The Ndamba are an

ethnic An ethnicity or ethnic group is a group of people with shared attributes, which they collectively believe to have, and long-term endogamy. Ethnicities share attributes like language, culture, common sets of ancestry, traditions, society, re ...

and linguistic group based in south-central

Tanzania Tanzania, officially the United Republic of Tanzania, is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It is bordered by Uganda to the northwest; Kenya to the northeast; the Indian Ocean to the east; Mozambique and Malawi to t ...

whose population was 500,000 in 2022. They are found in everywhere in Tanzania especially south central, the Kilolo District of

Iringa Region Iringa Region (''Mkoa wa Iringa'' in Swahili language, Swahili) is one of Tanzania's 31 Regions of Tanzania, administrative regions. The region covers an area of . The region is comparable in size to the combined land area of the nation state of ...

, northeast of Bena, southeast of Hehe, west of Pogolo and southwest of Mbunga.

Language

The Chindamba language has a lexical similarity of 69% with Mbunga and 56% with Pogolo. Speakers also use Swahili. Although it has been reported that Ndamba and Mbunga are two different tribes, the reality is that they are one tribe and the difference between them is purely dialectic. All three are Rufiji–Ruvuma languages of the Bantu family. In recent years some Ndambas have volunteered to write a

dictionary A dictionary is a listing of lexemes from the lexicon of one or more specific languages, often arranged Alphabetical order, alphabetically (or by Semitic root, consonantal root for Semitic languages or radical-and-stroke sorting, radical an ...

on Chindamba. The first standard Ndamba dictionary was published in 2008 and 2010 by Agathon Kipandula, a language researcher who was an employee of the

Bank of Tanzania The Bank of Tanzania () is the central bank of the Tanzania, United Republic of Tanzania. It is responsible for issuing the national currency, the Tanzanian shilling. The bank was established under the Bank of Tanzania Act 1965. However, in 19 ...

. Some Ndambas have also written Historia na Maisha ya Wandamba that was published in 2022. Those writers include: Reverend Fidelis Mfalanyombo (OSA), Agathon Kipandula, John Eusebius Chilipweli, Asernius Hamis Ndege and Leoni Alois Mbala Linguistic texts include the 2010 Rüdiger Köppe Verlag publication

Origin

Oral tradition states that the Ndamba people were originally an offshoot of the Pogoro people. Their first chief was Mbuyi Undole I, who led a small group westward away from the Pogoro. It was Mbuyi Undole I who registered the Ndamba as a tribe with the German government in 1901. The Ndamba flourished and spread through the southern part of the

Morogoro Region Morogoro Region (''Mkoa wa Morogoro'' in Swahili language, Swahili) is one of Tanzania's 31 administrative Regions of Tanzania, regions. It covers an area of . and is comparable in size to the combined land area of the nation state of Ireland. M ...

. The tribe is now found in Mlimba, Masagati, Chisano, Chita, Merera, Malinyi, Igawa, Biro, Ngombo, Mchombe, Mngeta, Lwipa, Mbingu, Mofu, and other parts of Kilombero District and

Ulanga District Ulanga District (Mahenge District) is one of the six districts of the Morogoro Region of Tanzania. the administrative seat is in Mahenge. It covers of which is in forest reserves. Ulanga District is bordered to the north and west by the Kilom ...

areas.

Customs and beliefs

The tribe, also known as Wandamba, is well known for eating

rice Rice is a cereal grain and in its Domestication, domesticated form is the staple food of over half of the world's population, particularly in Asia and Africa. Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice)—or, much l ...

and

fish A fish (: fish or fishes) is an aquatic animal, aquatic, Anamniotes, anamniotic, gill-bearing vertebrate animal with swimming fish fin, fins and craniate, a hard skull, but lacking limb (anatomy), limbs with digit (anatomy), digits. Fish can ...

only. Most of them belong to the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

. Ethnic groups in Tanzania Indigenous peoples of East Africa Bantu peoples {{Tanzania-ethno-group-stub