Chieftaincy is a centuries-old traditional social institution，which plays the irreplaceable role to this day in political and social affairs of many African countries.In ancient time，chiefs are leaders of the early mankind communities，who hold grand social status and holy power.During about the 15th century，chieftaincy appeared in Lunda Kingdom to the northwest，then spread to all parts of present Zambia afterwards.Chiefs in ancient Zambia had paramount authority and prestige，and they held political，economic，military，judicial and religious power.From the 17th century on，with Europeans’arrival，Western civilization began to influence the traditional society in contemporary Zambia，however，the domination of chieftaincy in Zambian communities had not changed until the establishment of colonial rule at the end of the 19th century.During the period from 1894 to 1924，the colonial rule imposed by British South Africa Company made a tremendous impact on Zambian traditional society，which undermined the authority and power of chiefs and traditional chieftaincy experienced great challenge.During British“Indirect Rule”period from 1924，the colonial state restrained and reformed chiefs’power and upheld their traditional functions，thus Zambian chieftaincy was absorbed to British colonial administrative system.In the 1950s and 1960s when Zambia's national liberal struggle burst like a raging fire，chiefs stood in the line with nationalists and fought against suzerainty of Britain，and contributed a great deal to Zambia's independence.After independence in 1964，Zambian state further limited and weakened chiefs’power in modern state administrative system，consequently，chieftaincy was marginalized in Zambia.Since the 1980s，Zambian government has resurrected chieftaincy gradually.Chieftaincy has been endowed new connotation and played a unique role in modern society.Chiefs still dominate some public local affairs and control the use and distribution of land，and they are important participants in national and local politics.As Zambian traditional culture symbol，chieftaincy functions actively in modern society and it is also the integrative factor in nation-building of Zambia.

Chieftaincy in Zamiba has experienced ancient ages（precolonial period），colonial period and independent state stage（post-colonial or post-independent period）.In the historical process，it has become subordinate from dominate status in Zambian society，but its legitimacy exists at all times.Meanwhile，chieftaincy is an institution of strong flexibility and adaptability.Chieftaincy maintains its own traditional characters and absorbs the modern factors in the social development，by which chieftaincy can follow the trend of social development and incorporate itself into modern society.Under the influence of globalization and modern civilization，traditional chieftaincy is influenced by modern factors and even there are some paradoxes between them，but more importantly，chieftaincy also corresponds to the development of modern society.Accordingly，chieftaincy has great vitality and it is a social phenomenon possessed local African feature.In the long process of historical evolution，the trait of chieftaincy shows the intertwining of past and present，integration of tradition and modernity.As traditional factor，chieftaincy can serve the social development by interacting and accommodating with modern factors.