The Luba Empire: Between Chaos and Order

We are in the Upemba Depression before 1585, in the heart of what is now the Democratic Republic of Congo, along the Lualaba River in the city of Mwibele, which served as the capital of the first Luba Empire to be founded. According to records, the region was already inhabited in the 6th century by fishermen, hunters, farmers, and craftsmen, known far beyond the region for their copper processing. The traditional villages were organised into family clans and small chiefdoms. 

The founding story of the Luba Empire not only depicts the struggle for power between two different kings, but it also sketches a symbolic, mythological conflict between chaos and order.

A tale of the founding kings

The first king, Nkongolo Mwamba, founded the empire after conquering the small villages and ruled the resource-rich region with tyranny. One day, a prince from a hunting tribe visited the capital. His presence did not go unnoticed as he was a renowned hunter. A griot would even say that he was draped in an almost prophetic aura. It was not long before the two daughters of the tyrannical King Nkongolo had their eye on him. Eventually, the king gave one of them his blessing to marry this prince. In the royal family, he rose to become general of the army and was able to celebrate considerable successes through his military strategies. 

Time flew by and one day, the prince disappeared as enigmatically as he had emerged. He left behind a newborn son named Kalala Ilunga. The fathomed prophecy continued with the offspring as Kalala followed in his father's footsteps. Under the leadership of his uncle King Nkongolo, he was responsible for the 20-year southern expansion of the Luba Empire, which is now the region of Katanga and extends to Zambia. He overthrew the tyrannical king and rose to become the new ruler of the second Luba Empire. Under his rule, he laid the foundations of one of the most influential and best organised empires in sub-Saharan Africa.

Thanks to its structures and principles, the Luba Empire lasted for almost 400 years. Kalala unified the various small villages and Bantu peoples into a centralised feudal structure, the foundation of which symbolised the transformation from chaos to a nearly divine order.

A structured society  

The political structure of the empire was clearly regulated. The executive power was wielded by the king, paramount ruler of the land. No one aside from members of the noble family, descendants of the two founders, Nkongolo and Kalala, had the right to bear that title. Another condition lied in the metaphysical domain. Indeed, a divine kinship was established in the kingdom, which meant that the king had to meet not only political, but also spiritual aptitudes to be legitimate. The Luba people had a deep-rooted spirituality with a belief in the interconnectivity of the physical and spiritual worlds. They believed that each soul came into the world with a purpose. In the form of kinship called Mulopwe, a monarch’s soul is naturally destined to lead the people and be a mediator between the spiritual and physical worlds. The king was seen as the father of the nation and thus, had to fulfil his duties like a father for his children. The people were his children.

The legislative power was held by the king, surrounded and guided by his advisors. The power of the sovereign was not absolute, however. The Bambudye lodge precisely epitomised the extent to which the throne could exert its influence. As conservators of oral culture and knowledge throughout the Luba Empire, members of the lodge formed the king's control body to ensure that he followed the will of the ancestors. In case of abuse or misuse of power, the lodge had the authority to subject the ruler to a penalty, potentially extending to capital punishment.  

It is commonly thought that the stability of a state is evaluated by its capacity to collect taxes. In that regard, the Luba people instituted a taxation system which considered the specificities of each region. Every tribe and village had to pay tribute to the kingdom. This tribute consisted of areas rich in fish and areas rich in crops such as cassava and maize, which still form a large part of Congolese agriculture today. In the regions rich in mineral resources, this was in the form of gold, copper or iron. The resources were then divided among the various provincial chiefs to ensure prosperity and peace throughout the country. The provincial chiefdoms were an association of autonomously governing villages that could retain their independent and cultural identity as long as they swore fealty to the Mulopwe. Traditional leaders retained their local power, thereby contributing to the stability of the kingdom. Alternatively, a police-like permanent corps ensured the enforcement of laws across the territory. It formed the strong arm of the empire together with the military, which was summoned for armed conflicts only. 

The diversity of the Luba can be traced back to various Bantu peoples who lived there before the founding of the Luba Empire. These tribes were located across the current borders of the Democratic Republic of Congo today: Nkole, a tribe to the East, which is today in Uganda; Hemba, next to Lake Tanganyika; Kalanga, Kaniok, and the Luba Katanga between Mbuji Mayi and the Katanga lakes; and in the west, a tribe called Bungo which later became part of the Lunda tribe in today Angola. Before the birth of the empire, most of these tribes were organised as matrilineal societies. With political expansion and the influence of neighbouring kingdoms, society gradually became patrilineal, a commonality recognised by the Luba Empire. 

Spirituality and relationship with higher powers

These Bantu people already had a cosmology that was maintained and carried forward during the Luba Empire. The universe of the Luba consists of the trinity of the universe which overlaps with the Bantu cosmology. The upper world, also called Bukalanga is the place where the highest spiritual beings and gods live and represent creation and the supernatural. This is a place of the origin of life and fertility similar to the symbolic meaning of the sun. The role of these entities is to keep the order and balance of the cosmos. Humans invoke these entities through rituals, shamans or spiritual leaders. The middle world, named Bantu, is the physical world in which human beings share life, interact with others – including with spirits and ancestors – and experience birth and death. The lower world Nsi is the world of the spirits of the ancestors and the deceased. It is the place of wisdom and spiritual power. This world continues to have an influence on the living.

The spirituality gained from these worlds testifies to a holistic approach to life. The understanding of the importance of the relationships between the upper and lower worlds was strengthened with the help of rituals. Relationships were defined as fundamental and universal. So were the relationships between human beings themselves: father and son, mother and daughter, man and woman. The relationships with ancestors, with the deceased, and even with the animal and plant kingdoms were equally important.

Everyday life was characterised by spirituality and commune. One of the many rituals consisted in people coming together, thanking spirits and learning from each other. As in most Bantu cultures, the exchange took place on an oral level. One of these traditions is called Kasala, a type of spoken trance poetry rich in rhythm. It is about celebrating existence through the spoken word. One’s existence is firmly anchored in the interconnectivity of soul, body, the environment and the world of spirits and ancestors. In this ceremony, a space was created to affirm the ancestors but also the living and oneself in their actions. At the centre of the community lies the principle of Bumuntu which is defined as follows:

bumuntu (authentic or genuine personhood) embodies the concept of mucima muyampe (good heart) and buleme (dignity, self-respect). Bumuntu stands as the goal of human existence and as the sine qua non condition for genuine governance and genuine religiosity

Another important cultural asset is the Kifwebe masks, which occupied a central place in the customs. Such a mask carries a certain spirit which was awakened during rituals. The aim was to worship the spirit and to pray for material and intangible support, such as good harvests, rain or health. 

Heritage 

Nowadays, the Kifwebe are some of the most important assets for historical studies of Sub-Saharan Bantu cultures. The small but complex bronze figures which were discovered also attest to the then-prominent craftsmanship of the Baluba.

In what constitutes the Democratic Republic of Congo today, the Luba had a monopoly on trade of salt, copper and iron. The trade that secured the prosperity and wealth of the Luba then also came to a downfall in the late 18th century. Due to overstretched trading routes and the arrival of the Belgian colonisers, they lost their monopoly on various resources. The Luba Empire was split into two parts in 1885 and shortly after, joined the Free State of Belgian Congo.

What remained are the languages: the older Kiluba spoken by around a million people, then Tshiluba with around twelve million speakers. The latter became one of the four official languages ​​of Congo. The Baluba as a tribe are still strongly anchored in the Kasai, Oriental and Katanga regions to this day. The current president of the DRC, Félix Antoine Tshisekedi Tshilombo, belongs to the Baluba tribe. Who knows whether he sees himself as a successor to Ilunga Kalala or to Nkongolo?