ILUNGA, KALALA
- 3 Min Read
More a symbol than an actual historical personage, the mulopwe (Luba king) Kalala Ilunga (who may have flourished circa 1600) is regarded as the father of the Luba ruling dynasty and as the founder of the Luba empire in the northern Shaba region.
According to Luba oral recollections, Nkongolo ruled the Luba from his capital near Lake Boya, 260 km (160 mi) southeast of the modern Mbuji Mayi. One day, Nkongolo entertained Mbidi Kiluwe, a refined visitor and a hunter from somewhere in the east. Apparently, Mbidi Kiluwe came from a chiefdom endowed with superior protocol and institutions. In contrast to the ill-mannered and unsophisticated Nkongolo, Mbidi Kiluwe had filed teeth, did not laugh with his mouth wide open, nor eat in public.
Handsome and cultivated, he captured the attention of Nkongolo’s two half-sisters, Bulanda and Mabela, who both fell in love with this paragon of civilized control, and became his wives. But an antagonism developed between Nkongolo and Mbidi Kiluwe, the two men serving as symbols for two opposing codes of behavior. Luba legend states that Nkongolo insulted Mbidi Kiluwe, who then left.
Nevertheless, the innovations he introduced, epitomized by new culinary mores, did not disappear. After Mbidi Kiluwe departed, his wife Bulanda bore a son named Ilunga Mbidi. Because Ilunga Mbidi proved to be very gifted, especially in the military arts, Nkongolo gave him the title of Kalala, general of the royal armies. Luba traditions credit Ilunga Mbidi, known thereafter as Kalala Ilunga with many successful military campaigns which enlarged the boundaries of Nkongolo’s empire.
Because of Kalala Ilunga’s brilliant military exploits, Nkongolo began to fear his nephew would seek to overthrow him. Although all Nkongolo’s attempts to eliminate the young general were thwarted by Kalala Ilunga’s cunning, Kalala Ilunga finally decided to leave his uncle’s court. He crossed the Lualaba River, taking refuge in his father’s country in the east. After gathering an army, he returned to crush Nkongolo. This triumph may symbolize the victory of a new aristocratic ritual code over the old customs, represented by the vulgar and incestuous Nkongolo, who ate in public and married his own sisters. Thus, Kalala Ilunga’s conquest may represent the rise of a new political élite whose members considered themselves superior to other Luba people.
Kalala Ilunga’s power (bulopwe) and polity are said to have been more impressive than Nkongolo’s. The Luba believe Kalala Ilunga enlarged the Luba Empire and perfected its internal organization. Whatever the various meanings of Kalala Ilunga’s story may be, the tale was, and still is, a kind of political constitution used by the Luba to support their incumbent dynasty, validate their system of government, and justify the extent of their imperial domain.
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