The Lozi kingdom occupied a substantial territory in the upper Zambezi region when Kololo migrants approached its frontier around 1835. Its apparent strength concealed serious internal weaknesses. The death of Mulambwa, who had ruled for nearly fifty years, created a leadership vacuum and intensified conflict within the kingdom’s central political structure.

Opposition to the Lozi aristocracy was especially strong in outlying provinces among subject peoples. These communities were unwilling to defend an alien and authoritarian regime against an external invasion. As a result, the Kololo encountered resistance from only one segment of the royal family and conquered the kingdom within four years.

Kololo rule transformed the kingdom’s political order. Sebetwane attempted to integrate Lozi authorities through marriage alliances, administrative appointments, and retention of selected local rulers. After his death, however, Sekeletu excluded Lozi from government and permitted Kololo subordinates to dominate, provoking a rebellion led by exiled members of the Lozi royal family in 1864.

The rebellion rapidly restored Lozi control. Within weeks, the insurgents had liberated their homelands and killed virtually all Kololo men. The episode demonstrates both the depth of Lozi political continuity and the limitations of a conquest regime whose accommodationist foundations had been abandoned.