Colonial History of Malawi Trivia Quiz

Answer: Maravi

The Maravi Empire not only encompassed present day Malawi, but also Zambia and Mozambique. It's capital was the former city of Manthimba, which is in Malawi near the village of Mtakataka.

The Maravi Empire was established in around 1480. The decline of this empire started in the 18th century, and was beyond repair by the 19th century. Reasons for this include conflicts within the empire regarding successions, the rise of their neighbors, the Yao, who attacked them and sold their captives into slavery.

The Achaemenid Empire was an Iranian empire. The Durrani Empire was an Afghan empire. The Khmer Empire was a Cambodian Empire.

Answer: British Central Africa Protectorate

The British Central Africa Protectorate was proclaimed in 1889, but ratified in 1891. While this protectorate existed, most of its inhabitants were farmers, growing maize and other crops for their own consumption. When the agriculture began to expand in the late 1800s, coffee was the original main export from this protectorate. However, due to Brazil dominating this market too heavily, they turned their attention to producing crops like tobacco and cotton.

Portuguese East Africa is now Mozambique. Swaziland is now Eswatini. Basutoland is now Lesotho. Although the Portuguese ruled Mozambique, when they then tried to claim areas of present-day Malawai, the British disputed their claims.

Answer: Nyasaland

The British renamed the British Central Africa Protectorate "Nyasaland" in 1907. In 1964 Nyasaland gained independence from the British, and the country was re-named "Malawi." Following independence, Malawi was under the rule of a one-party dictatorship until 1994. Between 1918-24, there were various famines in Nyasaland. The death toll is unknown. This was perhaps a catalyst for the uprisings that began in 1915.

Basutoland is now the country of Lesotho. Dahomey is now the country of Benin. Upper Volta is now the country of Burkina Faso.

Answer: Chilembwe Uprising

The Chilembwe Uprising was led by Reverend John Chilembwe, a Baptist minister. He was educated in America, and returned to what is now Malawi in 1901. He was angry about both the treatment of the people working in the colonial plantations, and the colonialists' absolute refusal to neither help nor promote the citizens of the country they had colonized.

William Jervis Livingstone was a manager for a branch of A. L. Bruce Estates (a major owner of the country's agricultural estates) and was killed and beheaded in front of his wife and two children during the uprising. John Chilembwe was killed by soldiers, and although his uprising was unsuccessful, he is celebrated as a hero in Malawi to this day. John Chilembwe Day is on January 15th.

The Telangana Rebellion happened in India. The Cazin Rebellion happened in the former country of Yugoslavia, and the Al-Wathbah Uprising occurred in the city of Baghdad.

Answer: Hastings Banda

Hastings Banda was Prime Minister for two years, then became President of Malawi once the country became a republic. He declared Malawi to be a one party state, and set up the Malawi Congress Party (MCP). In 1970 the MCP declared him the party's President for Life. Possibly inspired by this, Banda declared himself Malawi's President for Life a year later.

Political opponents, or those who criticised Banda, were often tortured or murdered. By law, every business building had to have an official picture of him hanging on the wall, and no wall hanging, such as a clock, could be higher than the picture. Banda was one of the few African leaders at the time, to support the U.S.A. during the Vietnam War, largely due to how much he hated Communism.

Hosni Mubarak was President of Egypt from 1981-2011. Hifikepunye Pohamba was President of Namibia from 2005-2015. Hamed Bakayoko was Prime Minister of Côte d'Ivoire from 2020 - 2021.

Answer: Orton Chirwa

After a dispute with the Malawian government, Orton Chirwa and his family were exiled. Once in Tanzania, Chirwa angered the government further by creating the Malawi Freedom Movement. In 1981 on a trip to Zambia, the Chirwa family was kidnapped and arrested by Malawian forces. Orton Chirwa and his wife, Vera, were imprisoned, and were not allowed to see each other for eight years, even though they were in the same building. Orton sadly died in his cell 3 weeks after he was finally reunited with his wife. He was 73.

Godwin Abbe is the former Defense Minister of Nigeria, from 2009-2010. Suraj Abdurrahman was a Nigerian army general. I.B.M. Haruna is a retired Nigerian army officer.

Answer: Zomba

The capital was changed from Zomba to Lilongwe, named for the the Lilongwe River, in 1975, partly because the first prime minister was born near there, and partly because of its central location. Zomba is located in the south of Malawi and features the Zomba Plateau, a mountain at almost 7,000 feet at its highest point and 50 square miles in area.

Dar es Salaam is a former capital city of Tanzania. Bujumbura is a former capital city of Burundi, and Gondar is a former capital city of Ethiopia.

Answer: Joyce Banda

Joyce Banda founded and led the People's Party of Malawi, which she established in 2011. She became President of Malawi after Bingu wa Mutharika had a heart attack and died suddenly.

Joyce Banda was the first female President of Malawi. She wass not related to Hastings Banda at all, although they share a surname. Her campaigning for women's rights in Malawi, fighting against government corruption, and support for grassroots development in the country made her a popular leader. When she first became President of Malawi, Joyce Banda sold her presidential jet, and contributed 30% of of her salary to Malawi's Council for the Handicapped.

Samia Suluhu Hassan is the first female President of Tanzania. Sahle-Work Zewde was the first female President of Ethiopia. Gro Harlem Brundtland was the first female Prime Minister of Norway.

Answer: Bakili Muluzi

Bakili Muluzi won Malawi's first multiparty election since the end of the dictatorship, and was in office from 1994-2004. He was also the first Muslim President of Malawi. Although he was elected as President of Malawi twice, his time in office was rife with scandals and controversies. He sold Malawi's maize abroad, shortly before a drought was headed for Malawi, and this caused a famine across the country. He suggested a third term, but citizens of Malawi demonstrated at the suggestion of it.

Hamani Diori, Ibrahim Baré Maïnassara and Mahamane Ousmane are all former Presidents of Niger.

Answer: Blantyre

Blantyre is located in the south of Malawi. Blantyre was founded by Scottish Christian missionaries, including Livingstone, who was both an explorer and a missionary. On the original missionary site still stands St. Michael and All Angels Church, which was completed in 1891. The current city of Blantyre, is Malawi's centre for commerce and finance, is home to the Malawi Stock Exchange, and has many industrial manufacturing plants.

In contrast, Blantyre in South Lanarkshire, Scotland, where David Livingstone was born, is much smaller than the city in Malawi for which it was named. It is known for the Blantyre mining disaster of 1877, Scotland's worst mining accident, where 207 men and boys were killed.