Kisomba

Kisomba lies in the Bangweulu country of the central African interior, where Lake Bangweulu and its surrounding wetlands form a landscape of shallow water, reed beds and seasonal flooding. The lake receives the Chambeshi and smaller rivers, and as the floods rise and recede, the margins become grassland used for grazing and fishing. Villages stood on the islands and dry rises, and canoes linked them to the fishing grounds.

Northeast of Bangweulu, among the Bemba people, chiefly authority was tied to the title of Chitimukulu. Bemba chiefs drew tribute from the villages, arranged marriages to secure alliances, and controlled routes that carried ivory, copper and salt across the savanna. Fishing and cattle keeping were both important, and the wetlands supplied fish that could be dried and traded inland.