, that is, she had the rights
of Mzinda over a wide area. On conclusion of these rights
she had, as must any other possessor of the rights of Mzinda
(a term perhaps most conveniently interpreted as "guardian
ship of the ancestral spirits") to perform ritual intercourse
(kutha misinda or kubweza) to complete the initiation. Makewana
had no husband, but there was a functionary, Kamundi
Mbewe, who performed the duties of husband of Makewana
on such occasions (but at no other time might he do so), and
such an act was referred to as a snake having entered the hut
of Makewana. If Makewana ever became pregnant, it is said
she would have been drowned in the sacred pool of Malawi,

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 34 THE NYASALAND JOURNAL

but there is no memory that this ever happened. When

Kamundi Mbewe visited Makewana for the purpose of ritual
intercourse, it was necessary to preserve the pretence that
neither he nor Makewana were human, and therefore each
was well wrapped in cloth, so that neither could see the other.
In theory, Makewana could not become pregnant, for she
never had visitation by a man, and hence there would never
have been any mention of her being pregnant in tradition?she
would merely have disappeared into the sacred pool of Malawi.
(Mr. Hamilton informs the author that although, according
to his information, Makewana had rights of Mzinda, no Nyau
(the secret masked mimes) or Cinamwali might be held in all
the area over which Makewana held direct sway. The reason
given why no Cinamwali might be held was because one day,
at the conclusion of a Cinamwali, twelve maidens undergoing
their ceremonial washing were drowned in the pool of Malawi.
Why Nyau might not occur in the area is not explained. One
hesitates to venture an explanation for this. Mr. Hamilton
states that, to this day, Cadza Mkwenda, chief of Ngara-wa
Kamwa and an important chief who held sway over the
Msinja country, may not even see Nyau, and it should not occur
in his country. Whether these restrictions had applied also to
the Cinsera line of chiefs and the Cadza Phiri line of chiefs who
preceded the Cadza Mkwenda chiefs is not known. We do
know that cinamwali was carried out until the time of the Cadza
Mkwenda-s, for it was during the time of a Cadza Mkwenda
that the maidens were drowned and cinamwali ceased in that
area.)
Makewana was also responsible for the ceremonies to bring
rain, and she uttered prophesies and made divinations. It
is said that Makewana would disappear into the sacred pool of
Malawi for three days at a time, in order to call down the rain.
When a Makewana died, she was never referred to as having
died. God cannot die. It was said that she had gone to visit
God (Cauta). By the most widespread and authoritative
accounts, when a Makewana did die her body was taken
secretly by night to the sacred pool of Malawi by the Matsano,
her female assistants, stones were tied about her body, and the
body was cast into the pool. A less authoritative account is
that she was buried in the normal Cewa manner, but that
large quantities of water mixed with pounded charcoal were
poured in the grave over the body. It appears, from other
sources, that this latter form of burial was the form of burial

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 MAKEWANA?THE MOTHER OF ALL PEOPLE 35

used for lesser functionaries at Msinja. On the death of a

Makewana, there might be some considerable delay until
a new Makewana appeared. Meanwhile, the deceased Make
wana was said to be visiting God, and when a new Makewana
did appear, she was said to be sent by God.

Mangadzi was a woman of the Phiri clan. After her death,

a woman of any clan might be Makewana. A new Makewana
was found when a woman appeared at Msinja and uttered
strange prophesies (Kubwebweta) and behaved in a manner to
show that the Spirits had entered her. She had furthermore
to answer satisfactorily questions put to her by the Msinja
functionaries, led by Kamundi. If she was satisfactory in all
respects, she was led to the hut of Makewana, and entered
therein and commenced her duties. According to the descend?
ants of Tsang'oma, any impostor found false on inquiry had sto?
nes fastened about her, and she was thrown into the Diampwe
River. That, however, was not done in the case of Kandilowa,
an impostor who appeared in the late 1890's shortly after the
advent of Protectorate Government to the Lilongwe District.
(On the whole, the Tsang'oma informants are unreliable).
The sacred pool of Malawi is said to lie a few hundred yards
from Msinja. It is said never to dry up. No person might
drink the water of this pool, nor wash therein, except Make?
wana. There were fish in this pool, but no-one might catch
them, and no-one might molest the birds and animals which
drank at the pool. The pool was named Malawi, a name
which occurs widely throughout Nyasaland, and which is
linked with the home of the Karonga chiefs at Malawi, north
of the Nkadzipulu Stream, opposite to Mankhamba, and near
the lake shore, in the north of the country they call Malawi.
(The author has not seen this pool. Mr. Hamilton has seen
it and confirms the description of its locality).

Msinja itself was said to be a large village?"as large as a

town", they say, and it was inhabited entirely by the attendants
and functionaries and their families, of Makewana. Makewana
normally never left Msinja, but it is recorded that on at least
one occasion she travelled to the lake shore near Malawi
"in order to fetch the water of the lake into the clouds to
bring rain". If she did travel, some at least of the attendants
and functionaries accompanied her. In this connection, the
strange manner in which the title of the Karonga was main

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 36 THE NYASALAND JOURNAL

tained at Mankhamba is worth a very brief mention. Each

Karonga held that title only so long as he was married to
Mwali Banda, of Mankhamba (which is Banda country),
and he was a great personage in name only?a chief without
land or power (dzina lolemekeza lalikulu?a great name of
honour). According to the people of Mankhamba and Malawi,
each Karonga was sent by Undi from Maano to marry the
Mwali, and it is admitted that Mankhamba rendered tribute
to Undi. However, in the Lilongwe District (and over the
border in Dedza District) where Makewana held sway, it is
maintained that it was Makewana who forwarded an eligible
male of the Phiri clan to Mankhamba to marry Mwali and
hold the title of Karonga. That may well be so, as is admitted
on the lake shore, for Msinja and Undi and Kaphiri-Ntiwa
are indissolubly linked in tradition (although Kaphiri-Ntiwa
was famous long before there was a Makewana) and when they
say that Undi sent the husband of Mwali, in that meaning
must be included the Kacisi (the spirit-house) of Undi at
Msinja, for Undi and Makewana are linked by the closest
ties. In the latter days of the Karonga-s, perhaps a little more
than a century ago, people nearer to Mankhamba than Msinja
began to seize the title by marrying Mwali, sometimes forcibly,
the last of all having done so with the assistance of Yao brigand
chiefs.

The personal attendants of Makewana were known as

Matsano, which is interpreted as "servants of Cauta (God)",
or as "the spirits of the graveyard", or as "the spirits themselves".
Matsano is the name often used for a graveyard (at the spirits),
and refers to the presence of the ancestral spirits there. The
term mtsano also means a wife, and matsano means "wives".
These Matsano were an unspecified number of women.
According to the descendants of the last Tsang'oma, the
Matsano were from five to eight virgin girls who had not yet
reached puberty. According to all other informants, they were
women of any age who felt the call to join Makewana as her
helpers. It is said that they performed no labour of any kind.
Like Makewana, they never cut their hair, and when one died
she was buried in a grave in the ground and large quantities
of water were poured over her body before the grave was
filled in. They were known also as Akazi a Cauta (the wives
of God), and sometimes as Akazi a Makewana (the wives of
Makewana, for Makewana was without sex), and from this,
the term Matsano is perhaps best interpreted as "wives of

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 MAKEWANA-THE MOTHER OF ALL PEOPLE 37

God". When the Karonga at Mankhamba took to wife one

of the Matsano while Makewana was visiting the lake "to bring
the waters of the lake into the clouds", Makewana was angered,
not because her attendant had been taken to wife, but because
"a wife of God" had been so dealt with. The Matsano were
were not permitted any sexual intercourse with men. If one
fell from this rule, the man who had sinned was taken by
Malemia before Cinsera, the chief of Ngara-wa-Kamwa of all
the country of Msinja and far beyond, and Cinsera's judges,
Kaimbe, Cinsamba, and Kuncenga (all traditional names)
would order him to be put to death for sacrilege. (The first
chiefs of Ngara-wa-Kamwa were named Cinsera. They were
replaced by a line of chiefs named Cadza Phiri, and these
in turn lost the chiefdom to the line of Cadza Mkwenda). All
his relatives would have their heads shaved, and they would
be put to live in the village of Makumbi, the village of sinners,
which worked to serve the needs of Msinja. The woman
(the Mtsano) would not be punished in any way, but she could
not remain one of the Matsano if she became pregnant. (She
was not punished, and hence she was a constant temptation
to Tsang'oma, whose short life is described below).

In the centre of Msinja was the spirit house of which Make?

wana was custodian. Next to it was the spirit house of the
Sacred Drum, and next to that was the hut of Makewana.
By some, and perhaps the best, accounts there was but one
spirit house, that of the Sacred Drum. Beyond the hut of
Makewana were the huts of the Matsano, and beyond them
the hut of Tsang'oma, the beater of the drum. On the other
side of the spirit house of the Sacred Drum (if we accept that
version), were the huts of Kamundi (the snake) and Malemia
(the messenger), but by some accounts only Malemia had a
hut there, for it would be tempting Kamundi too far to live
next door to Makewana. By some accounts, in the spirit
house of the Sacred Drum slept Matsano to guard it at all times
except when Tsang'oma was commanded to sound the drum.
The chief of the functionaries of Makewana was Kamundi
Mbewe. He was Thunga, the snake which entered the hut of
Makewana on completion of the girls' initiation ceremonies
(kumeta cinamwali, but see Mr. Hamilton's observations).
No-one ever referred to him as the husband of Makewana,
for God has no husband. It was Kamundi who made the
offerings to the spirit house, and it was he alone who might

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38 THE NYASALAND JOURNAL

make fire to burn offerings, for no fire might be brought for

this purpose, but had to be made afresh. Kamundi had also
to make fire whenever all hearths were cleaned, and fires
quenched, on such occasions as great droughts or famines,
when man-eating lions plagued the people, and such occasions
when offerings were being made to the spirits. He made fire
in the traditional way by twirling a stick in a hole in another
stick (as the Bushmen still make fire). It is said of Kamundi
that, when the tribe was on the move to the south from the
forests of the north, they were without fire, and were unable
to cook their food, until one day Kamundi made fire, and
gave it to all the people. Kamundi might be said to be the
chief civil functionary of Msinja, and it is said that Undi
himself appointed him to this duty, and to look after Mangadzi,
the sister of Undi, before Undi moved on eventually to settle at
Maano (where he no longer lives, but is his traditional home).
The title of Kamundi was inherited within the family, and was
always of the Mbewe clan. To the Mbewe clan do the Cewa
grant honour for giving them fire; for there are no Mbewe
chiefs, except Mkanda. As the Thunga of Makewana, Kamundi
might not marry any woman?he could not be both Thunga
and a husband?this was the common practice in similar
cases elsewhere.

The next most important functionary was Malemia Mwale,

the messenger of Makewana, so-called because he walked
until he was tired in his duties?kuyenda kulemia kulemetsa?
which can perhaps be best interpreted as "to walk until tired
beyond belief". Far and wide in Nyasaland we find that the
name Malemia was traditionally the name of the Chief's
messenger, the bearer of the spear, the bearer of tidings that
meant sudden activity to obey the command of the chief, lest
the spear be left upright in the ground before the hut of the
recipient of the message to warn of war to come.

By some accounts it was Malemia, and not Kamundi, who

lived in a hut next to the shrine, and opposite Makewana;
and like Makewana and the Matsano, Malemia did not cut
his hair or his finger-nails. It is said that it was Malemia who
received messages from Makewana, and who was told her
prophesies. It was Malemia who would instruct Tsang'oma
to beat the sacred drum, and Malemia would then travel to
the chiefs in the countryside to inform them that the drum
had sounded.

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 MAKEWANA-THE MOTHER OF ALL PEOPLE 39

By some accounts, Makewana also allotted country, and that,

when requests for chiefdom were made to her, she sent Malemia
first to inspect the country. It is very doubtful that she did
appoint chiefs. On the other hand it is freely admitted that
Cadza Phiri and Cadza Mkwenda were never confirmed in their
chiefdoms until confirmed by Makewana, and it is stated
that it was Makewana who gave them their tails and bangles
of chiefdom. The Cadza-s lived in the area which came under
the direct sway of Msinja, and were the chiefs of the country
of Msinja and in close contact with the happenings at Msinja,
and indeed played a part in the organisation of Msinja. Such
confirmation of chiefdom did not extend to other chiefs
further away.
The titles and duties of Malemia were inherited from within
the family, and Malemia was always of the Mwale clan.
The next most important functionary was Tsang'oma
Mwale. The name Tsang'oma means "the person of the
drum" or "the master of the drum". It was his duty to beat
the sacred drum when Makewana ordered, through Malemia,
that it should be beaten, and Malemia informed Tsang'oma.
The drum was beaten to summon the people of the countryside,
and was the signal to hear oracles delivered, to assemble to
pray for rain, to deliver the people from famine, and such other
occasions as need be.
According to tradition, the drum was found one day while
the tribe was on its wanderings, and before reaching Nyasaland.
Nearly all accounts agree that the drum was a drum of the
Kafula or Twa people, the pigmies, and by some few accounts
it was taken from the pigmies by force in battle. Even those
who deny its pigmy origin assert it is not a drum of the Cewa
people. All accounts agree that it was found at a place named
Mandawi, where the Cewa are said to have stayed for a long
time on their wanderings before settling in Nyasaland, and
Mandawi is identified as being near the Mazoe River, west
of Shamva in Southern Rhodesia. By some accounts, Mandawi
is a stream which is dry in the dry season between the rains,
and that in flood it pours its waters to the Mazoe River.
By other accounts, Mandawi is a pool, and it is said that this
is a sacred pool, the name of which is really Malawi, which
has been corrupted by the people now living there to Mandawi.
It is said that a rain shrine is still maintained there. The
truth might appear to be that the Mandawi of tradition, the

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40 THE NYASALAND JOURNAL

whereabouts of which is unknown, has been identified with the

Rhodesian Mandawi, which is known to many Africans of
Nyasaland going to Salisbury to seek work. There is no other
tradition that the Gewa ever crossed the Zambezi River,
excepting for isolated traditions that the Cewa followed the
pigmies across the Zambezi River, when they drove the pigmies
out of Nyasaland.
The drum is obviously of great age. It is a double-ended
drum some eighteen inches long and perhaps ten or eleven
inches wide. It is a cylinder in shape, and on the outside it is
carved in a manner said to be unknown among the Cewa
people. The drum tympanums are the skins of the monitor
lizard (Varanus sp.). In the side of the drum, a hole has been
bored, and this hole is kept closed with a plug. It is much
decayed with age, and the action of wood-boring insects and
dry rot. The drum exists in the care of the present-day Tsang'o
ma, who is a true descendant by Cewa matrilineal custom of
the last Tsang'oma, who was driven from Msinja by the Ngoni,
and was able to evade the inevitable traditional death of all
Tsang'oma-s, as described below. The drum is kept resting
on two poles in a shrine which is said to be an exact replica
of the original shrine. It is not known of what wood the drum
is made. It is kept covered with black or dark-coloured cloths,
and is not brought out of the shrine into the open. It is said
that it might be brought into the open in the old days only to
be sounded or mended. What appears to be, and is said to be,
a reddish oil is poured on the small portion of the drum which
may be seen among the cloth cover. (Mr. Hamilton has
queried the exact composition and significance of this oil.
It did rot occur to the author to question these points.)

At Msinja, the drum was kept in the rain shrine. Some few
accounts say that it had a separate shrine, but on the whole we
believe that the shrine of the drum was the rain shrine. The
shrine was about four to five feet in diameter, and was unusual
in that the walls were coated with mud (but Cilowa at Bunda
Hill had a rain shrine, the walls of which were made with
stone, although the present-day shrine is made in the usual
form with pole and grass sides). Usually, rain shrines have
sides of poles and grass or reeds. The doorway of the shrine
was kept closed with a grass door. The drum was kept in the
shrine lying across two poles in order to keep it from damp or
damage by termites, and the drum was kept covered with

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 MAKEWANA-THE MOTHER OF ALL PEOPLE 41

offerings of black cloth. The two poles did not touch the
ground but their ends were stuck in the walls of the shrine,
at one side, and at the other they rested on the lintel of the
doorway. The drum might be taken out of the shrine only to
be repaired or beaten. It might be beaten only by Tsang'oma,
or indeed handled at all (except when being repaired) only by
him. (Mr. Hamilton is of the opinion that other members of
the Tsang'oma family may nowadays also handle the drum).
If the drum was beaten, this was a message to summon all
people to Msinja. If the summons was to hear an oracle, there
might be great delay, perhaps a month or more, before the
oracle was delivered. If no oracle was eventually delivered,
Tsang'oma was held to be at fault. If the summons was in
order to cause rain to fall, the people would gather at once.
Accounts of the ceremony differ widely. By some accounts,
only Makewana would dance the rain dance Mgwetsa (to cause
it to fall), by other accounts, Makewana danced with the
Matsano, and by other accounts the entire gathering danced,
throwing water into the air and over one another. Before the
rain dance, the Matsano had to pound flour and make it into
a gruel (perhaps the only labour they performed) and this
gruel was placed in pots kept around the inside of the shrine.
A black fowl also was killed and placed inside the shrine.
If rain did not fall after the rain dance, then Tsang'oma was
held to be responsible for withholding the rain, but informants
hasten to add that the Mgwetsa quite infallibly produced rain
whenever desired.

By some accounts, when Tsang'oma beat the drum, the

Matsano would dance before him, and casting away their
clothes, they would dance naked.
If a new skin was required for the tympanums of the drum,
only Kapanga Banda, who lived at Kapoce in the country
of Chief Undi in Portuguese East Africa, could supply it, and
word would be sent to him to supply the necessary skins.

The name of the drum was said to be Mbiriwirt, because

when it was beaten mbiri (tidings) went out to the countryside.

Tsang'oma lived in a hut next to the Matsano, who were

not permitted sexual intercourse with any man. If it so happen?
ed that Tsang'oma broke this rule, he was held to have com?
mitted a serious crime and was put to death. If the rains failed
to fall after Mgwetsa, if Makewana failed to deliver an oracle

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42 THE NYASALAND JOURNAL

after the people had been summoned, if the rains failed at all
even if Mgwetsa was not danced, Tsang'oma was held to blame
and was put to death. When Tsang'oma was put to death,
he was taken several miles away to Dzanzi rock. There are
two accounts as to how he was always put to death. By one
account, there is a hole in the side of Dzanzi rock in which a
man may stand upright, and in this hole Tsang'oma was
placed bound and upright, and a black cloth wrapped around
his head so that he might not see. A sharpened stake of hard
wood was then hammered into the top of his skull reaching
down perhaps as far as his chest. His body was then taken out
of the hole, a single canine tooth from the upper jaw was
removed, and the body was taken and buried in a special
graveyard at the foot of Dzanzi reserved for Tsang'oma-s.
By other accounts, Tsang'oma was taken to the summit of
Dzanzi rock, and there, in a hollow in the rock, was bound
in a squatting position with a black cloth over his head, and a
sharp stake of hard wood was hammered through the top of
his head and the length of his body until the stake protruded
at his buttocks. A canine tooth was then removed from the
upper jaw and, here on the rock of Dzanzi, the corpse of
Tsang'oma was left to feed the vultures. Why Tsang'oma
should be taken a long distance to Dzanzi rock to be executed
is not explained, other than to say that it was not wished to
spill his blood near Msinja. According to all informants
questioned by the author, including the present Cadza Mkwe
nda himself, it was the duty of Cadza Mkwenda personally
always to execute Tsang'oma. (Mr. Hamilton's information
is that Cadza would order the death of Tsang'oma, but that
it was Cinsamba who carried out the actual execution and
lived near Dzanzi, perhaps one and a half miles from it. In
confirmation of this, Mr. Hamilton states that Cinsamba
refused to accompany him to Dzanzi (the inference being that
Cinsamba may not go there except on "official business").
The author did find it hard to credit that Cadza Mkwenda
should himself be the executioner, and this explanation that
Cinsamba was the executioner would appear to be the most
likely).
The tooth taken from each Tsang'oma was placed in the
sacred drum through the plug hole made for that purpose,
and it is asserted that there were very many teeth in the drum.
It is widely stated?as far to the north as the country of Culu?
that a Tsang'oma had a very short life, his usual downfall

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 MAKEWANA?THE MOTHER OF ALL PEOPLE 43

being the attractions of the Matsano, and that, before the

advent of Europeans, no Tsang'oma had ever died a natural
death. The descendants of the last Tsang'oma deny this, and
state that each Tsang'oma except one died naturally. That
one exception, they state, was executed on Dzanzi rock, but,
because he had erred, a tooth from his head was not placed
in the drum. They state that a tooth from the head of each of
those who never sinned was placed in the drum, but they decline
to disclose whether or not there are many teeth in the
drum. In fact, they cover up the matter of teeth (which
will confirm or deny their story, for if they are correct
there will be few teeth in the drum, perhaps a score or two,
whereas if the universal story is correct there must be a hundred
or more teeth in the drum). They state that all the teeth
were lost when the drum was broken, and that there is now
only one tooth in the drum, that of the Tsang'oma who fled
with the drum when Msinja was sacked by the Ngoni. We can?
not believe that whoever recovered the broken drum, which
was merely thrown on a rock, would not have recovered the
teeth, had they fallen out of the drum. Africans who have
seen and handled the drum since its return to Nyasaland
confidently assert that there are very many teeth in the drum.
The tympanums are relatively new by the look of them, and
quite a number of people must have seen the contents of the
drum. It should be added that the present-day Tsang'oma
will not now permit the drum to be handled by a visitor, and
the drum has become a money-making proposition, because
he charges a fee to see the drum "for clothing the drum in
black cloth". (According to Tsang'oma, only three Europeans
have seen the drum. They are Mr. Hoole, at one time District
Commissioner, Lilongwe, the author, and Mr. Hamilton.
Mr. Hamilton was fortunate to hear the rattle of contents in
the drum when it was shown to him, and, in his opinion, if
the contents are teeth, there must be very many of them.)

When Msinja was sacked by the Ngoni of Cidiaonga from

Domwe, Tsang'oma fled with the drum to Msekere in Port?
uguese East Africa, near Cakololoka Hill. Here Tsang'oma set
himself up as a headmen of a village. One day, Tsang'oma
adjudged a case against Caukidwa Phiri, who in revenge
later came and seized the drum, and threw it on a large flat
rock and broke it. Caukidwa then fled to the country of
Chief Kalolo (who was at that time still resisting the Ngoni
in his mud-walled fortress) in Nyasaland, but messengers

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44 THE NYASALAND JOURNAL

followed Caukidwa, and Kalolo seized him and sent him back
to Tsang'oma, and, at Msekere, Caukidw7a was duly executed
by Mphako, who w7as appointed executioner, striking him
on the back of the head with an axe. The drum was recovered
and repaired, and according to all informants except the
Tsang'oma family, all the teeth were replaced in it.

Each Tsang'oma had to be of the Mwale clan, and since

the duty of Tsang'oma invariably ended in execution, there
were never any volunteers for the position. The elders of
Msinja would secretly decide on a man of the Mwale clan
to be made successor of the lately executed Tsang'oma, and
the people would be summoned to a meeting. While the
people were assembled, an assistant would catch hold of the
intended successor, and Malemia would quickly hang the
drum about his neck by its carrying rope (on this occasion the
drum being brought into the open for this ceremony). Once
the drum had thus been hung on a man, he could not refuse
the appointment, and the assembled people shouted "Tsang'o?
ma?we" (Tsang'oma?you). (Mr. Hamilton has suggested to
the author that the title of Tsang'oma was hereditary, and that
the hanging of the drum about his neck was a public acknow?
ledgement of official status, in the same way that there is
sometimes a pretence of seizing an unwilling heir to a chiefdom
when he is installed. All the informants of the author, except
the Tsang'oma family (who have an axe to grind in this matter),
asserted to the author that the "seizing" of Tsang'oma was a
very real thing and that, although all the other functionaries
of Msinja, except Makewana, were hereditary, the turnover
of Tsang'oma's was such that the selection could not be
confined to one family and was applied to any male Mwale
of Msinja. (By the way, females of the Mwale clan are not
known as Mwale. They are Na-Ngondo).
It is confidently stated, by all except the present Tsang'oma
family, that the only Tsang'oma to die a natural death was the
one who fled to Msekere. He brought the drum back to
Nyasaland, and for a time there was an attempt to recreate
the Msinja shrine, but, on this failing, Tsang'oma moved to
his present village nearer Bunda Hill. On his death, it is
stated that one of his teeth was placed in the drum. His heir
in that family has assumed the title of Tsang'oma by inheritance
(something that never happened before), and has assumed
custody of the drum, maintaining for this purpose what is

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 MAKEWANA-THE MOTHER OF ALL PEOPLE 45

said to be an exact relica of the original shrine, in a thicket a

few yards from his hut in his village. This shrine is kept in
good repair, as it must be in order to protect the drum. None
of the original Msinja functionaries of Msinja now lives there,
but a small rain shrine is still maintained there at Msinja.

Tsakambambe Nkhoma had the duty of keeping the shrine

clean. This was really the duty of Kamundi Mbewe, as the
senior person responsible for the shrine, but Kamundi delegated
this duty to Tsakambambe. By one account, Tsakambambe
also had the duty of hearing what Makewana said, but the
great majority of people state that it was Kamundi Mbewe
alone who did this. Others say that it was Malemia who
heard the words of Makewana, and reported to Kamundi,
who instructed him to tell Tsang'oma if the sacred drum was
to be beaten. These oracles or sayings were always made by
Makewana while she was in a trance?kubwebweta. The duty
of Tsakambambe was inherited within the family in the
normal manner. It is said that the first Tsakambambe was a
man who committed adultery with the wife of Ntambala, a
nephew of Kamundi Mbewe, and that, as a punishment,
he was given the duty of keeping the shrine clean.

Masanda Nkhoma had the duty of inspecting all offerings

made to the shrine. Only black animals might be offered,
and Masanda inspected them to ensure that they were per?
fectly black all over, and without any physical blemish, Only
black or dark (wokudd) cloth was accepted as an offering.
The reason why only black (or dark?there appears to be
little difference in African eyes) cloth or animals were accepted
was because they resembled in colour the thunder clouds,
and any other colour would drive the rain away. Offerings of
ivory were placed in the hut of Makewana to form her bed,
and black cloths were wrapped around them to hide their
whiteness, before they were brought to the hut. (In early days,
before the coming of trade, ivory was often used as a bed
because it was not attacked by termites and, because of its
slippery sides, it prevented Congo Floor-Maggots from reaching
the sleeper. In later times, probably the times that informants
have learnt from tradition, ivory was a very valuable trade
article). On the tusks of ivory were laid black cloths. It is
said that some of the cloth offerings were used to clothe Make?
wana and the Matsano, and that they might wear only black
cloth. All the ivory tusks were taken by the Ngoni of Cidia

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46 the nyasaland journal

onga when they sacked Msinja?it is said that there were very
many tusks in the hut of Makewana?but the Ngoni of Domwe
(the present-day Ngoni of Gomani, the descendant of Cidia
onga) have no tradition of any raid on Msinja, or any par?
ticularly large haul of ivory in their raids. Offerings of food
or beer were placed in the shrine. These offerings differed
from presents sent for the use of the inhabitants of Msinja.
It is acknowledged that offerings and presents to Msinja used
to come from as far away as the Mwase of Kasungu, and
beyond him, in those days, a far greater chief, Culu, and from
Undi himself at Maano. It is stressed by all informants that the
real "owner" of the shrine at Msinja was Undi, and it would
be expected that all the chiefs of the Undi "empire" would
send tribute to Msinja.
Kanthungo Nkhoma had the duty of killing any animals
offered to the shrine. The name means "short spear" and he
used a spear to stab any animals to be killed. The throat was
never cut, even fowls were killed by stabbing. This short spear
was, by description, almost, if not entirely, identical in pattern
with the traditional spears used for public executions of
humans. Mlolo tradition, far away to the south in the lower
Shire valley, describes an identical spear, which was a short
and heavy spear, nearly all blade, which could be thrust
through a man from the side throught the armpits so that the
point stuck out on one side, yet the other end of the iron blade
was still not into the man. There are many old men still alive
who can demonstrate, with pantomime, the execution with
such a spear.
There was a pile of stones?Guwa?near the shrine, and
on it any animal or bird offerings were burnt. According to
most accounts, these offerings were burnt to ashes, and the
ashes then taken and cast in the sacred pool of Malawi. Ac?
cording to the Tsang'oma family, such offerings were merely
cooked and then eaten by the functionaries of Msinja, but
such an explanation is so unusual as to receive little credit.
The duty of Kanthungo was inherited in the usual way.
Kubzikho Mphande had the duty of keeping clean the
cups?zikho?used for drinking the beer which was supplied
to important visitors to Msinja, such as chiefs, and to the
important functionaries of Msinja, such as Kamundi Mbewe,
Malemia Mwale, and others. The duty was inherited in the
usual manner.

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 MAKEWANA-THE MOTHER OF ALL PEOPLE 47

Ciwala Banda had the duty of seeing to the comfort of

visitors to Msinja?Owalira alendo?(to look after visitors).
By some accounts he was of the Phiri and not of the Banda clan.
It is said that the first Ciwala was a woman named Cafuta,
who was a very good cook and cooked very well for the visitors.
In honour of this, her name was changed to Ciwala. She had
a brother named Cingala, and it was the duty of Cingala to
collect cooking pots for the use of Ciwala whenever they were
needed. Both these duties were inherited in the normal
manner.

It was the duty of Mkwerera Phiri to make and thatch

the shrine, and to see to its repair. The shrine was a small one,
but by those accounts where there was a separate shrine from
the shrine of the sacred drum, the shrine had a central pillar,
but that is perhaps no more than analogy from other shrines.
The name Mkwerera was derived from Wokwera pa denga pa
Kacisi?"he who climbs on the roof of the shrine". The titl
was inherited in the normal manner. As is well-known, the
duty of mudding the walls of a hut is a woman's duty, and an
elderly woman past child-bearing, of the family of Mkwerera
Phiri, was detailed to this duty.
It was the duty of Matsimbe Nkwenda to make charcoal
matsimbe?for the making of hoes and other iron articles, for
offerings in the shrine, and for use by Kampini. The duty was
inherited in the normal manner.

Kampini Phiri had the duty of making the handles for the
hoes, and hence his name, which means "little handle".
With these hoes he had to keep the area around the shrine fre
of grass and weeds. It is not certain who actually made the
hoes. It is said that the children of Kampini actually had the
smelting furnaces and the smithy, and that they made the
hoes. It seems far more probable that in fact the Msinja
people never smelted iron, but that Kampini was no more
than a blacksmith. Culu, long ago chief of the Cimaliro
(by the best accounts, so-called because of the "screaming of
the furnaces") traditionally sent hoes to Msinja as tribute to
ensure good rains.
The duty of Kampini was inherited in the usual manner.
Njiraamadzi Nkhoma had the duty of providing the
materials for the construction of the shrine and for its repair.
He provided poles and grass and bark rope, and, because he

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48 THE NYASALAND JOURNAL

had to take the rope to the Diampwe River to soak it in water

to render it pliable, he received the name of "the path to the
water". His duty was inherited in the normal manner.
Akumsanja Mphadwe had the duty of providing bridges
over the Diampwe River, and nearby streams, so that visitors
to Msinja could have no difficulty on the way (kusanja mlatho?
to construct a bridge). It was also his duty to mend the grain
bins and any other buildings which required repair at Msinja,
in fact, as one informant described him, he was the Public
Works Department of Msinja.
The entire village or town of Msinja was composed of
the huts of functionaries and their families and dependants in
the widest African meaning of those terms. Msinja was,
therefore, of large size, and was split into sub-divisions (zipata)
for each group of functionaries, so that each functionary had
his own village within the town. The head of each village,
that is, the actual functionary, was headman of that village
and controlled it. Any persons who did wrong at Msinja,
together with their families, were sent to live in a special
punishment village named Makumbi, a short distance from
Msinja. By some accounts, this village was in charge of Mso
mokera Mkwenda, who received that title because people
were always being added to it (kusomokera). By other accounts,
it was Katerere Mwale who was in charge of Makumbi.
We prefer the former account. It was a very large village,
and the families of persons committed to it had to live there
for ever after. Persons who committed minor offences at
Msinja were not sent to Makumbi but were placed on the
village ash-heap (dz?la) for a day for all to see that they had
done wrong. None of the inhabitants of Msinja did any work
other than that laid down for their special duty. It is asserted
quite positively that they cultivated no crops of any kind,
nor did they build houses or grain-bins, other than those to
receive tributes. The inhabitants of Makumbi were primarily
detailed to see to all these needs of Msinja, and, in addition,
there were heavy calls on surrounding and even faraway
villages as far as the Mwase of Kasungu, and Culu beyond
him.
In the 1870's, a raid by the Ngoni of Cidiaonga Maseko
from Domwe utterly smashed up Msinja town. Those persons
who could do so fled into the bush, and the rest were killed or
captured, and the whole village or town was burnt. Makewana

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 MAKEWANA?THE MOTHER OF ALL PEOPLE 49

herself escaped to the north, and was never heard of again.

Tsang'oma escaped with the sacred drum, as has already been
told.
With the advent of Protectorate Government and the
cessation of Ngoni raids, the descendants of many persons,
or the persons themselves, captured by the Ngoni, or who
had escaped elsewhere, returned to Msinja and attempted to
recreate the shrine and town. They were faced with the
difficulty that there was no one to support them in the accustom?
ed manner, no Makumbi Village, and they would have to
supply their own needs. One day, a Makewana, or one who
claimed to be Makewana, named Kandiwona, who hailed
from Msekere to which Tsang'oma had fled, did appear, but
she failed to pass the necessary tests and was driven away.
{Kandiwona?"they refuse to see me"). For a few years she
wandered about the Lilongwe District. Then she married a
man, but a short time after, in remorse for this un-Godlike
act, she shut herself in a hut and set fire to the roof, thereby
committing suicide. Since then, Msinja village has split up
and scattered widely, although a small rain shrine is still
maintained there. With the exception of Makewana, all the
titles are still retained by the heirs thereto (but see about the
title of Tsang'oma referred to earlier), but there is no longer
any vestige of the original Msinja organisation at Msinja.
Strangers are now cultivating over the olden town site.
It will be noted that more than one of the functionaries of
Msinja was of the Mkwenda clan. Tradition has it that Undi
and his sister Mangadzi travelled together west from Malawi
into what was then unoccupied land. The Mkwenda people
came west from Malawi with Undi (they have a story to
account for the clan name of Mkwenda from an incident on
this journey). By all acounts, the Cadza Mkwenda-s replaced
the Cadza Phiri-s at Ngara-wa-Kamwa, who in turn had
replaced Cinsera, as chiefs of that country, and even by Cadza
Mkwenda tradition, it was Makewana who gave Cadza
Mkwenda his tail and bangle of chiefdom. The Cadza Phiri-s
could not have preceded Undi into this wilderness as it then
was, and if the Cadza Mkwenda-s have traditional positions
at Msinja, one must suppose that they received their authority
at Msinja before they received authority as chiefs, some time
after Makewana had already become established.
Long before Undi went west from Malawi, the Cewa had
already passed through Msinja on their way towards the

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50 THE NYASALAND JOURNAL

country of Malawi. They had stayed long enough near

Kaphiri-Ntiwa ("the little hill where it is impressed on the
rock", where the footprints of all animals and man are im?
pressed in the solid stone (so they say)) for the name of Kaphiri
Ntiwa to be the one name remembered as far to the south as
near the Zambezi River, as the place from which the people
came. Kaphiri-Ntiwa is less than a day's walk from Msinja,
but the Msinja tradition does not start from the days when
the Bantu inhabited the country about Kaphiri-Ntiwa, but
from the much later date when Undi went west from Malawi.

Note. The article on the second Rain Shrine?MBONA?will

be published in our next issue.

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