The Lunda (''Balunda'', ''Luunda'', ''Ruund'') are a

Bantu Bantu may refer to: *Bantu languages, constitute the largest sub-branch of the Niger–Congo languages *Bantu peoples, over 400 peoples of Africa speaking a Bantu language *Bantu knots, a type of African hairstyle *Black Association for Nationali ...

ethnic group that originated in what is now the

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

along the Kalanyi River and formed the

Kingdom of Lunda The Nation of Lunda (c. 1665 – c. 1887) was a confederation of states in what is now the Democratic Republic of Congo, north-eastern Angola, and north-western Zambia, its central state was in Katanga. Origin Initially, the core of what would ...

in the 17th century under their ruler, Mwata Yamvo or Mwaant Yav, with their capital at

Musumba Musumba is a city in Lualaba Province in the Democratic Republic of Congo. It is the former capital of the Kingdom of Lunda. The practices of the Lunda kingdom still persist in Musumba. Musumba was the birthplace of Moïse Tshombe, a Congolese bus ...

.Pritchett, James Anthony: "Lunda".
World Culture Encyclopedia. Retrieved 15 May 2007. From there they spread widely through Katanga and into Eastern

Angola , national_anthem = "Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordina ...

, north-western Zambia (the

Kanongesha-Lunda The Kanongesha-Lunda (also called the ''Western Lunda'') are an ethnic group living mainly in the North-Western Province of Zambia under Senior Chief Kanongesha, around the provincial capital Mwinilunga. The Lunda people of North-Western Province ...

and the Ishindi-Lunda, Gabon,

Republic of Congo The Republic of the Congo (french: République du Congo, ln, Republíki ya Kongó), also known as Congo-Brazzaville, the Congo Republic or simply either Congo or the Congo, is a country located in the western coast of Central Africa to the w ...

)Allafrica.com
Mwati Yamv Preaches Peace At Lunda Lubanza Ceremony, 3 September 2009 and the Luapula valley of Zambia (the Eastern Lunda or Kazembe-Lunda).

History

The Lunda were allied to the Luba, and their migrations and conquests spawned a number of tribes such as the Luvale of the upper Zambezi and the Kasanje on the upper Kwango River of Angola. The Lunda people's heartland was rich in the natural resources of rivers, lakes, forests and savannah. Its people were fishermen and farmers, and they prospered. They grew maize,

millet Millets () are a highly varied group of small-seeded grasses, widely grown around the world as cereal crops or grains for fodder and human food. Most species generally referred to as millets belong to the tribe Paniceae, but some millets al ...

, yams,

sorghum ''Sorghum'' () is a genus of about 25 species of flowering plants in the grass family (Poaceae). Some of these species are grown as cereals for human consumption and some in pastures for animals. One species is grown for grain, while many othe ...

, squash,

bean A bean is the seed of several plants in the family Fabaceae, which are used as vegetables for human or animal food. They can be cooked in many different ways, including boiling, frying, and baking, and are used in many traditional dishes th ...

sweet potato The sweet potato or sweetpotato (''Ipomoea batatas'') is a dicotyledonous plant that belongs to the Convolvulus, bindweed or morning glory family (biology), family, Convolvulaceae. Its large, starchy, sweet-tasting tuberous roots are used as a r ...

es, oil palms and tobacco, and were palm wine drinkers. THOMAS, Hugh (1997). La trata de Esclavos: Historia de la trata de seres humanos desde 1440 a 1870. Planeta, p.165. Their traders came into contact with the Portuguese, and

Arab The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Wester ...

and

Swahili Swahili may refer to: * Swahili language, a Bantu language official in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda and widely spoken in the African Great Lakes * Swahili people, an ethnic group in East Africa * Swahili culture Swahili culture is the culture of ...

traders of

East Africa East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territories make up Eastern Africa: Due to the historical ...

. They played a large role in the slave and

ivory trade The ivory trade is the commercial, often illegal trade in the ivory tusks of the hippopotamus, walrus, narwhal, mammoth, and most commonly, African and Asian elephants. Ivory has been traded for hundreds of years by people in Africa and Asia, ...

that moved goods and people from central Africa to the coasts for export. The Lunda were nomadics until the 17th. The people of the Lunda Kingdom believed in Nzambi or ''Nzamb Katang'' as a Supreme Creator of the world who created everything of existence on earth. Their religion did not address Nzambi directly, but through the spirits of their ancestors. Until the 17th century, apparently, they used to practise cannibalism. Their kings had twenty to thirty wives. The Lunda captured adolescents from the peoples they defeated. These teenagers were turned into slaves and wore an iron necklace to symbolise their status. The slaves would only shed the collar when they had shown the king the severed head of one of the kingdom's enemies. After this, these former slaves were to be incorporated into Lunda society. After 1608 Lunda people launched several attacks against the Mbundu. This provoked a war between the kingdoms Ndongo and Lunda. After the defeat of the Ndongo, Lunda people based their diet on the cows and pigs they had stolen from kingdom of Ndongo, while their income was based on the sale of Mbundu prisoners to Portuguese merchants. They subsequently became sedentary, migrated to other regions, developed a family system typical of most societies (they married and had children) and became a powerful empire that based part of its income on the sale of slaves, both on a small and large scale. The slave trade was abandoned in the 19th century when the European slave trade ceased.

Demography

Today the Lunda people comprise hundreds of subgroups such as the Akosa, Imbangala and Ndembu, and number approximately 500,000 in Angola, 750,000 in the Congo, and 200,000 in Zambia. Most speak the Lunda language,

Chilunda Lunda, also known as Chilunda, is a Bantu language spoken in Zambia, Angola and, to a lesser extent, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Lunda and its dialects are spoken and understood by perhaps 4.6% of Zambians (1986 estimate), a ...

, except for the Kazembe-Lunda who have adopted the Bemba language of their neighbours.

Notable members

* Moïse Tshombe, President of the secessionist

State of Katanga The State of Katanga; sw, Inchi Ya Katanga) also sometimes denoted as the Republic of Katanga, was a breakaway state that proclaimed its independence from Congo-Léopoldville on 11 July 1960 under Moise Tshombe, leader of the local ''Co ...

and later Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Notes

References

;General references
"Lunda and Chokwe Kingdoms."
''Country Study: Angola''. Library of Congress (October 2005).
"Lunda"
''Art and Life in Africa Project''. University of Iowa Museum of Art

''Mwati Yamv Preaches Peace At Lunda Lubanza Ceremony'', 3 September 2009.
"A crown on the move: stylistic integration of the Luba-Lunda complex in Lunda-Kazembe performance"
''A crown on the move: stylistic integration of the Luba-Lunda complex in Lunda-Kazembe performance,'' 2006. Some of the information is based on the German Wikipedia article on the Lunda (Königreich), which gives two sources: :*Pogge (1880). ''Im Reich des Muata Jamwo.'' Berlin. :*Buchner (1883). "Das Reich des Muata Jamwo". ''Deutsche Geographische Blätter''. Bremen.

External links