The decline and fragmentation of the Maravi empire began in the eighteenth century, reaching an irreversible point by the turn of the nineteenth century. Some of the reasons for this included the peculiar system of succession of Maravi kings, conflict between them and some of their territorial chiefs, and the rise of the Yao as formidable long-distance traders. The Maravi system of succession created conditions for instability in the absence of strong leadership. As discussed in Chapter 4, the Maravi operated a decentralised political system. Because children could not succeed their father as Kalonga, they came up with an unusual way of choosing successors. They had to be members of the Phiri clan and descendants of Nyangu, Kalonga's sister or mother. This worked well until Undi and Nyangu's unilateral departure from Mankhamba. Since Nyangu was with Undi, it was his responsibility to nominate one of Nyangu's sons to succeed Kalonga. The nominee was, however, subject to the approval of Kalonga’s counsellors at Mankhamba who were of the Banda clan, and he had to marry Mwali, also of the Banda clan. She would be his principal wife and therefore a powerful woman. Simply stated, the succession system gave the Banda clan the upper hand and the Phiri clan little or no say in issues pertaining to Kalonga's successor. With time, the system isolated and weakened the Kalonga, who often had no dependable relations locally.

Sometime during the eighteenth century, perhaps due to the growing influence of the Banda clan, the requirement that Undi nominate Kalonga's successors was no longer enforced which meant that counsellors of the Banda clan at Mankhamba assumed that responsibility. On the surface, it seemed sensible to appoint successors locally. After all, that was how they did it before Undi and Nyangu left. However, times had changed, and this time it did not work smoothly. Oral traditions recorded by Ntara show that the system of succession had become open to all forms of manipulation and abuse by various powerful counsellors. Disturbances began to occur, as people who were not Phiris, such as Mchepera who was of the Mwale clan, began to aspire to become Kalonga.