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The history of Central Africa
recognizes the major migration groups who trace their origin
from Sudan1 and the Congo.2
Among these migrations are
those of the Bantu Kingdoms of Southern Africa.
Around 1600 Most of southern
and central Africa was sparsely populated. The Bantu ethnic
groups were agricultural people. They kept herds of domestic
cattle and goats. They knew how to plant and cultivate crops
like millet, sorghum and cassava.
Central and southern Africa
were far more sparsely populated. The people here were not
mostly Bantu but the San or bushmen. They lived as
hunter/gatherers. They roamed in small groups over large
areas of land in order to hunt game and collect the fruits,
nuts, grains and plants which they needed for food.
The agricultural skills of the
Bantu allowed them to live in larger villages and their
population grew. Inevitably as populations grew disputes
would arise between different groups of people within the
same ethnic group. If these disputes could not be resolved
to the satisfaction of both sides then it was common that
the disaffected group would decide to leave.
In the 1400s a group of Bantu
people left what is now Sudan during the Bantu migration.
Among these were the Mbunda,
one of the oldest and biggest ethnic grouping in Southern
Africa.
Establishment of The Mbunda Kingdom In Kola (Now Congo DRC
The Mbunda Kingdom dates back
from well before the Mwantiyavwa Dynasty was established in
Kola.3
The Mbunda trace their origin
from Sudan,4
trekking southwards through Kola where they came in contact
with the Luba and Ruund Kingdoms.5
While in Kola, the Mbunda people's first Monarch was King (Mwene)
Nkuungu. When King (Mwene) Nkuungu died his daughter Naama
took over as the second Mbunda Monarch at the Palace of
Namampongwe. During the reign of Queen (Vamwene) Naama, the
following obligatory regulations for royalty were
proclaimed:
First, that a king or chief should marry a
grand-daughter of the royal line.
Second, that the reigning monarch and chiefs should
come from the sisters of previous monarchs and chiefs.
Third, that when a reigning queen and chieftainesses
went into seclusion during their menstrual periods, the
Mukwetunga (husband of the queen) should avail himself of
the royal regalia and act on her behalf.
Fourth that if the reigning queen and chieftainesses
were unmarried, then one of the brothers of the reigning
queen would take the insignia of royalty and act on her
behalf.6
Queen (Vamwene) Naama had four
children; Nkonde (male), Chinguli (male), Yamvu (female) and
Lukokesha Female).
It was also during her reign
that the Mbunda fought off groups of hostile pygmies (tumonapi)
who were described as very short people who did not grow any
crops nor domesticate any animals, but who were expert
trappers and hunters who shot wild game with poisoned arrows
(mingamba ya vulembe). They were also very skilful
collectors of seeds, leaves, berries, roots and the fruits
of wild plants.
It was in the palace headquarters of Namampongwe that all
important state rituals, ceremonies or festivals were held.
As the centre and focal point of the burgeoning Mbunda
ethnic group and state, Namampongwe had the state armory
where, surplus weapons of war (vitwa vya ndthzita) were
kept.
The Mbunda were talented iron (vutale) and copper (vunegu)
workers and proficient hunters and soldiers. They were also
remarkably skilled at the art of making pots and jars of
baked clay. The Mbunda cultivated the tropical forest which
was found in where they grew assorted crops. They also kept
domestic stock.
Queen (Vamwene) Naama died at the capital of Namampongwe in
Kola. After the death of Queen (Vamwene)
Naama and after deliberations among the royal advisors it
was resolved that another woman should take over from the
late Queen (Vamwene) Naama. It was felt that a woman ought
to succeed to the throne. This was in recognition of the
ordeal women experience during the time of giving birth. It
was further decreed that if a female monarch was crowned,
she should not get married. If she did get married then she
should surrender her royal bracelet to her immediate
brother.
Queen (Vamwene) Yamvu was
enthroned to succeed her mother, the late Queen (Vamwene)
Naama, as the third sovereign of the emerging Mbunda ethnic
group and state. Following the death of Queen (Vamwene)
Naama, her son, (Prince) Munamwene Nkonde, married his two
sisters, respectively called Queen (Vamwene) Yamvu and
Princess (Vamunamwene) Lukokesha.
Queen (Vamwene) Yamvu bore the
following offspring with her brother Nkonde:
1. Katongo (male)
2. Chiti (male)
3. Nkole (male)
Her sister Princess (Vamunamwene)
Lukokesha also bore the following offspring with her brother
Nkonde:
1. Chinguli (male)
2. Chimbangala (male)
3. Yambayamba (male)
4. Nkonde (male
5. Chombe (male)
Interaction With The Lunda and Luunda People
After some time the Mbunda shifted their base within the
Kola area and settled in a place more favourable than their
previous habitation, Namampongwe. They found Ruund (Luunda)
people already settled in this area. Later on Queen (Vamwene)
Yamvu married a Ruund (Luunda) hunter and her brother Prince
(Munamwene) Nkonde was so incensed with her conduct that he
left the area in frustration anger and coined a song as
follows:
Ngungu elelo tambula kwendeye
lelo,
Woo, tambula kwendeye!
which means:
The insult forced them to depart.
According to the Mbunda custom
of the time Queen (Vamwene) Yamvu should not have married.
In the case where she did marry she should have surrendered
the chieftainship to her brother Prince (Munamwene) Nkonde.
Instead she surrendered the chieftainship to her Ruund (Luunda)
husband. It is from this split that the Ruund (Luunda)
chieftainship developed in the 15th century;
the children of Prince (Munamwene) Nkonde with Queen (Vamwene)
Yamvu descend to form the Ruund (Luunda) chieftainship of
Mwantiyavwa.
In 1690 the Ruund (Luunda)
ruler adopted the style Mwaant Yaav [Mwaanta Yaava]
From Prince (Munamwene) Nkonde
and his children with Princess (Vamunamwene) Lukokesha we
find the continuation of the central Mbunda chieftainship (Chiundi).
Mbunda Kingdom Re-Established At The Confluence Of Kwilu And
Kasai Rivers, In The Now Congo DRC
Prince Nkonde led the majority
of the disenchanted populace away from Namampongwe and later
settled near the confluence of the Kwilu and Kasai rivers.7
Prince Nkonde was anxious to seek the guidance of his
ancestral spirits concerning his leaving Kola in protest of
Yamvu's violation of Mbunda custom. He went hunting and
killed a roan antelope (meengo). The killing of such a
magnificent beast signified that the ancestral spirits
approved of his action and served as a censure of Yamvu's
conduct.
It was during the reign of King (Mwene)
Nkonde that the Mbunda resolved to migrate to new
territories where they could search for fertile land and
settle down to farm. A place where they could expand and
consolidate the structures of their state and ethnic group.
The major factors which
stimulated their migration were as follows:
They found the tropical forests an extremely hard and
difficult place in which to struggle for their survival.
There was the cutting
down and stumping of the very tall trees, as well as the
digging out of their numerous roots, which was a physically
taxing exercise.
These hardships were
further compounded by the botanical scenario of countless
wild plants which germinated and grew so luxuriantly and
quickly that it was a relentless and onerous task to
maintain the fields and gardens of varied crops as required.
Ruminants could not be
domesticated, due to lack of grass for them to feed on,
complicated by the presence of tse-tee fly which could be
detrimental to their health.
The Mbunda also
disliked the perpetual dewy atmospheric conditions (mbundu
ya muchuvukila) which were accompanied by stifling, humidity
and ceaseless rainfall (nyondthzi ya muchuvulila).
They also disliked the
rocky soils (livu lya mamanya) and the lack of sufficient
wild game and fish (lisholo) of which they were so fond.
Finally, they feared
the rampant epidemics of small pox (mushongo wa lyale),
which had taken a great toll of life amongst them.
The Majority Mbunda People Migrate Further Southwards Out of
The Now Congo DRC
The Mbunda
language spoken by the
Mbunda group that remained in the
DR Congo,
entirely separated from the rest of their people, is of
course a special case. Due to passage of time and
interaction with other languages, it has become quite
different from the variants spoken in Angola, Zambia, and
Namibia, and is today even considered as belonging to a
different linguistic category.
Prior to their migration,
scouts (tumenga) were sent forth to gather surveillance data
and explore the geographical and other features of the
territories beyond their areas of habitation. The scouting
expedition, was lead by two Princes, namely, Prince (Munamwene)
Chimbangala, and Prince (Munamwene) Chombe, who were both
sons of King (Mwene) Nkonde respectively. Two other men of
noble ranks, who comprised the expedition were, Mwata Chombe
and Mwata Kapyangu.
The expedition explored a
large area to the west and discovered an unknown river which
they crossed and then went on to discover the valley of the
Lwena river, a tributary of the Zambezi river whose source
is in present day Angola. The scouts returned to the
camp where the Mbunda were settled, near the confluence of
the Kwilu and Kasai rivers. The expedition then tendered a
favourable report to the king.
King (Mwene) Nkonde and his
subjects built a shrine for offering to their ancestral
spirits and authored the salutation as follows:
Mbunda ovoo!
Mbunda va thon'o
Yafuta na ninga
Yakatavu ka ndongo
Mbunda ya Naama ya Nkuungu
Vakulu voshe kamunungathane
Kwithu, kwithu
Muyilya muvinena
Mbunda oyoo.
This means:
Here is your meat and red-brown soil!
Delicious cooked meat is good
With pounded groundnuts added to it.
The soil and meat of Queen Naama and King Nkuungu.
May all the ancestral spirits unite and consolidate
themselves.
Be blessed and further blessed.
You consume the meat and then return it.
Here is your meat and red-brown soil!
Prince
Nkonde was enthroned as the fourth Mbunda monarch in a
palace called Mapamba and, before his death, his son Prince
Chinguli was enthroned as the fifth Monarch of the Mbunda.
King (Mwene) Nkonde, unable to
travel due to old age sent his son Chinguli who had just
taken over from him as the fifth Monarch to go south and
search for better land for their settlement. This is the
only time the Mbunda had two ruling Monarchs. King (Mwene)
Chinguli was commissioned by his father to go out and seek
new lands for the people. He led an expedition which
travelled southwestwards (Mumbwela) in the direction of what
is now called Namibia.
The First Migration Route Led By King Mwene Chinguli Cha
Nkonde
Taking a more central route into the now Angola, the
southwest of the confluence of Kwilu and Kasai river, King
Mwene Chinguli traveled all the way south to the now Kwandu
Kuvango fighting the Bushmen and replacing them in the new
found lands with a trail of Mbunda descendants who later
came to be called the Chimbandi, the Ngonjelo, the Humbi,
the Lwimbi and the Nyemba. King (Mwene) Chinguli never
returned to Kwilu/Kasai to report his new found settlement
lands.
Chinguli's children were:
1. Mbaao (f)
2. Nkonde (m)
3. Luputa (m)
After a long wait and before
the death of King (Mwene) Nkonde the fourth Monarch, King (Mwene)
Chinguli's daughter Mbaao was installed as the sixth Monarch
to replace the father. Queen (Vamwene) Mbaao was left with
the responsibility to migrate the Mbunda to better
settlement lands from Kwilu/Kasai.
During Queen (Vamwene) Mbaaos
reign, the Mbunda embarked on their second migration
expedition to the southeast of Kwilu and Kasai rivers.
Vamwene Mbaao bore the
following children:
1. Kwandu (m)
2. Chondela (m)
3. Kaamba (f)
4. Mbayi (f)
5. Lilu (m)
After the death of Queen (Vamwene)
Mbaao there arose a period of disquiet and tumult as a
result of the contentious factions which were involved in
the choosing of another sovereign ruler for the Mbunda
state. One faction advocated the candidature of Prince (Munamwene)
Luputa , who was one of Chinguli cha Nkonde's sons. The
other faction championed Princess (Vamunamwene) Kaamba, who
was one of Queen (Vamwene) Mbaao's daughters. In the royal
lobbying that ensued, Princess (Vamunamwene) Kaamba became
the choice of the Chifunkuto, which elected the Kings. The
Princess was enthroned as Queen (Vamwene) Kaamba. She was
the seventh Monarch to preside over the affairs of the
Mbunda people.
Vamwene Kaamba bore children as follows:
1. Chingwanja (m)
2. Mulondola (m)
3. Ndongo (m)
4. Katheketheke (f)
5. Muyeji (f)
References
1
"The Bantu in Ancient Egypt, citing sources:
Alfred M M'Imanyara 'The Restatement of Bantu Origin and Meru
History'
published by Longman Kenya, 1992 - Social
Science - 170 pages, ISBN 9966-49-832-X"
2
Almanac of African Peoples & Nations page 523, Social
Science
By Muhammad Zuhdī Yakan,
Transaction Publishers,
Putgers - The State University, New
Jersey, ISBN: 1-5600-433-9
3
Robert Papstein
The History and
Cultural Life of the Mbunda Speaking People, Lusaka Cheke
Cultural Writers
Association, 1994, ISBN
99 820 3006X
4
"The Bantu in Ancient Egypt, citing sources:
Alfred M M'Imanyara 'The Restatement of Bantu Origin and Meru
History'
published by Longman Kenya, 1992 - Social
Science - 170 pages, ISBN 9966-49-832-X"
5
Almanac of African Peoples & Nations page 523, Social
Science
By Muhammad Zuhdī Yakan,
Transaction Publishers,
Putgers - The State University, New
Jersey, ISBN: 1-5600-433-9
6
Robert Papstein
The History
and Cultural Life of the Mbunda Speaking People,
Lusaka Cheke Cultural Writers
Association, 1994, ISBN 99 820
3006X
7
Almanac of African Peoples & Nations page 523, Social
Science
By Muhammad Zuhdī Yakan,
Transaction Publishers,
Putgers -
The State University,
New Jersey, ISBN: 1-5600-433-9
Further reading
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