The Chilembwe (or Nyasaland) Rising of January 1915 is one of the most fascinating episodes in the history of resistance in southern Africa. A small-scale event, suppressed within a matter of days, the Rising has been described by a leading historian (John Iliffe) as the only significant rebellion in the whole of Africa prior to the First World War to be inspired by Christianity. Its leader, John Chilembwe, a Baptist minister trained in the United States, is now lauded in official circles as Malawi's first nationalist; his image is depicted on the country's banknotes.
This book contains a comprehensive selection of the verbatim and written evidence presented to the Commission of Inquiry set up to examine the causes of the Rising. Witnesses included colonial officials, missionaries and settlers but also a substantial number of Malawians, among them Presbyterian ministers and teachers, government clerks, businessmen, chiefs and headmen. Five European women, dramatically caught up in the Rising, add their own accounts of events; the Commission's report is published in full.
Together, these testimonies are a fundamental source for an understanding of the causes and character of the Rising. More generally, they throw a revealing light on social and economic relations in early colonial Malawi. John McCracken provides extensive explanatory comments focusing, in particular, on the problematic nature of the sources. An appendix gives detailed notes on the individuals involved.
The short-lived rebellion of 1915 was led by John Chilembwe, a Baptist minister trained in the USA. This book contains the testimonies presented to the Commission of Inquiry. Together, they are a source for understanding the causes and character of the Rising and throw light on social and economic relations in early colonial Malawi.
We all owe John McCracken a great debt of gratitude for bringing this important collection of texts to wider public. Here is a valuable resource of undergraduate teaching; here, too, is material for scholars to use as we explore the radical political visions that African thinkers conceived.
