Maravi Empire

E926102

The Maravi Empire was a powerful precolonial Central African state that flourished from about the 15th to 18th centuries in the region of present-day Malawi, Mozambique, and Zambia, serving as an important center of trade and culture for the Chewa and related peoples.

All labels observed (1)

Label Occurrences
Maravi Empire canonical 1

How this entity was disambiguated

Statements (50)

Predicate Object
instanceOf historical empire
precolonial African state
capital Mankhamba NERFINISHED
Msinja NERFINISHED
continent Africa
declineCause Portuguese interference
Yao incursions
external invasions
internal conflicts
succession disputes
economyBasedOn agriculture
ironworking
long-distance trade
endTime 18th century
ethnicGroup Chewa people NERFINISHED
Nyanja-speaking peoples
flourishedDuring 15th century
16th century
17th century
18th century
governedBy Kalonga (paramount chief) NERFINISHED
hasPart Chewa chiefdoms
Lundu kingdom NERFINISHED
Undi kingdom NERFINISHED
influencedCultureOf Malawi NERFINISHED
Mozambique NERFINISHED
Zambia NERFINISHED
knownFor Chewa cultural development
regional trade network
language Chewa language NERFINISHED
Nyanja language NERFINISHED
legacy basis for the name of Malawi
locatedIn Central Africa
locatedInPresentDay Malawi NERFINISHED
Mozambique NERFINISHED
Zambia NERFINISHED
nameEtymology derived from "Maravi" meaning "flames" or "sparks" in local languages
neighboringEntity Mutapa Kingdom NERFINISHED
Yao polities
politicalStructure centralized monarchy
federation of chiefdoms
region Lake Malawi region NERFINISHED
religion traditional African religion
startTime 15th century
titleOfRuler Kalonga NERFINISHED
tradedCommodity gold
ivory
slaves
tradedWith Portuguese traders
Swahili-Arab traders

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (1)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Chewa people historicalPolity Maravi Empire