Maravi

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Maravi was a state established by Bantu people in the area of Lake Malawi, in present-day Malawi, sometime during the 16th century. (The present-day name "Malawi" is said to derive from "Maravi".) At its greatest extent, the state included territory from the Tumbuka and Tonga areas to the north to the Lower Shire in the south, and west to Luangwa and Zambezi valleys. It is also a generic name of the black tribes in Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and Mozambique.

Maravi's rulers belonged to the Phiri matriclan and held the title Kalonga. They ruled from Manthimba.

In the 19th century, the Maravi were frequently raided by their neighbors the Yao and captured for sale as slaves. David Livingstone visited Lake Nyassa in 1859, and Protestant missionaries soon followed.

Maravi peoples speak several dialects, including Chichewa (Malawi’s official language), and speak other official languages: Portuguese in Mozambique and English in Malawi, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.