Bemba people

The Bemba are a Bantu people living mainly in the Northern, Luapula, Muchinga and northern Central provinces of Zambia, and their language, Bemba, is spoken across several provinces of the country. Their ancestors entered Zambia before 1740 by crossing the Luapula River, and Bemba tradition links the ruling Bena Ng'andu clan, whose totem is the crocodile, to Luba royalty. From a first capital at Ng'wena the Bemba kingdom, headed by a paramount chief called the Chitimukulu, expanded across much of north-eastern Zambia and pushed neighbouring peoples toward the Tanganyika plateau. Traditional Bemba society is matrilineal, its farmers practise slash-and-burn agriculture with finger millet and manioc as main crops, and a rite of passage called imbusa prepares women for marriage. Many Bemba political institutions survive in a largely ceremonial form.