introduction
King Champa Bolongongo was not satisfied with reforms only in the material sphere. For humanitarian reasons, he forbade the use of flying knives, which made him a very famous figure in legends. He considered the weapon too destructive and proposed to replace it with javelins and arrows.
In 1709 Petro IV returned to his capital, but the "golden age" predicted by Madame Beatrice did not come. In the eighteenth century, no king was able to establish his authority, the idea of the unity of the kingdom faded, and the so-called "Roango-style" slave trade, which transported slaves to the seaports of Kapenda and Marangba (in the Portuguese enclave of Kapenda), intensified. In 1816, the British explorer Tucker went up the Congo River to the Great Falls. Soon after, thirteen of his own and twenty-nine companions died in the area.
The British explorer Tucker once pointed out that there were many independent small emirates in the Congo at that time, all claiming to belong to a mythical monarch. Three full centuries of missionary work after 1491 now leave only vague memories. But in the twentieth century, political or religious groups established among the Congolese (such as Abaco or Kibanggu) attested to the fact that these successors of the ancient Kingdom of the Congo, although they had no real sense of history, subconsciously remembered the great work accomplished by Alfonso I four centuries ago to improve the material and spiritual life of the people.
Kingdom of Kuba
The Kingdom of Kuba is a particularly interesting "subject" for scholars who study the history of black Africa before colonization. Not only in the Congo but also throughout Central Africa, only the Kuba have historians who are specifically responsible for collecting oral legends. The "Moaridi" in the court was specifically responsible for remembering legends about settling in the local area and the lineage of the royal family throughout the ages. In addition, the carvings and ornaments of the Kuba people have reached an unusual level, and their works are valued by museums.
If the masks, drums, fat powder boxes and wine glasses they made can be compared with the works of art from other countries in the Congo, the statues of those kings are unique in the Congo, and their naturalistic style reaches the level of a truly classical work, and only the bronzes produced by The Nigerian Yffe in the whole of Black Africa can match. Moreover, this distinctive tribe was fortunate enough to receive enthusiastic research from the Hungarian anthropologist Tolday in 1907 (i.e., before the earliest stages of contact with European civilization, when belgians established formal rule in 1910).
Tordei was so excited to discover exquisite artifacts in central Africa, which was known for its "primitiveness and barbarism" at the time, so he probably introduced the local legends he heard with elements of many personal imaginations. Van Sinar's research differs by ten centuries from the chronology established by Tordei, who dated the founding of the kingdom to the beginning of the seventeenth century. This may be a bit overkill. We know that the artifacts excavated in the Luba area of Lake Kisar, identified by the carbon-14 dating method, show very accurately that bronze artifacts (8th to 9th centuries) existed in Katanga a long time ago.
Performance during the reign of Champa Bolongongo
What Tordet called Chamba Bolongonggo, Van Sinar called Shaam Mübl Ngonge. Both authors agree that his reign was the first twenty years of the seventeenth century. But Van Sinar considered him the founding monarch, while Tordei said he was the ninety-third king, a dynasty that probably began in the fifth century. In any case, he remained among the Kuba people as a prominent innovator. It is said that he was the first to spread corn and tobacco to the local area (these plants were not originally found in Africa, but were brought by slave ships). It is said that he learned about these two plants on a trip to the Kwango River Valley in the eastern part of the Kingdom of Congo. Corn was so popular with the Kuba that it became their main food, with the result that their population growth was much faster than before.
In addition, Champa Bolongogo saw the Pound weave objects from Rafila palm fibers and taught these techniques to his subjects. He also taught him the art of sculpture. He was the first to make those famous statues of kings that came to life. His own statue is preserved in the Museum of London, the oldest surviving work of art in Central Africa; the statues of his successors are almost all preserved in the Tylburien Museum near Brussels. It was also during this king's reign that the Kuba people developed a love of wood carving. But this great king was not content with reforms only in the material sphere.
For humanitarian reasons, he forbade the use of flying knives, which made him a very famous figure in legends. He considered the weapon too destructive and proposed to replace it with javelins and arrows. His orders were so strictly observed by the people that when Torday traveled to the Congo (1907), only the king (then known as Nimi) himself remembered the style of the weapon and drew it on the sand. Of course, this reform does not mean that Champa Borrongo is in favour of the absence of violence. He established a system of authentic military service and organized an army. In addition, a much more complicated royal etiquette than before, presumably formulated by him.
Successor of Chamba Bolongongo
The successor of Champa Bolongogo was not as prestigious as he was. But Bungo Lange and Bombohi expanded the kingdom's territory and had a standing army of slaves from neighboring countries. The reign of Bocamar Bomanchara (whom Tordet considers to be the ninety-eighth monarch) is well known because according to oral legend there was a solar eclipse at that time, which was determined by astronomers to be March 30, 1680. It was on this date that Tordei set his full year representation. At the end of the seventeenth century, Luba warriors invaded the kingdom.
In the eighteenth century, the Kubas seemed to have greatly increased their trade with their neighbours; their merchants used land and water transportation to reach the settlements of the Shokwe and Ovimbundu people around Ronda (in present-day Angola). To the east they reached Katanga. In the nineteenth century, a comet appeared in 1843, thus identifying Bopp. During Möbanez's reign, he was rumored to be a tyrant who was ruthless and ruthless toward his enemies. When the German explorer Ludwig Wolff (a member of the Westmann expedition) met him in 1885, he was an old man. The last Quba monarch to which Tordet refers was Guart Peshanga Kna, who fought against the Belgians in 1904 to defend the country's independence, but was soon forced to surrender.
The organization of the Kingdom
The organization of the kingdom was praised by Tordei and recounted in detail, and it was taken for granted. As in most countries of Black Africa, the king himself was sacred and had a complex set of rituals for him. The king's feet could not touch the ground, and there could be no woman in front of him when eating. When the king sneezed or coughed, the attendants around him had to make the same exaggerated gestures. The king had no right to bleed his wounds and therefore could not command his troops in wartime. The empress dowager and the king's sisters played an important role because the throne was passed down from mother line to mother. Empress Wang is the second most important person in the kingdom.
A Privy Council consisting of six high-ranking officials tempered the absolute power of the king, including the "Treasury Minister" who received tribute and the "judge who tried crimes of wounding people with sharp blades", called Nibito. Four other high-ranking officials also served as governors of the kingdom's four provinces. Their titles were Kimicombe (i.e. Prime Minister and Justice), Teshikala, Eponchula and Nyanga. The members of the Privy Council were chosen from the Mbala clan of the royal family, but other clans of the kingdom could also be represented at the court: the Tewa, who belonged to the dwarf race, various groups of craftsmen (weavers, blacksmiths, etc.), and even men with twins could be represented.
The Kubas, proud of their history and civilization, have until now adhered to their artistic traditions and the political and religious ideas they had evolved. To the civilization of the twentieth century, they accepted only its technical and economic parts. Their craftsmen have always had dexterous craftsmanship, but for many years these people have been unable to create ingenious creations, but only to imitate previous finished products, and their religious significance has become increasingly incomprehensible. Strangely enough, although the civilization of the Qubas is higher than that of most Congolese tribes, the Kubas are in danger of falling prey to their own civilization because of their conservative thinking and difficulty adapting to new forms of life.
epilogue
The Kuba call themselves the Busoçons, meaning flying knife people; Kuba means lightning, which is the name given to them by the Luba people who are adjacent to them because they are intimidated by these famous pine cones, that is, flying knives. Bungo Lange and Bomboch expanded the kingdom's territory and had a standing army of slaves from neighboring countries. In the nineteenth century, a comet appeared in 1843, thus identifying Bopp. During Möbanez's reign, he was rumored to be a tyrant who was ruthless and ruthless toward his enemies. The Kubas, proud of their history and civilization, have until now adhered to their artistic traditions and the political and religious ideas they had evolved.