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 Nationa ...

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 Moïse Kape ...

.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 = , coordinat ...

, north-western

Zambia Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most central point. Its neighbours are t ...

(the Kanongesha-Lunda and the Ishindi-Lunda,

Gabon Gabon (; ; snq, Ngabu), officially the Gabonese Republic (french: République gabonaise), is a country on the west coast of Central Africa. Located on the equator, it is bordered by Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the nort ...

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 The Zambezi River (also spelled Zambeze and Zambesi) is the fourth-longest river in Africa, the longest east-flowing river in Africa and the largest flowing into the Indian Ocean from Africa. Its drainage basin covers , slightly less than ha ...

and the Kasanje on the upper

Kwango River The Cuango or Kwango ( pt, Rio Cuango) is a transboundary river of Angola and Democratic Republic of Congo. It is the largest left bank tributary of the Kasai River in the Congo River basin. It flows through Malanje in Angola. The Kwango Riv ...

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 Maize ( ; ''Zea mays'' subsp. ''mays'', from es, maíz after tnq, mahiz), also known as corn (North American English, North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples of Mexico, indigenous ...

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 a ...

, 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 other ...

squash Squash may refer to: Sports * Squash (sport), the high-speed racquet sport also known as squash racquets * Squash (professional wrestling), an extremely one-sided match in professional wrestling * Squash tennis, a game similar to squash but pla ...

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 bindweed or morning glory family, Convolvulaceae. Its large, starchy, sweet-tasting tuberous roots are used as a root vegetable. The young ...

es,

oil palm ''Elaeis'' () is a genus of palms containing two species, called oil palms. They are used in commercial agriculture in the production of palm oil. The African oil palm '' Elaeis guineensis'' (the species name ''guineensis'' referring to its c ...

s and

tobacco Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...

, and were

palm wine Palm wine, known by several local names, is an alcoholic beverage created from the sap of various species of palm tree such as the palmyra, date palms, and coconut palms. It is known by various names in different regions and is common in va ...

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 Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

, and

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

and Swahili 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 historica ...

. 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), and ...

, except for the Kazembe-Lunda who have adopted the

Bemba language The Bemba language, ''ChiBemba'' (also ''Cibemba, Ichibemba, Icibemba'' and ''Chiwemba''), is a Bantu language spoken primarily in north-eastern Zambia by the Bemba people and as a lingua franca by about 18 related ethnic groups. History Bem ...

of their neighbours.

Notable members

Moïse Tshombe Moïse Kapenda Tshombe (sometimes written Tshombé) (10 November 1919 – 29 June 1969) was a Congolese businessman and politician. He served as the president of the secessionist State of Katanga from 1960 to 1963 and as prime minister of the D ...

, 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 The Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: link=no, 1=Premier ministre de la République démocratique du Congo, sw, 1=Waziri Mkuu wa Jamhuri ya Kidemokrasia ya Kongo, ln, 1=Minisele ya Yambo wa Republiki ya Kɔ́ngɔ ...

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