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Hora Mountain Gallery


Title: Hora Mountain

Description: The Ngoni tribe originated from South Africa. A rebellious section of the tribe led by Zwangendaba decided to run away from the harsh reign of Shaka Zulu and travelled up to Tanzania through Malawi causing havoc and raiding kingdoms along their way. At Mabiri in Mzimba, Zwangendaba's son, Mbelwa I conquered and reigned over Tumbuka tribe. Ngoni reign on tribes they conquered was oppressive. This later led to rebellions. The success of the Tonga rebellion in 1876, influenced the Tumbuka to stage theirs in 1879. The most famous battle took place at Hora Mountain where a small group of Tumbuka warriors climbed the hill and rolled down huge stones towards the Ngonis who had surrounded the mountain. The Tumbukas were victorious on the first round of the battle, a rare victory at the time when the Ngonis were revered as invincible. The Tumbuka tribe was eventually defeated. The mountain is a site of pride for the Tumbuka people. It also has red rock paintings made by Batwa people long before settlement of Tumbukas in the area.

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