Barotse

Barotse is the country of the Lozi along the upper Zambezi, centred on a vast floodplain that fills each year with the rains. Its people built settlements on raised ground and travelled through a landscape of channels, grasslands and seasonal water. The kingdom grew around the floodplain: traditions credit King Ngalama with beginning its unification in the eighteenth century and Mulambwa with extending that work. Royal authority and life on the plain were closely tied to the rhythm of the river.