THE BANTU ORIGINS AND DISPERSAL

There are about 600 different Bantu languages on the African continent. Linguistic and
archaeological evidence has been used to explain the origin of these languages. “Bantu” is
simply a linguistic, and not a cultural term.

In 1851, Wilhelm Bleek, a German undertook a study of African languages in South Arica.
During this study he coined the term Bantu. This then marked the beginning of the study of
Bantu linguistics. The study dealt with the origins, migration, expansion, dispersals of these
languages. These studies continued to the 1960s for a grand synthesis concerning the spread o
Bantu languages. The studies encompassed the spread of metallurgy, permanent settlement,
displacement of hunter-gatherer societies, the beginning of farming and pottery.

Various types of scholars studies Bantu languages. Among these were:

1. Linguists
1.1 Joseph Greenberg studied African languages in the 1950s. He classified them into
four major groups. These being: Khoisan, Nilo-Sahara, Niger-Congo, and Afro-
Asiatic. Bantu languages are a sub-group of the Niger-Congo family. Greenberg
concluded that the cradle of the Bantu lay in south-eastern Nigeria – between the
forest and savannah margins. His study showed that some of the proto-Bantu
people moved west while others went east or south. Among reasons advanced for
this movement was the drying up of the Sahara area into a desert.
1.2 Malcom Guthrie agreed with Greenberg in saying that Bantu languages were
spoken over a vast area and were closely related. However, he disagreed with
Greenberg on the question of origin. To him, the original Bantu came from the
Katanga region. For his research, Guthrie worked with related words in different
languages while Greenberg examined words that were common in various
languages. What we learn from these studies, although contradicting each other, is
that they are talking about two different stages of development of Bantu
languages.
2. Historians - led by Roland Oliver, historians knew that linguistic data provides a
record of movements, cultural and ethnic affiliations which can be traced to far back
by correlating it with archaeological analysis. Unfortunately, using archaeological
data brought problems because archaeologists were not impressed with Roland’s
work.
3. Archaeologists – David Phillipson and Tom Huffman argued that linguists had seen
some form of correlation between certain early pottery industries with certain Bantu
words. For this, they used the example of what it means “to mould pottery” in
different Bantu languages to illustrate this argument:

Gabon (Poun language) = bumba

Tanzania = kuumba
DRC = ko.bomba
 Zambia (Tonga + Bemba) = kubumba
Botswana (Tswana) = bɅga

Causes of the Bantu Migration

The Bantu must have begun leaving Benue region in West Africa around 2000 BC. A
number of reasons have been advanced for this phenomenon, including the following;
o Increasing agricultural lifestyle. As more and more people adopted farming,
they need more land for cultivation.
o Overpopulation. Increased food production brought about a growth in
population. This pushed people out of the original habitat to look elsewhere
for land to sustain their livelihoods.
o The drying up of the Sahara region into a desert made locals to migrate into
lands which were fertile.

According to Phillipson, the movement of the Bantu from Benue was in two phases. The first
phase started in the Cameroun highlands. People had knowledge of agriculture (cattle and
sheep rearing) and started moving east and southwards. Others migrated into the Congo
forest. Part of this group also went east up to the Indian ocean coast.

The second phase included the eastern group which turned southwards up to the Kalambo
Falls area where they met the other group that had used the forest.

The end result was that the two groups met during the first millennium AD. The population
grew leading to an Iron Age culture. Another migration thus started from the Congo going
southwards up to South Africa. This synthesis is found in a 1977 publication ‘The Spread of
the Bantu Language’, Scientific American, 236, 4 (April 1977), 106-114.

Renowned historian Jan Vansina disputed the Phillipson’s synthesis especially on the
movement. He questioned the rapidity with which this movement was said to have taken
place. His argument is that the migration must have been happening slowly.

Most of Zambia’s ethnic groups are direct descendants of the Bantu groups which had settled
in the Congo, and migrated southwards after 1600 AD. It is to this discussion that the next
lectures will now turn to. The focus of the discussion shifts to the rise and development of
two vital kingdoms the Lunda and Luba kingdoms which are responsible for origin of many
of Zambia’s ethnic groupings.
 THE LUBA KINGDOM

References

Jan Vansina, Kingdoms of the Savanna.

Ndaywele Nziem, ‘The Political System of the Luba and Lunda: Its Emergence and
Expansion’, in B.A. Ogot (ed.)., General History of Africa, vol. 5.

Origin and Establishment

The oral tradition of the Luba start with a figure called Kongolo who with his followers, came
into the Congo from the north. These people are believed to have been Songye by name. Jan
Vansina states that their migration could have happened around 1500AD. Kongolo then
married the female rule of the local Kalundwe people whom he found living near the
Lubilashe river. Control over trade goods and rare food stuffs like salt and palm oil and the
consequent fighting seems to have played an important role in the development of the
kingdom, and in the establishment of chiefly power. The demand for these goods rose
because of a steady growth of population and also because of the limited availability of these
products. In their search for these goods, the new of chiefs subdued surrounding groupings
and incorporated them into the kingdom.

Through tribute and tax, these goods were then obtained from the population. In this way,
wealth was concentrated in the hands of the king and his court. The king’s wealth and
leadership position made him to control and develop trade. The trade links with outlying
areas provided for the increasing demand for goods like salt, palm oil, metal ore, etc. Also
raiding was a common practice to obtain these goods. Chieftainship or kingship came about
to provide a controlling and regulating force for these changes.

The capital of the Luba kingdom was established more to the east at a place called Mwibele
near Lake Boya. Early in the 16th century, a Kunda group from the north-east led by Mbili
Kiluhe arrived in the country. Later, Mbili Kiluhe married two sisters of the reigning
Kongolo. One of the wives bore him a son who was named Kalala Ilunga. Kalala Ilunga
became a very successful warrior and when the time came for him to succeed as king, he
demanded his rights. Fighting soon broke out between him and other relatives of Kongolo.
However, Kalala was victorious. He became king of the Luba people. He continued
expanding the kingdom and its organisation was developed further. He was succeeded by his
son Ilunga Walwefu by about 1600 AD. This forced hi second son Kibinda Ilunga to leave
the kingdom for Lunda land.

THE LUNDA KINGDOM OF MWATA YAMVO

References

Jan Vansina, Kingdoms of the Savanna.

Ndaywele Nziem, ‘The Political System of the Luba and Lunda: Its Emergence and
Expansion’, in B.A. Ogot (ed.)., General History of Africa, vol. 5.

Origin and Establishment

The Lunda occupied the area to the west of the Bushimai River and were organized as a small
chiefdom. A Luba prince Kibinda Ilunga arrived here with his followers after his brother had
been given the Luba kingship. Kibinda now wanted to establish his own kingdom. The news
of trade goods to the west and the desire to gain wealth and independence might have led to
the migration. Kibinda Ilunga married the female ruler of the Lunda people called Lueji, and
consequently assumed leadership over the people. This was to the discontent of Lueji’s
brothers who left the area to establish themselves in today’s north-western province of
Zambia as chiefs Musokantanda and Kanongehsa. However, Lueji bore Kibinda no children.
He therefore married another woman Kamango who bore him a son, Lusengi. In turn Lusengi
succeeded his father on his death.

Later Lusengi was succeeded by his son Naweji. It was Naweji who would use the title of
Mwata Yamvo for the first time. It meant “Lord of the Viper” or “Master of Wealth”. Under
the rule of these two early kings, the kingdom would expand rapidly southwards and
westwards beyond the Kasai River. The organisation was also expanded. During the reign of
Naweji, with the Imbangala as middlemen, trade contacts with the Portuguese were
established on the Atlantic Ocean coast. A new range of products became available and
highly increased the strength and prestige of the king. Goods like cloth, guns, and important
new crops like cassava and maize were also introduced. The slave trade increased, too. These
developments would have a profound effect on the development of central Africa. Naweji
was succeeded by Muteba under whose reign the first Mwata Kazembe left towards the
Lualaba River into Zambia in about 1680 to set up a kingdom in the Luapula Valley.