Peter Baxter Africa

History of Malawi

The Native and Prehistory of Malawi

Thumbnail image for The Native and Prehistory of Malawi December 15, 2010
This entry is part 1 of 9 in the series History of Malawi

ShareOne of the preliminary, and sometimes most unexpected lessons learned by the lay student of Southern African is the fact that the signature ‘Negro’ races of the region are not strictly indigenous. The primogenitors of most, in fact, arrived in the region in incremental waves  over many centuries, beginning in the first millennium, in a [...]

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A Night of Killing: The Story of John Chilembwe

Thumbnail image for A Night of Killing: The Story of John Chilembwe December 28, 2010
This entry is part 2 of 9 in the series History of Malawi

ShareThe evening of the 23rd of January 1915 settled on the Shiré Highlands of the Nyasaland Protectorate without obvious mishap or portent. January, traditionally the wettest month of the year, could on occasions be drenched by upwards of 10 inches of rainfall, however, on this particular evening, the sky was sheer, the moon high and [...]

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David Livingstone and the discovery of Lake Nyasa

Thumbnail image for David Livingstone and the discovery of Lake Nyasa January 4, 2011
This entry is part 3 of 9 in the series History of Malawi

ShareThe road to development, peace and Christian enlightenment in Nyasaland, as it was in most other facets of British interface in Africa, was paved with good intentions. The original architect of that road was David Livingstone. No man had more profoundly noble intentions than he, but one of the many tragedies of the John Chilembwe [...]

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Missionary Politics: The Universities Mission to Central Africa

Thumbnail image for Missionary Politics: The Universities Mission to Central Africa January 16, 2011
This entry is part 4 of 9 in the series History of Malawi

ShareAs a missionary – that which he maintained until his death that he was – David Livingstone was a dismal failure. His only convert was Sebituane, the scheming Chief of the Makololo who embraced Christianity in the hope of British protection against the marauding amaNdebele. As an explorer – which Livingstone swore he was only [...]

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The Portuguese and the Missionaries: A Battle for the soul of Nyasaland

Thumbnail image for The Portuguese and the Missionaries: A Battle for the soul of Nyasaland January 21, 2011
This entry is part 5 of 9 in the series History of Malawi

ShareWith the withdrawal of the ill fated Universities Mission to Central Africa, a curtain of silence fell over the Lakes region behind which the work of the slave trade was left to proceed largely unmolested. Livingstone’s appeals against the trade had not gone unheard in Britain, but ten years would pass before he would be [...]

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The Imperial Tussle: Missionaries give way to a Protectorate in Nyasaland

Thumbnail image for The Imperial Tussle: Missionaries give way to a Protectorate in Nyasaland February 7, 2011
This entry is part 6 of 9 in the series History of Malawi

ShareThe arrival on the lake of the British missionaries pitched the Portuguese on the coast into a fit of apprehension tinged with paranoia lest this be the vanguard of a concerted British strategy to rob them of their interests in the interior. Tensions between Lisbon and London had been steadily building since the days of [...]

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The Little Prancing Proconsul…

Thumbnail image for The Little Prancing Proconsul… February 25, 2011
This entry is part 7 of 9 in the series History of Malawi

ShareThe precarious state of occupation of the east coast by the Portuguese was acutely observed by the incoming British Consul to Moçambique Sir Harry Johnson (at that time Moçambique was defined by the Island of Moçambique, the administrative capital of Portuguese East Africa, and not necessarily the greater area of what later became the colony/nation [...]

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A very black boy with a gleaming smile…

Thumbnail image for A very black boy with a gleaming smile… March 3, 2011
This entry is part 8 of 9 in the series History of Malawi

Share His life was gentle, and the elements so mix’d in him that nature might stand up and say to all the world, ‘This was a man!’ – William Shakespeare Julius Caesar With the plaintive note ‘Dear Mr. Booth, you please carry me for God. I like to be your cook boy’[1], John Chilembwe transitioned [...]

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A parting of the ways

Thumbnail image for A parting of the ways March 17, 2011
This entry is part 9 of 9 in the series History of Malawi

ShareThe day for Africa is yet to come. Possibly the freedmen may be an agency in elevating their fatherland. David Livingstone. John Chilembwe’s impending visit to the United States generated enormous interest among his friends, family and congregation. Booth had so emphasised the redeeming potential of black America that expectations were very high. Why Joseph [...]

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