Pre-colonial history of the Democratic Republic of the Congo

The pre-colonial history of the modern-dayDemocratic Republic of the Congoencompasses the history of theCongo Basin regionup to the establishment of European colonial rule in the era ofNew Imperialismand particularly the creation of theCongo Free Stateand its expansion into the interior after 1885. As the modern territorial boundaries of the Democratic Republic of the Congo did not exist in this period, it is inseparable from the wider pre-colonial histories ofCentral Africa, theGreat LakesandRift Valleyas well as theAtlantic WorldandSwahili coast.
The current territory of the Democratic Republic of Congo was occupied by humans in thePaleolithicat least 80,000 years ago. Waves ofBantu migrationsfrom 2000 BC to 500 AD moved into the basin from the northwest and covered the precolonial states absorbed or overthrown by the colonial powers.
TheBantumigrations added to and displaced the indigenousPygmypopulations in the southern regions of the modern Congo states. The Bantu imported agriculture and iron-working techniques fromWest Africainto the area, as well as establishing theBantu languagefamily as the primary set of tongues for the Congolese. Subsequent migrations from theDarfurandKurdufanregions ofSudaninto the north of Congo, as well asEast Africansmigrating into the easternCongo, added to the mix of ethnic groups.
The area now known as theDemocratic Republic of the Congowas populated as early as 90,000 years ago, as shown by the 1988 discovery of theSemliki harpoonatKatanda, one of the oldest barbed harpoons ever found, and which is believed to have been used to catch giant river catfish.
In 1960 theIshango bonetool was discovered, fashioned from thefibulaof ababoonwith a sharp piece ofquartzaffixed to one end, perhaps for engraving. It was first thought to be atally stick, as it has a series of what has been interpreted astally markscarved in three columns running the length of the tool, but some scientists have suggested that the groupings of the notches indicate a mathematical understanding that goes beyond counting.It is now believed to be more than 20,000 years old.
TheBantu expansionis thought to have reached modern day DRC as well as NorthernAngolaandZambiapossibly as early as 500 BC, and then gradually started to expand southward.
Their propagation was accelerated by the adoption ofpastoralismand ofIron Agetechnology. The people living in the south and southwest were  hunter-gatherer groups, whose technology involved only minimal use of metal technologies. The development of metal tools during this time period revolutionizedagricultureandanimal husbandry. This led to the displacement of thehunter-gatherergroups in the east and southeast.
The 10th century marked the final expansion of the Bantu in West-Central Africa.A rising population soon made intricate local, regional and foreign commercial nets possible, forming networks that traded mostly insalt,ironandcopper.
In the 5th century, a society began to develop in theUpemba depressionalong the banks of theLualaba RiverinKatanga. This culture, known as theUpemba, would eventually evolve into the more significantLuba Empire, as well as theKingdom of Lunda.
The process in which the primitive original Upemba society transitioned into the Luba kingdom was gradual and complex. This transition ran without interruption, with several distinct societies developing out of the Upemba culture prior to the genesis of the Luba. Each of these societies based the foundation of their society on that of the one which preceded it (much in the way that many aspects ofRomanculture were borrowed from theGreeks). The 5th century saw this societal evolution develop in the area around present dayKamilambaat theKabambasee, which was followed and replaced by a number of other cultures which were based around the cities ofSangaandKatango.
The region in which these cultures appeared is particularly rich inoreand these civilizations began to develop and implementironandcoppertechnology, in addition to trading inivoryand other goods. The Upemba established a strong commercial demand for their metal technologies and were able to institute a long-range commercial net (the business connections extended over 1500 km, all the way to theIndian Ocean). Additionally, the region was endowed with favorable agricultural conditions and a wealth offishand game.
Its strongeconomyand food-base allowed the region to become extremely wealthy. So wealthy, in fact, that cities and centralized government based on achieftainsystem developed. The political institution of the chieftain became generally accepted and these rulers became increasingly powerful, especially at the end of the 16th century.
Additionally, it must be mentioned that, as is this case today, theCongo Riverand its tributaries, as well asclimaticconditions in general, play a powerful role in shaping the lives of the inhabitants of the Congo. Theriversare and were tremendously important to regional trade and provide a vast natural network for such activities, in addition to providing a source of food and water to the population.
It must also be mentioned that the climate is a major force in the Congo, which is made up primarily oftropical rainforestthat sees some of the highest annual rainfall in the world. This high amount ofrainfallmakes it difficult to sustainagriculture, and subsequently a large population because thesoilis simply toowatered-downand prone to periodicfloodsto produce large quantities of food. For this reason, the population of the Congo has maintained a low population in addition to an extremely lowpopulation density.
Also, much has been made about the large number ofhunter-gatherergroups that inhabit the Congo, especially the Pygmy population. The reason for this particular life-style being so prominent in the Congo isgeographicaland climatic: the area is simply not capable of producing a large amount of food from agriculture, and as a result, a portion of the population has continued to hunt and gather because it is a much more sustainable way of life.
The Congo region was home to a wide array of ethnicities and communities and therefore differing spiritual and religious practices. Due to the scarcity in precolonial documentation the exact nature and dates of development of some of these practices remain elusive. The religions practised in precolonial Congo were as far as is known animistic in nature. They believed that places, objects and creatures could possess a spiritual essence and practised ancestral worship.
According to the religion practised by the Bakongo people the world is split into the world of the living and the world of the dead. Shamans known as Nganga can mediate between these two worlds. A specific characteristic of the Kongo religion is the so-called cosmogram. It is believed the highest god, next to other high gods, resides at the top of the world, the spirits and other deities living below, followed by the physical realm populated by humans and animals, with water existing in the middle where the two worlds meet.
When people die, their souls leave their bodies to travel to the realm of the dead, but can still be contacted or called upon by means of prayer. The dead talk to the living through dreams, omens or through shamans.
Similar characteristics are seen in the Baluba religion, where priests can also serve as intermediaries between the natural and supernatural world. The traditional religious beliefs of the Luba people included the concept of a Universal Creator, a Leza or the Supreme Being, a natural world and a supernatural world. The supernatural world was where ancestral spirits lived, and what one joined the afterlife if one lived a righteous life.
The Bakuba people from the Kingdom of Kuba believed in a single creator deity, named Bumba or m'Bombo. He is said to have originally existed alone in darkness, in a universe consisting of nothing but primordial water. The creation took place when he vomited the sun, moon, animals and then humanity.
The attitudes towards cannibalism in the Congo region varied significantly, with certain cultures practicing cannibalism in certain contexts while in other cultures cannibalism was either only practiced by certain individuals or shunned altogether and its practitioners dehumanized.
A personal indigenous first-hand account of ritualistic cannibalism can be found in the life story of Disasi Makulo, as written down by his son Akambu Makulo. Disasi, an indigenous traveller from the Eastern Congo region reported that upon his return to his native village after years of travel the villagers proposed a large feast in celebration of his arrival. They meant to take two slaves and have them slaughtered and served as part of the celebration meal.
The specific practice of sacrificing and consuming slaves could be found among other cultures as well, such as the Azande, Lufembe, Basongye, Batetela and Ngombe.The slaves were normally war captives, acquired through inter-communal warfare. These slaves could either be used for labour or human sacrifice, or sold in the Arab slave trade.Another type of cannibalism centered around the (partial) consumption of fallen enemies during conflict. This type of cannibalism was for instance practised by the Manyema,Bukusuand Basimbamilitias and slaves from Congo,Ugandaand Tanzaniaused by Arab slave traders like Tippu Tipp, who had claimed the Eastern Congo for himselfand Sultan Bargash bin Said el Busaidi.
The most infamous militia were the so-called Zappo Zap, a subgroup of the Basongye people. They had a habit of eating their fallen enemies, and were said to consider human meat a delicacy.These warrior cultures were also used by both the Leopoldian forces as well as the Arab slavers during the Congo-Arab war. During the 1892–1894 war between the Congo Free State and the Swahili-Arab city-states of Nyangwe and Kasongo in Eastern Congo, there were reports of widespread cannibalization of the bodies of defeated Arab combatants by the Batetela allies of Belgian commander Francis Dhanis.
After the defeat of the Arab slavers, many militias were incorporated into the colonial army of the Congo Free State, including the Zappo Zap. The African-american missionary William Henry Sheppard wrote an first-hand account of a Zappo Zap attack on a number of villages, including descriptions of cannibalism.
Although cannibalism was indeed practiced in the (eastern) Congo region, some of contemporary accounts were the result of exaggeration and miscommunication. Communities could use the accusation of cannibalism as a tool to dehumanize enemy tribes, and uncritical missionaries may have written down these second-hand accounts as truth. Certain Congolese cultures considered certain internal diseases as a form of cannibalism, as they believed an evil spirit was consuming the victim from the inside. When these people died, their bodies were put down at a safe distance from the village and cut open to examine the internal organs for irregularities. The combination of the word "cannibalism" and the eviscerated remains may have led missionaries with a poor understanding of local languages and racialised bias to prematurely conclude that these communities practised cannibalism.
By the 13th century there were three main confederations of states in the western Congo Basin. In the east were theSeven Kingdoms of Kongo dia Nlaza, considered to be the oldest and most powerful, which likely includedNsundi,Mbata,Mpangu, and possiblyKundiandOkanga. South of these wasMpembawhich stretched from modern-dayAngolato theCongo River. It included various kingdoms such asMpemba KasiandVunda. To its west across theCongo Riverwas a confederation of three small states;Vungu(its leader),Kakongo, andNgoyo.
The dominant political force of the Congo region prior to and during the initial arrival ofEuropeanswas theKingdom of Kongo. The Kongo was a state located primarily in the southwest portion of the modern Congo, and also occupying portions of northernAngolaandCabinda. At its greatest extent, the kingdom reached from theAtlantic Oceanin the west to theKwango Riverin the east, and from thePoint Noirein the north to theLoje Riverin the south.
The kingdom was headed by a king known as theManikongo, who exercised his authority over the sixprovincesthat constituted the Kongo kingdom and theBakongo(Kongo peoples). When the Kongo Kingdom was at its political apex in the 15th and 16th centuries, the King, who had to be a male descendant of Wene, reigned supreme.
He was elected by a group of governors, usually the heads of important families and occasionally including Portuguese officials. The activities of thecourtwere supported by an extensive system of civil servants, and the court itself usually consisted of numerous male relatives of the King.
The villages were often governed by lesser relatives of the King who were responsible to him. All members of government were invested with their power under the auspices of a ritual specialist. The Manikongo personally appointed a kind of governor for each of the six provinces to oversee each from his capital,Mbanza-Kongo. The city is now known by the same name as the capital of an Angolan province, but was for a time renamed by the Manikongo to 'São Salvador' in an effort to adopt Portuguese culture.
In its prime, the Kingdom exacted taxes, forced labor, and collected fines from its citizens in order to prosper. At times, enslaved peoples, ivory, and copper were traded to the Europeans on the coast. The most important harbor wasMpinda(modern Soyo). In addition to the six provinces, the Kongo kingdom also established asphere of influencein a number of outlying areas from which it was able to extracttribute.
The kingdom was also at the center of an extensive Central African trade network in which it traded and produced large quantities ofivory, as well as manufacturing copperware, raffia cloth, and pottery, along with othernatural resources(The eastern region of the Congo [such as the province ofKatanga] is particularly rich inmineralresources, especiallydiamonds). These trade goods would also form, in addition toslaves, the backbone of the Kongo's trade with Europeans (primarily thePortuguese), upon their arrival.
The aforementioned slave trade was to be a significant factor in bringing about the end of Kongo, as the elites of the kingdom allowed Europeanslave tradersto eliminate a significant percentage of the population.
When King Álvaro I, came to the throne in an environment of contestation in 1568, he immediately had to fight invaders from the east (who some authorities believe were actually rebels within the country, either peasants or discontented nobles) called the "Jagas". To do this, he had to enlist the aid of the Portuguese based at São Tomé, who sent an expedition under Francisco de Gouveia Sottomaior to assist. At the same time, however, Álvaro had to allow the Portuguese to establish a colony in his province of Luanda in the south of his country. Kongo provided the Portuguese with support in their war against the Kingdom ofNdongo, located in the interior east ofLuanda, when Portugal went to war with it in 1579. Eventually the Portuguese would gain control over most of the surrounding territory which led to increasing tensions with the Kongo.
At theBattle of Ambuilain 1665, the Portuguese forces fromAngoladefeated the forces of kingAntonio I of Kongo; Antonio was killed with many of his courtiers and the Luso-African authorManuel Roboredo, who had attempted to prevent this final war. Nevertheless, the country continued to exist, at least in name, for over two centuries, until the realm was divided amongPortugal,Belgium, andFranceat theConference of Berlinin 1884-1885.
The Luba Kingdom arose out of theUpembaculture and was founded byKing Kongoloaround 1585. His nephew and immediate,Kalala Ilunga, expanded into an Empire over neighbouring states on the upper left bank territories of theLualaba River.  At its peak, the empire had about a million people paying tribute to its king.
The Luba Empire's success was due in large part to its development of a form of a government durable enough to withstand the disruptions of succession disputes and flexible enough to incorporate foreign leaders and governments. It was based on the twin principles of sacred kingship and rule by council. TheLubamodel of governing was so successful, it was adopted by theLunda Kingdomand spread throughoutKatangaand northern Angola as well as northwesternZambiaand itsLuapula Province.
The birth of the Lunda Kingdom is traced back toIlunga Tshibindawho left his brother'sLuba Kingdomand married a princess from an area in the south of Katanga. Their son, Mwaant Yav orMwata Yamvoformed the central Lunda Kingdom there with a population of about 175,000 and became its ruler from 1660 to 1665. His title and name was passed to his descendants and successors as rulers of the kingdom.
The Lunda kings became powerful militarily and then politically through marriage with descendants of the Luba kings. TheLunda peoplewere able to settle and colonialize other areas and tribes, thus extending their empire through southwest Katanga intoAngolaand north-westernZambia, and eastwards across Katanga into what is now theLuapula Provinceof Zambia. The empire became a confederation of a number of kingdoms or chieftainships which enjoyed a degree of local autonomy (as long astributeswere paid), with Mwata Yamvo as paramount ruler, and a ruling council (following theLubamodel) to assist with administration.
In the 18th Century a number of migrations took place from the Lunda Empire as far as the region to the south ofLake Tanganyika. TheBemba peopleunderChitimukulumigrated from the Lunda Kingdom toNorthern Zambia. At the same time, a Lunda chief and warrior calledMwata Kazembeset up anEastern Lundakingdom in the valley of theLuapula River.
TheYeke Kingdom(or Garanganze Kingdom) inKatangawas short-lived, existing from about 1856 to 1891 under one king,Msiri, aNyamwezi(also known as 'Yeke') fromTaborainTanzaniawho got himself appointed as successor to a Wasanga chief west of theLuapula Riverby defeating the chief'sLundaenemies.
Once installed he conquered the neighbouring tribes and expanded the chieftainship into a kingdom, taking over the western territory ofMwata Kazembeand subjugating tribes in the southwest, on the trading route to Angola. When KingLeopold II of Belgiumand Britishdiamond magnateCecil Rhodesheard that the Yeke Kingdom controlled east-west trade and was rich incopperand possiblygold, they sent competing expeditions to try to negotiate a treaty with the kingdom.
TheStairs Expeditionsent by Leopold under the flag of hisCongo Free Statewas the winner of this scramble for Katanga when it met and killed Msiri (putting his head on a pole as a 'lesson' to his people), and installed a successor who would sign Katanga over to Leopold.The chieftainship continues to this day under the titleMwami Mwenda('Mwenda' was one of Msiri's names).
TheKuba Kingdom, or more accurately, the Kuba Federation, was a political entity (one comprising a collection of approximately twenty Bantu ethnic groups) that began to develop out of a number of decentralized, ethnically Bantu states (namely the Luba, theLeele, and theWongoethnic groups).
The federation's capital was Nsheng, which is now modern Mushenge. The name “Kuba” is derived from the term used by the Luba (whose kingdom lay to the south of the Kuba) for the civilization.
Because of its relative remoteness in the southern Congo, Kuba was largely spared the turmoil of bothEuro-AmericanandArab slave trades. As a result, the civilization was able to maintain itself until the 19th century. Also due mainly to its location, even afterKing Leopold II of Belgiumestablished theCongo Free Statein 1885, the Kuba were able to sustain their federation, which comprised some 100,000 square kilometers and had a population of approximately 150,000 inhabitants.
The Belgians began attempting to gain the acceptance of the Kuba in the early 1880s; however, the gifts Belgium attempted to give were always rejected and kingaMbweeky aMilengthreatened to behead any foreign intruders. As a result of their fear of white foreigners, it was not until theAfrican-AmericanmissionaryWilliam Sheppardmade contact with the Kuba that a foreigner would gain their acceptance. This was mainly due to his African blood and Sheppard was able to live amongst the Kuba for four months.
Eventually, after colonial officials were able to enforce their authority upon the Kuba near the end of the 19th century, the entire region became increasingly unstable. However, the well-organized Kuba fought relentlessly against the regime and the area was one of the main sectors of resistance to Belgium throughout its rule.
The Kongo and the Kuba were the largest political entities in the precolonial Congo area. However, there were numerous other, much smaller states scattered throughout the territory in the north and northeast, withPygmiesand other primarilyhunter-gathererpopulations located mostly in the southern portions of the region.
Of particular note is that the populations of the Eastern regions of the precolonial Congo were heavily disrupted by constant slaving, mainly fromZanzibarislave dealers such as the infamousTippu Tip(though he would come after the Europeans' entrance onto the scene). The slave trade in this portion of Africa was primarilyArabin nature (in contrast to the European orAtlantic Slave Trade, which took place primarily in West Africa, theArab slave tradewas located on the eastern coast of the continent), with captured persons being shipped off to theMiddle Eastor to holdings ofArabiankingdoms for labor.