(Posted 26th February 2024)
Courtesy of Gill Staden, Livingstone, Zambia
This is a fascinating part of Zambia’s history as it takes in the rise of the Lunda Empire under Chief Kazembe and then its decline as the Bemba took control under the watchful eye of the Swahili traders. The Swahili were trading primarily in elephant tusks which they slaughtered in their thousands, urged on by the high prices in Europe and America to use the tusks for billiard balls, piano keys and cutlery handles.
The Swahili had no feelings for non-Muslims and enslaved the people for use in their caravans as they trekked back to their main commercial centre of Zanzibar, leaving large areas of the Three Lakes uninhabited.
The book looks at the history of David Livingstone who spent his final years there. He was followed by other explorers like Henry Morton Stanley, Verney Lovett Cameron, Edward Glave and Cecil Poulett-Weatherley. They were joined by the missionaries, notably from the London Missionary Society.
Following the Scramble for Africa by European powers the land became Northeastern Rhodesia with Cecil Rhodes and his colleagues controlling the administration.
Although this is a remote region of Zambia, long neglected for any commercial development, its history tells us why this happened and how the future looks rosy.
Anyone interested in the Northern Circuit which has become a focus of the Ministry of Tourism should read the book and see how more attention to our cultural history can enhance its promotion.
Please don’t forget the other books:
All are available on Amazon.
