Wikipedia:WikiAfrica/Stubs/Karonga Wars

The Karonga Wars (also referred to as the Arab-Swahili War) were a series of conflicts over an eight year period mainly over the commercial dominance of the northern Lake Malawi. The chief antagonist war was Mlozi, initially fighting with the British traders and the Ngonde people. Later, the colonial government led by Harry Johnston got involved at the end of which Mlozi was tried for treason and hanged.

Beginning
The arrival of the Swahili Arabs in the area in the late 1870’s coincided with the arrival of the African Lakes led by the Moir brothers. Initially, they became trading partners with the Swahili-Arabs supplying ivory to ALC. In 1881,the Free Church of Scotland opened a mission in the area.

In 1887, when a Ngonde headman was killed over a minor incident, mediation by the Africa Lakes Company led to compensation to the Ngonde. Later, when the Ngonde attacked the Arabs, the latter responded in what appeared to be a bid for hegemony over the Ngonde. The ALC and the British missionaries joined on the side of the Ngonde, widening the conflict. Both parties, exhausted by sickness and lacking supplies, signed a peace treaty in 1889 presided by Harry Johnston, then British consul for Mozambique and the Lake Nyasa (Malawi) region.