Yao (African people)

Yao moved to the southern region of Malawi in 1830 when they were active as Swahili slavers on the coast of Mozambique. They had close ties with the Arabs on the coast at the end of the 19th century, and adopted some parts of their culture, such as architecture and Islam, but still retained their own national identity. When the Arabs arrived on the east coast of Africa, they began to trade with yao people, mostly slaves and ivory in exchange for clothes and weapons. Due to their participation in coastal trade, they have become one of the richest and most influential tribes in South Africa. Their close cooperation with the Arabs gave them access to firearms, which gave them an advantage in their many wars against neighboring peoples, and active resistance to the German troops who tried to colonize Southeast Africa ( Tanzania , Rwanda and Burundi ).

The most important result of the activity of the head of the Mataka tribe was the adoption by the whole nation of Islam at the turn of the 20th century and after the First World War . The fact is that the British and Portuguese , who were Christians , tried to stop the Yao slave trade by attacking some Karanavas with slaves on the coasts, they freed slaves and took ivory to themselves. The leader of Matak decided that the adoption of Christianity would have a negative economic impact on his people, while Islam offered them a social system that assimilates their traditional culture .

The ethnographic center of the Yao people is located in a small village called Chikonono, in the northwestern province of Mozambique . Currently, the minimum estimate of Yao living in Mozambique is over 685 thousand people. They largely occupy the eastern and northern parts of Nyasa and comprise about 40% of the population of Liching, the capital of this province.

Tribes formed unstable alliances. Traditional settlements are scattered, sometimes compact, of linear layout. They were influenced by Swahili. The dwelling is rectangular, interwoven with bamboo, the walls are covered with clay, the roof is gable of grass or a pleitent of palm leaves. A granary, small livestock and chickens are placed inside the house.

The main traditional occupation is slash-and-burn manual farming, cattle are bred exclusively for meat. Smelting and processing of iron were developed, and materials were made from bast. In Tanzania and Mozambique, there are cooperative forms of farming. Rich culture , traditions , and music . Traditional clothing is lost.

Polygyny has traditionally been widespread. Matrilateral exogamous patrimonial groups, totemic large families remain, the eldest girl in the family is taken as the first-born (Girenko 1999: 669). The rule of continuity was to the eldest son of an older sister (Sanderson 1920: 370). However, if the ruler and his advisers considered the candidacy unsuitable or in the event of the death of a successor, power passed to the younger son of the older sister, to the younger son of the younger sister and only then to the son of his own daughter (Sanderson 1920: 370).

Religion is Sunni Islam , but the Islam they adopted is not orthodox , as in Iran or Saudi Arabia , it is completely mixed with their traditional belief systems.

Vayao belongs to the eastern group of Bantu languages , known as Chiyao ( chi is the prefix of the “language” class). This language breaks up into dialects - Amakale, Masaking, Mangochi, Mwemba. They also speak the official language of their country of residence: Swahili in Tanzania , English in Malawi and Tanzania , Portuguese in Mozambique .

• Yao on Vayao

• Girenko N.M. 1999. Yao. Peoples and religions of the world / Chap. ed. V.A. Tishkov . M .: Big Russian Encyclopedia. S. 669.
• Alpers EA 1969. Trade, State, and Society Among the Yao in the Nineteenth Century. The Journal of African history . 10/3: 405-420.
• Mitchell JC 1956-1971. The Yao Village: A Study in the Social Structure of a Malawian Tribe . 3 vols. Manchester: Manchester University Press.
• Sanderson M. 1920. Relationships Among the Wayao. The Jornal of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland . 50: 369–376.
• Torday E. 1929. The Principles of Bantu Marriage. Africa: Journal of the International African Institute . 2/3: 255-290.