18 世纪中期，来自莫桑比克东北的尧族人开始南下，他们控制了基尔瓦的象牙贸易，实力相当强大。尧族的崛起无疑对马拉维王国的经济造成了沉重打击，不仅贸易利润被尧族人截胡，导致马拉维王国财力难足。夺取了贸易强权的尧族人的政治影响力也不断增强，大家也不再听马拉维卡龙加的号令了。

不过在非洲大区优秀的匹配机制下，尧族以经济霸权构建起来的松散统治也没撑太久。1835 年 11 月，恩戈尼人在首领兹旺根达巴的率领下，越过赞比西河，对马拉维王国发动了大规模入侵。恩戈尼人迅速席卷了马拉维王国的大片领土。在入侵过程中，马拉维王国的军队虽然进行了顽强抵抗，但由于内部早已处于分裂和衰弱状态，根本挡不住恩戈尼人的猛烈进攻。大多数被征服的马拉维人沦为恩戈尼人的农奴；还有一些人被新王国政权编入军队。在此之后，马拉维地区的各个小政治实体之间相互争斗，战乱频繁，人民生活在极度贫困之中。

以下为补充资料

The Maravi kingdom, which took up parts of what are now Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia and eastern Zimbabwe, was a vibrant society of skilled administrators, ivory traders, healers, sages and metallurgists. It began with the tribes of the Banda, Mwali, Nkhoma and Phiri, and would eventually include other tribes.
The kingdom dates to the 13th century, with large-scale migrations of related clans settling in the Lake Malawi region, attracted by its natural abundance. The migrations continued for hundreds of years, peaking probably by the 16th century.
Historians say the actual kingdom was established about 1480 and mostly was dissolved by 1891. But most of what is known about the kingdom comes from oral histories, memorized and passed down from generation to generation.
The Maravi kings, called Karongas, had elaborate rituals to mark the passage of time.
“Maravi lords built up their own rituals and ceremonies. The Maravi king was always represented by the never-ending perpetual fire, which was sustained with reed mats. The fire would go out only at the passing of the king. The fire was conjured amid the finish of the dry season,” the website Think Africa reported.
The Karongas, also known as the Kalongas, ruled from Manthimba, in what is now central Malawi. The religious capital of the kingdom was Mankhamba.
The trading of ivory and iron was a major part of the Maravi economy, with traders shipping it to Swahili brokers on the southern coast of the continent, and later, to Portuguese merchants. Eventually Arab merchants also became involved.
In the 1590s, the Portuguese tried to take control of the ivory and gold trade for the region with disastrous results: The Maravi dispatched their Zimba (marauders), who raided several Portuguese trade towns.
The kingdom’s decline began when some clan leaders started trading directly with Portuguese, Arab and Swahili merchants. The clan leaders became increasingly independent of the central authority of the Karonga.

By 1720 the confederacy had broken into several autonomous factions.
Another major blow to the empire came indirectly from Shaka Zulu, the leader of the Zulu people in the 19th century, whose empire grew to 210,000 square kilometers. Two powerful groups, the Angoni and Ngoni, arrived in the Maravi kingdom from what is modern-day South Africa in a great migration known as the Mfecane. They were fleeing Shaka Zulu, and they became a powerful force in the kingdom, marrying Maravi women and recruiting men into their armies.
The influence of the region went into a steep decline. Slave trade became a problem. Arab and Christian influences grew in the region, with Protestant missionaries arriving in the 1860s, along with Islam, introduced by Swahili slave traders. A British consul arrived in 1883.

Today, Maravi people, also known as Nyanja people, can be found in Malawi and Mozambique. They speak a Bantu language and are considered to be part of the Chewa ethnic group.

The Chewa (or AChewa) are a Bantu ethnic group found in Malawi, Zimbabwe, Zambia and few in Mozambique. The Chewa are closely related to people in surrounding regions such as the Tumbuka, Shona and Nsenga. They are historically also related to the Bemba, with whom they share a similar origin in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. They also share a history with the Munhumutapa. As with the Nsenga and Tumbuka, a small part of Chewa territory came under the influence of the Ngoni, who were of Zulu or Natal/Transvaal origin. An alternative name, often used interchangeably with Chewa, is Nyanja. Their language is called Chichewa. Internationally, the Chewa are mainly known for their masks and their secret societies, called Nyau, as well as their agricultural techniques.

Oral records of the Chewa may be interpreted to refer to origins in Malambo, a region in the Luba area of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, from where they emigrated into northern Zambia, and then south and east into the highlands of Malawi. This settlement appeared sometime before the end of the first millennium. After conquering land from other Bantu peoples, they regrouped at Choma, a place associated with a mountain in northern Malawi, and the plateau of northeastern Zambia.[citation needed]
Oral history has it that the first Chewa kingdom was established some time before or after 1480, and by the 16th century there were two systems of government, one maintained by the Banda clan at Mankhamba (near Nthakataka), and the other by the Phiri clan at Manthimba.

By the 17th century, when the 'Malawi' state had been unified, the Portuguese had made some contact with the Chewa. Although the Portuguese did not reach the heartland of the chiefdom, there are well-documented records of contacts between 1608 and 1667. By 1750, several 'Malawi' dynasties had consolidated their positions in different parts of central Malawi; however the Chewa, had managed to distinguish themselves from their neighbours through language, by having special tattoo marks (mphini), and by the possession of a religious system based on the nyau secret societies. During colonial time British and Portuguese missions have converted many to Christianity but at least one fifth (20%) of all Chewa are Muslims today. Despite the influence of Christianity and Islam a good number of Chewa still hold to their ancestral belief system.

Women have a special place in Chewa society and belief. They are recognized as reproducers of the lineage (Bele), which is an extended family of people related to the same ancestor. As a matrilineal society, property and land rights are inherited through the mother. Bele means "descended from the same breast". Children of the same mother or female (Lubele la achite) make up a family of dependents or Mbumba. Elder brothers of the mothers are called Nkhoswe, are the guardians of the lineage, and are mentors to their sisters' sons.

When crops are sold, income from the sale belongs to the woman of the house.[3]
The village is led by a headman (Mfumu), a position to which every villager of good character could aspire. Village headmen and head women were subordinate to regional chiefs (Mwini Dziko), who were themselves subordinate to Paramount Chiefs. Subordination meant the regular payment of tribute, as well as readiness to supply men in time of war.

Maravi was a kingdom which straddled the current borders of Malawi, Mozambique, and Zambia, in the 16th century. The present-day name "Maláŵi" is said to derive from the Chewa word malaŵí, which means "flames". "Maravi" is a general name of the peoples of Malawi, eastern Zambia, and northeastern Mozambique. The Chewa language, which is also referred to as Nyanja, Chinyanja or Chichewa, and is spoken in southern and central Malawi, in Zambia and to some extent in Mozambique, is the main language that emerged from this empire.
The Maravi Confederacy was founded by Bantu people immigrating into the valley of the Shire River (flowing out of Lake Nyassa) around 1480 AD. It prospered into the late 18th century, extending to reach what is now belonging to Zambia and Mozambique.

At its greatest extent, the state included territory from the Tonga and Tumbuka people's areas in the north to the Lower Shire in the south, and as far west as the Luangwa and Zambezi river valleys. Maravi's rulers belonged to the Mwale matriclan and held the title Kalonga. They ruled from Manthimba, the secular/administrative capital, and were the driving force behind the state's establishment. Meanwhile, the patrilineal Banda clan, which traditionally provided healers, sages and metallurgists, took care of religious affairs from their capital Mankhamba near Ntakataka.

马拉维是一个多民族国家。根据2008年马拉维国家统计局的统计，契瓦族（Chewa）占总人口的32.6%，为马拉维第一大民族。其他人口占比超过10%的民族还有隆韦族（Lomwe）、尧族（Yao）和恩戈尼族（Ngoni），其中隆韦族占总人口的17.6%，尧族占总人口的13.5%，恩戈尼族占总人口的11.5%。此外，较大的民族还有占总人口8.8%的图姆布卡族（Tumbuka），占总人口5.8%的尼扬加族（Nyanja），占总人口3.6%的塞纳族（Sena），以及占总人口2.1%的通加族（Tonga）。

契瓦族人口最多，主要居住在马拉维中部地区和南部地区，特别是马拉维湖沿岸和奇尔瓦以及布兰太尔、松巴、奇夸瓦地区。他们和恩戈尼族、尧族、隆韦族和塞纳族人毗连而居，使用同样的语言——奇契瓦语。
马拉维西北部为图姆布卡人和通加人。通加人主要生活在马拉维湖西岸，以捕鱼为生。
马拉维东部主要是尧族。尧族起源于莫桑比克的东北部地区，于19世纪后半叶迁徙到马拉维由于尧族人与斯瓦希里—阿拉伯人的接触和交流，他们也信奉伊斯兰教，而且两者保持通婚。绝大多数的尧族人居住在曼戈切、巴拉卡、马钦加、松巴和奇拉祖卢地区。尧族实行母系氏族制和男嫁女家制。女孩子不但实行成人礼，还要严格地分属不同群体。男孩子实行割礼。恩戈尼族主要分散于图姆布卡地区、多瓦地区和恩彻乌地区。恩戈尼人实行父系氏族制，族长具有绝对的权威。