SHYAAM, aMBUL aNGOONG

Shyaam aMbul aNgoong (ruled circa 1625-1640) is remembered as the founder of Kuba civilisation. Living east of the confluence of the Sankuru and Kasai rivers, the Kuba have developed a strong centralised state, complex patterns of government, and a refined artistic tradition.

Shyaam, the son of the woman Mbul aNgoong, was probably not born a member of the Bushoong (the Kuba ruling élite). There are three versions of his origins. Some authorities believe Shayaam was an outsider from the Kwilu river area, probably from the Mbuun or Ding lands, who simply revived the name of the old Matoon ruling dynasty.

Other traditions assert that a boy named Shyaam aMbul aNgoong was indeed born to the royal Matoon clan during the reign of Misha miShyaang. Finally, the third version reports that Mbul aNgoong was not Shyaam’s true mother. Rather, because Mbul aNgoong had no children of her own, she adopted Shyaam, the son of her female slave, and had the slave mother killed.

Tradition tells us, that as Shyaam grew up, Mbul aNgoong impressed on him the fact that the reigning Nyim (Kuba paramount chief) was a foreigner, and that he, Shyaam, was the true heir. Encouraged by the princess Mbul aNgoong, and repulsed by Misha miShyaang’s crudeness, Shyaam nurtured the ambition of dethroning him. Shyaam, however, received little other encouragement for his project, possibly because of his origins. When Misha miShyaang learned of Shyaam’s intentions, he put a price on his head. Disguised and feigning madness, Shyaam escaped, reaching the region of the Kwango and Kwilu rivers, where he searched for magical charms that would enable him to dethrone Misha miShyaang and become loved and accepted as Nyim.

From the Kwango-Kwilu area, Shyaam arrived among the Kel people (southwest of the Kuba) where he was hidden by Mbakam Mashing who refused to deliver the refugee to the Nyim’s envoys, sent to take him. To this day, an enemy of the Nyim who finds refuge among the Kel is never betrayed.

From Kel, Shyaam went to Mbaanc where he hid with a man named Kaan Kabady. When the Nyim interrogated Kaan about the pretender’s whereabouts, Kaan said Shyaam was underground, implying he was dead. Since Kaan proved the truth of his statement by passing a poison ordeal, people in the capital believed that Shayaam was indeed dead. In truth, however, Shayaam was underground, in a large hole where Kaan had hidden him.

Shyaam then assumed a disguise, and went to the Kuba capital to bury magical charms. Earlier, Shyaam had worn the Nyeeng mask, until then unknown by the Bushoong—a mask which was said to change height according to spectators’ requests. The mask fascinated the people, its reknown spread to the Nyim’s capital. When the Nyim called upon the people of Mbaanc to show him the new mask, Shyaam arrived in the capital, masked, and danced before his enemy, the Nyim. He then profited from his stay in the capital to bury the charms there. Shyaam returned to dance in the capital several times. Eventually, Misha miShyaang became frightened of him and fled. Soon afterward, Shyaam was invested as Nyim in his place.

When Shyaam took power, probably around 1625, he was no longer young. A game, represented in front of his royal statue (a carved wooden statue was made for each Nyim), illustrates the context of his investiture. The game symbolises the struggle for succession to the throne, a struggle in which the crafty candidate triumphs.

During his reign, Shyaam had to contend with ambitious rivals who wanted to overthrow him. Therefore, on several occasions, he moved the site of his capital. It was in Shyaam’s time that the Kuba kingdom assumed its classic form and that the Kuba civilisation, with its great originality, took form.

The techniques of weaving, wood sculpture, and metalworking developed during his reign and in the reigns that followed. He also developed a plan for the capital and is said to have organised the first concentration of people in the Kuba lands. Shyaam reformed and enlarged the kingdom to such an extent that he became a cultural hero, a great founder-king.

Remembered as a prodigious innovator and a great magician, Shyaam has been credited with all the arts and inventions that could not be attributed to others.

BELEPE BOPE MABINTCH and NDAYWEL e NZIEM