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VIDEOS OF CHIEF MIRAMBO OF NYAMWEZI
Mtyela Kasanda (1840-1884), better known as Mirambo (which
means "corpses"), was a Nyamwezi warlord, from 1860 to
1884. He created the largest state by area in 19th-century east Africa.
Mirambo started out as a
trader and the son of a minor chief. He owned trade caravans traveling from
the Great Lakes region in western Tanzania to the coast,
mostly dealing in ivory and slaves. Through trade with Europeans he
acquired firearms and money, and organised armies consisting mostly of teenage
orphans. With his newly gained power, he toppled the traditional monarchy
of the kingdom of Urambo, and installed himself as ntemi (king).
The Nyamwezi aristocracy was appalled when
someone who was not royalty took over the religiously ceremonial office of
ntemi. Other sources assert that Mirambo was the son of the ruler of
Uyowa. His coming to power there was a contravention of the succession being
matrilineal.
Video 1 - History of Chief Mirambo
Video 2
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