The Luba and Lunda states
Two linked political traditions of south-central Africa whose ideas of sacred kingship, titles and tribute spread widely across the savanna from the 16th to the 19th century.
- Region
- Upemba depression and the Kasai, Lualaba and Luapula valleys, in the south of present-day DR Congo and neighbouring Angola and Zambia
- Period
- c. 16th – 19th century
- Ruling titles
- Luba: the balopwe; Lunda: the mwant yav
- Related states
- Kazembe, Chokwe, Kuba and others
Key takeaways
- Origin: the Luba kingdom grew in the Upemba region, built on sacred kingship and the Bumbudye memory-keeping society.
- Spread: the Lunda state adopted Luba political ideas and extended them through perpetual titles and tributary chiefs.
- Expansion: Lunda-linked groups founded states from the Luapula valley to Angola.
- Trade: the states traded copper, salt, ivory and captives with the coast, and sought imported goods.
- Decline: slave raiding, caravan trade and then colonial conquest broke the systems in the 19th century.
Ideas of kingship
Luba rulers claimed a sacred authority tied to heroes of the past. Memory was kept by specialists who used lukasa memory boards, objects of beaded and carved wood, to record genealogies and the geography of the kingdom.
The Lunda system
The Lunda political system combined titles that passed to successors who took on the identity of the first holder, with chiefs tied to the capital by tribute. This arrangement allowed rapid expansion and the incorporation of new groups.
Importance
The Luba–Lunda tradition shows how state ideas moved through marriage, titles and ritual rather than only conquest, and why the region matters for understanding Central African political history.
References
- UNESCO General History of Africa, Vol. V, ch. 20 “The political system of the Luba and Lunda: its emergence and expansion” [Tier 1]
- UNESCO General History of Africa, Vol. IV, ch. 22 “Equatorial Africa and Angola: migrations and the emergence of the first states” [Tier 1]
- UNESCO General History of Africa, Vol. V, ch. 21 “The northern Zambezia-Lake Malawi region” [Tier 1]
- UNESCO General History of Africa, Vol. VI, ch. 12 “The Congo Basin and Angola” [Tier 1]