Lozi: Zambia

The Lozi migrated into Western Zambia from the Luba Lunda Kingdom of Mwata Yamvwa in Zaire, which was one of the greatest central African Chieftainships in the 17th and 18th Century. After some centuries they were conquered by the Makalolo from the South, fleeing themselves from the great Zulu conqueror, Shaka. They left their language, Sikololo as the lingua franca of the Barotse plains and imposed much of their cultural tradition on the area. The Lozi people eventually rose up against them in 1864 and all but annihilated them. Their Chief is called the Litunga and they are essentially cattlemen. Every year they migrate to higher ground above the barotse flodplains of the Zambezi in a grand ceremony called the Kuomboka.