LUKENI

According to tradition, Lukeni (who flourished in the late 13th century) founded the Kongo kingdom. The sources, however, are not unanimous, for some claim it was Lukeni lua Nimi, Ntinu Lukeni, or Ntinu Wene who began the Kongo polity.

Lukeni is said to have been the son of Nimi, a Nzinga, who originated the Vungu kingdom, in present-day Mayombe, north of Boma. Traditions vary in explaining why Lukeni migrated to the south. Following one version, Lukeni fled after stabbing his aunt in the stomach when she refused to pay him tribute. In another story, Lukeni is said to have promised his mother that he would become a Mani (ruler) to avenge an insult from a boatman. And, according to a yet third account, Lukeni, who was the youngest son in a large family, wanted to find a new land where he too could reign.

After crossing the Congo River with his followers, Lukeni subjugated the Mpemba Kazi region, extended his rule eastward, and named his newly conquered possessions (located north of modern Mbanza-Ngungu) Nsundi. His maternal uncle went to conquer the Mbatas, who lived where the Inkisi River intersects the present Congo-Angola border. Once the country south of the Congo River had been subjugated, Lukeni distributed the conquered territories among his captains as gifts. He settled on a hill called Nkumba a Ngundi, which later became Mbanza Kongo, and then San Salvador. This place is located in Angola, about 100 km (60 mi) southeast of Matadi.

Thus, Lukeni founded one of the greatest kingdoms of Central Africa, a kingdom which European navigators of the 15th century admired. He was able to impose one culture over a vast territory extending west to east from the Atlantic Ocean to the Kwango River, and north to south from Ngoyo, Kakongo, and Loango, north of the Congo River, to the Kwanza River in modern Angola.

TSIMBA MABIALA