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General Information
Empire
Kawambwa - Mbereshi mission
Lusaka centre panorama view
Sebitwane, though scarcely interested in Christianity
itself agreed that Livingstone could establish a mis-
sion in his country, if only because it might provide
protection against his enemy Mzilikazi of the Nde-
bele, whose warrior kingdom bordered his own.
To establish the mission, all that remained was to
find a suitable outlet to the sea. The most economi-
cal passage for anticipated cotton (and ivory) exports
might be through the Portuguese port of Luanda on
the Atlantic, but it appeared to be an unsuitable route.
Livingstone then convinced himself that the Zambezi
could be ‘God’s Highway’ to the Indian Ocean and
with the support from Sekeletu, Livingstone set off
eastwards down the river to explore such potential.
He was the first European to set eyes on the great
Waterfall, which the Kololo people referred to as
the Mosi oa Tunya (The Smoke that Thunders). He
subsequently named the falls ‘Victoria Falls’ after his
Queen Victoria.
By the end of the 19th century, the British imperialist
Cecil John Rhodes’, a millionaire businessman
hungry for power, had successfully taken over the
entirety of present day Zambia, by persuading the
British government to grant his company, the British
South African Company (BSAC), the licence to
lay claim to African territory. In 1911 the territory
was named Northern Rhodesia, its capital was
Livingstone, overlooking the Victoria Falls was
named after the famous explorer. However, in 1935
the seat of government was moved to Lusaka.
Rhodes ambition was to make Africa British from
the Cape to Cairo (hence the name of Lusaka’s
main street, Cairo Road). Even though at the time,
the territory of Northern Rhodesia did not contain
much mineral wealth - an important consideration for
BSAC shareholders - the territory was considered
to be of importance to be occupied if for no other
reason to prevent the Portuguese from winning their
age-old claim to the area. It was at this point in time
that the country’s borders solidified, by way of agree-
ments with other colonial powers.
Any BSAC hopes for substantial revenue from min-
ing were soon dashed and to obtain income it im-
posed the Hut Tax (payable in cash) on all African
males who had reached puberty. Violence and arms
were used to suppress tax revolts, and those that
chose not to pay or who could not pay had their
homes burned down, or were imprisoned if caught.
Essentially forced labour in return for very little be-
came the order of the day among men trying to avoid
such penalties - tens of thousands were sent to work
in the South African or Southern Rhodesian mines.
The railway between the Victoria Falls and Katanga
(Congo DRC) was financed entirely from the Hut Tax
- which consistently turned a profit.
Some 20 000 Zambians were forcibly recruited as por-
ters for the British forces in East Africa during the First
World War and perished due to disease and injuries.
By 1923, Company rule had become an objection-
able anachronism for the British government, and in
that year, the Colonial Office took over the territory,
proclaiming it a Protectorate whereby the interests of
Africans would become paramount.
As far as Black Africans were concerned, the Co-
lonial Office rule may have been more benign, in a
paternalistic way compared to that of the Company;
however they were subjected to racial discrimination
including pass laws, restrictions on the occupation of
land, and were expected to have their political aspi-
rations fulfilled through a refashioning of the former
tribal system. White Europeans meanwhile became
a privileged elite with a protected economic position
within the Protectorate and formed the basis of early
representative government. Mixed people and im-
migrants, mainly traders, from what are today India
and Pakistan held an ambivalent place under this
regime.