MALAWIANS IN THE GREAT WAR AND AFTER, 1914-1925 Dissertation for the Degree of Ph. D. MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY MELVIN EUGENE PAGE 1977 This is to certify that the thesis entitled Malawians in the Great War and After, 1919-18 presented by Melvin Eugene Page has been accepted towards fulfillment of the requirements for PhJDA degree in 111.3% 14 M AMUJ 7 [/ Majo/ [/professoy Date W 0-7639 APR 2 8 1339 ABSTRACT MALAWIANS 1N THE GREAT WAR AND AFTER, 19lA-l925 BY Melvin Eugene Page The purpose of this study is to survey and analyze the history of the African p0pulation of Malawi during and innmdiately after World War One. Drawing extensively upon oral historical sources, as well as archival and published materials, the important events and developments of the period 191A to about 1925 are described. African viewpoints towards, and attitudes about, the period are given Special emphasis. The conclusion reached is that the Great War marked a significant watershed in Malawi's history. Wartime demands upon the whole population and individual experiences served to both initiate changes and accelerate transformations which had already begun. In the process a reservoir of resentments was created which provided a focal point for various expressions of lanti-European feeling. After l907, the consolidation of Eur0pean rule in Nyasaland brought extensive demands for tax and labor, known to some Naiawians as thangata. The tensions thus created were revealéd in a number of widespread and varied millenial expectations of sudden and frequently cataclysmic change. Therefore, the coming of the First World War was not altogether a shock for Halawians. Demands for their service, as soldiers (askari) and, much more frequently, as carriers of supplies (tengatenga) grew so large and oppressive that resistance developed. Zeivin Eugene Page The failure of organized opposition to wartime recruitment, such as the Chilembwe rebellion, led to individual tactics of evasion, occasionally linked to traditional African institutions, such as the gygg societies among the Chewa. in addition, Malawians were called upon to produce ever-increasing agricultural surpluses to provide foodstuffs for the soldiers and military laborers. Foreign troops, both African and EurOpean, trained and camped in the country, creating further dislocations in African life. Coincident with these pressures, unfavorable weather created crop losses which effected local, rather than military, food production. Weakened as a result of food shortages, the Malawian p0pulation suffered from the effects of epidemic disease, including plague and smallpox. Similar hardships--food shortages and disease-- also undermined the effectiveness of Malawian soldiers and military laborers. And after l918, the entire population was hard hit by epidemic influenza, carried throughout the country by demobilized trooPS. The unexpected length and scope of the campaign profoundly disturbed Malawians, whose traditional leaders appealed to colonial officials for relief. Their petitions, though, had little effect. Rather, the demands for men and foodstuffs continued and the hardships multiplied. So onerous were the exactions that Malawians came to associate the war with the worst features of British rule, referring to it as ”the war of thggggtg." As such, the conflict and its associated experiences provided Malawians with their first national experience. In the years immediately following the war, this Melvin Eugene Page feeling was expressed through the quasi-political activities of African “native associations,’I informal bggi_and similar dances societies, as well as increased flyag and Islamic activity. All of these, in one measure or another, were inspired by and reflected the anti-EurOpean resentments which were the principal result of Malawian experiences during the Great War. MALAWIANS IN THE GREAT WAR AND AFTER, I9lA-I925 BY Melvin Eugene Page A DISSERTATION Submitted to Michigan State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Department of History 1977 © Copyright by MELVIN EUGENE PAGE 1977 for my mother O archivis. archivists in Malawi, Rhodesia, the United Kingdom, and the United States; too numerous to mention by name, I nonetheless owe them all a great deal. Three persons, however, deserve special thanks. The first is the late Professor James R. Hooker, who introduced me to the study of central Africa and was instrumental in my coming to Malawi. Secondly, Professor George Shepperson offered kindly advice and encouragement when it was most needed and continued to assure me of the value of my undertaking. Finally, I owe the most to Professor Harold 6. Marcus, who as friend and mentor has given more to me, and to this study, than perhaps even he would care to admit. (.5 db F‘r. I wanker . o CLET S 0-5 List of List of Chapter Chapter Chapter Chapter‘ Chapter Chapter Chapter List of TABLE OF CONTENTS Tables Abbreviations One: The Great Conflagration Two: The War of Thangata Three: The Machona Cohorts Four: The Hungry War Five: A Time of Fire Six: Not a Complete Peace Seven: A Shame to People's Souls References vi vii viii 36 86 11% 156 201+ 2A6 260 The I. LIST OF TABLES Table l. Malawian Askari, By Districts 50 Table 2. Malawian Military Labor, By Districts 82 Table 3. Malawian KAR Casualties IAO vii AM. mm; m, [11,". am A.L.C. C.L.A.|.M. C.I.D. C.0. F.O. H.M.S.O. I.W.M. K.A.R. M.A.P.A.R.0. M.N.A. M.N.R. M.R.A. N.A.R. N.R.P. N.V.R. P.E.A. P.I.M. P.R.0. R.H.L. LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS African Lakes Company Christian Literature Association in Malawi Criminal Investigation Department Colonial Office Foreign Office His/Her Majesty’s Stationery Office Imperial War Museum (Library) King's African Rifles Malawi Army Pay and Records Office Malawi National Archives Museum of the Northamptonshire Regiment Malawi Railway Archives National Archives of Rhodesia Northern Rhodesia Police Nyasaland Volunteer Reserve Portuguese East Africe (MozaMbique) Providence Industrial Mission Public Record Office (London) Rhodes House Library (Oxford) viii R,Ii,R. 5.11.1. L.!,C.A. R.N.R. Rhodesia Native Regiment S,M.L. Society of Malawi Library U.M.C.A. Universities' Mission to Central Africa W.O. War Office l""~. h", p. b be Pl .Iv '\ . II. E t C. i. F ‘ .rm 9‘ F .C .T 3—. .—5 .9 1;» Aka I Ch “n. s a I. .1! «.U F.- v . , .\u an.» s I i w » na‘ - i I. -\ «u. hi HI I- H A t; .6 . s cc .. o CHAPTER ONE: THE GREAT CONFLAGRATION The history of small, landlocked Malawi has, in a sense, been dominated by its waterways. Lake Malawi stretches along the eastern frontier for two-thirds of the country's length, spilling into the Shire river which then winds down to the nation's southern tip. Along, over, and across this lake and river system have traveled most of the peoples who have deeply influenced Malawi's history. Although settlement has concentrated in the northern highlands and central plateaus west of the lake and in the Shire highlands east of the river, the waterways have attracted the settlers. For more than a millenium prior to the nineteenth century, Bantu-speaking peeples came into Malawi, probably following the lakeshore and river south, and settled in the country. Along the river and in the Shire highlands were the Mang'anja and Nyanja ' peeples. In the central plateaus the closely related Chewa peoples predominated. Further north, along the lake and in the highlands, a large number of interrelated, yet disparate, peoples settled, among whom the Tumbuka, Tonga, and Ngonde speakers became perhaps the most influential. These northern peoples were somewhat distinct from the related Chewa, Nyanja, and Mang'anja of the southern two-thirds of Malawi. In both clusters, however, cultural and societal patterns deveIOped which were often tied to the lake and river. In Arautd ‘1 cars It“: 3? sit" ~". ' pun i'i't‘er a N. 'SESS‘?’ I the south, centralized political units grew and vied with each other for preeminence. By the end of the eighteenth century the dynamic changes which were to effect Malawi's peOples over the next century had begun. Around the northern end of the lake came the first of the Balokwa clans who established political and economic authority over what was essentially a trade route from the lake into Zambia. Their primary interest was trade, and hence they did not develop long- standing political hegemony over the region. In the south, probing further and further up the Shire river, came Portuguese African sertaneios, who there and elsewhere north of the Zambesi, were intent upon trade and the quest of precious minerals. These first Portuguese incursions may have had minimal effect, but by the first quarter of the nineteenth century they had succeeded in disrupting the power of the last Chewa paramountcy, that of Undi. One of the effects arising from that power was greater influence for the Portuguese and their African clients along the lower Shire.2 These changes were inconsiderable, however, compared to those which came in the middle of the nineteenth century. In the late l830$ two groups of Ngoni came into the country from the southwest. Turning in front of the lake, one group continued northward into the Lake Malawi/Lake Tanganyika corridor. After internal divisions, 'There is, at present, no good general overview of Malawi's pre-colonial history. The best available treatment of these trends, however, can be found in several of the articles in The Early History of Malawi, ed. B. Pachai (London: Longman, I972). 20n the Portuguese themselves see M.D.D. Newitt, Portuguese Settlement on the Zambesi (London: Longman, I973), pp. 277-8A. mbera le n25 peopie One of My semi; int: see: of t: “99’ l 11". urinal rd tet'eced 1 , it“ Q . ”is T."- ha p. ,. aw ‘-:"r~ - ‘VJ U Mombera led one segment south again; through military conquest his people dominated the northern highlands of Malawi by the 1870s. One of Mombera's Lieutenants, Ciwere, led a small group further south into the central plateau. That area was also the final settle- ment of the Maseko Ngoni who had initially come into Malawi in the 18305. They, however, had gone south, around the lake, and then northward into the Songea region of Tanzania. Defeated, they retraced their steps around the lake, settling in the southern reaches of the central plateau. By the 18705 they dominated the area and began to expand into the Shire highlands. In the Shire river valley sixteen Kololo, who in I86A chose to remain after following Livingstone on his explorations of the Malawi area, came to dominate many of the Mang'anja peOples of the region. Exploiting the disruptions of the Portuguese, these few men relied on their firearms, organizational abilities, and their connection with Livingstone to develop and control an effective state. Wherever they settled in Malawi, the Ngoni and Kololo refugees from the Zulu mfecane were quite willing to use force. Conquest was the mode of establishing their power, which they sustained by raiding and further conquest. The highly organized military tactics they employed, and their superior military technology overwhelmed Malawi's peoples. Villages were utterly destroyed, the most desirable of the pOpulation taken as captives; the rest were killed or left to die. Terror of the Ngoni raiding parties and the Kololo-led warriors was widespread. Even the most powerful Chewa chief, Mwase Kasungu, was forced to reach an accommodation with the Ngoni. It was easily the most devastating experience the [C26 'h‘ “,9 5 .1 He : 1%.. LJ . .H u h: . Ob un‘n my 3.. u-.l b Malawians had then known and the foundation of their beliefs about the totality of war.3 When he first saw the aftermath of Ngoni raiding among the Tonga, David Livingstone reported it as the results of the slave trade. In fact the slave trade came in the wake of Yao and Afro—Arab expansion into Malawi, and had a somewhat different impact. Much of this effect was created by the Yao, who after about 1860 were rapidly spreading into the area south of the lake and west of the Shire. These waterways afforded kinds of barriers, and still allowed the various competing Yao chieftancies access to their trading outlets in Mozambique and on the Indian Ocean. It was this trade, and the search for slaves to enlarge the followings of various chiefs, which drew the Yao into Malawi. But their arrival after I860 was also part of the Ngoni aftermath: they were pushed from homes in Mozambique by both the direct and indirect effects of Ngoni raids in Tanzania. 3The best general survey of the mfecane and its impact on central Africa is J.D. Omer-Cooper, The Zulu Aftermath (London: Longman, I966). In addition to material in The Early History of Malawi, the Ngoni are treated by Ian Linden, ”Some Oral Traditions fran the Maseke Ngoni,‘l Society of Malawi Journal, 2h, 2(July l97l), 6l-73. There is no comprehensive treatment of the Kololo in Malawi; the best available, however, is Matthew Schoffeleers, ”Livingstone and the Mang'anja Chiefs,“ in Livingstone: Man of Africa, ed. 8. Pachai (London: Longman, l973), Ill-I30. Valuable commentary on Ngoni warfare and Malawi‘s peoples was developed in my interviews: 105, Diamond Caswcll Chirwa, l August I973; lll, Mugwinya Ngombe Nyirenda, 2| August l973; ll9, Village Headman Malomo, 7 August I973; I70, Corporal Lipende, 14 September I973. l*The Yao are treated by Edward Alpers in The Early History of Malawi and in ”Trade, State and Society amont the Yao in the Nine- teenth Century,” Journal of African History, lO(l969). Alpers is weakest, however, when dealing with the Yao in Malawi. A start on treeufing this important aspect of Yao history has been made by Y.M. JUMNByeyi, ”The Yao Chieftainship of Nkanda: a Preliminary History of its Origins and Growth to l9l4.” unpubl. University of Malawi h’story seminar paper, I972—73. Una- Areas fr: ’5: on t' :e*:ral Y‘qr C f t'efe ll" pa’dn’l 5‘ n~.:.'s. nl Unaffected by the Ngoni, however, were the Swahili and Afro- Arabs from the east coast. Arriving at about mid-century, they established trading headquarters at the northern end of the lake and at Nkhotakota and also asserted their authority among Makanjira‘s Yao on the lake's eastern shore. They began, especially along the central lakeshore, to build dhows for lake tranSport to support their commercial activities. They also attempted to divert the trade in ivory and slaves to their own entrepSts, utilizing Lake Malawi as a kind of catchment to channel the commerce into their hands. This practice, of course, required establishing themselves as suzerains over the immediate areas of their commercial presence.5 The Swahilis and Afro-Arabs, as the Yao, did not engage in violent warfare to establish and maintain their positions, unlike the Ngoni intervention in Malawi. In fact, the Yao feared Ngoni armies and attempted to avoid them; the Swahilis respected the Ngoni presence and did nothing to challenge Ngoni authority. But, even if ivory was the major item of trade, slaves, too, came to the Yao and Arabs. And slavery rightfully became a feared part of the lives of Malawians. Both those who were forced, for reasons of dispair or disruption, to enter themselves into relationships of servitude or those who were captured by slaving parties had untold 5On the Afro-Arabs see H.w. Macmillan in The Early History of Malawi, and George Shepperson, ”The Jumbe of Kota Kota and Some Aspects of the History of Islam in British Central Africa,“ in lilifl in Tropical Africa, ed. by I.M. Lewis (London: Oxford University Press, I966), pp. 194-205. Shepperson's account is in need of some revisions; see Melvin E. Page, “The Manyema Hordes of Tippu Tip: a Case Study in Social Stratification and the Slave Trade in Eastern Africa,” International Journal of African Historical Studies, 7(l97h), 83-84. ties 0 arm? .4! 0' .L u." A... .h . T n: S a“ «I nu d 9. rl .hl S 5.5 a z». I I in AV u... :0 i F ads. 9' s "1H *' urV'UU». II‘ n- \ trier 57 face ‘1' ~C b— u n i . I .3 .r.. .t: y rel E f. e . - .. AU .n .r- C.- PI bis .4 .a UV 3... . i E... \c are pl. “\v a s iii .. A” u .v all. i x S b t ll l I .i v.” anxieties about their future. Children grew up in fear of being kidnapped or sent away forever with one of the slave caravans. Along with the Ngoni wars, slavery became a living terror for Mala- wians. These horrors had been seen by the humanitarian Livingstone who, as previously noted, assumed all such evils to be the results of what he perceived as the ubiquitous iniquities of the slave trade. From this view came a resolve to combat slavery through the introduction of Christianity, commerce-~and through them--civili- zation into central Africa. Livingstone's eloquent appeal brought an emotional response from the United Kingdom's universities, and under their leadership the first EurOpean missionaries came to Malawi. Led by Livingstone himself, the young men of the Univer- sities' Mission to Central Africa came up the Shire river in 186l and established themselves at Magomero in the Shire highlands. They faced many difficulties, among them the confliCts between Yao slavers and Nyanja victims. Conscience dictated intervention against . the more powerful Yao, a decision which isolated the missionaries. In a time of conflict and associated famine, to be cut off from the loci of power was not only demoralizing but also dangerous. Follow- ing the death of the mission's leader, Bishop Mackenzie, the Europeans withdrew to the Shire valley, later to evacuate to Zanzibar.7 In the wake of historiography dependent upon observations of LlVingstone and his successors, this is a somewhat revisionist inter- Pretation; see M.E. Page, ”David Livingstone and the Jumbe of Nkhota- kOta,“ Rhodesian History, 3(l972), 29-39. 7The best study of the Magomero missionaries, though popularized, lgssgVJe-n Chadwick, Mackenzie's Grave (London: Hodder and Stoughton, Despite its initial failure, the Universities' Mission in l875 began to reestablish work in Malawi; these efforts were not complete until ten years later, when the mission steamer Charles Jansen began to travel the lake. l875 was also the year in which missionaries of the Free Church of Scotland began the Livingstonia mission, choosing Cape Maclear on the lake as their base. A year later the Established Church of Scotland also began a Malawi mission, located in the Shire highlands and named Blantyre, after Livingstone's birthplace. Both Scottish efforts succeeded, although the Cape Maclear location was abandoned in favor of more suitable sites at Bandawe and later the new Livingstonia near the northern end of the lake. By l880 then, one.half of Livingstone's vision--Christianity--had been successfully introduced in Malawi. Commerce, the other half of the vision, was not far behind. In I878 the first efforts of the Livingstonia Central Africa Company, capitalized in Scotland, were begun. This firm, later renamed and better known as the African Lakes Company, hoped to use the lake, the Shire, and the Zambesi to exploit what was believed to be a tremendous commercial potential. The A.L.C. took over all the tranSport for the Livingstonia mission, and much else as well, putting its own vessels on the waterways. Soon it was organizing further transportation and other enterprises. In the wake of the A.L.C. came others with their vessels on the lake and river, including the Universities' Mission, which hoped to use the water- ways as a highway into the interior, and at the same time to eliminate trade. essianary rivalry b; (.1 ) eliminate Malawi as a focal point of the east African slave trade.8 With so many of her subjects thrust into the region, Britain became inextricably involved. And with the access routes to the missionary Spheres astride Portuguese territory, an understandable rivalry began between the two nations for the area. This competition was complicated first by the agressive activities of the Kololo, and later by the I884 Massingire rebellion. Although the Portuguese put down the l88h rising, the disruptions brought further British involvement. The African Lakes Company made agreements with the Kololo promising British protection (later temporarily retracted), and the Scots missionaries mounted a campaign at home to gain British government for the region. These pressures, and further Portuguese intrigues, led first to the I889 declaration of a Bri- tish protectorate over part of Malawi, followed in May 189] by the inclusion of most of what is today Malawi within the Protec- torate. Shortly thereafter an agreement was reached delineating the areas of Portuguese and British influence on the Shire.9 Malawi thus became a part of the British Empire. It remained, however, for the first Commissioner and Consul-General, Harry Hamilton Johnston, to enforce London's rule in the country. The first five years were spent largely in accumulating revenue, in part from Cecil Rhodes' British South Africa Company, anxious to 8These missionary and mercantile activities are described in B. Pachai, “Christianity and Commerce in Malawi: Some Pre—Colonial and Colonial Aspects,” in Malawi Past and Present, ed. B. Pachai, c.w. Smith, and R.K. Tangri (Blantyre: C.L.A.I.M., l97l), pp. 37-68. 9 . On these developments see P.R. Warhurst, “Portugal's Bid for Southern Malawi, l882-l89l,” in Malawi Past and Present, pp. 20-36. wan” 5’ as well. ,1 J"".‘ u u I; _ -Uj: t‘ 'th J3 vs ! V U 'S f: '1' EU» V5 ‘0!) a 'h —. A U 5L r: a t—b p: i.» expand north and east from Rhodesia. The firSt half decade was, as well, a period of conquest, as first reluctant Yao chiefs and then the Afro-Arabs of the northern lakeshore were subdued. After I896 Johnston took steps to assure his control of the Protectorate. Apart from the organization of a central administration, Johnston established a system of districts, in each of which resi- dent Collectors maintained order, diSpensed justice, and collected taxes. In addition, Johnston made efforts to stop Rhodes and others from alienating even more African land than had been acquired by Europeans prior to l89l and to validate legitimate transfers made before that date. In these efforts extensive investigations were made, but only some land claims were recognized, based upon prin- ciples designed to ensure African rights. Naturally, these efforts were not uniformly effective, but probably did prevent the creation of another colony like Rhodesia. Less successful were Johnston's attempts to protect the rights of Africans resident on lands sold to Europeans. This goal was to have been accomplished through a “non-disturbance” clause included in all certificates of claim issued, but the changing African population soon made the provi- sions safeguarding the original inhabitants almost totally ineffec- tive. ' - The effect of Johnston's policies, then, was to make more and more demands upon Malawians. Those who resided on EurOpean lands-- regardless of their rights under the ”non-disturbance" clauses-- were expected to pay rent, which for most meant a fixed period of labor each year, usually one month. Moreover, all males, no matter where they resided, were expected to pay tax on their dwellings, V‘ C 0" IT 12‘ '\ ’XI Ii“? II J‘ Inti, P .-‘:‘ N ' 10 generally referred to as ”hut tax.” For those on European estates, it almost always meant another month of working for their new landlords. In many cases Malawians not living on the estates found it necessary to seek employment in order to pay their taxes; such practices were encouraged by the government as a means of ensuring sufficient labor for European enterprise, commercial or agricultural. On some occasions government officials even required such labor of those othenwise unable to pay tax. The demands for labor as a means of paying rent, and also tax, came to be known by the Chewa work.£haflgata (lit. ”help”). Origi- nally, it referred to a system of ”narrowly structured exchanges of services between chiefs and their dependents prior to British coloni- sation."ll The application of the term to the colonial situation reflected a sense of new dependency and gradually came to represent not ”help” but unwarranted demands for African service by Europeans. ”Thangata,” asserted one of my informants, is ”work which was done without real benefit.”12 In this context, the word came to symbolize, loIn addition to articles by A.J. Dachs, R.H. Palmer, and C.A. Baker in The Early History of Malawi, see B. Pachai, ”Land policies in Malawi: an examination of the colonial legacy,” Journal of Afri- can History, lh(l973), 68l-698; and Colin Baker, ”Tax Collection in Malawi: An Administrative History, 189l-l972,” International Journal of African Historical Studies, 8(l975), 40-62. - llJ.A.K. Kandawire, l'Local Leadership and Socio-Economic Changes in Chingale Area of Zomba District in Malawi,” unpubl. Ph.D. diss., University of Edinburgh, I972, p. 80. lzlnterview 26, Peter Nyimbiri, l3 September I972. Throughout my research it was clear that Malawians had a generalized interpretation 0f the term thangata. Historiographically, however, it has been con- fined more to ”labour-tenancy” on European estates; Pachai, ”Land poli- Ci<35.” p. 685. Also see B. Pachai, “The Issue of Thangata in the HiEStory of Nyasaland,“ Journal of Social Science (University of Malawi), 3097.5). Ten; estu. . 5 5.39; CC” ‘ . yied d O 5 O S A s a» R v. (v nfirf. ll for all Malawians, the worst features of British rule. Even the self- styled defenders of African rights, the missionaries, did and said little to counteract this belief. They, perhaps, had come to believe that commerce--ally of Christianity--benefited too much from African subservience. Tenancy, taxation, and thahgata continued into the twentieth century. Simultaneously, British administration became more ”efficient,“ a goal both of local administrators and London over- seers. For Malawians, of course, greater efficiency simply meant more pressures to meet requirements for tax, and even more important, for service. Not surprisingly means were sought to avoid these troublesome demands. Among the most effective, and the most wide- spread, was simple escape. Nhere it was possible, a few men would simply ease into Mozambique for brief stays to avoid tax payments and thangata. Many more sought work outside the protectorate, in South Africa, Rhodesia, and even a few in Mozambique. Labor migra- tion, though, was continually opposed by a coalition of missionaries and commercial interests.'3 If Malawians themselves found their country a pathway to the south, better paying jobs, and escape from thangata and its asso- ciated demands, for EurOpeahs Malawi was in some ways a "corridor to the north.”‘h In part the latter view was due to the continued l3The most comprehensive study of Malawian labor migration is Robert 5. Boeder, “Malawians Abroad. The History of Labor Emigration from Malawi to its Neighbors, l890 to the Present,” unpubl. Ph.D. diss., Michigan State University, l97k. Some asPects of this idea, but not all, are considered in Norman H. Pollock, Jr., Nyasaland and Northern Rhodesia: Corridor to the North (Pittsburgh: Duquensne University Press, l97l). in:erest Icrthern Africa. l2 interest of Rhodes and others in using the protectorate, along with Northern Rhodesia, as a wedge to advance their interests in central Africa. But Nyasaland also continued to be valued as a commercial highway, its lake and river connections to the Zambesi providing a relatively easy transport route to the center of the continent. Even the Germans, by l890 established in Tanganyika, recognized that Nyasaland occupied such a position. Thus a German government ship, the Hermann von Wissmann, and for a time a Moravian mission steamer, joined the British government's Guendolen and several other vessels--government, commercial, and mission--on Lake Malawi. With easy access to the interior of their colony thus assured, German commercial interests also became involved in Nyasaland, both directly and throogh other firms. Never Openly hostile but generally suspicious, British-German relations in Nyasaland and on Lake Malawi gradually grew more formal and cool.‘5 When war between the two countries did break out in l9lh, Nyasaland naturally became a focal point, at least as far as the conflict Spilled over into the colonies. Positioned as it was between Germany's most prized colony, German East Africa, and Bri- tain's chief African interests in Rhodesia and South Africa, Nyasaland was a key corridor for carrying the war in one direction or the other. Whoever controlled the territory-~and Britain remained throughout the war-«would necessarily use its lake and river as an 15This was noticed by the American missionary, Walter B. Cockerill; .figgljg (Wisconsin) EEELQQE’ (2% June I915), p. l, as quoted in George Shepperson and Thomas Price, Independent Afric§g_(Edinburgh: Edin- burgh University Press, I958), p. 335. mid -—.a -8 T 2.59;“ D'I . "'l rA. . _.'I .I I fl roll ul I 0 0 0‘ 5° no» F . I a r I: Pi ¢l5 n :5 . rU a V . i il 5 ‘6 t E i: i I. 5» ..i b p I p . . g .. E 0-; ,M f P\h r . fin: .I..I'. 0 S vol p\. r.J (V l J IL I ti .1 . . i N m. .t .i ll . . a. . - i Pk.- Ahb I (a I..| . I I \u a r. v at I I ..J o v ‘L no .3 I L h I u I . I: o to on. v “RN can. .6'. up i C.‘ II- 4” Inna onto a: l3 important tranSport and supply route; Malawi's importance to the world was ensured. That war, of course, did not come unexpectedly to Malawi. As elsewhere, there had been premonitions of trouble. In Eurape, rising international tensions had anticipated the conflict. A large ephemeral literature appeared, both before and after I9l4, dealing with prOphecies of the war and its aftermath.'6 Especially after the war had begun, it was easy to look back and see the “truth” in millenial and other visions of the projected hostilities. But even modified by hindsight, there was still an element of truth in the predictions, 3 sense of expectancy which had been felt not only in Europe. For Malawians, there can be little questions of this anticipa- tion, if not of the millenium, at least of a deepening crisis. Especially after I907, when control of Nyasaland passed from the Foreign Office to the Colonial Office, European intervention was more keenly felt. More officials arrived, and commercial activities drew other Europeans into the country. If it were not clear before, it was becoming abundantly evident: the changes in Malawian life were fundamental, and probably irreversible. In such a world, the crisis of perogatives lost easily was transformed into an expecta- tion of preeminence regained. l6See, for example, [Walter Gorn Old], The Great Devastation (London: W. Foulsham, l9lh); Thomas Graebner, Prephecy and the War (St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, l9l3); and Euston John Nurse, Prophecy and the We; (London: Skeffington, l9I5). Indicative of interest in such matters, the last work was, by l9l8, appearing in a seventh and revised edition. ines ;ap;?e:i.' aificials V. [TillCL fueled in, “FA”. EV; I'JVLEF r2. ’ Ween I 3;:‘O‘ \ I l4 These anticipatory feelings were not confined to the African population of Nyasaland. Reflecting the concerns in EurOpe, officials, missionaries, pianters-~all had a sense of the impending conflict. Dr. Robert Laws recalled how his fears of war had been fueled by conversations with a “distinguished," yet intransigent, l7 German of some influence. Such concerns were also developed from the proximity of German East Africa and the growing tensions between Vthe two European peOples in central Africa. Even in the midst of early colonial cooperation there was a feeling of problems to come. Surveyors involved in the demarcation of the boundary prior to the I90I Anglo-German Agreement were convinced that the northern border of the protectorate would eventually be embroiled in conflict with the Gemans.‘8 One expression of such fears was the scenario later concocted in some quarters of ”a fratricidal combat on Lake Nyasa between the German and British gunboats, while crowds of astonished heathen lined the shore."l9 These anxieties were not the sort to be shared with the African population, but there is little doubt that they contributed to the disquiet of the time. Moreover, however indirectly Malawians sensed European fears, their anxieties were undoubtedly intensified by the experience of those who directly experienced the growing Anglo-German l7W.P. Livingstone, Laws of Livingstonia (London: Hodder and Stoughton, n.d.), p. 349. 18Personal communication from Mr. C.G.C. Martin, of the Malawi Department of Surveys, who is researching the history of geographi- cal surveys in Malawi. I9J.l-I. Morrison, Streams in the Desert: A Picture of Life in Livingstonia (l9l9; rpt. New York: Negro Universities Press, I969), p' 230 ' i . n 61.23.: {a .u 5: .5 .. IS tensions in east-central Africa. One of these was Aibu Chikwenga, who was later to become an influential non-commissioned officer in the King's African Rifles. In I9l3 he was in the employ of Sir Alfred Sharpe, and accompanied the ex-Governor of Nyasaland on a hunting expedition in German East Africa. Aibu, his companions, and Sir Alfred were unaccountably arrested by the Gennans, who kept them "locked up for four days and...shaved off the Governor's hair.” Only after Sharpe “broke the lock of the place where he was being kept” and released his servants were they able to escape and return to Nyasaland.20 The circulation of such tales surely heightened the fears of Europeans, and doubtlessly influenced the growing sense of expectation within the African papulation. There were other external and unrelated events which helped to solidify the troubled African mood. Among the most Spectacular were a series of celestial phenomena beginning in I907. In that year, coincident with Colonial Office control of the protectorate, ”a very fine meteor burst with great explosion“ over Ncheu. It was a signal, many claimed, and shortly thereafter a prOphetess, Chanjiri, appeared in adjacent Portuguese East Africa. She promised to ''send darkness over that portion of the country where the white men live (Shire Highlands)”2| and that if people would follow her 'she would ”free 20Aibu Chikwenga, “Aibu Chikwenga: An Autobiography,” trans. and ed. C.A. Baker, Society of Malawi Journal, 25, 2(l972), l6. Sharpe's account of the journey does not mention this incident; The Backbone of Africa (London: Witherby, l92l), passim. It does not seem unduly out of the ordinary for Sharpe, who long labored in the shadow of Sir Harry Johnston, to have failed to write about so personally humiliating an incident; given the state of German—British relations, Aibu Chikwenga's account, even if exaggerated, remains plausible. ll Pearce to 8.0., 3i August I907, P.R.O., C.O. SEE/l8. 'p .. I ,- v #E pr!- r» -‘~ lid»; t . a ,P pro r. ..l .. p: «L r. 3(\ Id U ml «a a)“ \a .4.» IH .r I ~.. «.1 Ply . .4 II... N. v ‘5 Ind rt, Aka IIHI. Id 0 III l6 0 them from the tax and rule of the English and Portuguese.”24 Though herself a Kunda, Chanjiri followed in a long tradition of Chewa prophets, and her name was one of the four traditional Chichewa words for the diety. These factors, along with the sign from the heavens, undoubtedly boosted her popularity. Many also were influenced by her millenial prOphecies of a great conflagration and 23 the imminent and of EurOpean rule. On her suggestion, numbers of Africans were reported to have withheld their taxes and “remained in their houses...fasting and praying, eXpecting the second Advent.”zl4 Much to the relief of the government, these demonstrations passed when Chanjiri was moved deeper into Portuguese territory, away from the protectorate. But Chanjiri's comet was only one of several such phenomena in the few years prior to the war. A second appeared only two years later, and some associated it with the Watch Tower preacher Eliot Kamwana. Kamwana, educated in the schools of the Livingstonia Mission, had broken with that institution over the imposition of school fees. He made his way to South Africa to work in the mines. In I907 the ubiquitous Joseph Booth taught him the millenial Watch Tower doctrines of Charles Taze Russell. When Kamwana returned to Nyasaland the next 22Zambesi Industrial Mission Occasional Paper (July—December 1909). p. 12. 23Ian Linden with Jane Linden, Catholics, PeasantsL and Chewa flfigistance in Nyasaland l889—I939 (Berkeley and Los Angeles: Univer- 5ity of California Press, l97h), p. 77; Jane and Ian Linden, ”John Chilembwe and the New Jerusalem,” Journal of African History, l2(I97l), 531. Personal communication, Dr. Matthew Schoffeleers. 2“Question by A.M.D. Turnbull, oral evidence taken by Commission 0f Inquiry into the Chilembwe Rising, 6 July l9l5, M.N.A., COM 6/2/l/2. F x o L S . ’1" . lei» lie .46 r~4r years hr 10“ 9A ‘v u. \ a. .. fir: rt» . i a.» s t L... t 3 W... pl 5 u I- ‘C AIU Paul 4.. .9. c. .2 In. ., a: E. is .3 «C v- is .9 9.. 17 year, he began an extensive campaign of preaching and conversion in the West Nyasa district along the northern lakeshore. His greatest successes came in I909, when he baptised an estimated ten thousand pe0ple who had been attracted by his preachings and his projections 25 of an end to European rule. This culmination was to come about, he claimed, along with the great Russellite vision of the new age dawning, in October l9lh: I told them that in [Octobegl l9lh, as far as we understood from the Scriptures, was the full control of the world by Jesus Christ,...that gradually he would take control over all the world and that the blessing of tge people would come. - The beginning of the millenium [sia .2 Despite any of their own concerns about a possible war, mission- aries and colonial functionaries alike were alarmed at Kamwana's teachings, especially since they were accompanied by the acquisition of such a huge following. Unmindful of the general sense of impending doom which Kamwana had merely exploited, the authorities arrested him and he was deported in June I909.27 Shortly thereafter, variously reported as late I909 or early l9l0, Halley's comet splashed across the sky above Malawi.28 Reports are meager, but it seems that despite Kamwana's claims for a later arrival of Armageddon, many who had apparently heard his teachings took the fiery diSpIay as a signal - 25Shepperson and Price, pp. ISO-56. Testimony of Eliot Kamwana, oral evidence taken by Commission of Inquiry into the Chilembwe Rising, l5 July l9l5, M,N,A,, COM 6/2/l/3. 27Shepperson and Price, p. l56. 28According to several accounts found in the chronologies pre- pared for the I966 Malawi Census and appearing in Malawi Calendar of Local and National Events (Zomba:, National Statistical Office, I966), n.p. l8 of an immediate conflagration. Near Mua, south of Kamwana's chief area of influence, several hundred peOpIe fled their homes and made all the necessary preparations for the end of the world.29 Undoubtedly the disappointment which followed in the wake of this unfulfilled expectation--and that following Chanjiri's failure to make good on her prOphecies--lessened the importance of the similar celestial displays which followed. In l9l2 a “shooting starII was one of the key events in Mzimba District and two years later, just before the outbreak of war, a “smoking star” was visible at Ntchisi, inland from Nkhotakota. Neither of these expressions stirred widespread excitement, but did serve to maintain the levels of 30 expectations. Likewise, the deportation of Kamwana only slightly dampened the enthusiasm of those Malawians who had come to believe in a Christian millenium dawning in l9l4. Many Watch Tower adherents simply went underground, with groups functioning quietly for several 3l years in Limbe and Ncheu. Elsewhere the chiliastic ideas espoused by Kamwana and his followers were kept alive by the Seventh Day Baptists, without the previous "Open militancy,” largely through the influence of Charles Domingo and, indirectly, Joseph Booth.32 The uneasy African mood was not only reflected among the followers of Chewa traditional religion and the relatively more 29Linden, Catholics, p. 77; Linden, “John Chilembwe,” p. 635. 30Malawi Calendar of Events, entries for Mzimba and Ntchisi dis- tricts. 3|Linden, ”John Chilembwe,” p. 636. 32Kenneth Lohrentz, ”Joseph Booth, Charles Domingo, and the Seventh Day Baptists in Northern Nyasaland, I9lO-l2,” Journal of African Histor , 12(197l), Q78 and passim. recent C Husiim c In Helen I‘rican 19 recent Christian converts. It was evident as well in the growing Muslim communities of the country. Knowledge of the Islamic religious war of Seyyid Muhammad in Somalia undoubtedly circulated in Malawi, at least after I9lO, when detachments of the King's African Rifles returned from service against the ”mad mullah."33 These askari, however, brought little sense of Mahdist expectations with them, and if they did such visions had no more impact than did the circulation within the country of similar Muslim millenial ideas several years earlier.3h Islamic conversion and teaching nonetheless continued quietly in the years up to the war and alarmed the Christian missionaries who persisted in troubling the government with requests to do something about the situation.35 But the threat to good order was never very real, and the only suggestion of serious millenial teaching within the Islamic community were some sketchy reports from Catholic mission stations in and around the Shire highlands. According to these accounts, ”there was some agitation among Mahommedan people; they were saying that the Arabs will come and 33Linden, Catholics, p. 75; Linden, llJohn Chilembwe,” p. 6hl. 3“Rota Kota Mission Diary, 5 October I905, M.N.A., U.M.C.A. papers, KO l/I/l; Nyasaland Diocesan Quarterly, 23(April I909), 565. These events are discussed by Robert Greenstein, ”The Nyasaland Government's Policy Towards African Muslims, l900-l925,‘l in From Nyasaland to Malawi, ed. R.J. Macdonald (Nairobi: East African Publishing House, I975), pp. Ihh-ISB. 35A.G. Blood, The History of the Universities' Mission to Central Africa, vol. II, 1202-1932 (London: U.M.C.A., I957), p. 62; also see Greenstein, “African Muslims,” pp. Ih6-I5h, and C3 av Hire a: L. ”I .C {v a r4 ' v I 1119 p. iir‘. F's qu—l ~ \III N P ‘c .1) H La pk . be cl . c . P L» . v .‘ 20 we [African Musiimgl will join them and we will kill all EurOpeans and natives who refuse to accept our creed."36 By l9l4 the outlines of very real expectations of change again were emerging on the surface of Malawian life. In the south, around Nsanje, there seem to have been several changes within the traditional spirit mediumships. Although the evidence is not entirely uniform, several incumbent mediums were removed about this time, apparently in part due to their relatively close association with EurOpean ideas. This activity represented, of course, an assertion of 37 traditional values in face of eXpanding European influence. Far to the north, among the Ngonde around Karonga, the expectations took a more prophetic form. As the war drew closer, a series of longstanding, vague predictions concerning a great holocaust, perhaps fueled by experiences such as those of Aibu Chikwenga, were focused onto a projected conflict between the British and the Germans. The result, according to the prophets Njuli and Mwandisi, would be a German defeat and removal from the area.38 Elsewhere in the country, similar revelations seem to have surfaced in the last weeks before the war. At Livingstonia, Robert Laws was told in August l9lh, that local inhabitants ' 36L.T. MOggeridge to A.M.D. Turnbull, 3 February l9l5, M.N.A. POL 2/8/l. 37J,M. Schoffeleers, ”The Prophets of Nsanje: A History of Spirit Mediumship in a Southern Malawian District,“ paper presented at the Conference on the Historical Study of African Religion in Eastern Africa, Nairobi, June I97“; and personal communication. 380.R. MacKenzie, The Spirit-Ridden Konde (London: Seeley, Service s Co., I925), pp. 2l7-l8, 222. " I SuSPvS Accord 'Pr In h‘l "353;: ,. C . Al. q», - I” I}; ... ".i -r 'V-ECI . ‘(F J4 ~ I]. 5 2i supposedly had known in advance of the approaching conflict. According to his informants, “the foxes have been barking close to our houses, and even on the verandah. We knew that a war was coming.”39 Near the Catholic mission station at Utali, in the Upper Shire district, immediately before the war, African unease was likely heightened by EurOpean fears, particularly among the worried Dutch and French missionaries. There, a noticeable increase in witchcraft allegations capped an already rising and diverse reaction to the European presence. Among independent African Christians, too, the weeks prior to the war brought a renewed interest in the apocalyptic aspects of their faith, and Watch Tower teachings again received considerable attention.41 Some may have heard of the appearance, a few months earlier among the Lamba people of the Northern Rhodesian copperbelt, of an African who claimed to be Christ and who promised a new law to govern the land.l+2 For others, the traditional stirrings--of spirit mediums in Nsange, Ngonde prOphets in Karonga, and other similar indications--were enough to send them to their new source of power, the Bible, for confirmation of the troubled times which appeared to be ahead. 39 ho A‘See the letter of H. Simon Achirwa in The Watchtower, 35, I7 (I September l9lh). The increased Malawian interest at this time in the apocalyptic books of the Bible is noted by the Lindens, ”John Chilembwe,“ p. 636. h2L.H. Gann, A History of Northern Rhodesia, Early Days to I953 (London: Chatto 8 Windus, I964), p. l67. Livingstone, Laws, p, 350. Linden, Catholics, pp. 79—80; Linden, ”John Chilembwe,” p. 636. ar's i”- own _ tr E ait ni KP. AJ OiL 22 David Kaduya, one of the chief followers of John Chilembwe, seems to have tempered his Christian views with ideas from messianic Islam. Kaduya had been in Somaliland with the King's African Rifles, and the religious war which he saw there had its impact upon his own Christian faith.“3 In the middle of l9lh he was traveling about Zomba district, preaching the necessity for Africans to take up arms to bring the kingdom of God to an earthly reality.hh His militant approach to Christian eschatology was apparently widely known among members of Chilembwe's Providence Industrial Mission. One of them, Daniel Mungalama, was working as a clerk and typist at Nsanje; he wrote to Kaduya in June l9lh, indicating that four of the district police had expressed a willingness to take up arms against the EurOpeans.l+5 It was probably Kaduya's well-known militancy which lent credibility to reports reaching the Catholic missionaries at Nguludi in late July l9lh, I'that John Chilembwe was busy preparing a plot, his aim being the slaughtering of all EurOpeans of this Country, and even of those natives who would refuse to join him and to enter his sect.”46 Although it is now impossible to determine if Chilembwe had, in fact, made plans for his January I9I5 rising prior to the h3$ee Linden, ”John Chilembwe,” p. 6hl; and also Shepperson and Price, pp. 259, “8“. hhStatement of George Masangano, 26 January l9l5, M.N.A., S lO/l/Z. Masangano's statement was taken by E. Costley-White during the investi- gation into the Chilembwe rising. hsAssistant Chief Secretary to Resident, Port Herald, I9 February l9l5, M.N.A., NSP l/2/2. Testimony of Bishop Auneau, oral evidence taken by Commission of Inquiry into the Chilembwe Rising, 28 June I9l5, M.N.A., COM 6/2/I/I. lle E l on Pfcv «d a1 p Il e I l 5. 1.I C. 3» ... ~ u: .. A . 9.. Nu. uh .u... FL at 3 I' I I l a .. 5.. «MR c w in. Tl 23 outbreak of the First World War, his followers did have serious millenial expectations before August l9lh. In July, a member of the Providence Industrial Mission church warned Paulos Mwenye, a Catholic catechist, that since l9lk was the year in which EurOpeans would try to destroy the Africans, he should make preparations for the end.“7 A similar warning was given to Gordon Mataka by Duncan Njilima at about the same time, perhaps in the presence of Chilembwe himself.“8 And in a letter to Chilembwe late in July, Eliot Achirwa, brother of Eliot Kamwana, made reference to a discussion he and Chilembwe had earlier concerning the coming of Armageddon.h9 Although he may not have believed personally in the imminent millenium,50 by war's eve Chilembwe certainly was aware of the widespread acceptance of such views and appears to have done nothing SI to discourage them. 47Statement of Paulos Mwenye, August l9lh, M.N.A., S l0/l/6. Mwenye's encounter had given rise to the concerns of Catholic missionaries eXpressed by Bishop Auneau. “BTrial testimony of Gordon Mataka, M.N.A., S l0/I/3. thliot Y. Achirwa to John Chilembwe, 26 July l9lh, M.N.A., NCN h/l/l. 50 Yotam Bango, questioned by L.T. Moggeridge in mid-October l9lh, reported that Chilembwe expected the second coming in October l9lh; however, it is not clear when Chilembwe made such statements. Resi- dent, Blantyre, to Chief Secretary, 2% October l9lh, M.N.A., S lO/l/6. SIClearly it was the accumulation of such evidence that led government authorities, and thus other contemporary observers, to associate Chilembwe and his rising with Watch Tower teachings. L.T. Moggeridge, Blantyre Resident, told the commission investigating the rising that “there is no doubt, I think, that Chilembwe like so many other ill-instructed native Christians, was much impressed by the Watch Tower prophecy of the end of the world in October, l9lk”; statement, 28 June l9l5, M.N.A., COM 6/2/l/l. Most historians have discounted this, and sought other eXpIanations for Chilembwe's mOtives and actions. See Shepperson and Price, pp. 23l-2; .5 Fr. a... :i S: C 2h When the news of war reached Malawi, then, the very real antici- pation felt by many sections of the pOpulace served to help Speed the news throughout the country. The first hint came on 29 July, when Governor Smith was ordered to mobilize the protectorate's defense forces. The next day regular King's African Rifles askari were recalled from leave, and K.A.R. reservists called up. Residents were cabled to effect the orders in their districts, and the small bomas far from Zomba were directed to keep their telegraph receivers Operating around the clock for further instructions. By I August l9l4, askari and reservists began to report to the military centers at Mangoche and Zomba; within three days most were available for duty. At Zomba, fifty-four unsolicited recruits were enlisted as gun bearers; already news of the emergency was reaching the villages, and some of the peOple were beginning to react. On 4 August the call-up was extended to include 52 all civil police, seconded to Zomba for service as soldiers. Robert I. Rotberg, ”Psychological Stress and the Question of Identity: Chilembwe's Revolt Reconsidered,“ in Protest and Power in Black Africa, eds. R.I, Rotberg and Ali A. Mazrui (New York: Oxford University Press, l970), p. 359; Roger K. Tangri, African Reaction and Resistance 'to the Early Colonial Situation in Malawi,_l89l-l9l5, Central African Historical Association local series pamphlet, number 25 (Salisbury, l968), p. l3; Bridglal Pachai, llAn Assessment of the Events Leading to the Nyasaland Rising of l915,” in Malawi Past and Present, pp. ll4-36. In their article on ”John Chilembwe and the New Jerusalem,” Jane and Ian Linden have successfully questioned these recent inter- pretations, once again stressing the millenial aspects, though not necessarily the Watch Tower connections, of Chilembwe's views. Their criticisms of Shepperson and Price and of Rotberg, however, are sometimes strained. 52Nyasaland Field Force war diary, 3O July-4 August l9lh, M.A.P.A.R.0.; “North Nyasa District and the War (l9lh-18),” Nyasaland Journal, l7, l(January I96“), 16, 2l; Colonel H.P. Williams, IIAn Account of the part played by the lst Regiment of the King's African Rifles in the Conquest of German East Africa,” undated mss. in First Battalion, King's African Rifles scrap book, M.A.P.A.R.0. According to one infor- mant, the call-up of K.A.R. veterans and reservists prompted considerable interest in enlistment: interview l3, Daisa Songolo, l7 August I972. missi- H L) Cf (i' ti’ 25 Actual news of war was received early on 5 August l9lh, as German forces in Europe were already well into Belgium. Telegrams were sent to all administrative centers in the protectorate, and the governor's proclamation of war was issued in a special abbreviated 53 edition of the Nyasaland Government Gazette. The district residents began to spread the word, first among the European population. The missionaries at Nkhotakota first heard about the war on 6 August, the same day that the Reverend G. H. Wilson wrote of the news to the Bishop of Nyasaland, sending his letter overland by messenger, along the eastern lakeshore, to U.M.C.A, headquarters on Likoma Island.54 This route was necessary, as all lake vessels were being concentrated at Fort Johnston, first to find and destroy the German steamer Hermann von Wissmann, and second to transport the available forces northward for the defense of the country. These preparations also made it necessary for Mr. J. A. Griffiths, a veterinary officer familiar with the frontier region, to proceed overland from Zomba to begin intelligence work along the northern border.55 From the bomas and the mission stations the word spread quickly, at least in some parts of the country. Chiefs and some village headmen were informed by European officials and government messengers. . 53”North Nyasa and the War,“ p. l6; Nyasaland Government Gazette, lh(l9lh), IS]. The news had reached the British official community in India several hours before it was known in Nyasaland; Colonel R. Meinertzhagen, Army Diarygl899-l926 (London: Oliver and Boyd, I960), P. 79. 5hKota Kota Mission diary, 6 August l9lh, KO l/l/2; Wilson to Bishop of Nyasaland, 6 August l9lh, UN l/l/Z/IS/l; Likoma Steamers Log, l5 August l9l4, unclassified; all M.N.A., U.M.C.A. papers. 55”North Nyasa and the War,” p. l6. who d th'su .A,‘ v; 9‘. LI A a 073; b n P ~ .17 . C . C a... if» r I p r: i r p t i i I . s. :4. .J r c. , ,t t _ . . Aw. :- l» .u tL : P t A : .1 .C C r: 5 c. .J r... ..... .- . . ..... 2.. w... m 5 ill Va. D» t .l t .W H. . ,.. -u g 26 The missionaries, too, told many Africans and tried to reassure those who did not understand.56 The journeys of Griffiths and Reverend Wilson's messenger also helped bring the news of war to the countryside through which they passed. By 8 August l9lh, most of the villages in the Kasupe and Ncheu areas appear to have heard about the EurOpean war.57 It took longer for the news to filter through to the more remote parts of the protectorate: the issolated Likoma did not know until the unscheduled return of the mission steamer Charles Janson brought word from Nkhotakota on l2 August; even so, it was the next day before all the Europeans were informed. (Wilson's letter did not reach the bishop until l5 August.)58 Among the last to learn of the war may have been some of the K.A.R. askari, who were never told precisely what was happening, even as they were mobilized for the trip to the German East African boundary. A few understood the magnitude of the exercise when they observed German captives brought 59 south after the destruction of the Hermann von Wissmann, S6Manning (Resident, Nkhotakota) to Bishop of Nyasaland, 7 August l9l4, M.N.A., U.M.C.A. papers, UN l/l/2/l5/l. Interviews: 29, Belo Kaponya, In September I972; llO, E. C. Banda, 15 August I973; ll8, Petro Zeni-zeni, 6 August 1973. 57Linden, Catholics, p. 85. Although the Lindens cite no evidence to support their assertion, this seems consistent with other available information; perhaps Griffiths' journey, which must‘have taken him through some areas in the two districts, had a part in the quickness with which the news spread. 58Likoma Steamers Log, ll-l5 August l9lh, M.N.A., U.M.C.A. papers, unclassified; St. Michael's College Logbook, l3 August l9l4, in the possession of the College, Malindi. (In l9lh, St. Michael's College was located on Likoma Island; subsequently, the College was transferred to Malindi, near the south end of Lake Malawi.) 59lnterview 23, Johnathon Phiri, 5 September I972. f‘. U extra 3. vi :5 In OH. r .._ . .I - CL c .w. .«w. .- .F. — ., .H r..- . . .t .3 .2 K. . .C p: .: : p u . . .. .l .c - a. a . I. . .. AL .i C r.” \l A. i r. C a t 27 Within a few weeks, most people were aware that something extraordinary was happening. ”It is difficult not to know,“ an informant said, ”that there is war somewhere; even the children heard 60 about it.“ For Malawian society, it was a telling remark. At the slightest hint of some kind of trouble stories began to circulate. The first were ”rumors of a native rising as the cause“ of the troop mobilization; these apparently were not widespread and quickly dispelled by the district residents.6] But before long the country was rife with other rumors, many of them utterly fantastic. One close observer of the African p0pulation, a solitary, strange figure, neither missionary nor British colonialist--Hans Coudenhove--wrote later that many different versions were current among natives as to the origin of the war...the most fantastic explana- tions being, of course, those which were most readily believed. One favorite and widely spread story was, that the son of the 'Sultan' of the English had owned a white mule, and the son of the 'Sultan' of the Ger- mans a black one, that they had quarreled over the merits of their respective mounts, and that the war between the peOples followed as a consequence.62 At Nkhoma, the Dutch Reformed missionaries observed in their vernacular newspaper that many ”lies" were being circulated and 60Interview ll, Maulidi Mwina, l5 August I972. 6'Smith to C.0., I4 August I9Ih, P.R.0., C.O. 525/57. Smith's report brought the reaction, in the form of a minute by a lesser official of the Colonial Office, that “Nyasaland would be the last country in Africa where there would be any native trouble: the natives are all peacefully disposed 8 very well content with British adminis- tration.ll 62Hans Coudenhove, My African Neighbors: Man, Bird, and Beast in Nyasaland (London: Jonathan Cape, I925), pp. 69-70. 0f German ancestry, Coudenhove was suspect during the war and detained as an alien enemy, although not interned, as were most who fell in this category. cautic villa; sissi mt L- Spit: 28 cautioned their readers to be wary of stories being spread about the villages.63 Questions, too, were manifold and often embarrassing to missionaries, whose Christian pronouncements of love and peace had, not unnaturally, been associated with EurOpeans generally. Alexander Smith, whose small Baptist Industrial Mission of Scotland was located at Gowa in Ncheu district, recalled that Malawians whom he knew were puzzled by the war and asked many questions: ”Are the Germans Christians? Why have the Christian countries gone to war? Have the evil spirits got into the hearts of the Kings?”6u Similar inquiries came to most of the European clergy and their lay helpers; at a time of government crisis, they alone were sources of news. It 65 was received, we are told, ”with eager interest,” and the pepple were encouraged to depend upon the European churches for information, disdaining the famous ”bush telegraph” as a channel for reports of events. Even where information was available, the reactions of the populace were often severe. At Nkhotakota the news of war prompted an inmediate consultation with "the oracle who told [the villagerg 63Mthenga wa ku Nyasa, 3, l7(0ctober I9lh), l5.' Mr. E.C. Mandala kindly translated excerpts from this journal. 6“Scottish Baptist Yearbook (l9l5), as quoted in Shepperson and Price, p. 230. 65Alexander Hetherwick, quoted in Life and Work in Nyasaland (January-March I9l5), p. l. 66 Mthenga wa ku Nyasa, 3, l7(0ctober l9lh), I6. tfat 1 {BEE tC’M'Tl the h f ‘I ‘2 Sc ‘4 Jr”; 7‘. ‘\ PI. RIP. D C» i“ fiL ea 29 that war would begin at noon, or 3:30 the next day!“67 Perhaps recalling Johnston's punitive expeditions, the inhabitants of the town feared an attack by lake steamer. Quickly they deserted into 68 the bush, ”leaving their possessions in charge of the mission.” Some returned the next day to collect food which they had left behind, and gradually the pe0ple came back. “But for the better part of a week there was scarcely a soul about the place except on the Mission station.“69 Similar fears, though perhaps much more realistic, may have been felt around Karonga in the north, where refugees moved away from the frontier and some even took passage on vessels heading 70 down the lake. Much further to the south, around Zomba, the news of war brought fears of ”the old horrors of war” which were remembered from the last days of the slave raiders. As they had years previously, ”many sought safety in the woods,” and it was some time before the 7l populace slept soundly again. It was, in short, “an event of 72 apocalyptic magnitude.” 67IB.E. Munby], ”In Troubled Times,‘I Central Africa, 33(l9l5), MO. The article is signed only ”M.,” but it seems likely that Munby, the priest-in-charge at Nkhotakota during I9lh, was the author; perhaps he wished to avoid any censorship problems, a difficulty mentioned in the article. 68Kota Kota Mission diary, 6 August l9lh, M.N.A., U.M.C.A. papers, KO I/l/2. ' 6954unby], "Troubled Times," p. 39. 705.5. Chauncy Maples logbook, 27 August l9l4, S.M.L. 7ILife and Work in Nyasaland (January-March l9l5), p. 20; questionnaire KS/IZ, Cross Mataka, l6 April I974. Also see Pollock, _Nyasaland and Northern Rhodesia, p. 297. 72 Shepperson and Price, pp. 229-30. has pl. uh o err' a. 524,1 30 Among the active Watch Tower adherents, and among those who held similar views of the approaching Christian millenium, the war was seen as the beginning of the end. In the area around West Nyasa district, which had been the region of Eliot Kamwana's greatest influence, there was some evidence of ”unrest” during August I914. Attributed by protectorate officials to Kamwana's continued detention 73 at Chinde, it seems more probable that this uncertainty among the African population was merely an expression of conviction in the arrival of Armageddon. Kamwana himself was of this opinion and took steps to make certain his followers were aware of events and understood their full implications. From Chinde, where he was being held, he wrote a letter, dated 9 August l9lh, to his ”Dear Brothers and Co-Labourers in the Harvest.” The harvest symbolism was surely intentional, as Kamwana's message was of the great cataclysm which was pr0pelling events toward the expected October climax.7u Watch Tower adherents were certainly convinced. ”Eliot Kamwana was right; the war and the troubles he prophesied had come true, and 75 it was exactly l9lh!” Others, previously skeptical, were willing now to believe. “We thought Eliot Kamwana was just dreaming, but we 76 were wrong.” Watch Tower congregations sang courses of ”Fire, fire in Sodom,“ joined by new converts. But the expectations 73Undated memo by A.M.D. Turnbull on “Elliott Kamwana,” M.N.A., GOA Z/B/Ih. 7“M.N.A., s 10/1/8/2. 7Slnterview IIO, E.C. Banda, l5 AUQUSt '973' 76Interview llh, Kakalala Phiri, 27 August I973. 3I fulfilled produced fears as well, terrors that ”this war would wipe “77 out all the human race. In the central region Dutch Reformed missionaries took special pains to discourage belief in reports that Europeans were coming to kill all the Africans, although they appear to have convinced few pe0ple.78 At Chiradzulu John Chilembwe, whose flock received the news of war with some millenial sense, was also fearful. I'l am afraid 79 of the war,” he wrote simply sometime in August. These fears appear to have derived from his reported concern that “the Eur0peans were making slaves of us and getting us killed in war.“80 Chilembwe expressed this view eloquently in a letter to the Nyasaland Times, probably written in November, but which was excised from the paper by the government censor.8] In part, Chilembwe wrote: We understand that we have been invited to shed our innocent blood in this world's war which is now in progress throughout the wide world... A number of our people have already shed their blood, while some are crippled for life. And an Open declaration has been issued. A number of Police are marching in various villages persuading well built natives to join in the war. The masses of our pe0ple are ready to put on uniforms ignorant of what they have to face or why they have to face it... 77 78 7SIDE_M'55'°” Herald, lO(October l911+), 3, quoted in Shepperson and Price, p. 233. 80Statement of Abraham Chimbia, 24 February I9I5, M.N.A., S lO/l/2. Also, the testimony of R.S. Hynde on l2 July I9l5 before the commission investigating the rising that Chilembwe, in his sermons, was ”con- stantly referring to the war”; M.N.A., COM 6/2/1/3, 8lThe letter, a discussion of its probable date of authorship, and the story of its censorship can be found in Shepperson and Price, pp. 233-6. The text of the letter is also found in M.N.A., GOA Z/A/IB. Interview I05, Diamond Caswell Chirwa, I August I973. Mthenga wa ku Nyasa, 3, l7(0ctober I9lh), l5. 32 If it were a war...for honour, Government gain of riches, etc., we would have been boldly told: Let the rich men, bankers, titled men, storekeepers, farmers, and landlords go to war and get shot. Instead the poor Africans who have nothing to own in this present world, who in death leave only a long line of widows and orphans in utter want and dire distress, are invited to die for a cause which is not theirs. It is too late now to talk of what might or might not have been. Whatsoever be the reasons why we are in- vited to join in the war, the fact remains, we are invited to die for Nyasaland. Although written after Malawian askari were killed at Karonga, and after October had passed without any further sign of the millenial dawn, Chilembwe almost certainly deveIOped these ideas within the first month of the conflict. Writing from Chiradzulu in mid-August, the Assistant Resident, P. E. Mitchell (later Sir Phillip Mitchell, Governor of Kenya), infonmed his superior officer, the Blantyre resident, that ”the 'Azungu' [Europeangl are said by J. C. [Chilembwe] to be going to attack the natives in November.”82 Little might be made of this-~in fact little was at the time--for sketchy reports of Chilembwe's growing anti-European attitudes had been heard before. But Mitchell's report on this occasion came only about a week after the governor's official proclamation of war and the call-up of the K.A.R. reserves. Chilembwe knew about these happenings and may even have read about them in the Government Gazette, which he appears to have received regularly. Undoubtedly he was also aware that a European war would mean many more called, or taken, for service. His reaction, then, might well have been as Mitchell reported. Duncan Njilima 82Mitchell to Moggeridge, l8 August I9lh, quoted in Governor Smith to Judge Lyall Grant, 5 June I915, M.N.A., GOA Z/h/lh. ‘ . a: if; v 5 a" H r-v - I]; 'l I 1 L! 33 recalled Chilembwe made a similar statement, though probably in January I9I5, while holding what appeared to be a copy of the Gazette.83 Clearly his teachings at the time dwelt upon the themes of war and African suffering; his followers were known to be preaching a message of the coming blood bath in the villages around his church.84 Rumors circulated widely in the areas served by the Providence Industrial Mission, and further afield as well, that Europeans were coming to kill all Africans,85 an easily transmuted version of Chilembwe's later letter to the 11923. That his ideas, spread by eager young followers or simply by word of mouth, should be developed and transformed is not surprising. Nor would it be unexpected for his message to have a different, and probably more militant, form when presented to his own people than when polished for publication in the EurOpean press. It may have been this message, or a distortion of it, which gave rise to another more comforting rumor making the rounds in and about Chiradzulu. Chilembwe's P.I.M., it was said, would be like Noah's Ark and rescue the people from the modern flood which was 83Statement of Duncan Njilima, l7 February I9l5, M.N.A., S 2/l8/22. It is possible that Njilima confused the dates, though other statements made by participants in the rising tend to confirm the January l9l5 time, as does Pachai's analysis of the immediate cause of the outbreak of the rising on 23 January; “Nyasaland Rising,” p. I30. hTestimony of Chiradzulu Police Sergeant Nkwanda, oral evidence taken by Commission of Inquiry into the Chilembwe Rising, July l9l5, M.N.A., COM 6/2/l/3. 85Assistant Resident, Chiradzulu, to Resident, Blantyre, I9 October l9l4, M.N.A., S l0/l/6. These reports had been obtained by Church of Scotland (Blantyre Mission) native teachers in the district at the request of the assistant resident. absut Karon in if”; risin the 1 afinit 3h about to engulf the country. After the reports of fighting at Karonga in early September, Chilembwe, the American-educated leader, was easily associated with further, more fantastic rumors. These suggested that Americans and not Germans were fighting the British in the north, having come to rescue the Africans from their terrible fate.86 While they may not have presaged any plans for the January l9l5 rising, such visions of Chilembwe the saviour were easily graSped by the local population. Frustrated by the millenium missed, forced to admit that "the pr0phecy has come to nothing,” Kamwana urged the 87 leader of the P.I.M. to continue waiting for the dawn. But David Kaduya, imbued with the visions of a religious war in Somalia, probably insisted that a violent struggle would be required to make good the expectations which now fell alone on Chilembwe and the P.I.M.88 This feeling about Chilembwe, the last hope for the expectations which preceeded the war and now were dashed by it, was not confined just to Chiradzulu, Blantyre, or the southern region. It seems to have spread over much of the country and, despite weakening memories, is a view reflected today. In all parts of the country, certainly 86Resident, Blantyre, to Chief Secretary, II December l9l4, extracted in Smith to Lyall Grant, 5 June l9l5, M.N.A., GOA Z/A/lh. These rumors are discussed in extenso by Linden, ”John Chilembwe,“ pp. 637-9. 87Testimony of Eliot Kamwana, I5 July I9I5, oral evidence taken by Commission of Inquiry into the Chilembwe Rising, M.N.A., COM 6/2/l/3. 88On the conflicting views of Kamwana and Kaduya, and their influence upon Chilembwe, see Linden, "John Chilembwe,” pp. 6AO-hl, 6h6-7. COEX [’15 2. F: a. .1 s . i. —.I a» .x. K. 3. .I y. a. l H s i ii :i \ .: . a: .4: a.’ 7.. [If 35 coexisting with other images, a few Malawians remember John Chilembwe 89 as the cause, or the instigator, of the First World War. For them, this pre-nationalist figure, whose effort at asserting Malawian expectations and African rights was unsuccessful, is the only means of understanding the great conflict into which the country was plunged. Nothing short of such a cause could explain--or justify-- the years of suffering which followed. For many, perhaps most, Malawians that image of John Chilembwe holds little meaning. While they, too, suffered in the changing world of the pre-war years, theirs were inchoate expectations of change to come. The first news of war, though it trickled through to them, and even may have excited their fancy, initially meant little. The full impact came only with the suffering. For them, the memories of the coming of the war have little to do with Armageddon or John Chilembwe. Rather, it was when men were first sought out as askari and impressed for service on the almost endless lines of communications that the war had real meaning.90 Only then, when the great conflagration of pre-war expectations was openly mani- fest, did World War One truly engulf Malawi. 89Interview 49, Elias Makunganya, h January I973. Questionnaires: DZ/l, Yohanne Kampelewera Chisale, 9 April I973; D275, Efremu Mthupi Chisale, l4 April I973; MZ/h, Hunder Mahobe, 5 April I973; NS/3, Johas Chiriwehka, 23 August I973; TH/I, Mr. Maphazi, 2I April I973. Also interview with Mr. Isaac Jeremani, broadcast 9 October I972 by Malawi Broadcasting Corporation. 90Questionnaires: DZ/8, Village Headman Njati Phiri, l0 April I979; DZ/l8, Izeki Katsache, I5 April I979; DZ/AS, Charlesi Mbemba, l3 September l97h. Interviews: 82, Kalokwete Wadi Likwapi, 8 April I973; Il6, Amos Isaac, IA July I973; I3l, Malowa Mwali, 6 December 1973. of g . v 0 . . l r .7 : i .e .6.I L 9 i 3 .\. Haw Z: bk mi»;— C... 5|. CHAPTER TWO: THE WAR OF THANGATA The first demand upon Nyasaland's manpower during the Great War was for soldiers to defend the protectorate's exposed northern frontier. No sooner had the askari and retired veterans of the King's African Rifles been mobilized, than the European population of the country was also called up for service.I They came largely from the ranks of the Nyasaland Volunteer Reserve which had been, before the war, little more than a shooting club with ammunition supplied by the government. Although a number answered the caII--some coming from both Northern and Southern Rhodesia to offer their services--the outpouring was not nearly so great as might be imagined. Not a few preferred to remain at the tasks of their estates and other enterprises. African response to the demand for soldiers was initially much greater. As word of the mobilization spread, men found their way to Zomba to enlist, following the askari, retired veterans, and reservists who had been recalled.2 Some came from as far away as v INyasaland Government Gazette, 2I(l9lh), l6l; Sir George Smith, "Nyasaland and General Northey's Campaign,” in The Empire at War, ed. Sir Charles Lucas, vol. 4 (London: Oxford University Press, I925). P- 273. 2Interview l3, Daisa Songolo, I7 August I972. 36 00" at”: ‘I: IN ‘ ”It. a . s: p 0., 37 northern Mozambique, usually attracted by the far higher wages than 3 any offered in Portuguese territory. For the first few months of the war the response was almost overwhelming. In November the Blantyre resident, L. T. Moggeridge, reported that ”from the readiness with which men are coming in here, I should judge that there will be no manner of difficulty in raising the number of recruits asked for."h In fact a number were rejected, with no apparent decline in the volume of volunteers.5 Notwithstanding the initial response of African volunteers, it was not long before active recruitment began, first along the northern frontier. When J. A. Griffiths completed his overland journey to Karonga and the Songwe River, his immediate task was to enlist African assistants for his intelligence operations. He appealed to the local population to assist in the defense of their country from the German threat. Many were unimpressed by this argument, but Griffiths managed to persuade a number of Africans, some reluctantly, to join him. Later, other Africans were appalled by the vicious German attacks along the frontier and assisted, either as active scouts or occasional ”spies."6 In September about one hundred and thirty Ngoni 3Frank Dupuis to Professor R. Coupland, 26 January I959, M.N.A., Dupuis papers, DU I/I/l; interview I8, Yosefe Chikdti, 22 August I972. “Resident, Blantyre to Chief Secretary, IA November l9lh, M.N.A., NSB 2/2/2; underlining in original. 5Colonel C.W. Barton, diaries, notebook 3h, 2 December I9lh, Museum of the Northamptonshire Regiment [hereafter M.N.RJ , Northampton. 6Questionnaires: KR/6, G. Mukwasi Nyirenda, 9 April I973; KR/8, Makanjira Chirwa, ll April I973. Both of these men served as scouts under Griffiths. Also see Nyasaland Field Force War Diary, l2 February I915. M.A.P.A.R.0. Q» . Os AIM - 38 warriors, armed with their traditional spears, were recruited from Mzimba district for service on the northern frontier. Intended 7 ”for special service as scouts and skirmishers," they were singularly unsuccessful. From the start they impressed no one, the commander of the Field Force observing ”these people might as well have stopped at home.”8 In fact, they were sent home after less than a month of service.9 Learning from the experience of these early recruitment efforts, officials ceased enlisting African irregulars in Nyasaland, although they continued to impress the nature of the German threat upon the protectorate's peeple. Throughout the country, chiefs and village headmen were requested to encourage young men to enlist in the King's African Rifles. The most effective argument was that the Germans would come into Nyasaland, take away the land, and enslave or kill the African population. Chiefs spread the word, often calling meetings of their followers to encourage enlistment, clarifying when necessary, and cajoling their subjects into agreement. Many were enticed by the fear of another conquest; others acquiesced in deference to their traditional leaders. ”We wanted to defend our land,‘' one informant explained, and another noted astutely that “if the land is taken away from our masters we too shall have no land.”‘0 7Smith to C.0., 12 September I9I4, P.R.0., c.o. 537/27; questionnaire MZ/IO, Eneya Lungu, II April I973. 8Barton diaries, notebook 33. 24 September l9l4, M.N.R. 9Laws to Stuart, 23 September I9l4, and Laws to McMinn, l9 October I9l4, M.N.A., Livingstonia Mission Papers, letter book no. 24. 0Interview IOS, Diamond Caswell Chirwa, I August I973; questionnaire ZA/l, Che Lukose, 7 April I973. Alta; a Cc!" "‘ if" the I the b h We SChp ‘ . 3. all 39 Although little is said in official European accounts about this campaign, it is evident from African sources that such appeals were the major thrust of King's African Rifles recruiting efforts during the first year of the war. In some African minds the German threat was real encugh. At least one Malawian, a former askari of the K.A.R. serving with the German East African Schutztruppe, elected to desert and join the K.A.R, once again. His reason: he had seen ”the real danger the Germans were to his mother country."H For others, however, the German threat meant little. It was occasionally seen as a ”false pretense” for engaging the population in yet another European scheme.‘2 In a few cases such suspicions were more well deveIOped. Near Chinteche, Sam Kamanga recalled his reaction: The government told the chief that there was war; the chief informed his people. He asked us young peOple to help the government in fighting the Germans. I lost confidence in the chief; he was a betrayer. He would make us die in the war.l3 Kamanga did ultimately serve in the K.A.R., enticed by later, more »intense, recruitment efforts. Additional encouragements were also necessary, even in this initial recruitment phase, to encourage young men into the King's African Rifles. For some the chance to be cast in the traditional role of brave warrior was sufficient. ”We joined the war because we llInterview ll5, A.C. Ngoma, August I973; Mr. Ngoma's father was the askari whose experience is described. leuestionnaire DZ/IZ, Mwale Kuthemba, l2 April I974. ‘3Interview lO7, Sam Kamanga, 4 August I973. A number of K,A,R, askari had joined the Germans upon the demobilization of the Second Battalion in l9ll; see chapter three. U‘«I Y' III r|Illll c s . . \1/5. 6.. o\u .1} CJ Li .5. I. K AM» . a sin FM Yr “Id 6 x .i I. 6 lb a .. l were men," not for any other motivation, claimed one informant.lh One young Tonga from near Nkhata Bay was determined to become a soldier. IS ”I was ready to die," he said; ”I wanted to test my manhood.” This desire was surely encouraged openly by the chiefs and village headmen. As a result not a few men went away to war hoping that they might become chiefs and rulers in their own right as reward for valorous service, an expectation which was seldom fulfilled.l6 Others were more interested in the financial rewards which this new employment Opportunity promised. ”What I needed was money, so I ran in haste to enroll my name as a soldier,‘l one man I7 recalled. As the chiefs spread the word, large numbers of men made their way to government bomas in search of this new Iargess. Many ignored the all too obvious dangers of war, even the seeming inequities of being called upon to fight a European conflict, for the promise of greater financial rewards than available elsewhere.‘8 The relatively highly paid African teachers in mission schools, for example, came to join. Not only promises of immediate high salaries, but also guarantees of jobs (usually as messengers) after the war, attracted many more poor men. The King's African Rifles became a hlnterview 5, Dinala Ndala, 8 August I972. lslnterview I33. AlUerO Banda, 8 September I973. 6Interview l4, Stambuli Likuleka, I7 August I972; questionnaire DZ/7, Jekapu Maponya, 9 April I974. On a few occasions, chiefs and headmen used more negative incentives to encourage enlistment, such as threats on a man's prOperty; questionnaire DZ/47, Gonthi Chisale, l5 September I974. '7 18Interview ll2, Fololiyani Longwe, 23 August I973; questionnaire MC/B, Bendicto Mkumbi Jere, l4 April I973. Interview I32, Ruben Longwe, 8 September I973. ICE) 4l l9 kind of haven for the poverty stricken. ”They joined for the money,” remembered one man, noting a contemporary parallel: ”It is just like the way people go to the mines in South Africa.”20 The power of such financial incentive was not lost upon those in charge of recruiting. By August l9l5 the situation on the Nyasaland frontier had stabilized with the promised arrival Of reinforcements from South Africa. More immediate was the need for askari along the German border with British East Africa. Nyasaland was considered a prime possibility for recruiting, the hope being to attract men to join their countrymen who had been serving in east Africa at the outbreak of war. Negotiations were begun with the Nyasaland government and a decision quickly reached to use the monetary incentive--in the form of an extraordinary“£l/l/4 monthly salary-~as a further means of inducing men into service on the Kenyan front.2] By October l9l5 a recruiting Officer had arrived in Nyasaland to begin the work. District residents between Zomba and Fort Johnston were urged by the government to ”use every endeavor to 22 facilitate the recruitment of suitable natives.” Initially men nguestionnaires: DW/3. Zakeyo Jaziyele, l9 April I974; MA/IO, Bwanali Mdala, I8 July I974; TH/S, Mr. Sankhulani, 2l September I973. 20Interview 83, Bamusi Awasi, 9 April I973. 2lColonel S.H. Sheppard (General Staff, Nairobi) to Chief Secre- tary, British East Africa, 3l August l9l5, W.0. I06/276;Bonar Law to Smith, 8 September I9I5, C.O. 534/l9; both P.R.O. Charles Hordern, comp., Military Operations in East Afric§,_August l9l4 to September l9l6 (London: H.M.S.O., l94l), vol. I, p. 565. 22Assistant Chief Secretary to Assistant Resident, Liwonde, ll November I9I5, M.N.A., NCN Ill/2; Barton diaries, notebook 36, l9 October l9l5, M.N.R. ‘IN a p 0 . im 42 came forward readily, attracted by the new, higher rates of pay. "We felt the money was inviting and that we were real men so we 23 came to enlist,” recalled one former askari. Few were deterred by the fact that they would have to serve outside their homeland in east Africa, at the Nairobi rather than the Karonga war.ZA The result was predictable: men were unwilling to continue enlistment for service in Nyasaland at lower rates of pay, a problem which concerned military and civilian Officials until the end of I916.25 Throughout I9l6 Officials in Nyasaland were hard pressed tO attract men to the financially less inviting first regiment, serving on the protectorate's northern border. This situation was intensified after January l9l7, when two additional battalions were authorized for the first regiment, plus another battalion for the second regiment as well. Attempts were made to enlist men from the civil police with previous service in the K.A.R. Judging by the reports from Chinteche, the results were meager. Of the twenty former askari among the policemen serving the West Nyasa district, only two were willing to reenlist for even six months, and one Of them just for service in Zomba. The only evidence that this appeal had any effect appears to be the Blantyre resident's disdainful 23Interview 25, Disi Katita, l3 August I972. Also questionnaire KS/S, Zikalindaine Katawala, 28 September I973. Interviews: 2, Fulotiya Nsanama, 8 August I972; 7, Useni Makuta, ll August I972. 25Smith to C.0., 25 November I9l6, C.0. 534/20; Northey to Major-General A.R. Hoskins, n.d., in Hoskins to C.0., 22 March l9l7, C.0. 534/24; both P.R.O. 43 report that one police private had become a sergeant in the K.A.R.26 Out of desperation, all manner of chicanery was attempted. In South Nyasa district recruiters spread work of disturbances in the northern part of the country, asking for volunteers to join the first regiment in putting down what was presented as a tax rebellion among Mombera's Ngoni. A number Of Yao from the regions around Fort Johnston were enlisted with the expectation that they merely would help bring the defaulters into line, but instead found themselves at war with the Germans.27 In some parts of the country enlistment was undertaken at rates Of pay higher than allowed, “in anticipation Of a risell being authorized in London.28 Recruiters also looked beyond the traditional Nyasaland recruiting grounds, seeking unsuccessfully to gain permission for 29 an enlistment campaign in Mozambique. Even without Portuguese approval or Official British sanction the territory was combed for men, although the salary differential still had an effect.30 Those 6Acting Chief Secretary to resident; circular letter, I8 January I9I7, NCK I/l/3; Resident, Chinteche, to Chief Secretary, 4 February l9l7, NNC l/I/l; Blantyre District Annual Report, l9l7/l8, NSB 2/2/7; all M.N.A. 27Interviews: 77, Stambuli Basale, I4 April I973; 79, Mlekano Wadi Kalisinje, 4 April I973; 85. Sheikh Mada Wadi Msamu, I2 April I973. The reports of disturbances referred to a significant but not serious refusal by Chimtunga Jere to supply laborers and carriers for the war effort; this incident will be discussed fully below. 28Barton diaries, nOtebook 39. 27 March '9'7’ M-N-R- 29$mith to C.0., I6 August l9l6; Sir L. Carnegie, Lisbon, to C.0., l9 September l9l6; both P.R.0., C.0. 534/20. 30Barton diaries, nOtebOOk 39. '6 March '9'7: M-N-R° <4 .~ .- C. 44 Operations were not considered precisely secret but were kept quiet so that "nothing likely to embarrass those responsible” leaked out.3l Another source of manpower was found among the ex-German askari being held in a prisoner-of-war camp at Zomba. Although some had been used as laborers, they generally had been ignored as potential soldiers for the King's African Rifles. There were, as Colonel C. W. Barton noted, "some good Old soldiers amongst them but [khe] 32 general run looked inferior to our K.A.R, askari.” Officials were sufficiently encouraged, however, to attempt to enlist some of them. When Barton began to inquire among the former Schutztruppe askari if they would serve for the British, he found some willing, but only if the paper notes which the Germans had given them would be redeemed for ”real money.” Others demanded a higher salary. This reluctance seems to have had deeper implications which Barton d.33 either did not realize, or more likely, chose not to recor One of the men recalled vivdly the recruiting efforts at the P.O.W. camp: They said that we should become soldiers. We did not want to enlist for them but the colonel forced us to enlist. We asked them how much they would pay us if we enlisted. They said one pound, one shilling and four pence. We told them that we would not accept that. We told them that when we were on the German side we used to receive three pounds and ten shillings. We refused and there was great talk about it. When they saw that we were not willing to give way, they decided not to give us food. We stayed for three 3lActing Chief Secretary to Resident, Blantyre, 4 March l9l8, M.N.A., NSB l/2/5. Also see Smith to C.0., 23 April l9l7, P.R.0., C.0. 525/73. 3zBart0n diarieS, notebOOk 39, 6 February 1917, M.N.Ro 33Barton diaries, notebooks 39 and 40, 6 February through l2 April l9l7, M.N.R. .P» 6.. ‘L A‘. 5L 45 weeks without eating. SO we used to go into the neighboring villages stealing other people's cassava. SO the peOple complained. As a result we ended up by enlisting.3 The promise Of higher rank in British service may have enticed some 35 experienced soldiers. Such negotiations certainly convinced many Europeans in Nyasaland that Africans really cared little for whom they fought, and were merely mercenaries seeking the highest wage.36 For many, perhaps most, Of the Malawian askari it was not the money which was important, but what they saw as the guile employed to enlist them. ”We attributed our joining Of the army to the work of magic. We believed that we had been bewitched," one Of them complained.37 Specific complaints also included the deception regarding a tax rebellion among Mombera's Ngoni and the charge that some district residents merely told them work was available, saying 38 nothing about war. Much more widespread, however, were complaints about the use Of the military band as an inducement to recruiting. The band, it was often said, ”was parading tricks to coax young men 39 to join them.” 34 35Interview 30, Thom Sukala, l4 September I972; he had been a corporal in the Schutztruppe and became a sergeant upon joining the K.A.R. 36Conversation with Mr. W.H. Gresty, 27 April I9l4; interview 2I, Sydney Chituta Nkanda, 28 August I972. Interview 3l, Kazibule Dabi, l5 September I972. 37Interview 74, Anusa Makumba, 2 April 1973. 38Interview 110, E.C. Banda. 15 August '973- 39Interview I69, James Mbalazo, I September I973- and Esli am: the A. p a: . .u .c .u; r...» us By late I9I5, when recruitment began for the British East African front, elements of the King's African Rifles marching band were being used to attract Malawian recruits.Ll0 The results were encouraging, and the band became a major part of the efforts to encourage enlistment throughout the rest of the war. In fact, the band was divided, and occasionally more than one group was Operating at the same time. On ll July I9l6 part of the band was ”dancing with drums and trumpets” near Lungwena, a U.M.C.A. mission station not far from the eastern Iakeshore.hl On the same day, directly across the lake, priests at the Roman Catholic mission station at Ntaka-taka observed the recruiting efforts and recorded in their diary: “Drums and trumpets, a real circus.”42 Officials generally expected better results from recruiting campaigns when the band was present, and missionaries Often encouraged its employment in their areas.“3 Despite both official and unofficial encouragement, and the division of the band into more than one group, it did not make appearances in all parts of the country, partly because of 0Arriving in October I9l4 to begin recruiting, Lt. Bevan led a recruiting party into South Nyasa district where his name still is associated with the early band displays. Barton diaries, notebook 36, I9 October l9l5, M.N.R.; interview I70, Corporal Lipende, l4 September I973. lEustace Malisawa, Lungwena station notes, Nyasaland Diocesan Chronicle, 53(October l9l6), 24. thtaka-taka station diary, ll July l9l6, quoted in Linden, Catholics, p. IlSn. hBResident, Chinteche, to Chief Secretary, l8 December l9l7, N.A., NNC l/l/l; H.E. Munby, Kota Kota station notes, Nyasaland 0 e M. Di c san Chroniglg, 62(January l9l9), IO. Dé 47 transportation problems.hh Throughout South Nyasa district (the southern lakeshore) the band appeared Often, and as well along the main roads south. Many ”performances” were held between Fort Johnston and Zomba, and almost as many in parts of Blantyre and Mulanje districts. In the northern areas of the protectorate, band appearances were confined to the lakeshore, especially in Dedza, Nkhotakota, West and North Nyasa districts. Seldom, however, did the musicians venture beyond the escarpment into the country's hinterland. These tendancies were further intensified by the generally held views that certain African groups made better soldiers. Particularly favored were the Yao Of South Nyasa, Upper Shire, Zomba, and Mulanje districts and Chiradzulu sub-district as well as the Tonga of West Nyasa district. Recruiting efforts concentrated on these areas where, happily, the band was best able to travel. Generally the band followed the roads through the areas where it was recruiting, only occasionally stopping at villages and other 45 population centers along the way. The mabaia--as the marching . . . 46 . musucians were known in some Yao areas --attracted large followings during their perambulations about the countryside. ”When soldiers See Munby, Kota Kota station notes, Nyasaland Diocesan Chronicle, 62(January l9l9), IO. thuestionnaire CR/I, Grayson Jonamusi, 24 August I973. Interviews: 75, Village Headman Makumbe, 3 April I973; l5, Aroni Siyabu, l8 August I972. Che Aroni Siyabu was a bugler in the King's African Rifles and participated in a number of recruiting campaigns as a member of the band. thuestionnaire MA/ll. Kamwana NQ'Omba» '8 JUIY l97h' .C a: fir CC W8 P. A; n A u a W Alli . , _ ”C «rm ”c n6 pl P. «L P. S l! a m 0 AV a J. _ . ri . . k). an... e . D r. a A g {I t . Ur 48 parade it is something to admire. You cOuld see a swarm Of people watching the soldiers parade,‘l one man recalled.Ll7 Another remembered his own experience: ”Suddenly we saw the army's band marching along the road neatly dressed in their khaki uniforms. The band's marching was really thrilling and it was irresistable for brave young men to join the army.”7 Some were attracted by the music, wanted to learn how to play the instruments, and therefore agreed to join the army. ”The people did not actually know they were going to play in the band.”h9 Others admired the smart uniforms, especially the starched shorts, and hOped that by joining they might acquire such prized clothing.so As if there were not enough inducements, women were attracted by the glamor of the band and pushed their men tO join. The llbuglers were favored by women," one Of them remembered fondly. ”You know what women are. When they saw the horns, they just Offered themselves to us.”5‘ One former askari stated, ''you know things that women can h7lnterview 88, Tambule Mbepule, l2 April I973. hslnterview 72, Chionda Alidi, l April I973. On Likoma Island, where the band did not perform, some men were attracted by the drilling of the small squad Of askari assigned to protect the island. Questionnaires: LK/l, D. Mandala, 9 August I973; LK/7, Christopher Mataka, 3 September I973. 149Interview 37. Ndala Nyungwe, 28 September I972; also question- naire MA/7, Puleni Selemani, l6 July I974. soQuestionnaires: TH/4, Benjamin Chileka, l9 September I973; TH/ll, C.B. Chitofu, 27 September I973. Interview 7I, Harold Manawa, I April I973- 5‘Interview l5, Aroni Siyabu, l8 August I972; also interview 37, Ndala Nyungwa, 28 September I972. WEN .h- ll!- Di .'9 rib uh. .I. 2..— F. v 49 do. They used to say, 'I wish my husband was a soldier.‘ And they 52 were not wrong,” he added, “because the band was very smart.“ Whatever the reasons, there was a tremendous outpouring Of men for the army. Throughout most Of l9l7 and into I9l8 as well, a consistant average of more than ISO recruits were found each week, although close to thirty-five percent were rejected before completing 53 training. By the end Of l9l7, more than 9,000 men were on duty in Nyasaland battalions, some of them recruits from outside the 4 . country.5 It is not possible to Obtaln an accurate count of enlistees from each district. Table I . contains available 55 estimates, which tend to confirm that the largest numbers of men came from the areas of heaviest recruiting: Zomba, South Nyasa and West Nyasa districts, with Blantyre, Mulanje and Upper Shire not far behind. The total number Of Malawians who served in the King's African Rifles reached almost l9,000 men, although that figure may 52Interview 74, Anusa Makumba, 2 April I973; also interview 86, Petro Mbwana, l2 April I973. S3Major R.E. Critchley-Salmonson (Staff Officer-Recruiting, K.A.R.), ”Recruiting for the King's African RifleS: Progress, Situation and Prospects, 20th December l9l7 to 25th May l9l8,'I in Assistant Adjutant 5 Quartermaster General, K.A.R. to C.0., 6 September l9l8, P.R.0., C.0. 534/26. ShMajor R.E. Critchley-Salmonson, ”Recruiting for the King's African Rifles: Progress, Situation and Prospects on 29th December l9l7,“ in Bowring (Acting Governor, British East Africa) to C.0., 8 February l9l8, P.R.0., C,0, 534/25. Besides those from Mozambique and among the captured German askari, others were recruited in Zambia; Sir L. Wallace, draft notes on the Great War, EC. I92§l , N.A.R., B l/5/7. 55The figures in table one are intended only tO be suggestive; they cannot be considered at all accurate. The l9l8 administrative census differs in several important points of detail with the Official returns for the same year found in the Nyasaland Government Blue Book. for the Year ending 3lst March l9l8 (Zomba: Government Printer, 50 .JM\emm .o.e ..o.e.a .m.m. toeemueo . ..o.o op eu.5m .m\~\. mmz ..<.z.z "mootsom oo. .mu0u yo: >mE mg a e mmm.. e mo.m omo.m 0mm.~m~ m.muoe mm.. A. No. mm. mm mmm.m. mmm>z eaeoz me. 0 mm. MN. mm ~m~.m~ m.Eaeeox om.m. mm. .N.~. e~.m 0.... mwm... mme>z “me: No. e m.. e.. N. ome.u mtemz mm.N em 05.. mm.. em. o_e... eee.tmz 0.. N ~m.: 05.. RN: mmo.mN mzoo Ne.m me ...o e..~ mmm Noe.m~ mNeec mm. A No.e me.~ mem mmm..~ mzmeo..u mo.o~ NmN m..m. om.m om... m.o.em mmm>z eeeom me.m mo. me.: em.: om: mmm.m eeeoz.u mm... m:. .m.@ .m.m Now omm.m_ OL_Lm coca: .m.- “mm ma.- mm.m mmo.~ me...N meEON me.~ mm me.m me.e Nee e.~.e. emem.ez em.m Ne mo.m Ne.m .mm m~e.m :.e~emt.eu mm.e mm mm.m NN.. mom emo.m~ etseem.m -- I- m.. em. N. :No.m mt.em “we: mo. . ... e.. o. mm~.~ one -- -- ma. mm. ma eme.n at.;m Lagos cumCOLuw .mem4 Ileumcocum qu c. .emxm< mo.mz uo.cum_nun:m max .0 x .e_umcum_c_ev< m.m. m.m. meu.eem_o >m ._ecmu__mz cu “o_um¢ m.m~ mam.~m mmo.~m~ m.o: sm~.o mam.m_ m.~_ moo.m ~m~.m~ m.m_ omm._ mmm... :.mm NN¢.~ One.“ m._m oou.m o_m.__ m._m moo.m mmo.m~ k.a_ mmN.: koa.mN o.~: m_~.m mNm._~ R.Jm m_m.w_ m_o.qm m.ak omm.~ mmw.m :.Nm mm_.m cam.m_ o.n_ coo.m m:_._N m. m:_ :_N.m_ m.a_ oms._ mko.m _.oN Nam.m om0.m~ _.N mo. :No.m m.m_ 5:... mm~.m ~.m_ Nmm._ owe.“ conmo mcoconmd mo_mz stmu___z >tmu___z u.:a< :0 $ m_mu0H mmm>z cucoz m.mconeoz mmm>z one: mcmmz mne_cmz mzoc mNemo o3mc0__4 mmm>z cuaom oucoz_4 oc_zm coma: mnEON mwcm_az :_:Nvmc_cu mc>ucm_m oc_cm ummz 03m oc_:m cozou mamcou o>_umcum_cw6e< w_m_ uo_eum_nsn:m au_tum_o mhu.mhm_o >m .mom<4 >xThey also had some sacks on their shoulders, probably those bags in which they were given magiwa [maize flouE]. The few that came back on their way home took the old road to Ntchisi from here. If they found you digging out cassava and they found you there, they would ask you for a lot of cassava, and if you would be too lenient, all the cassava would finish. Even if the cassava was sufficient, they would still chew it as they went their way. As they went through Nkugi, they died as they went along.l7 All along the lakeshore, Similar callous conditions prevailed. One informant recalled bitterly that he was sent out on foot, even though officials were aware that he had a badly swollen leg. Deaths were reported as men struggled to get to their homes beyond the escarpment.l8 A few found their way into mission hOSpitals, often guided by total strangers who had taken sympathy with their plight. Even then, they all too frequently succumbed, and the missionaries who had nursed them were indignant. Robert Laws wrote officially, yet forcefully, about several such cases: ”the discharge of men in such a condition with fatal results is a serious matter which needs 19 to be inquired into.” 17 lalnterviews: 70, Gogo Jumayani (female), 14 April 1973; 105, Diamond Caswell Chirwa, I August 1973; 130, Kagunda Chirwa, I September 1973. '9Laws to Resident, Karonga, 24 November 1918, M.N.A., Living- stonia Mission papers, letter book no. 27; also see Nyasaland Diocesan Chronicle, 59(April 1918). 7. Interview 42, Dorothy Liwewe, 28 December 1972. 211 There was only one official investigation of such conditions, and it may have been indirectly due to Laws' complaints, although it concerned a Separate matter. The particular incident involved was the march of 1/2 King's African Rifles from Bismarkburg, in German East Africa, to Vua, on Lake Malawi.20 The column's two or three thousand carriers suffered tremendous hardships on the journey, were largely ignored by the medical officers, and those who were sick were whipped as punishment for being unable to carry on. The Karonga resident, F. J. T. Storrs, perhaps alerted by Laws' earlier complaint, was appalled at the situation, especially Since carriers were falling out, hiding in the bush, even dying there, and exposing the local pOpulation to disease. Storrs' direct appeals to the governor and other officials were spurned as ”irregular," although an investigation was launched. The court of inquiry finally reported that the situation should have been improved upon, and the K.A.R. Commandant concluded that the battalion commander, Major Bevan, and the medical officer, as well as the assistant director of carrier transport, Should share responsibility. Bevan, son-in-law Of Governor Smith, defended himself by claiming ignorance of the condition of his tengatenga, even though his battalion war diary recorded they “were in a very 20Material on this incident is derived largely from two sources; the first is a file, I|Carriers, 1919-1921," in the Malawi National Archives (S 2/5/19) which contains much correspondence and several reports on the situation; the second, which includes the findings of a Court Of Inquiry, is a dispatch and related enclosures from Governor Smith to the Colonial Office, 18 August 1919, P.R.0., C.0. 534/34. 212 . poor state, weak & emaciated."2] As was Often the case with such investigations, the matter was dropped as the Colonial Office felt they would "get nothing useful out of it."22 In fact, the only outcome of the entire affair, and others Similar if not so blatant, was exactly that which had motivated the Karonga resident to action in the first place. "The people of this district,” he.had originally written, ”are thoroughly upset when they see this scandalous and brutal treatment meted Out to themselves ”23 Throughout Malawi this reaction colored the and others. receptions which returnees received, and, of course, the general impressions of the end of the war. The result was a generally ambivalent feeling on the part of Malawians which, at least In some parts of the country, became submerged in a sort of large scale societal transition ceremony. Of course, those who did manage to arrive home safely were warmly greeted. Women--many more than just wives and mothers-- greeted the men with ululated expressions Of joy. Animals were slaughtered and beer brewed; feasts were held in celebration. ”They were treated as if they had risen from the dead," recalled one man, perhaps drawing an analogy to the parable of the prodigal 2'1/2 King's African Rifles war diary, 4 December 1918, P.R.0., W.O. 95/5331. . 22Minute by W.A. Bottomley, 13 April 1920, on Colonel 6. Phillips, Commandant, K.A.R., to C.0., 27 February 1920, P.R.0., c.o.'534/39. 23Storrs to Duff, 10 January 1919, M.N.A., S 2/5/19. 213 ~ son.21+ In some areas where relations between traditional rulers and their subjects were not seriously eroded, chiefs and headmen also welcomed the returned askari and carriers. They brought presents for the men and expected, in usual fashion, that they would receive comparable gifts in return. But above all was the relief that some. at least, had come home.25 Village eelebrations, though,were not just of joy. Often these were mixed with the traditional ceremonies of grief as well. For many, the end of the war brought the final realization that loved ones were, in fact, never going to return. Often local homecoming feaSts were as well memorials to those who had died. The food often included ritual funeral fare, and the beer helped to drown sorrows. Songs and dances, too, were not just expressions of joy, but also of sadness. The intent, clearly, was to provide a means of bridging the difficult gap between years of war and the expected peace, "so we could forget about what happened at the war." SO great were these desires, that occasionally funeral rites were begun too soon, and men returned to find relatives, believing them dead, engaged in ceremonies and feasts of mourning. 2“Questionnaire DW/I4, Filimoni Batlleti, 12 August 1974. Also interview 51, Bamusi Selemani, 5 January 1973; and questionnaire DZ/45, Charlesi Mbemba, 13 September 1974. 25Interviews: 13, Daisa Songolo, J7 August 1972; I4, Stambuli Likuleka, 17 August 1972; 26, Peter Nyimbiri, 13 September 1972. Questionnaire MZ/26, Mateyu Nyirenda, 17 April 1974. 26Interviews: 116, Amos Isaac, 14 July 1975; 71, Harold Manawa, 1 April 1973; 117, Village Headman Mpanangombe, 17 August 1973. Questionnaires: DZ/8, Village Headman Njati Phiri, 10 April 1974; DZ/18, Izeki Katsache, 15 April 1974. 214 A crucial aspect of this celebration seems to have been-found, throughout Chewa areas, in the 2132 dances. Long associated with the important transition ceremonies of death and female initiation, 2123 roles were clearly expanding in the years just before and extending through the Great War. As I have indicated, the societies played an important part in resistance to military labor recruitment. At the end of the-conflict, as had happened during the war, it was natural that the gygg dancers would perform at funeral ceremonies.27 Less expected, perhaps, but equally clear, the dances also were undertaken as a means of celebration, an expression of the victory which both death and homecoming marked in the special context of the war. The 2122 became an expression of a greater kind of transition and, as such, marked a new and at least partially political role for the societies.28 In the hectic years of 1918 and 1919, such subleties were lost upon European missionaries, planters, and government officials.- They were able, however, to discern the ambiguities felt by many Africans concerning the end of the war, especially in the wake of a difficult demobilization. The EurOpean newspaper caught the mood, urging "that the native mind should see some outward and visible sign of ”29 victory. Taking up the suggestion, the acting Governor requested 27Interviews: 116, Amos Isaac, 14 July 1973; 119, Village Headman Malomo, 7 August 1973. - 28Questionnaires: DW/7, Paulo Golovana Fulatira, 17 April 1974; NC/l8, George Manage, 27 August 1974. 29,1:Iyasaland Times, 21, 51(19 December 1918), 2. Africans were, in fact, concerned that the war might not really be over; interview 79, Mlekano Wadi Kalisinge, 4 April 1973. 215 and was authorized an expenditure of'1750 for ”a certain amount of demonstration...to bring the fact of victory home to the native."30 In keeping with a decision made for the United Kingdom, peace celebrations in Nyasaland were scheduled and held on 16 July l9l9.3| Suggestions that the influenza epidemic might lead to curtailment of the programs met with great Opposition, eSpecially among the Africans. Thus, throughout the country people gathered at the district residencies for a day of rejoicing. Chiefs were honored for their part in the war, and veteran askari were Often asked to pass in review. Games were organized for the amusement of all present, African and EurOpean, and in some cases food was provided as well. Dances were also a common feature, including the occasional introduction of new, military styled dance forms. These were borrowings from east Africa, brought to Malawi in the wake of the war, and would make a lasting impact on the protectorate.32 The key feature of the celebrations, however, and the one which most clearly had the desired effect upon Malawians, was a series of bonfires on hills throughout the country. ”They just lit fire all 33 over the highest hills in the world,” recalled one man. Another 3oMinute by W.A. Bottomley, 28 JanuarY 1919. on DUff to C.0., 23 January 1919, P.R.0., C.0. 525/82. 'BiNyasaland Government Gazette, 26(l9l9), I64; Kota Kota mission diary, 19 July 1919, M.N.A., U.M.C.A. papers, KO 1/1/2. 32H [enrfl E. MEInby], ”Peace Rejoicings at Kota Kota," Central Africa, 37(1919), 165-6. Interviews: 74, Anusa Makumba, 2 April 1973; 132, Reuben Longwe, 8 September 1973; 135, Austin Manda, 12 September 1973. Questionnaire LL/I, Miss Sayamika Nabnda, 5 April 1973. 33Interview 89, Madi Wadi Selemani, 12 April 1973. Also inter- views: 110, E.C. Banda, 15 August 1973; 116, Amos Isaac, 14 July 1973. 216 remembered them as a final and positive confirmation that the war was Over, indicating "happiness and success on the side of the 34 British.” The use of fire as a Sign of victory was extremely apt. Among Chichewa-speaking peOples In Malawi, fire had long been an indicator of transition, and could widely be interpreted as "a symbolic statement about the beginning of a new era.” In such a context, fire.might also be associated with the transitional 35 importance of nyau ceremonies. Though they may not have intended to do so, and there is no clear evidence to suggest such a conscious 36 realization, the European celebrations were likely taken as con- firmation of the newly significant and enlarged role of the 2122 societies. Despite the symbols Of a transition, for most Malawians ”the end of the war was not a complete peace. There was another battle to fight, and that was the diseases brought by the peOpIe who had been to war."37 Although not a result of the end of the war, some people may have felt the continued smallpox epidemics of 1919 were 38 a part of continuing difficulties. Certainly, venereal disease 32+Interview 79. Mlekano Wadi Kalisinje, 4 April 1973. 35J.M. Schoffeleers, "The Meaning and Use of the Name Malawi In Oral Traditions and Precolonial Documents'l In Early History_of Malawi, pp. 98-9. The quotation cited refers Specifically to the pre- colonial political ascendancy of the Phiri clan in Chichewa-speaking areas, but Is equally applicable in the present context. 36The initial suggestion seems to have come from the Nyasaland Times, 21, 51(19 December 1918), 2; however, nothing in the newSpaper's prOposal would indicate appreciation of the symbolic significance of the fires. 37 38Nyasaland Government Gazette, 26(l9l9), 186; H.E. Arbuckle to Principal Medical Officer, 28 July 1919, M.N.A., M 1/3/1. Interview 105, Diamond Caswell Chirwa, 1 August 1973. 217 was one of these problems. Large numbers of askari and tengatenga contracted both syphilis and gonorrhea, as did EurOpean soldiers, and as a result the diseases Spread in all sections of the protec- 39 torate. Official concerns about the problem were matched by African worries as well, and led to some government efforts at treatment and prevention. Although smallpox and venereal disease were of concern, the great new battle was directed against influenza. The first wave of this worldwide pandemic reached Malawi from the south, following the river and rail transport links. The first cases were reported. in October 1918, and the disease was widespread by January 1918, when the 1/2 K.A.R. carriers succumbed as they entered the country from the north.hl There is no doubt that influenza came into Malawi through the military lines of communication linking the protectorate to South Africa. Army camps provided fertile ground for the spread of infection, and the demobilization of soldiers undoubtedly aided in carrying the disease further, especially the second wave of cases in 1919 which had a particularly severe impact upon country villages}i2 39Questionnaires: DZ/30, Yatesi Kumsamba, 2 August 1974; DZ/36, Mr. Katawa, 19 April 1974. Zomba weekly medical report, 5 March 1919, M.N.A., S l/1128/19; Mulanje district Annual Report, 1919/20, M.N.A., S 1/1040/19; Mombera Native Association minute books, 28, 29 and 31 July 1922, M.N.A., Mombera Native Association papers. l+oSmith to C.0., 15 September 1919, P.R.0., C.0. 525/84; A.M.D. Turnbull, notebook 1916-18, S.M.L.; March 1920 West Nyasa district monthly report, M.N.A., S 1/1204/19; questionnaire NC/S. Village Headman Kadundwe, 5 August 1974. l”Nyasaland Times, 21, 44(31 October 1918), 2. 2Interview 9, Kampila Kaputa, 11 August 1972; questionnaire KR/3, Amon N. Ng'ambi, 6 April 1973; Lilongwe district Annual Report l9l9/20, M.N.A., S 1/1073/19. 218 In the minds of Malawians, the connection between the war and the epidemic of influenza were not only immediate, but also causal. A common expression was that the ”war air” had brought the new and 43 devastating disease, blown in by winds from the front. "Maybe it was the smoke and blood of the dead that made us suffer so much," recalled one man who remained for the entire war in Malawi.hh Those abstractions,.though not always present in memories of the epidemic, serve to underscore the widespread and bitter belief that it was a trick of the Germans or more likely, the protracted conflict itself which had unleashed this new suffering upon the land.l+5 Although the disease, of itself, was not Often deadly, by leaving its victims in an emaciated state they Often contracted other, fatal ailments, particularly pneumonia. In a population affected by shortages of food and in some cases debilitated by military labor service, the risks of complications were high. Africans seemed to recognize this, sometimes noting that should one survive three days of the "coughing disease,” he would not 46 die. The seriousness, too, was well understood, as expressed in ABQuestionnaires: DZ/8, Village Headman Njati Phiri, 10 April 1974; 02/47, Gonthi Chisale, 15 September 1974. Interview 33. Danda Linyama, 18 September 1972. hhlnterview 116, Amos Isaac, 14 July 1973. hsMinute by Acting Governor Duff, 23 December 1918, copied in Acting Chief Secretary to Acting Resident, Blantyre, 25 December 1918, M.N.A., NSB 1/2/5; interview 38, Samuel Chaima, 28 September 1972. Questionnaires: KR/9, Peter G. Mbisa, 15 April 1973; MZ/I, Paulos Nthengwe, 1 April 1973. hsMalawi Department Of Antiquities oral records, 8T 9, Group Village Headman Gomeza, interviewed 4 August 1970; G.H. Wilson, Mponda's station notes, Nyasaland Diocesan Chronicle, 62(January I919), 21; interview 33, Danda Linyama, 15 September 1972. 219 a common description of influenza symptoms: ”You coughed once; on the second time blood would come out and then the person would die."l‘7 The fluenza, as it was sometimes called, was far more serious than even the smallpox scourge present in the protectorate. Malawians felt that, as had been the case during the war, all too little concern was evidenced-for their medical needs in this crisis. The government attempted to advise the population on preventive measures and, along with missionaries and even planters, sought to treat as many cases as possible. But the speed with which the virus spread through the country and the incredibly large number of cases, combined to make medical attention all but Impossible for the vast majority of Malawians.l+8 Even these meager attempts,for all the complaints of inattention, were not infrequently met with refusals to be treated. A Chewa headmen told the U.M.C.A. nurse, Alice Simpkin, ”DO not my people prefer to die of the Sickness rather than Of the European medicine?"h9 In part the reaction derived from a long-standing suspicion of European medical treatment and was undoubtedly also aggrevated by the 47 48 . InterVIew 129, A.G. Mugomo Mwali, 29 August 1973; Nyasaland Iimgg, 21, 46(14 November 1918), 3, and 22, 8(20 February 1919 , 3; H.E. Munby, Kota Kota Station notes,_Nyasaland Diocesan Chronicle, 64(July 1919), 16. thlice Simpkin, Nursing in Nyasaland (London: U.M.C.A.. n.d.), p. 52. Interview 31, Kazibule Dabi, 15 September 1974. 220 bitterness Of wartime experiences and their aftermath. Perhaps Malawians also felt that the cures offered little more than they might have effected from their own knowledge. In the absence of other medicines, some Officials suggested to Africans that they combat the Influenza by dissolving wood ash in water, sieving the 50 solution, and drinking the solute. While well within the scope of contemporary western medical knowledge, to many villagers it probably appeared similar to infusions which they traditionally 51 prepared to cure colds, coughs, and pneumonia. The effectiveness of such alkaline treatments was minimal,52 as were most medicines, and the disease continued to spread. All manner of provisional “cures” were attempted, some of which may have been as serious as the disease itself. One was the drinking of kerosene, which offered little to recommend it beyond the magic 50Questionnaire DZ/IZ, M. Kuthembe, 12 April 1974. This advice was apparently not widespread, and a missionary in Malawi at the time has informed me he thinks the suggestion ”most unlikely"; Rev. Canon Thomas Hicks, letter to the author, 19 March 1975. Diffi- culties in obtaining medical supplies to combat the epidemic were manifest by the middle of 1919 when, through complex negotiations, they were at last secured through the Southern Rhodesian government; the Rhodesian National Archives holds a file, ”Drugs for Nyasaland Government, 1919 July l6-October 8" (H 2/7/1), containing much material on this point. 5iAnstruther Davidson, “Alkalis in the Treatment of Influenza,” Journal of the American Medical Association, 71(1918), 1603; T.C. Ely, I'Alkali treatment applied to the acidosis of epidemic influenza,” New York Medical Journal, 109(1919), 574; Williamson, Useful Plants, pp. 19. 59, 106. 52See T.C. Ely, ”Alkalis in the Treatment of Influenza," Journal of the American Medical Association, 71(1918), I603. 221 53 Of having been introduced by the Europeans. Traditional nostrums were also tried, usually associated with witchcraft allegations in cases of deaths due to influenza and its complications. Reports from most districts indicate that many accused of being reSponsible were forced to undergo a poison ordeal (mwgbyj) to prove their innocence. A few deaths-from the poison were reported, but Others surely must have escaped the attention of the residents.54 With both European medicines and local cures ineffective in combating the disease, the influenza toll mounted. Sir Hector Duff, who served as Acting Governor Of Nyasaland during the worst periods of the epidemic, put the number Of cases at something more than 15,000 and deaths at about 1,700.55 AS calamitous as those figures may appear, they can be nothing but gross underestimates. In Dowa and Lilongwe districts alone, very incomplete returns from the district residents indicated in excess of eight thousand Malawians 56 died as a result of the epidemic, which devastated entire villages. 53Interview 17, Tebulo Nkwanda, 22 August 1972; Malawi Department of Antiquities oral records, BT 9, Group Village Headman Gomeza, interviewed 4 August 1970. 5liThe following are suggestive of reports from throughout the protectorate: Acting Resident, Blantyre, to Chief Secretary, 20 December 1918, M.N.A., NSB 2/2/8; October 1919 Upper Shire district monthly report, M.N.A., S 1/1005/19; May 1919 Ruo district monthly report, M.N.A., S 1/1041/19; July 1919 Mombera district monthly report, M.N.A., S l/lI40/19. 55Duff, “Nyasaland and the World War," chapter eleven, I.W.M. 56August 1919 Dowa district monthly report, M.N.A., S l/lO76/19; Lilongwe district Annual Report, 1919/20, M.N.A., S 1/1073/19; Andrew Balfour and Henry Harold Scott, Health Problems of the Empire: Past, Present, and Future (New York: Henry Holt, 1924), p. 219. 222 ”There is no question,’I Governor Smith reported to the legislative 57 council in 1919, ”that the loss of life was high.” AS with any statistics for Africa of this period, accuracy is little more than a chimera, but the total impact of the influenza outbreaks was erobably much greater than even Governor Smith had imagined. Projections of mortality, made as the disease first appeared in the protectorate, had suggested a death rate of less than one percent. The actual figure was about five percent, and 58 some estimates claimed it was as high as six percent. The total number of deaths, extracted and extrapolated from census data, may 59 actually have been as high as 50,000. And if the five percent mortality rate is accepted as reasonable, it would mean that more than three-quarters of the country's population suffered from influenza to some degree, an estimate which the Blantyre resident actually made of cases in his district.60 If even fifty percent of 57Proceedings of the Legislative Council of Nyasaland, let session (July 1919), p. 2. 58Nyasaland Times, 21, 45(7 November 1918), 1; December 1918 and January 1919 Blantyre district monthly reports, M.N.A., NSB 2/2/8. 590. Coleman, ”The African Population of Malawi: An Analysis of the Censuses between 1901 and 1966. Part 1: The Level of Population,” Society of Malawi Journal, 27, 1(1974), 32. At the other extreme was an estimate that “over a fifth Of the total number of the inhabitants [pf Nyasaland] were swept away" by influenza, a fraction which would equal more than 200,000 deaths; Joseph Beuniol, The White Fathers and Their Missions (London: Sands 8 Co., 1929), p. 270. 60December 1918 Blantyre district monthly report, M.N.A., NSB 2/2/8. The calculations are based upon population levels reported in the administrative census of 1918; M.N.A., NSB 1/2/5. 223 the peOple contracted influenza, the nature of this further battle is clear; one Malawian reflected on the epidemic and concluded, "God was angry from 1918 to 19l9.”6l The high level of mortality was magnified by continued famine during the year after hostilities ended. The influenza epidemic and the food shortage bore reciprocal effects, each causing the other to increase in geometric prOportions. Men, women, and children weakened by hunger were more easily stricken by the virus, and more likely to encounter complications and even die. Likewise, those suffering from fluenza were unable to work In their fields producing grain and other foodstuffs. This inability to work was, in fact, a crucial matter as the flu struck Malawi just in time for plowing and planting during the l9l8-I9 season.62 Late floods had damaged the previous year's crOps along the lower river, eliminating practically the only African food reserves which remained. With labor again in Short supply in I918-I9, due to the ravages of disease, and with the combination of floods and insufficient precipitation also repeated, the situation was indeed 63 serious. The government was compelled to treat the entire 6'Interview Il6, Amos Isaac, 14 July 1973. 62A.C. Churchward, Likwenu station notes, Nyasaland Diocesan Chronicle, 63(April I919), 34; interview 119, Village Headman Malomo, 7 August 1973. 63Nyasaland Times, 21, l7(25 April 1918), 2; G.H. Wilson, Mponda's station notes, Nyasaland Diocesan Chronicle, 6l(October 1918), 19; H.E. Munby, Kota Kota Station notes, Nyasaland Diocesan Chronicle, 63(April 1919), 20. 224 protectorate as suffering from a shortage of food, and to Institute relief measures.6h Fortunately, there was grain available, grown under official directives by the European planters. With the war over, these military stores were turned to civilian needs, and military tranSport--both human and mechanicaI--distributed grain throughout the country for sale at near cOst. Malawians well remember the yalue of that relief, for "otherwise it could be death."65 The famine contributed to the sense of an incomplete peace which Malawians felt. It was not, however, the last of the further battles which they faced after the war. Another was the steady inflation which plagued the country, as it did most of the world. Wartime earnings, which had seemed enormous when the conflict had begun, diminished in the face of rising prices; any real gains _were minimal indeed. At the same time, few Malawians were interested in still further disillusioning employment with the EurOpeans Of the protectorate. Instead, many turned elsewhere for income and employment to meet the problem of post-war .inflation. 64Duff to C.0., 14 April 1919, P.R.0., C.0. 525/82; L.H. Nyirenda, ”DeveIOpment of Mzimba Township,” The Malawian Geographer, 11(1972), n.p. 65Nyasaland Protectorate, Annual Report of the Department of Agriculture...l9l9, p. 2; Acting Director of Agriculture to Resident, Blantyre, 18_December 1918, M.N.A., NSB l/l/l; interview 75, Village Headman Makumba, 3 April 1973; questionnaire NS/Z, Chief KapusI Chimombo, 13 August 1973. 225 What small amounts of money and other material wealth the demobilized askari and tengatenga were able to take home were jealously guarded. One man remembered that those returning Often planned to enter their villages at night so that others would not 66 see what they actually had brought back with them. The demands on those meagerresources, with relatives and village officials demanding a Share, were great. ''We told them that the money was our blood, and so we must enjoy it to the full," recalled a veteran, 67 but he acknowledged eventually sharing his new wealth. Not that the money went far. In a time of famine, much went to feed families whose only source of food was government grain sold at prices which, though set at about current market rates, seemed excessive to many. The salaries were quickly gone: "We ate it, at times with our relatives. We just ate.”68 Literally, the money was eaten; the African metaphor matched the reality of families being fed. More foolish men, perhaps In bitterness from war memories or at finding unfaithful wives at 69 squandered their remaining wages on gifts to attract women; 70 home, others, also literally, drank it away: "After spending the money 66Questionnaire NC/l7. Bandali Yosefe, 2“ AUQUSt 1977' 67Interview 74, Anusa Makumba, 2 April l973. 68Interview 89, Madi Wadi Selemani, 12 April 1973; also question- naire MA/12, Mr. Mtambalika, 17 July 1974. 69Questionnaires: DZ/ll, Kadewere Moyo, 12 April 1974; MA/8, Amidu Katunga, 16 July 1974; DZ/3l, Simon Njobvu, 3 August 1974. 70Questionnaires: DZ/l4, Mr. Davite. 14 April 1974; TH/6, Mr. Bula, 22 September 1973; KR/2, Lameck Mwalwimba, 6 April 1973; NU/l, Mastoni Patana, 4 April 1973. 226 uselessly, then we began to realize how stupid we had been in not thinking of doing something really constructive with the money," a former askari lamented.7i Their funds rapidly expended, many veterans came to the district residencies seeking the war gratuities which they had been promised. Few were paid before 1920, when protectorate officials began a program of payments at,ZOmba, Fort Johnston, and_Nkhata Bay.72 The amounts, even then, were small and had been reduced by the War Office to half of what had originally been requested by the Colonial Office.73 A minority did manage to husband their wages and gratuities, and, of these, most invested in traditional measures of wealth, particu- larly cattle and occasionally goats. In the inflated economy of the post-war years, they were among the very few who could afford to pay 74 the higher prices demanded for livestock. Others tried to adapt to the new economic patterns, Opening small stores in competition 7llnterview 25, Disi Katita, 13 August 1972. 72Nkhotakota district Annual Report, 1918/19, M.N.A., NCK 5/1/2; secretariat memorandum. ”King's African Rifles War Gratuities No. I," M.N.A., NSB 1/2/6. 73Questionnaires; ZA/lO, Che Faya, 29 September 1973; KS/3, Leonard Chitenjele, 12 April 1973. Colonial Office to Commandant, King's African Rifles, 19 June 1919, and War Office to Colonial Office, 13 December 1919, P.R.0., C.0. 534/36 and C.0. 534/38. Some ani- mosities developed when Malawian veterans of the Rhodesian Native Regiment were denied gratuities, on the grounds that they had received higher monthly pay during the war; Smith to C.0., 23 August 1920, M.N.A., S 1/716/20. 7l+Questionnaires: MZ/14, M. Mkandawire, 9 April 1974; 02/13, Mayi Nakhumayo Solofina, 13 April 1974; 02/22, Mr. Hauya, 17 April 1974. Chiwona, ”Northern Chitipa,” p. 7. 227 75 with European and Asian merchants. These men, whether choosing the old or new standards, were those who I'became very rich so that they were respected."76 The few newly rich were perhaps the only ones among the returned askari and tengatenga who did not suffer from the problems of inflation which followed the war. Complaints focused especially upon cloth, one of the major items purchased by Malawians. In 1914 a standard length of calico (about a yard) sold for six pence; by the end of the war the price had increased threefold, and in some cases even more. Foodstuffs, too, were more expensive. Grain, in short supply due to poor harvests, was not the only item higher in price. Near Nkhata Bay fish, generally considered plentiful, also cost more; a penny bought twenty small fish before the war, but only six or seven once the fighting ceased.77 As is usual with such increases, the rate--here approximately three hundred percent--is not nearly as significant as its application to what had been a very inexpensive item, the effect being, of course, to penalize those least able to pay. Although they may not have been able to articulate the precise nature of the problem, Malawians were aware of the higher prices, and were most upset about them. Complaints were voiced to many of 75Questionnaire MU/l, Mr. Masanso, 5 April 1973- 76 77Questionnaire MZ/IO, Eneya Lungu, 11 April 1973; interview IO6, Kildon Wajiusa, 2 August 1973. Interview 105, Diamond Caswell Chirwa, I August 1973. 228 the district residents, and the problem was discussed by the government's executive council. Governor Smith reported to the Colonial Office that "excessive prices Berta causing unrest among 78 {the} native population." Continued pressure from the district residents for some relief for the Africans was acknowledged in a secretariat circular letter: It was perhaps not unnatural on their part to expect that with peace there would be a reversion to pre-war prices, and it was not to be expected that, as a body, they would be able to understand and appreciate the many causes operating to defeat this expectation.79 At the same time, residents were cautioned that government could do little to ease the situation, a decision reached by the executive council despite recognition of profiteering by some merchants.8o Further complicating the financial picture, African wages did not respond to the increase in prices. Even the higher salaries paid for clerks, masons, and other skilled manpower did not hold up; complaints were voiced by Malawians in such positions that their earnings had in fact declined.8' Wages for agricultural labor on European estates, by far the largest category of African employment, (did rise following the war. Even that increase, though, from a previous minimum of four to six shillings per month, reflected a 78Smith to C.0., 18 August 1919. P.R.0., C.0. 525/83; Nyasaland Executive Council minutes, 7 August 1919, P.R.0., C.0. 626/2. 79Acting Chief Secretary to residents, circular letter, 20 August 1919. M.N.A., NCN 1/1/2. 80Nyasaland Executive Council minutes, 11-13 December 1919, P.R.0., C.0. 626/2. 81 M.N.A Mombera Native Association minute books, 27 September 1921, Mombera Native Association papers. 229 drOp from the still higher estate wages paid during the conflict. It was obvious that for such workers, and the even larger numbers not in European employment, the increased prices were a special burden.82 The official reSponse concerning wages was, first, that Africans should be encouraged to view the matter from the bright side: compensation for their labor DEE increased. Drawing from this fact, the second official reSponse was to call for higher but taxes, even on the heels of a postal rate increase which was expected 83 to hit hard at African correSpondents. The new tax rates, set at a flat six shillings per dwelling, were intended to reflect, as previously, a single month's minimum wage. They were, however, instituted without any appreciable consultation with Malawians, or even with the district residents, which caused some bitterness. ”Only the tax section of the government got stern," replied a former medical orderly when asked about the events of the immediate post-war years.8h Veterans, especially, felt betrayed when they were called upon to pay any taxes, let alone at higher rates; only those wounded 82Interview 43, Joswa Mahere, 4 January 1973; Mulanje district Annual Report, l9l9/20, M.N.A., S 1/1040/19; Resident, Ncheu, to Chief Secretary, 17 March 1920, M.N.A., NCN 1/1/3. 83Acting Chief Secretary to residents, circular letter, 20 August 1919. M.N.A., NCN 1/1/2; Smith to C.0., 17 November 1919, P.R.0., C.0. 525/84; Nyasaland Diocesan Chronicle, 61(October 1918), 5. 8Lilnterview 86, Petro Mbwana, 12 April 1973; Resident, Ncheu, to Chief Secretary, 17 March 1920, M.N.A., NCN 1/1/3. In the first year the new rate was applied, tax collections were up‘126,6l2/-, an increase of almost one-third over the previous high level of hut tax revenue realization. 230 during the conflict or veteran askari of very long service (usually more than ten years) were exempt. Disgusted, one veteran only remarked, "Tax never ends."85 Despite the higher taxes and inflated prices, there was little rush by Malawians to find new jobs immediately after the war. A few, usually the higher ranking ex-askari, were employed as policemen, prison warders, night watchmen, and the like, but even the reSponse to such offers were not always positive.86 Most preferred to remain at home, working at their homes and in the fields, repairing and renewing what had fallen into disuse and disrepair during that war. Not many wanted to undertake employment In Nyasaland after their wartime eXperiences, especially as they frequently thought the Europeans "robbed us of our efforts."87 Some of the jobs offered, such as carrier work on the Lilongwe to Fort Jameson road, were extremely distasteful, and ”natives refused to leave their villages to walk yet more endless miles month after month."88 Government Officials troubled over this problem, and some expressed an inability to understand why Malawians should choose not 85Interviews: 89, Madi Wadi Selemani, 12 April 1973; 114, Ham Nkhata, 25 August 1973; 13, Daisa Songolo, 17 August 1973. Nyasaland Government Gazette, supplement to 27(1920), p. l. 86Questionnaires: BT/2, Faifi Kachikira, 14 August 1973; KS/Z, Harry Kuntaja, 12 April 1973; CR/IO, Enoch Kachiwawa, 13 August 1974. Interview 82, Kalokwete Wadi Likwapi, 8 April 1973. 87Interview 78, Joseph Mandanda, 4 April 1973. Questionnaires: CK/l, Petro Paketi, 9 August 1973; DW/9, Jasoni Mptandebvu, 17 April 1974. 88 H.J. van Breda, "Some Reminiscences,” Northern Rhodesia Mi. 5. 3(1963). 290. 231 to seek employment on the estates, with commercial companies, or with government. Others cynically passed off the matter as explainable in terms of the large numbers who earnedwages, many for the first time, during the war. “The villages...are full of money," the Blantyre 89 Other, more thoughtful, officials resident stated categorically. realized that local employment Offered few attractions after the perceived exploitation of the war and that local wages were not at all attractive in the inflated economy which Malawians then faced.90 One very real alternative was migration to find higher paid positions outside the country. The search for jobs elsewhere had. been a feature of Malawian life since the 18905, but the war greatly encouraged the practice. Not only had tens of thousands been exposed to foreign travel for the first time, but they also had encountered numbers of their countrymen who had returned from abroad to take jobs In Malawi during the campaign. Encouraged by these contacts, thousands left the protectorate after 1919, beginning the period of modern, large-scale labor emigration.91 The major attraction was, undoubtedly, the expectation of -higher wages. ”Discharged askari who are accustomed to a rate of 8gBlantyre district Annual Report, I918/19, M.N.A., NSB 2/2/8; May 1922 Kasungu district monthly report, M.N.A., NCG, 3/2/1; Dowa district Annual Report, l9l9/20, M.N.A., S 1/1076/19; May 1919 Dedza district monthly report, M.N.A., S 1/1072/19. 90See, for example, the April 1920 Chiradzulu sub-district monthly report, M.N.A., NSB 7/3/4. 9lQDIIestionnaire KR/S, Kapawike Mwalilino, 7 April 1973; South Nyasa district Annual Report, l9l9/20. M.N.A., S 1/1066/19; Sanderson, “Labour Migration,” p. 259. 232 £1-I-4 per month in military empioyment...are not inclined to work locally for 6/- to 8/- per month,‘I one district resident reported.92 Men who had served as tengatenga, too, were attracted by the prospect of making more money and also ensuring that they would not again be impressed Into service. Some were probably encouraged by their wives to go to South Africa and Rhodesia in search of the welcome money, and others elected to seek jobs in Mozambique and Zaire. A few veteran askari even went to Zanzibar and joined the highly paid police force there.93 Another, in a sense Opposite, reaction to the problems of inflation involved a turn to crime. European settlers and government officials decried what they called ”the increase of serious crime which war conditions had...been largely reSponsible for.”9u Actually, protectorate criminal statistics indicate that only Offenses against prOperty increased to any significant degree during and after the conflict; Malawian memories suggest that this was due 95 mainly to larger numbers of thefts among the African population. 92Upper Shire district Annual Report, l9l9/20. M.N.A.. 5 '/'0°5/'93 also questionnaire NK/l, Jaffari Sefi, 2 April 1973. 93Questionnaires: NU/S, Binton Kaiya, 9 April 1973; LL/7, Chikhutu Nkhwazi, 16 April 1974; 0W/6, Mr. Jombe, 16 April 1974; LK/l, D. Mandala, 9 August 1973; MC/S, Michael Saidi. 16 April 1973. Inter- view 5, Mwenyedawa Chitala, 10 August 1972; Robert B. Boeder, "The Effects of Labor Emigration on Rural Life in Malawi,” Rural Africana, 20(1973). 40-41. 91+Nyasaland Times, 21, 50(12 December 1918), 2: Lilongwe district Annual Report, I9l9/20, M.N.A., S 1/1073/19. 95Nyasaland Protectorate, Blue Book for the Year Ending 3lst March 1920 (Zomba: Government Printer, 1920), p. Ca3; Nyasaland Protectorate, Blue Book for the Year Ending 3lst December 1922 (Zomba: Government Printer, 1923), p. Y3. Interview 62, McPhail Issa Kadewere, 3 Feb- ruary 1973; questionnaire 02/25, Kaulale Ngoze, 18 April 1974. 233 This increased criminal activity may be explained in great measure by the attempts of a few to combat lowered wages and higher prices; however, the disruptions and temptations caused by outside forces, particularly foreign trOOps in the impacted areas, cannot be over- looked. If some Malawians were upset about the increasing incedence of theft by their countrymen,96 they also objected strongly to what they saw as continued governmental abuses following the war. While they might grumble at more efficient tax collection, the imposition of apparently widespread forced public works labor was particularly galling. In June 1919, a government circular acknowledged during the war "more coercive measures than usual were necessary to obtain... 97 labor," but insisted that the practice must not continue. There seems, however, to have been little change in this regard for the Africans of the protectorate. Although the Scale of manpower requisitions was lowered con- siderably, men were still forced into government service after the war. The public works and other departments expected residents to ‘turn out any number of men required for whatever projects might be underway. Although there was some Opposition from district officials, 98 this became common practice. Fears were expressed by some chiefs 96Interview 12, Mbaisa Mbaisa, 15 August 1972 97Governor's Circular (Confidential) No. 6 of 1919, 24 June 1919, M.N.A., NCN l/l/Z. 98Blantyre district Annual Report, 1918/19, M.N.A., NSB 2/2/8. 234 that the 1920 census would be viewed as further indication of government demands for labor, a not unreasonable conclusion as enumerators spread over the country for the first time. Into the 19205, Official and unofficial reports, though differing in tone, 99 all reflect continued demands for involuntary labor. As late as 1927 the Mombera Native Association petitioned the governor concerning the problem. ”During the Great War, under martial law," they acknowledged, ”it was a different thing for any strong man to be forced," but in peacetime such practices should cease.‘00 ‘ The struggles which persisted during the peace embittered many Malawians. They had gone to war with at least passing, and perhaps self-serving, assurances from their European rulers of the necessity to defend the country. In the process, though, many had died, on the battlefields, along the lines of communications, as well as In Nyasaland. Afterwards, the sacrifices seemed to bring few rewards, and some expressed in song their deep-seated frustrations:10' At Karonga PeOple perished there. Why did they perish? At Karonga ‘ Many young man died there. Why did many die? 99Nkhotakota district Annual Report, 1919/20, M.N.A., NCK 5/1/2; Central Province Annual Report, 1921/22, M.N.A., NC 2/1/1; Mulange' district Annual Report, 1922/23, M.N.A., NSM 3/1/1; Smith to C.0., 21 February 1921, plus enclosures, P.R.0., C.0. 525/95. looMombera Native Association minute book, 25 May 1927, M.N.A., Mombera Native Association papers. lo'This song was recorded twice, and mentioned once in a question- naire response. It is presented here in a derived and modified version. Interviews: 116, Amos Isaac, 14 July 1973; 122, Olivia 235 There were few satisfactory answers. The new and continuing problems seemed a poor return for what Africans had suffered, and did little more than continue to turn men away from their homes. The war was, truly, ”a scatterer of men."'02 While a few may have benefited from better jobs following their service or from carefully managed wages and gratuities, most Malawians felt they had nothing to show for their efforts during the war. ”You see,” a veteran explained to me, ”we were like a dog following its master to hunt game. When the hunter is successful, even if the game is caught by the dog, all it gets are bones.”lo3‘ If there were to be any benefits, they could only come from some sort of collective expression or action. In the years after 1918, many Malawians actively sought such means of providing some consolation in the face of inadequate compensation. Perhaps naturally, one focus of group reaction came through the traditional flygg societies. Having been a central factor in the resistance to war recruitment, and having marked out a new role in the transition to peacetime after the war, the societies continued as expressions of resentment to European position and privilege. The missionaries, fearful of losing hard won adherents, were concerned about these groups and their overt expressions, the dances. Throughout the central region, Anglican, Dutch Reformed, and Roman Catholic clergymen noted heightened nyau activity during Tambala, 1 August 1973. Questionnaire NC/22, F. Cheketeni, 18 September l97h. . lonuestionnaire DZ/lS. Mr. Nyale, In April ‘97h' ‘03lnterview 2, Fulotiya Nsanama, 8 August 1972- 236 the l9205.l0h In fact, the nyau resurgence was largely a reaction to the missions. Missionaries were the most direct expression of EurOpean civilization most Africans faced and often seemed most hypocritical during the war, having talked of peace and encouraged war. Complaining vociferously to government authorities concerning the £133 organizations, especially their apparent absence from all social sanctions, the missions tried to paint them as ”certainly... IOS opposed to European influence.” While some district and provincial officers were sympathetic, they did not share the grave concern about the societies as ”the strongest and most aggressive enemy of civilization and education in the land," a picture which the 106 churchmen tried to present. That there was little truly seditious, the officials were probably correct. In the context of the war and its aftermath, however, there can be little doubt that the nyau § societies represented the most significant traditional expressions 107 of general discontent. louActing Central Province Commissioner to Chief Secretary. 23 June 1922, and 1h August 1922, including enclosures, M.N.A., NC l/Zl/Z; H.E. Munby, ”Heathenism in the Hill Districts,” Central Africa, hl(l923), 77-8; Schoffeleers and Linden, ”Nyau," pp. 260-68. 105M. Guillemé. ”Notes on ZinyaO,” 15 May 192“. MgN-Ao. NC l/ZI/2° '06Rev. W.H. Murray to W. Kirby Green (Central Province Commissioner), 1h September 1922, and Acting Central Province Commissioner to Chief Secretary, 23 June 1922, both M.N.A., NC l/Zl/Z. 107See Linden, Catholics, pp. 125, 13l; the Lindens, concerned with the nyau as peasant resistance to Catholic missionary endeavor, do not fully explore the other implications of the societies' post-war activities. 237 In the minds of the missionaries, though, the disquiet expressed through 21g! activities was also associated with rising interest in Islam.‘08 After the war, Muslim conversion seems for the first time to have been significantly on the rise in Malawi. Coinciding with the post-war resentments of European rule, undoubtedly exploiting it, the first real attempts at Islamic teachings began in the country. Numbers of shaykhs and waalimu returned from Zanzibar and attempted to convert their countrymen. The intensity of these efforts, often accompanied by demonstrations of strength and support in the villages, alarmed even government officials. As was the case with the 5123, however, these Islamic teachers posed no overt threat, and likely reflected more the rivalry between competing tariguas (Islamic brotherhoods) for members and converts.‘09 Yet another expression of the post-war mood was found in the native associations, the most outwardly political of all Malawian activities at that time. The first, the North Nyasa Native Association, was founded in 1912. Most, however, were organized (or began functioning, as was the case with the West Nyasa Native Association, which was actually founded in 1914) during the 19205. The experiences of the war years, though not often cited as motive IOSH.E. Munby, Kota Kota station notes, Nyasaland Diocesan Chronicle, 62(January 1919), ll. 'ogcreenstein, "African Muslims," passim, and Greenstein, "Malawian Shaykhs“; also see Edward A. Alpers, "Towards a History of the Expansion of Islam in East Africa: the Matrilineal PeOples of the Southern Interior,” in The Historical Study of African Religion, p. 191. 238 forces in the deveIOpment of these organizations,”0 certainiy influenced their growth. The Mombera Native Association, founded in 1920, was inspired in large part by the plight of Chief Chimtunga Jere, exiled from his peOple for resistance to war recruitment. In Blantyre, several key individuals behind the formation in 1923 of the Nyasaland (Southern Province) Native Association had, four years earlier, been-the moving forces in a victory congratulation and petition of grievances sent to the governor.”I The purposes of the associations were designed to allow communication concerning African grievances to pass between organized groups of Malawians and the government. The societies were, however, largely representative of the more educated and widely experienced Africans in the protectorate. This meant, of course, that those with wartime service were especially well represented. The North Nyasa association listed among its members at least thirty-eight with "active and military service” during the war. Other associations included among their members men like Frederick Njilima, who brought wartime experiences from elsewhere to the deliberations of the organizations.”2 lloPachai, Malawi, pp. 225-230; J. Van Velson, |'Some Early Pressure Groups in Malawi,’I in The_;ambezian Past, eds. E. Stokes and R. Brown (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1966), pp. 376-81, 335. I”Mhoni, "Chimtunga Jere,” p. 9; Acting Resident, Blantyre, to Chief Secretary, 9 April 1919, enclosing a message and petition to the Governor, M.N.A., NSB 2/2/8; Levi S. Mumba, ”Native Associations in Nyasaland,“ South African Outlook (2 June l92h), pp. lhO-hl. llextract from the Minutes of the North Nyasa Native Association, n.d., M.N.A., S l/lh8l/l9. 0n Njilima, see chapter three. 239 Native associations had a broad range of interests, and "nothing 113 of any worth escaped their notice." Their petitions included concerns about local matters, such as fishing and forests, as well as broader problems, especially proposals for and enforcement of protectorate legislation. Among immediate post-war interests were bonuses for war service, apprOpriate provision for widows of deceased askari and tengatenga, and the continuing policy of forced 1abor.llh During the 19205, their net effect was certainly minimal, at least in terms of influence on government policies. The organizations were, however, ”a valuable safety valve for the escape of grievances."”5 A similar outlet was found in the new dances which appeared in Malawi as the war ended and whose popularity Spread widely and continues even now. These are the beni, mganggJ malipenga, and the associated women's chiwoda dance societies. The organizations, once tightly knit, have become less so today, and their dances, originally close parodies of European military parades, are not as obviously associated with that form in their contemporary performances. Without doubt, these dances were introduced into Malawi as a result of the Great War. Their origins, though, must be traced to dances and associated performance societies developing 113 ll“See Van Velson, “Early Pressure Groups," p. 386- Pachai, Malawi, p. 228. llsJanuary 1920 Mombera district monthly report. M.N.A., S 1/11hO/19. 2h0 on the Swahili coast of east Africa in the 18905, and particularly to the competing marini and arinoti groups which were organized 116 early in the twentieth century. The dances first appeared in the northern part of the country, and were known as “bands”; their initial noteworthy performances 117 were during peace celebrations in a few districts. 1n the northern highlands and in parts of the central plateau, these groups came to be known as mganda and malipenga. Some historians have suggested that the origins of these groups may be independent of east African antecedents, being instead innovations modeled on 118 wartime military diSplays. Although some oral historical data 119 may support this view, it does not seem to be a full explanation for their appearance. A provincial commissioner‘s investigation in 1927 discovered that the groups were originally known as ”Marinl IIGT.0. Ranger, Dance and Society in Eastern Africa, 1890-1970: The Beni Ngoma (Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1975), pp. 1-76, passim; interview 75. Village Headman Makumba, 3 April 1973. ll7July 1919 West Nyasa district monthly report, M.N.A., S 1/1204/19; interview 112, Fololiyani Longwe, 23 August 1973. IIBW.P. Koma-Koma, M'ganda Kapena Malipenga (Limbe: Malawi Publications and Literature Bureau, 1965), pp. 3h-5; Ranger, Dance and Society, pp. 117-120. Ranger, drawing upon Kama-Kama, suggests the possibility of independent origins of mganda, particu- larly noting that it does not have associated women‘s groups as in the case of beni. In this Ranger is incorrect, as the chiwoda women's dance associations are allied with both maiipenga and mganda dance groups; Alifeyo Chilivumbo, “Chiwoda: A Dance and a Way of Life,“ unpubl. typescript kindly made available by the author. l'9lnterviews: 129, A.G. Mugomo Mwali, 29 August 1973; 110, E.C. Banda, 15 August 1973. 2“] bands,” and some informants distinctly recall that 2331 dances, about whose east African roots there is no question, arrived before mganda and malipenga but did not survive.'20 Together, this evidence seems to remove any doubt about origins, although it remains possible that in northern and central Malawi, military experiences may have been drawn upon to modify the dances which some askari had observed and only partially remembered.'2' Around the southern lakeshore, and into the Shire highlands, the .2231 forms of these dances Spread, clearly drawn from east African roots. In Chiradzulu, the resident reported that they were also known as 51221, a corruption of Nairobi where the societies were prominent during the war and where many Malawians must have 122 encountered them. At Zomba, the first performances were by German askari prisoners-of—war, whose displays were observed with 123 interest and contributed to the spread of beni. Around the lzoNorthern Province Commissioner to Chief Secretary, 8 November 1927, M.N.A., NN l/2h/l. Interviews: 106, Kildon Wajiusa, 2 August 1973; 135, Austin Manda, 12 September 1973. Questionnaire KR/ll, Aldin Kayira, 15 April 197“. lz'The possibility of such modification is suggested by the experiences of at least one man who saw but did not participate in the dances during the war, only actively joining in them after the war was over; questionnaire LK/ll, Uleji Chimutha, 12 September 1973. lzzAssistant Resident, Chiradzulu, to Chief Secretary, 11 March 1921, M.N.A., S 2/1/21; on beni in wartime Nairobi, see Ranger, Dance and Society, pp. #8-51. lzBChief Commissioner of Police to Chief Secretary, 19 February 1921, M.N.A., NCF 1/7/1; interview 10#, Kathebu Agubiko, 25 July 197%. The role of German prisoners-of-war in the diffusion of beni was not uncommon; see Ranger, Dance and Society, p. #9. ZHZ southern lakeshore, where the dance is widely known today, it IS remembered as coming from mbwani (the east African coast) shortly after the war. Informants recall that originally there were elements of both marini and arinoti versions, but the competition between these, or any other beni groups, was soon lost.12h As far as the government of Nyasaland was concerned, the dances were not only-to be tolerated, but in some cases also encouraged. The only official concern seems to have been that, since dancers especially valued being able to appear in military costumes as authentic as possible, increased performances might lead to theft of military apparel and insignia. While some district residents could find no evidence of such stealing, others--frequently urged on by missionaries-~reported cases of theft and decried the temptations which might produce further stealing. The actual occurrence of theft was later confinmed by the unnamed informant who provided J. Clyde Mitchell with details of beni in Nyasaland.'25 Although there may have been some early worries that the wearing of 12h . . Intervuews: 170, Corporal Lipende, 1h September 1973; 76, Amisi Saidi, 3 April 1973; 77. Sitambuli Basale, 1h April 1973. Questionnaire MA/2, Master Koma-Koma, 13 April l97h. Ranger (Dance and Society, p. 72) indicates that the loss of "the full competitive apparatus of Marini and Arinoti" also occurred elsewhere. leResident, Fort Johnston, to Chief Secretary, 10 March 1921; Assistant Resident, Chiradzulu, to Chief Secretary, 11 March 1921, Resident, Zomba, to Chief Secretary, 9 March 1921; January 1921; Zomba district monthly report; all M.N.A., S 2/1/21. Chief Commissioner of Police to Chief Secretary, 19 February 1921, M.N.A., NCF 1/7/1. J. Clyde Mitchell, The Kalela Dance (Manchester: Man- chester University Press, 1956), p. 11. 2h3 British military uniforms might in itself cause problems, these concerns apparently dealt with by the passage and enforcement of the Uniforms (Restriction of Wearing) Ordinance.I26 There was much less concern about the dances as expressions of dissatisfaction with European rule. In some areas they were seen as “tending to bring authority into disrespect,"‘27 but this was usually taken_as reflecting upon traditional chiefs and headmen rather than the colonial government. The chiefs, and even native associations, did file complaints about the activities of the ”bands,” as the officials continued to call them. They were accused of being “subversive of the authority of the Chiefs and Headmen,“28 and were also seen as "a hindrance to all useful work, for where bands are schools are not attended, the sick are left helpless, and work which is deemed useful in the eyes of the wise 129 is neglected.” As might be expected, missionaries, too, called attention to these aSpects of the societies. Their objections prompted little official concern, as did the other petitions, largely because the government felt the missions, native '26Proceedings of the Legislative Council of Nyasaland, 22nd session—(I920), p. 15; Chief Commissioner of Police to Chief Secretary, 19 February 1921, M.N.A., NCF 1/7/1. '27Resident, Fort Johnston, to Chief Secretary, 10 March 1921. M.N.A., 5 2/1/21. '28Resident, Chinteche, to Provincial Commissioner, 18 February 1925, M.N.A., NN I/zh/I. 129 Mombera Native Association minute book, 26 May 1926, M.N.A., Mombera Native Association papers. 24h associations, and even the chiefs were merely jealous of the new 130 groups. Despite the lack of any real governmental concern, beni, mganda, and malipenga were all a part of the reactions following the world war. The songs associated with the dances often carried messages of discontent, such as that already cited which commented on the hunger experienced during the war. Another lyric mentioned the "war at Nairobi," lamenting ”as if when they die they'll come back."‘31 Members of societies were also known to taunt and otherwise harass government police and messengers engaged in tax and labor collection . 2 after the war, although such overt expressnons were uncommon.l3 The roles of the beni and other societies were summarized by a former carrier on Likoma Island: After the war we learned beni dance, and when we came here, I, personally, taught the people of my village how to dance it. Some of the songs we used were those we had been singing during the war while carry- ing our luggage....We feared the European no longer, though welggver showed it Openly, afraid of being arrested. As T. 0. Ranger notes in his study of the beni in east Africa, it is in the ”informal, the festive, the apparently escapist” that '3oSee J.M. Schoffeleers, "From Socialization to Personal Enter- prise: A History of the Nomi Labor Societies in the Nsanje District of Malawi, c. 1891 to 1972,” Rural Africana, 20(1973). 19. lBllnterviews: 103, Wilson Dolobeni, 5 May 1973; 106, Kildon Wajiusa, 2 August 1973. The text of the other song may be found in chapter four. ‘32Resident, Chinteche, to Provincial Commissioner, 18 February 1925. M.N.A., NN l/2h/l. '33Questionnaire LK/8, Alan M. Chapola, 5 September I973- Zhs the greatest expressions of ”real experience and real response" can be found.‘3h In Malawi, at the conclusion of the Great War, that seems certainly to have been the case. With the possible exception of the mildly political native associations, it is in social institutions that the sense of post-war frustration must be sought. Particularly in the £133 dances, a reassertion of traditional roles in a modern setting, and in the near burlesque of the bggi, mganda, and malipenga, Malawians again sought the prerogatives which they had lost to colonialism. This time, however, there was little expectation of a universal cataclysm propelling themselves again to positions of preeminence. 13[’Dance and SoCiety, p. 3. CHAPTER SEVEN: A SHAME T0 PEOPLE'S SOULS In a sense, the experiences of the Great War in Malawi were a part of the historical patterns which preceded it. This was another in what had been a series of conflicts that had swept through the region for nearly a century. This war, too, had so completely embroiled Malawi largely because of the historic river and lake tranSportation routes into the interior. As if to emphasize that, the associated clamity of influenza also followed those same routes, perhaps more than ever before leading directly into even the smallest villages. At the same time, this was a war unlike any Malawians had known, both in its intensity and the scope of its implications. Some of the alterations taking place in Malawian society, to which the war contributed, were also part of pre-existing trends. "The war had merely Speeded up the processes of change already in ' evidence before its outbreak,” a historian of the country has concluded.‘ One of these processes involved the continuing and increasing demands which Europeans made upon the African population IPollock, Nyasaland and Northern Rhodesia, p. 302; more than any other general history of Malawi, Pollock‘s work touches (even though briefly) on the role of World War One upon the country. Similar arguments for Kenya are made by G.W.T. Hodges, "African ReSponses to European Rule in Kenya (to l9lh)," in Hadith 3, ed. B.A. Ogot (Nairobi: East African Publishing House, 19711, pp. 82-3. 2h6 2A7 of the Nyasaland protectorate. Without a doubt, the proximity of the east African campaign intensified the claims upon Malawians for both tax and thangata, a pattern which continued even after the armistice. An associated effect of these demands--migration--was also clearly accelerated by the war, despite the frequent return of many itinerant Malawian laborers to the land of their birth during the conflict. As true as this pattern of continuing change clearly was, the Great War meant more to Malawi than simply further deveIOpment of previously evident historical patterns and processes. It was, 1 however, probably less a force for new directions than the pre-war predictions and inchoate expectations had anticipated. The country's participation in the world conflict, though, can best be seen as the first truly national experience for Malawians. Neither the slave trade, which was essentially devisive, nor British I colonialism, with differential applications throughout the protectorate, had provided the same communality of experience. As a unifying force, the war was certainly more important than John Chilembwe's abortive rebellion in 1915, which is frequently seen, particularly within the country, as a pre-nationalist expression on the horizon of independence 3 half century later.2 My research has shown, predictably, that in 1915 Chilembwe and his followers were not widely known outside the areas of the actual rising, let alone were their efforts widely applauded. Even where 2See Pachai, Malawi, pp. 22h, 253. 248 people were aware of the rebellion, its meaning was defined in terms of the war. Either as the clarion of an approaching armageddon or as a protest against enforced military recruitment, the Chilembwe incident must be placed within the praxis of the great conflagration engulfing Malawi. It was precisely this overwhelming power of the war to dominate people and events no matter how far afield, that made it, for Malawians, national in scape as nothing previously had been. ”The events of these recent years of the war,‘' wrote a former Anglican BishOp of Nyasaland, "have done much to break down old 3 tribal jealousies and animities.” Although there may have been less fraternization between various Malawian peoples than the bishOp envisioned, they unquestionably shared for the first time a collective appreciation of both the power and the vulnerabilities of their EurOpean overlords. Equally, maybe more, important was the shared suffering. If nationalism is often born of common complaint, there was sufficient misery in Malawi to draw people together. As happened even in German East Africa following the conflict, "the blacks recalled not the achievements of the whites but the suffering and misery consequent upon wan",+ If the recitation of these troubles appeared to be a litany, in fact it did become one, providing not 3J.E. Hine, Days Gone By (London: John Murray, 192A), p. 307. Robert Cornevin, “The Germans in Africa before 1918," in Colonialism in Africa 1870-1960, eds. L.H. Gann and P. Duignan, vol. 1 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1969), #15. 2A9 just comraderie for veterans but also a focal point for future resentments. Seen as Malawi's first national experience, the Great War marked a watershed in the nation's history as significant as the creation of the Federation of the Rhodesias and Nyasaland in 1953, which crystallized resistance to European rule. Equally, it served to lessen fears of the future and to bring Malawians closer to the imposed, EurOpean conception of "modernity.” Thus the First World War may be seen as a transitional epoch in Malawi's history, on the one hand bringing to fruition and on the other initiating trends which marked a break with many of the values of the past. 0f critical importance among the former was a quickening in the erosion of the power of chiefs and headmen. In virtually all districts of the protectorate, traditional authorities had been pressured and coerced into meeting the government's demands for the war, and in the process often unwillingly alienated their peOple. As if this were not enough, after the war they had to confront the demobilized tengatenga and askari whom they had frequently sent to war. The ex-servicemen, flush with their experiences if little else, were held in awe about the villages, often simply because of their safe return and deSpite their frequently poor physical condition. ”I feel peOple rather feared the 5 soldiers,” one man recalled; "they looked quite superior to us.” 5Interview 129, A.G. Mugomo Mwali, 29 August 1973. Also questionnaires: DZ/hl, Defina Jonasi (female), 29 August 197“; MZ/l7, George Phiri, 12 April l97h. 250 In the circumstances, such attitudes were often a real challenge to the authority of the chief; "he could give you nothing, totally nothing,‘I a veteran remembered. Government attempts to co-Opt the powers of the chiefs and headmen--strengthen their rule was the official conception--had antedated the war. The initial pacification campaigns had already undenmined chiefly power, and the District Administration (Native) Ordinance of 1912 was intended to further the process by bringing traditional authority more into official protectorate service. The ordinance, however, was barely in effect by 1918, and then only in selected areas. The impact of war, though, provided a situation in which chiefs and headmen attempted to use the government as a means of regaining lost prestige. Little could be done, and in many areas power and privilege continued to erode, a not uncommon occurrence elsewhere on the continent during and after the conflict.7 This process affected more than just traditional power; in some areas the entire social fabric was modified following the war. Widespread change was most evident where the effects were the greatest, particularly in the impacted areas. Blantyre and Limbe, of course, 6Interview 87, Chisoya Wadi Mtuluko, 12 April 1973. 7Dedza district Annual Reports, 1921/22 and 1922/23, M.N.A., NCD 2/1/1; Dowa district Annual Report, l923/2h, M.N.A., NCE h/l/l. Questionnaires: MZ/lS, Menard J.K. Tembo, 10 April 1979; DZ/7, Jekapu Maponya, 9 April 1979; MC/9, Chikani Mtali, 21 April 1973. Traditional authority was eroded in Cameroon as well; Frederick Quinn, ”An African Reaction to World War I: the Beti of Cameroon," Cahiers d'Etudes Africaines 13(1973), 725. ' \ 251 had long known a considerable European presence; a certain measure of societal change had already begun there. The northern frontier and the southern lakeshore, however, had not experienced such intensive European settlement, and long-term changes in those areas were more definitely associated with the impact of the war. Around Fort Johnston and the Bar, fanning out through the South Nyasa district, many new and heterogeneous inhabitants settled after the war. Most were men attracted to the area by wartime employment, or were askari who had been quartered there. Commonly, they married local women and remained after the war, and the jobs, were over. While traditionally the Yao chieftainships around the lake had been able creatively to absorb aliens into their society, in the more rigid environment of a colonial setting this was more difficult. It was further complicated during the 19205 as the government, rewarding the industry of the new settlers, gave them special positions, even including chieftaincies.9 Thus, while the new settlers served to develop a somewhat more cosmopolitan African community, they also undermined the traditional values and associations of the peOple of the area. Along the northern frontier, where the population was cleared and scattered by the war, the changes were somewhat different. There, many people lost everything they had; hard hit were those of wealth, whose great possessions, their cattle, were almost entirely taken 8Alpers, "Trade, State, and Society among the Yao," passim. 9Fort Johnston (previously South Nyasa) district Annual Report, 1923/2h, M.N.A.. NSF h/l/l. 252 from them. They were repaid, of course, but at the uninflated prices of the pre- and early war years. When the conflict was over and those of wealth and status went about the tasks of reconstruction, they discovered that cattle, once plentiful in the protectorate, were now in short supply and prices were high. One of the only ways to rebuild their herds was for chiefs, headmen, and others to marry their daughters to men who were now wealthy, who possessed cattle, and who would pay excessively high bride prices. These, often as not, were the veterans of war, sons of poor and lowly families whose earnings during and immediately after the conflict allowed them to acquire livestock, even in the inflated economy. Some appear to have carefully nurtured their savings for just such purposes.‘0 The results, more than they undoubtedly imagined, significantly altered the traditional social balance among the peoples of Malawi's northernmost region. These changes were reflected not only in the post-war patterns of prestige and wealth, but also in all that money could buy, including education.ll loChiwona, ”Northern Chitipa,” p. 7. Somewhat suggestive, though certainly not conclusive, evidence of careful saving can also be found in the statistics of the protectorate's Post Office Savings Bank, the only such facility readily available to Africans (although also used by some Europeans). During the war, total deposits continued to grow at a steady and impressive rate, with deposits easily exceeding withdrawals; in the immediate post-war years, these trends were dramatically reversed. Nyasaland Protectorate, Post office Savings Bank, Report for the Year 1920 (Zomba: Govern- ment Printer, 1921), appendix II. llThe conclusions of the previous two paragraphs were initially developed by one of my students at the University of Malawi, F.S.K. Chiwona, and have been substantially corroborated by further investi- gation. Chiwona, "Northern Chltipa,” pp. 6'3. 253 The patterns of transference of wealth, which can be documented for the northern frontier reaches of Malawi, seem to have been repeated elsewhere.- They did represent a break with the past, but they also provided one of the vehicles for easing Malawians into the future. For the first time, during the war, the modern money economy became a reality throughout the country. The wider circulation of currency as wage payments for wartime work made this evident to many, as did the trends of the immediate post-war. years, particularly the cash sale of food for famine relief. There was as well an increased desire, within a few years following the. war, to work for wages, in part motivated by a wish to pay taxes in cash rather than through labor on Nyasaland's European estates.l2 As the accumulation of wealth had helped in breaking down traditional social patterns, so the wideSpread appearance and acceptance of money--and the cash economy--0pened new possibilities and provided a link to the future. A few far-sighted veterans chose to enter this new world headlong, opening small shops in competition with European and Asian traders. Most Malawians, however, were content simply with the new opportunities which they now enjoyed. For them, the appearance of money in the villages, where there had been little or none prior to 1918, signaled the arrival of a new element in economic life, one which Opened the possibility of greater personal control over their own labor. lzlnterview 76, Amisi Saidi, 3 April 1973. Questionnaires: KR/7. Wilson Kapenda Simkonda, 9 April 1973; MC/7, Verdiana Chamdimba, 19 April 1973; DZ/lZ, M. Kuthemba, 12 April 197“; ZA/lh, Richard Msauka, I August 197%. 254 The knowledge that a money economy opened doors to the new world impinging upon African societies was accompanied by other war-inSpired changes which lessened fears of the future. Most important were altered African perceptions of Europeans. The sheer destructiveness of war had made a profound impression, of course, reinforcing the conception of near absolute governmental power, particularly in the organization of violence. This seems to have encouraged a kind of collective African ambivalence, with both hatred and respect for the Europeans wideSpread and not infrequently present at the same time. Regardless of whether hated or respected, Europeans were no longer feared. Hector Duff was correct when he observed that the war taught Africans that the British, the Germans, the Belgians, and the Portuguese ”were merely tribes,‘I quite capable of arguing among themselves. As individuals, too, whites were seen as just 13 "like any other man," vulnerable and fearing death. A sense of equality came from these perceptions, fostered also by the spirit of having shared in the common battle and successful defense of the country. Little happened after the war to confirm these egalitarian attitudes, but they did provide Malawians with a confidence in their ability to survive in what was clearly a rapidly changing world. Sir Charles Lucas, historian of the British empire at war, observed in 1921, that “what the War has done brutally and in haste I3Duff, "Nyasaland and the World War," chapter eleven, I.W.M.; questionnaire KS/S, Zikalindaine Katawala, 28 September 1973. 255 tO increase knowledge and to engender a spirit Of equality, missionary effort and education have long been doing in a better way.”lh Perhaps Lucas was unaware that the same wartime processes he described, in fact undermined the mission programs he also praised. The teachings Of EurOpean Christians, frequestly called into question by their African converts even before, as well as during, the war, provided little that Malawians could seize upon as effective aid in easing through the time Of transition. Nor did the independent African Christians, whose one Opportunity tO fill such a role was dashed along with the Chilembwe rebellion, seem well fitted to bridging the chasm between past and future which was so apparent after the Great War. In coming to grips with this transition, Malawians turned instead to forms Of expression which had real roots in their traditions and could be adapted to the changes necessary for the future, or which were manifestly new and yet might be linked with more traditional expressions. The former can be seen in the revival of the 2133 societies among the Chewa and related peoples. Just as secret societies grew up amid the post-war transfonmatlons 15 of west Africa, attempting to alter society, so Malawians drew upon their past and utilized a similar institution as an assertion Of their confrontation with and even conquest Of the European modes which symbolized the future. I“Sir Charles Lucas, The Partition 8 Colonization Of Africa (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1922), pp. 201-2. 15 Quinn, "The Beti Of Cameroon," p. 725. 256 Conversely, the 2331, mganda, and malipenga organizations throughout the country took strength from their expression Of what was new and modified it to fit within the creative patterns of the past. Shepperson has suggested that these dances indicated "the confusion into which the white man's new order plunged Africans and their attempts to pull themselves out of it."'6 The dance societies, however, reflected far more than confusion. Their stylized mockery Of European Officialdom and ceremony, no less than the flygg incorporation Of Christian symbols within their ceremonies, were thoughtful, yet relatively quiet, demonstrations of keenly felt dissatisfaction. The Nyasaland government recognized, even during the war, that ”a growing Spirit Of independence" such as demonstrated in the gygu, l7 .Qggl, and related groups might develop. But what did emerge in those organizations--and significantly it did not grow elsewhere-- was a far cry from the panicked predictions by Colonial Office consultants of new and revived African ”institutions through which consolidated race consciousness 15 being born, tribal barriers broken down, and coherence being established."'8 Actually, there was little overt political expression on the part Of Africans following the war. Not even the native associations, usually l6George Shepperson, Myth and Realityyin Malawi (Evanston: Northwestern University Press, 1966), p. 20. 17Smith to C.0., 13 August 1917, P.R.0., C.0. 525/7h. l8Phillips, “Tide Of Colour.” P- 130- 257 described as the seedbeds Of Malawian politics, presented the ”coherence" Of political action which many expected, and their impact was unquestionably small. Of far more immediate effectiveness were the isolated and infrequent demonstrations Of a decided minority Of veterans who, disgusted at local conditions, might march to Government House in Zomba proudly wearing their Old uniforms and medals, demanding changes which were sometimes made.‘9 That the isolated individual, rather than any society or association, might make a political statement which would be translated into governmental action Speaks volumes. Most Of the Malawians who had been to the war, and most who stayed at home, were not active participants in any Of the organized "safety valves" which were deveIOped and nourished immediately after the armistice. The vast majority remained at their homes, working in their fields, and if they did anything extraordinary at all, it was tO leave the country seeking work. Not only were most Malawians not members of the various social and political groups formed in the aftermath of the conflict, but 'many were also unwilling tO discuss the events of the campaign, even with friends and relatives. These men frequently thought their experiences tOO terrifying to share; a few may have been unwilling to disclose secrets about their own behavior. Often their reluctance was explained as if the war had been an initiation, I90,14, Bandawe, letter to the Malawi News (12 October 1973): p. 10. 258 the secrets of which they could not pass on to Others.20 During festive occasions, though, and at reunions or even occasionally when inebriated, a few remembrances might slip out. Fathers, too, might tell their sons a little Of what happened, perhaps even concluding with the telling remark that EurOpeans ”all were fools."2] Without direct discussion and cross-fertilization Of experiences, the resentments of the war were seldom translated into political expressions after the 19205. Even in the native associations, 2122 societies, and 2521 dance groups the relationship between the war and dissent from the actuality Of European rule became further removed. This probably accounts for the anomolous judgment of some ex-servicemen that the Great War did little to change Malawian life.22 DeSpite those impressions, the war's impact was clearly immense. What happened--beyond the dances, the prayers, and the petitions--was an internalization of experience. What a man did, and what he suffered, was kept close to his heart. Actions based upon and even the full expression Of these experiences, and feelings derived from them, waited upon later events, sometimes personal but ultimately in the rejections Of EurOpean rule associated with the growth Of widespread Malawian nationalism in the 19505. 20Interviews: 6, Mwachande Makupete, 10 August 1972; 31, Kazibule Dabi, 15 September 1972. Questionnaires: MZ/28, Nkhweta Lupunga, 18 April l97h; PEA/2 Mr. MaumbO, 13 April l97h. 2linterview 110, E.C. Banda, 15 August 1973, Also, interviews: IA, Stambuli Likuleka, 17 August 1972; 81; Mbwana Mdoka, 4 April 1973; 88, Tambuli Mbepule, 12 April 1973; 12h, Augustine Paliya Chirwa, 16 August 1973. Questionnaires: TH/S, Mr. Sankhulani, 21 September 1973; TH/9 Mr. Nesula, 25 September 1973. 22Questionnaires: LK/2, Patson Malata, 31 August 1973; TH/lO, Mr. MlolO, 26 September 1973. 259 In some cases individuals drew upon this reservoir Of resentment to take their Own actions, as did those who marched before the Governor's residence seeking redress. Into the 19305, some Malawians penned tirades on the war when motivated only by requests for information on tribal history. ”You should honour the owners of the country who helped you fight," wrote G. M. Kayima Wavyenji to the Mzimba_district commissioner. He continued: We have died for you, but you have no gratitude, you are only grateful to strangers. Alas but all have died for nothing. We have died in the war and there have been strangers who have not died like ourselves.... Now at the end Of your wars our children have been 23 finished. Can't you give us something, say honour? Many felt that even honor did not come, and their bitter memories were secreted until the nationalism Of a new era brought 1 them forth, although they were then "unduly overshadowed by the influence Of the Second World War.”2h The experiences Of the first war, though, had marked the transition to a new era. And if those experiences did not remain at the forefront Of African life 25 thereafter, they did remain I'a shame to people's souls.” 23Undated, untitled mss. by G.M. Kayima Wavyenji, with English translation, M.N.A., NNM 1/14/6. “George Shepperson, ”Pan-Africanism and 'Pan-Africanism': Some Historical Notes,“ Phylon, 23(1962), 349. 25|nterview 126, Karonga Nkhata, 10 August 1973- LIST OF REFERENCES LIST OF REFERENCES Beyond the usual published and archival sources, this study leans heavily-upon private source materials, most notably oral historical data deveIOped, almost entirely, for the particular project. Throughout, I have attempted to balance these less traditional historical sources with others. This has not meant eschewing contradictory statements as irreconcilable or as undermining oral data. Rather, I have tried to understand the outlook and motives of each source, in this light assessing how each enriches the total picture. This approach, though hardly unique, has validity Only to the extent that the sources themselves--described below--are Of historical value. Oral Historical Sources. All of the oral data developed in my research reflects the remembered experiences Of participants in events, or the retold recollections Of the immediately preceding generation, usually Of the fathers or uncles of my informants. Thus, these are not oral traditions, as properly understood. They do, however, represent probably the most literally accurate Of all forms Of oral testimony. 260 261 Interviews. The foundation Of my oral data is approximately one hundred eighty interviews, structured yet Open-ended discussions, generally covering the broad range Of wartime experiences. The first interviews, and about one-third Of the total, were conducted by myself and by research assistants under my supervision at the two Malawi Army Old Soldiers' Homes, at Zomba and Mzuzu. Mr. Y. M. Juwayeyi and Mr. Solomon Liwewe were ideal assistants, not only interpreting and aiding but also conducting interviews in their own right. All Of these interviews were recorded on tape, and transcribed directly into English. Once these interviews were well under way, I began a program to conduct interviews in Other areas of the country where it seemed the results would be most profitable: Mulanje, Mangoche, Nkhata Bay, Nkhotakota, Ntchisi, Nsanje, and Karonga districts. Mr. Juwayeyi and Mr. Liwewe ably undertook some of these without direct supervision. They also assisted in training three additional research assistants, Mr. S. J. Chilole, Mr. C. M. Manda, and Mr. A. K. Mbisa. In addition, Mr. E. C. Mandala, who had previous interviewing experience with Dr. J. M. Schoffeleers, agreed to undertake some research on my behalf. For reasons both related to my time, largely taken up by teaching responsibilities, and the research climate within the country, these men undertook interviewing without direct supervision. Mr. Chilole and Mr. Manda, who did most Of this work, on several occasions early in their research did discuss with me at great 262 iength the questioning procedures and the individual interview process. Well over half Of these interviews were recorded on tape and transcribed directly into English; the remainder were recorded in writing, in English and vernacular languages, by the interviewers and later transcribed into English scripts. I have not undertaken here to list all the interviews. The ninety-three which have been actually cited appear in the various chapter notes, identified by reference number, the name Of the respondent, and the date Of the interview. Originals Of the transcribed scripts remain in my possession. A copy Of each will~ be deposited in the University of Malawi Library under an agreement whereby the University financed a considerable portion Of this part of my research. Another copy Of these interviews will be deposited with the Malawi National Archives. Further copies, subject to some restrictions on use, may be acquired directly from me by educational institutions willing to pay the costs Of reproduction. Questionnaires. Early in my investigations, it became clear that the study would ideally need some information from all parts Of the country. Yet limitations on time, resources, and fully reliable independent research assistants seemed to Offer Obstacles to the realization Of that goal. In an attempt to overcome these difficulties and advance the research, I decided to undertake the preparation Of and to arrange the administration Of survey questionnaires concerning the First World War in Malawi, tO be administered to those who had personal memories of the Great War as it related to the country. 263 The questionnaire deveIOped had seventeen basic questions, including some biographical inquiries. The substantive questions were designed to elicit information which would compliment that being derived from the interviews. Each question was broad in scope (eg. "What happened in your village and other villages while the men were away at war?”) to allow the greatest latitude in response. The possibility of limited answers was recognized, and a series of secondary questions also provided (eg. "Were there enough workers? Was there enough food? Was there enough money? What did the government do?") By using this range of primary and secondary questioning it was hOped to acquire more information within the relatively brief question schedule; this appears to have been largely realized. I made a conscious decision to avoid questions Of a particularized type which might be reducible to statistical analysis. Two questions, however, were inserted attempting to ascertain the numbers of men recruited from each village and chief's area; these proved to be of almost no use. The remainder of the questions were more Of an anthropological survey type, with the content Of each answer recorded as fully as possible. Since a body Of full interviews existed as a control on the questionnaire data, analysis of the subjective responses was possible, and proved not only useful but vital, particularly in verifying and extending the scope of the study. Questionnaire administrators were selected almost entirely from among my history students at the University of Malawi. Criteria for 26h selection were ability to work independently and area of the country to which the student had access. The students were given limited training, were told the purpose Of the project, and were provided with instructions (which could be consulted as they worked) and letters Of permission (to show to those whom they questioned). Each student was initially given a limited number Of questionnaires to complete, usually ten; only those whose completed forms showed an ability to effectively solicit information were asked to undertake additional questioning. Understandably, the results were not always outstanding. 0n the whole, however, the questionnaires were reasonably well administered and the most useful responses recorded. Little verbatum quotation was set down, but in some cases this was done and was so indicated (as per the instructions). Only these quoted materials are used as such in the text Of the study, whereas interviews, with benefit of direct transcripts, are quoted more liberally. . Just over three hundred questionnaires were completed from all but three Of Malawi's twenty-four current districts, plus Mozambique. Of these more than one hundred seventy-five have actually been cited in the text, using a reference letter/number combination, the name of the respondent, and the date of questioning. I have not listed all the questionnaires here, but I have included a list of reference letters to aid the reader. Only the original questionnaires exist, in my possession. As with the interviews, though, they are available subject to restrictions tO any educational institution willing to undertake the costs Of reproduction. 265 The following list of reference numbers generally refer to present districts in Malawi, but reflect (in almost all cases) the residence of the respondent during the First World War. BT Blantyre CK Chikwawa CR Chiradzulu DW Dowa DZ _ Dedza KR Karonga KS Kasupe KU Kasungu LK Likoma Island LL Lilongwe MA Mangoche MC MChinji MU Mulanji MW Mwanza MZ Mzimba NB Nkhata Bay NC Ntchisi NK NkhOtakota» NS Nsanji' NU Ncheu PEA Mozambique RU Rumphi SA Salima TH Thyolo ZA Zomba Conversations. In a very few cases, it was impossible to either tape record or write down the text of an interview. All of these interviews were 266 conducted by myself, and almost all with EurOpeans who were (participants in the events they described or resident in wartime Nyasaland. My talks with these persons were more informal than the bulk of the interviews and more in the nature of conversations, which I have chosen to call them here. Although there exist no direct records of the proceedings, I did take copious notes Of each conversation,-which I have retained. When cited in the text, these conversations have been mentioned by the name Of the person involved and the date and place the discussion took place. Other Oral Historical Sources. In three cases oral data has been used which was developed by other persons. The most important Of these sources are the oral records Of the Malawi Department Of Antiquities. These are interviews conducted by members Of the Department's staff which have been translated and transcribed; they are available in the Department's Offices in Lilongwe and in the Library Of Chancellor College, University of Malawi. In the text these have been identified by the name of the person interviewed, the date of the interview, and .the Department Of Antiquities oral records reference number. Two interviews were made available to me by Dr. K. M. Phiri from among those which he conducted in Mzimba district; these have been clearly identified in citations in the text. I am very grateful to Dr. Phiri for his kindness in this regard. Finally, I have used an interview with Mr. Isaac Jeremani, conducted by Mr. Masanya Banda On the Malawi Broadcasting Corporation, 9 October 1972; I am grateful to 267 the M.B.C. and Mr. Banda for making a recording of the inte'view available to me. Archival Sources. A substantial portion Of the research for this study was done in various archival collections. All Of these are listed below, with appropriate expressions of my gratitude to the agencies and Officials who-made my work possible. I have not attempted tO list all of the file numbers and series consulted in each archive, but have indicated the most important sources consulted in each place. Full citations, complete with file numbers where apprOpriate, have been given in the text. Malawi National Archives. The major archival sources are the Public Archives and the Historical Manuscripts collection of the Malawi National Archives, Zomba. I am grateful to the Government Of Malawi for permission to consult materials in the Public Archives, and to the various authorities listed for permission to read in the Historical Manuscripts 'cOllections deposited in the National Archives. Principal materials used from the Public Archives include: A series, Department of Agriculture; COM series, Commissions, but chiefly the records and documents of the Commission of Inquiry into the Native Rising Instigated by John Chilembwe; GOA series, Office Of His Excellency the Governor, which consists almost entirely Of documents from the term Of Governor Sir George Smith, from 1913 to 1923; 268 KAR series, King's African Rifles; L series, Legal Department; M series, Medical Department; N series, Province and District Administration; NVR series, Nyasaland Volunteer Reserve; POL series, Police Department; PWD series, Public Works Department; and S series, Secretariat, a consolidated series consisting Of documents concerning all matters Of government business from, usually, 1919 forward. Despite the effects Of a spectacular fire in 1919 which destroyed the Secretariat building, and with it many of the Government's records, there are considerable materials in the Public Archives from the war years. None of the series, or individual files, are truly complete, but they do offer substantial source material for the period under study. In addition, a number Of the Historical Manuscripts collections, listed below, Offer important information: I Philip Dunstan BishOp Papers, including a personal diary with eyewitness accounts Of the battle of Karonga; Frank Dupuis Papers, consisting of letters written in 1959 concerning personal experiences in Nyasaland and Mozambique during the First World War; Universities Mission to Central Africa, Diocese Of Malawi, and Kota Kota Mission Papers, all consulted with the kind permission of the BishOp Of Central Africa, and consisting Of correspondence files, 269 station log books, and other mission records from 1913 to 1925; Mombera Native Association Minute Books, I920-1925; Blantyre Town Council Minute Books, 1915-1924; consulted with the consent Of the Blantyre City Clerk; and Livingstonia Mission Papers, consulted by permission Of the General Secretary, Synod Of Livingstonia, Church of Central Africa Presbyterian,-containing minute books, station and school rolls and records, and letter books for the years 1913-1919. National Archives Of Rhodesia. Although few materials directly concerning Nyasaland affairs remain in the National Archives Of Rhodesia, having been transferred to the Malawi National Archives at the time Of independence, there is considerable material on the First World War in central Africa. Most Of these documents, whether in the Public Archives or the Historical Manuscripts collections, concern Southern and Northern Rhodesian participation in the defense Of the Nyasaland-Rhodesian border with Genman East Africa and in the east African campaign. .There are also some materials concerning Malawian migrants in the Rhodesias during wartime. The most important materials used from the Public Archives include: A series, Administrator's Office, mostly correspondence about the war in east and central Africa and Official records concerning the Rhodesia Native Regiment; B series, Defence Headquarters, including records Of Colonel Murray's Column which Operated from Nyasaland; and 270 N series, Chief Native Commissioner, especially files on war recruitment among the African population and on Malawians in Rhodesia during the war. 0f the Historical Manuscripts collections, the following were the most helpful: Sir F. P. D. Chaplin Papers, personal correspondence of the administratorgof Rhodesia during the war; Lionel Cripps Papers, the correspondence and other materials Of an outspoken missionary and African sympathizer; William Joseph Ferguson Mackeoun Papers, diaries of a European Officer serving in the east African campaign; Alfred James Tomlinson Papers, including the war diaries of Tomlinson while he was Lieutenant Colonel and commanding officer of the Rhodesia Native Regiment; Hugh Gerald Jones Papers, mostly photograph albums Of the east African campaign; Henry Rangeley Papers, reminiscences Of a EurOpean wartime resident of Northern Rhodesia; and Vernon Arthur New Papers, photograph albums from the period 1915-1918. Public Record Office. Invaluable in completing the documentary picture Of Nyasaland and east Africa during the Great War are the materials held by the Public Record Office, London. Files consulted for this study are: C.0. 525, Colonial Office, Nyasaland correspondence; 271 C.0. 537. Colonial Office, supplementary correSpondence, east Africa; C.0. 626, Colonial Office, Nyasaland sessional papers; C.0. 53A, Colonial Office, King's African Rifles correspondence; W.O. 95, War Office, war diaries l9lh-l8; W.0. 106, War Office, Directorates of Military Operations and Intelligence, reports and correspondence; CAB Ah, Cabinet Office, Official war histories, compilations; and CAB #5, Cabinet Office, Official war histories, correSpondence and papers. Imperial War Museum. The Library Of the Imperial War Museum, London, holds several manuscripts which provide important material for this study; these are: H. L. Duff, ”Nyasaland and the World War, l9lh-l9l8," unpublished typescript; Edward G. Fenning Papers, letters Of a Captain in the East African Transport Corps; and Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck, war diaries, l9lh-l918, four volumes Of typescript translations into English. Society Of Malawi Library. A variety of unclassified manuscript materials relating in part to the First World War in Malawi are held by the Society of Malawi, Blantyre. I am grateful tO the Society, and to its Librarian, 272 Mr. P. V. Turner, for permission to consult these materials. These used in this study include: G. L. Baxter diaries, with material briefly relating to the Great War and the Chilembwe rising; S. S. Chauncy Maples logbook, with entries from 1914 to 1918 while the vessel was in government service on Lake Malawi; W. H. J.-Range1ey Papers, including historical and anthropolo- gical materials relating to the war years; and Aubrey Marriott Dalway Turnbull Papers, consisting Of diaries, notebooks, photographs and various materials relating to Turnbull's government service in Nyasaland and occupied German East Africa from 1914 to 1919. Malawi Army Pay and Records Office. Through the kind permission Of Major-General G. C. Matewere, Commander of the Malawi Army, and the gracious assistance of Major John Faithful, then officer commanding the Malawi Army Pay and Records Office, Zomba, I was able to consult a number of files relating to the history Of the Malawi Army. These include: Regimental Historical Records, First Battalion, King's African Rifles; Nyasaland Field Force War Diary, 1914-1915; 2/1 King's African Rifles war diary, 1917-1918; 3/1 King's African Rifles war diary, 1918; and Colonel H. P. Williams, "An Account of the part played by the lst Regiment of the King's African Rifles in the Conquest of German East Africa,” unpublished manuscript. 273 Museum of the Northamptonshire Regiment. Among the memorabilia held by the Museum Of the Northamptonshire Regiment are the extensive personal diaries Of Colonel C. W. Barton. During the First World War, Barton, an officer of the Northamptonshire Regiment, was seconded to the King's African Rifles and commanded several units Of the First Regiment. I am grateful to Major D. Baxter, Curator of the Museum, and his staff for their assistance in my research. Rhodes House Library, Oxford University. The extensive collection Of African manuscripts held by Rhodes House Library, Oxford University, includes the following used in this study:‘ Sir Gordon Colville Papers, including unpublished manuscript and letters relating to experiences as a medical Officer with 2/2 King's African Rifles during World War One; and Hugh Stannus Stannus Papers, mostly photographs concerning medical service in east Africa and Nyasaland during the First World War. Malawi Railways Archives. By permission of the General Manager, Malawi Railways, I was able to consult materials in the company's historical records. These included correspondence, memorandums, and reports relating to railway Operations during the period 1915-1925 and to the Chilembwe rising. 274 Other Unpublished Sources. Privately Held Manuscripts and Materials. Several privately held manuscripts were consulted for this study. I am extremely grateful to the holders Of these manuscripts for their cooperation in allowing to consult the documents in their possession. The most valuable Of these are: Paul Cole-King, ”A Letter to John Chilembwe,” unpublished typescript in the possession of the author; Frank Dupuis, "A Nobody in a Forgotten Campaign: A personal. narrative on an adventurous voyage to East Africa sixty years ago, residence as a planter in Nyasaland, and service in the East African Campaign of World War I,‘I undated, unpublished typescript held by the author; Photograph collection, concerning wartime activities at the southern end Of Lake Malawi, held by Mrs. G. H. Snowden, Blantyre; H. J. P. Mathews, "History Of Zomba Gymkhana Club (1906-1945)," unpublished typescript in the possession Of John Faithful; and St. Michael's College logbook, in the possession Of the College, Malindi, Malawi. Letters to the Author. In several cases, when it was impossible to interview persons whose experiences related to the war years in Malawi, I attempted tO contact them by letter. Two or three responded with lengthy letters, answering my questions about their experiences. In the text these 275 have been clearly identified as letters, with their author and the date. Unpublished Papers, Teses, and Dissertations. Boeder, Robert B. ”Malawians Abroad: The History Of Labor Emigration from Malawi to Its Neighbors, 1890 to the Present.” Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Michigan State University, 1974. Chilivumbo, Alifeyo. ”Chiwoda: A Dance and a Way Of Life.“ Unpublished, mimeographed paper, University Of Malawi, 1974. Chiwona, F. S. Kalikene. ”The Impact of the First World War on Northern Chitipa.” Unpublished history seminar paper, University Of Malawi, I972-I973. Juwayeyi, Y. M. ”The Yao Chieftainship of Nkanda: A Preliminary. History Of its Origins and Growth to 1914." Unpublished history seminar paper, University Of Malawi, I972-1973. Kandawire, J. A. K. "Local Leadership and Socio-Economic Changes in Chingale Area of Zomba District in Malawi.” Unpublished Ph.D. Thesis, University of Edinburgh, 1972. Mbegu, A. S. "The Life of Frederick Njilima.‘l Unpublished history seminar paper, University of Dar es Salaam, n.d. Mhoni, H. W. ”An Assessment Of the Resistance and Banishment of Chimtunga Jere, 1914-19183l Unpublished history seminar paper, University of Malawi, l973-1974. Mphande, C. 2. ”Some Aspects Of the History Of the Tonga up to 1934.'I Unpublished history seminar paper, University Of Malawi, 1968-1969. Mtalimanja, Benford. ”The Dutch Reformed Church (Nkhoma Synod) and the Development of Rural Society in the Central Region Of Malawi.” Unpublished history seminar paper, University Of Malawi, 1972-1973. Munthali, M. A. “The Issue of Labour in Nyasaland.” Unpublished history seminar paper, University Of Malawi, 1968-1969. Thawale, Tiyifyanji D. "The Impact of the Roman Catholic Church on the Life of the People of Mchinji District.‘l Unpublished history seminar paper, University Of Malawi, 1972-1973. 276 Newspapers and Serials. ‘praft Estimates, Nyasaland Protectorate. l9l9-1922. Life and Work in Nyasaland. 1914-1919. Mthenga wa ku Nyasa. 1914-1917. Nyasaland Diocesan Chronicle. 1910-1925. _Nyasalandfifipvernment Gazette. 1914-1920. Nyasaland Protectorate. Annual Medical Report. 1918-1922. Nyasaland Protectorate. Annual Repogt. 1916-1921. Nyasaland Protectorate. Annual Report of the Department Of Agriculture. 1916-1920. Nyasaland Protectorate. Blue Book for the Year. 1914-1925. Nyasaland Protectorate. Report of the Treasurer with the Financial Statements of the Protectorate. l9l7. .Nyasaland Times. 1914-1923. Rhodesia Defense Force Journal. 1914-1918. Summary Of the Proceedings of the Legislative Council Of Nyasaland. 1914-1923. Published Sources. Primary Source Materials. Achirwa, H. Simon. Letter to the Editor. 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