Mpezeni (also spelt ''Mpeseni'') (1830–1900) was warrior-king of one of the largest Ngoni groups of central Africa, based in what is now the

Chipata District Chipata District is a district of Zambia, located in Eastern Province. The capital lies at Chipata. As of the 2010 Zambian Census, the district had a population of 455,783 people. Chipata City Centre is located about 600 km from Lusaka, th ...

Zambia Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most cent ...

, at a time when the

British South Africa Company The British South Africa Company (BSAC or BSACo) was chartered in 1889 following the amalgamation of Cecil Rhodes' Central Search Association and the London-based Exploring Company Ltd, which had originally competed to capitalize on the expecte ...

(BSAC) of

Cecil Rhodes Cecil John Rhodes (5 July 1853 – 26 March 1902) was a British mining magnate and politician in southern Africa who served as Prime Minister of the Cape Colony from 1890 to 1896. An ardent believer in British imperialism, Rhodes and his Br ...

was trying to assume control over the territory for the

British Empire The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts esta ...

. Mpezeni was courted by the

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

and the BSAC sent agents to obtain a treaty —

Alfred Sharpe Sir Alfred Sharpe (19 May 1853 – 10 December 1935) was Commissioner and Consul-General for the British Central Africa Protectorate and first Governor of Nyasaland. He trained as a solicitor but was in turn a planter and a professional hunte ...

in 1889, and Joseph Maloney in 1895, who were both unsuccessful. In 1897 with over 4,000 warriors, Mpezeni declared the treaties that had been signed null and void and issued a declaration of war against the British, but was eventually defeated. He signed the treaty which allowed him to rule as Paramount Chief of the Ngoni in Zambia's Eastern Province and

Malawi Malawi (; or aláwi Tumbuka: ''Malaŵi''), officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa that was formerly known as Nyasaland. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northeast ...

Mchinji Mchinji is a town and the capital of the Mchinji District in the Central Region of Malawi. Mchinji Boma, located from the Zambian border and from the national capital, Lilongwe, is the major hub of government and general business. It has a m ...

district. His successors as chief take the title

Paramount Chief Mpezeni Paramount Chief Mpezeni is the King of the Ngoni people of Zambia's Eastern Province and Malawi's Mchinji district. Overview The chieftainship was founded by Zwangendaba, a former general of King Shaka of the Zulu, who fled the mfecane. It is n ...

to this day.T W Baxter
"The Angoni Rebellion and Mpeseni."
''The

Northern Rhodesia Journal The ''Northern Rhodesia Journal'', often referred to simply as "NRJ", was produced between 1950 and 1965, by the Northern Rhodesian Government Printer, to record some of the early history of Northern Rhodesia. It is one of the most important sourc ...

'' Vol I, No. 2, pp14-24 (1950). Website accessed 29 April 2007.

References

1830 births 1900 deaths Traditional rulers in Zambia {{Zambia-bio-stub