Lunda Empire
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Lunda Empire or Kingdom arose in the 17th century in what is now DR Congo when Ilunga Tshibinda left the Luba kingdom of his brother and married a princess from an area to the south. Their son, Mwaant Yav or Mwata Yamvo formed the central Lunda kingdom with a population of about 175,000 and became its ruler from 1660 to 1665. His title and name was passed to his descendants and successors as rulers of the kingdom. They became powerful militarily and then politically through marriage with descendants of the Luba king. The Lunda people were able to settle and colonialize other areas and tribes, thus extending their empire to include eastern Angola, north-western Zambia and southwest Katanga Province of DR Congo. The empire became a confederation of a number of kingdoms or chieftainships which enjoyed a degree of local autonomy (as long as tributes were paid), with Mwata Yamvo as paramount ruler, and a ruling council to asist with administration.
The strength and prosperity of the kingdom enabled its military and ruling classes to conquer other tribes, especially to the East. In the 18th Century a number of migrations took place as far as the region to the south of Lake Tanganyika. The Bemba people of Northern Zambia in this area originated from the Lunda. At the same time, a Lunda chief and warrior called Mwata Kazembe set up an Eastern Lunda kingdom in the valley of the Luapula River.
The Lunda Empire came to end in the 19th century when it was invaded by the Chokwe who were armed with guns. The Chokwe then established their own kingdom with their language and customs. Lunda chiefs and people continued to live in the Lunda heartland but were diminished in power. The eastern Lunda became separated in language, taking on Chibemba.
At the start of the colonial era (1884) the Lunda heartland was divided between Portuguese Angola, King Leopold II of Belgium's Congo Free State and the British in North-Western Rhodesia, which became Angola, DR Congo and Zambia respectively.
[edit] References and Further Reading
Most of the information is based on the German Wikipedia article on the Lunda (Königreich), which cites two sources:
- Pogge, Im Reich des Muata Jamwo (Berl. 1880);
- Buchner, Das Reich des Muata Jamwo (in "Deutsche Geographische Blätter", Brem. 1883
Other sources:
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 1989f "Lunda and Chokwe Kingdoms" IN Country Study: Angola (October 2005) [www] http://lcweb2.loc.gov
Art and Life in Africa Project, The University of Iowa School of Art and Art History: "Lunda Information." http://www.uiowa.edu/~africart 03 Nov. 1998.
