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The Tetela (or Batetela) people are an ethnic group of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, most of whom speak the Tetela language.
The Batetela live in the region between Lusambo and the Upper Congo River. They live by fishing and farming, raising cassava, banana and kola nuts. They are related to the Kusu people, and only became separate in the late 1800s after the arrival of Arabs and Belgians in the region. Due to the Arab influence, many adopted Islam. Patrice Lumumba was a Tetela.[1]
In 1896, King Leopold II of Belgium decided to extend the Congo Free State territory to the northeast. His forces were to advance first to the Lado Enclave on the Nile, which had been ceded to him but not yet occupied, and then northward towards Khartoum, capital of the declining Mahdist state of Sudan. A force of 2,700 men led by Francis, Baron Dhanis was to march by way of the Aruwimi River, while Louis Napoléon Chaltin was given a force of 700 men to take a more northerly route along the Bomu River. Dhanis's force was mainly made up of Batetela people, who mutinied and killed several Belgian officers, then went on the rampage in the region. Dhanis managed to escape, but it was several years before the Batetela revolt was suppressed.[2]