Phiri Family History & Genealogy

History

We don't have any information on the history of the Phiri name. Have information to share?

Name Origin

by Garreth Tembo waPhiri

The name PHiri means mountain and is used as a last name in Chewa and other Nyasa or river people of the Malawi-Zambia regions. it is the other surname of two that denoted the higher classes of the ancient Maravi-Luba-Lunda Empire...the Bandas being the other family name. both families have as many as two million people in the SADC countries. the Phiri of the Maravi are not to be confused with the Phiri of South Africa whose name means hyena in Tswana.

Spellings & Pronunciations

Phiri, Lupili, Phili, Piri,

Nationality & Ethnicity

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. The Phiri
are associated with the Malawian
mountain Kaphirintiwa.
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.

Famous People named Phiri

www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phiri

Early Phiris

These are the earliest records we have of the Phiri family.