FROM CHINAMWALI TO CHILANGIZO:

2. THE 'RELIGIOUS ITINERARY'? OF THE CHEWA
2.1 INTRODUCTION
The modem missionary movement began penetrating Africa with the Gospel in the
eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. 8 However, they did not find a culture-less people.
Rather, the Gospel spread amongst Africans, who in the midst of suffering still had a
rich heritage from their past. Similarly, the Chewa people of Malawi have been
moulded by their past which has given them their identity. Factors from their past influ­
enced their new identity as Christians. This is true not only of Africans, but throughout
earlier periods of Christian history. Unless the past is understood and responded to, the
process of conversion remains incomplete. It is the aim of this chapter to give the con­
text of Chewa pre-Christian life and thought and to explore the socio-religious factors
that have shaped the Chewa history and identity.
2.2 GEOGRAPHICAL SURVEY
Spreading across Central Africa is a broadstrip ofmatrilineal people groups such as 'the
Luba, the Bisa, the Nsenga, the Chewa, and the Yao' (Linden 1978:211). The Chewa
referred to in this essay occupy a geographical area labelled Central Malawi which cov­
ers territory running from the lake shore to Mchinji and from Kasungu to Ntcheu (see
Map A).9 Central Malawi is made up of nine districts - Kasungu, Dowa, Ntchisi,
Lilongwe, Nkhotakota, Salima, Dedza, Ntcheu, and Mchinji. Lilongwe district is the
largest district, and Lilongwe has been the capital city of the nation since 1975. As a
city, it is strategically positioned and it has given stimulus to development in the central
and northern regions.
According to the national census of 1998 10 Lilongwe district has a population of about
1,346,360 (or 13.6% ofthe country's population), ofwhich the city has a population of
440,471. The altitude of Lilongwe is 4,600 feet (or 1402.8 m) above sea level. The
landscape is mostly plain, with temperatures not going below six degrees Celsius during
winter (May, June, July), and ranges from thirty to forty degrees Celsius in summer
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