The Kilukeni were members of the Lukeni

kanda Kanda may refer to: People * Kanda (surname) *Kanda Bongo Man (born 1955), Congolese soukous musician Places * Kanda, Tokyo, an area in Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, Japan **Kanda Station (Tokyo), a railway station in Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo * Kanda River, a ri ...

or House of Kilukeni, the ruling dynasty of the

Kingdom of Kongo The Kingdom of Kongo ( kg, Kongo dya Ntotila or ''Wene wa Kongo;'' pt, Reino do Congo) was a kingdom located in central Africa in present-day northern Angola, the western portion of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and the Republic of the ...

from its inception in the late 14th century until the 1567 with the rise of the

House of Kwilu Kwilu, also known as the House of Kwilu (Portuguese: ''Coulo''), was a kanda (lineage), kanda or royal lineage of the Kingdom of Kongo. Origins Prior to the rise of the Kwilu kanda, the Kilukeni kanda or House of Lukeni had ruled Kongo since its ...

.Thornton, John: "Elite Women in the Kingdom of Kongo: Historical Perspectives on Women's Political Power", page 445. The Journal of African History, Vol. 47, 2006 The Kilukeni were springboard for most of the major factions that battled for control of Kongo during its

civil war A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

Etymology

KiKongo Kongo or Kikongo is one of the Bantu languages spoken by the Kongo people living in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Republic of the Congo, Gabon and Angola. It is a tonal language. It was spoken by many of those who were taken from th ...

the language of the kingdom of Kongo, the name of the kanda is ''Lukeni''. It is taken from the first name of the founder of the kingdom,

Lukeni lua Nimi Lukeni lua Nimi (also ''Ntinu Nimi a Lukeni''; c. 1380–1420) was the traditional founder of the Lukeni kanda dynasty, first king of Kongo and founder of the Kingdom of Kongo Dia Ntotila. The name Nimi a Lukeni appeared in later oral traditio ...

. Lukeni lua Nimi ruled around the 1390s before the throne was handed down to his cousins.

History

Beginning with the reign of Nkuwu a Ntinu, a son of Lukeni and the last non-Catholic

mwenekongo The Manikongo, or Mwene Kongo, was the title of the ruler of the Kingdom of Kongo, a kingdom that existed from the 14th to the 19th centuries and consisted of land in present-day Angola, Gabon, the Republic of the Congo and the Democratic Repu ...

, the throne passed from father to son. Occasionally there were usurpations, but the crown stayed within the lineage of the founder until 1567 when a king from the region of

Nsi Kwilu Nsi Kwilu is a modern Kikongo respelling of "''Essiquilu''" the term used by the Italian Capuchin missionary Girolamo da Montesarchio in 1650 for the territory along the Kwilu River near Matadi in the modern-day Democratic Republic of Congo. Jea ...

Álvaro I Álvaro (, , ) is a Spanish, Galician and Portuguese male given name and surname (see Spanish naming customs) of Visigothic origin. Some claim it may be related to the Old Norse name Alfarr, formed of the elements ''alf'' "elf" and ''arr'' "warrio ...

ascended after the last of the Kilukeni died in battle against the

Anziku Kingdom The Anziku Kingdom, also called the Teke Kingdom, the Tyo Kingdom or Tio Kingdom, was a pre-colonial West Central African state of modern Republic of Congo, Gabon and Democratic Republic of Congo. Origins The word Anziku comes from the KiKongo p ...

Etymology

History

References

See also