KABINDA ILUNGA ( TSHIBINDA ILUNDA)THE LUBA PRINCE WHO FORGED THE LUNDA EMPIRE
Around the year 1600, a noble Luba prince named Tshibinda Ilunga ,also known as Chibinda Yirung, embarked on a journey that would forever alter the history of Central Africa, founding a powerful kingdom spanning large parts of the modern Democratic Republic of the Congo and Angola. Born into Luba royalty, Tshibinda was the son of Ilunga Mbili, the founder of the Luba Kingdom, and Bulanda, the sister of King Kongolo. Tshibinda grew up alongside his older brother, Kalala Ilunga, under the care of the prophet Mujibu after their father returned to his eastern homeland. Showing exceptional hunting, war, and mystical skills inherited from their father, the two princes helped King Kongolo extend his realm, with Tshibinda excelling as a hunter and Kalala as a warrior.
As the fame of the young princes began to overshadow King Kongolo, the paranoid monarch grew jealous and plotted to have them murdered. After sending Kalala on an expedition, Kongolo ordered a failed mutiny by his soldiers, and later dug a hidden hole filled with spears and idols for a ritual dance, hoping Kalala would fall in. Warned by the spirits through drum beats, Kalala safely completed the dance, prompting Kongolo to order the deaths of both brothers. Given their father’s princely attributes by their mothers, the brothers fled to find Ilunga Mbili, who recognized them, placed them in charge of his army, and sent them back. The brothers overthrew King Kongolo, who fled to the caves before Kalala chased him down, killed him, and was proclaimed Emperor “Mulopwe” after firmly establishing the Luba Empire.
Following Kalala’s crowning, Tshibinda separated from his brother and led an army westward in pursuit of new lands, eventually encountering the Lunda people living southwest of the Luba. Ruled by Yala Mwaku,who had two sons, Kinguri and Kinyama (Chinyama), and a daughter named Lueji (Naweji ) A’Nkonde, the Lunda kingdom was in turmoil after the king quarreled with his sons and gave his bracelet of power, the “rukan,” to Lueji, driving her furious brothers into exile where Kinguri became ruler of the Kasanje Kingdom and Kinyama ( Chinyama )became ruler of the Luvale people.
Lueji married the foreign prince Tshibinda Ilunga, who introduced advanced Luba hunting technologies, rituals, culture, and religion that the Lunda readily adopted. While Lueji handled law and order, Tshibinda led the army to conquer surrounding peoples, including those of Lueji’s brothers and the Chokwe, and established the Lunda Empire. Because Lueji suffered from abnormal dysmenorrhea and was too sick to rule, she handed the “rukan” to Tshibinda, who was proclaimed Emperor, took the title of Mukalenge, and introduced the Luba principles of sacred kingship, rule by council, and a God-King status identifying him as a solar deity.
Under Tshibinda Ilunga’s rule, the Lunda Empire grew to rival and even surpass that of his brother, extending from eastern Angola to the southeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, neighboring the Luba Empire, and reaching south into Zambia. Revered as a hunter, warrior, prophet, and civilizing hero, Tshibinda eventually took a second wife with the consent of Lueji, who was unable to have children herself, yielding an heir named Yav Ilunga.
Upon Tshibinda’s death, his son succeeded him as the first Mwata Yamvo and further extended the empire, a royal lineage that continues to rule the Lunda Kingdom in the Democratic Republic of the Congo to this day. Meanwhile, Tshibinda’s descendants migrated north to the current Kasai-Oriental province of the DRC to found the Kingdom of the Bakwa Dishi, while the Chokwe immortalized Tshibinda Ilunga through artistic wood carvings portraying him with an extravagant royal hairstyle, a medicine horn symbolizing mystical knowledge, and a staff representing his supreme rulership.
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