Pre-Maravi

levels.
"A common feature were the 'spirit wives', women living in permanent celibacy and set apart from the cult of the godhead. One of their tasks was to transmit to those concerned mesages of communal interest which they received in dreams. [...] [T]hey were held in high esteem, their office being considered the highest in the cult hierarchy. They acted as overseers of the female initiation rites, and they are said to have been [...] confidantes of local rulers. The spirit wives were members of the Banda clan and thus were associated with the prestate period in Malawi. This is emphasized in oral traditions cited by Ntara, according to which the Chewa at first had no chiefs but spirit wives, suggesting that they embodied a form of regional jural authority before the emergence of centralized state systems. "A final feature to be considered is the apparent universality of a priesthood at the great shrines, which consisted of members of the Mbewe clan. These Mbewe were also of pre-Maravi stock, and their presence at the great shrines functioned as an additional factor which bound these shrines together into some form of common organization. The central cult object was conceived of as a snake, called tunga, which was associated both with the shrine hut and with the sacred pool, another invariable feature of each cult complex. The snake spirit was visibly represented by the senior Mbewe official, who was himself known as tunga and who acted as the spirit wife's ritual consort." [Schoeffeleers 1992]

levels.
"[A]uthority among the Pre-Maravi was vested in priests or priestesses (Langworthy 1973, 14; Ntara 1973, 11; Schoffeleers 1973, 48). Their theocratic power structure is reflected in the presence of rain shrines and ritual water pools at their major settlements." [Juwayeyi 2020]

"A common feature were the 'spirit wives', women living in permanent celibacy and set apart from the cult of the godhead. One of their tasks was to transmit to those concerned mesages of communal interest which they received in dreams. [...] [T]hey were held in high esteem, their office being considered the highest in the cult hierarchy. They acted as overseers of the female initiation rites, and they are said to have been [...] confidantes of local rulers. The spirit wives were members of the Banda clan and thus were associated with the prestate period in Malawi. This is emphasized in oral traditions cited by Ntara, according to which the Chewa at first had no chiefs but spirit wives, suggesting that they embodied a form of regional jural authority before the emergence of centralized state systems. "A final feature to be considered is the apparent universality of a priesthood at the great shrines, which consisted of members of the Mbewe clan. These Mbewe were also of pre-Maravi stock, and their presence at the great shrines functioned as an additional factor which bound these shrines together into some form of common organization. The central cult object was conceived of as a snake, called tunga, which was associated both with the shrine hut and with the sacred pool, another invariable feature of each cult complex. The snake spirit was visibly represented by the senior Mbewe official, who was himself known as tunga and who acted as the spirit wife's ritual consort." [Schoeffeleers 1992]

"Prestate shrines were located on narrow plateaus in mountainous areas that were rather difficult to access." [Schoeffeleers 1992]

The following suggests that writing did not develop indigenously in the region. "The earliest of the written documents on Malawi go back to the sixteenth century. Some adventurous Portuguese explorers and traders who periodically passed through central and southern Malawi as they sought minerals and other resources in the interior of the region wrote these documents." [Juwayeyi 2020]

The following suggests that writing did not develop indigenously in the region. "The earliest of the written documents on Malawi go back to the sixteenth century. Some adventurous Portuguese explorers and traders who periodically passed through central and southern Malawi as they sought minerals and other resources in the interior of the region wrote these documents." [Juwayeyi 2020]

The following suggests that writing did not develop indigenously in the region. "The earliest of the written documents on Malawi go back to the sixteenth century. Some adventurous Portuguese explorers and traders who periodically passed through central and southern Malawi as they sought minerals and other resources in the interior of the region wrote these documents." [Juwayeyi 2020]

The following suggests that writing did not develop indigenously in the region. "The earliest of the written documents on Malawi go back to the sixteenth century. Some adventurous Portuguese explorers and traders who periodically passed through central and southern Malawi as they sought minerals and other resources in the interior of the region wrote these documents." [Juwayeyi 2020]

The following suggests that writing did not develop indigenously in the region. "The earliest of the written documents on Malawi go back to the sixteenth century. Some adventurous Portuguese explorers and traders who periodically passed through central and southern Malawi as they sought minerals and other resources in the interior of the region wrote these documents." [Juwayeyi 2020]

The following suggests that writing did not develop indigenously in the region. "The earliest of the written documents on Malawi go back to the sixteenth century. Some adventurous Portuguese explorers and traders who periodically passed through central and southern Malawi as they sought minerals and other resources in the interior of the region wrote these documents." [Juwayeyi 2020]

The following suggests that writing did not develop indigenously in the region. "The earliest of the written documents on Malawi go back to the sixteenth century. Some adventurous Portuguese explorers and traders who periodically passed through central and southern Malawi as they sought minerals and other resources in the interior of the region wrote these documents." [Juwayeyi 2020]

The following suggests that writing did not develop indigenously in the region. "The earliest of the written documents on Malawi go back to the sixteenth century. Some adventurous Portuguese explorers and traders who periodically passed through central and southern Malawi as they sought minerals and other resources in the interior of the region wrote these documents." [Juwayeyi 2020]

The following suggests that writing did not develop indigenously in the region. "The earliest of the written documents on Malawi go back to the sixteenth century. Some adventurous Portuguese explorers and traders who periodically passed through central and southern Malawi as they sought minerals and other resources in the interior of the region wrote these documents." [Juwayeyi 2020]

The following suggests that writing did not develop indigenously in the region. "The earliest of the written documents on Malawi go back to the sixteenth century. Some adventurous Portuguese explorers and traders who periodically passed through central and southern Malawi as they sought minerals and other resources in the interior of the region wrote these documents." [Juwayeyi 2020]

The following suggests that writing did not develop indigenously in the region. "The earliest of the written documents on Malawi go back to the sixteenth century. Some adventurous Portuguese explorers and traders who periodically passed through central and southern Malawi as they sought minerals and other resources in the interior of the region wrote these documents." [Juwayeyi 2020]

The following suggests that writing did not develop indigenously in the region. "The earliest of the written documents on Malawi go back to the sixteenth century. Some adventurous Portuguese explorers and traders who periodically passed through central and southern Malawi as they sought minerals and other resources in the interior of the region wrote these documents." [Juwayeyi 2020]

The following suggests that writing did not develop indigenously in the region. "The earliest of the written documents on Malawi go back to the sixteenth century. Some adventurous Portuguese explorers and traders who periodically passed through central and southern Malawi as they sought minerals and other resources in the interior of the region wrote these documents." [Juwayeyi 2020]