Kingdom of Ndulu
The Kingdom of Ndulu[a] was an Ovimbundu kingdom in the central highlands of present-day Angola. It was one of several Ovimbundu kingdoms that developed in the region before and during the expansion of Portuguese rule. Its historical territory was associated with the area of modern Andulo, in Bié Province.
Kingdom of Ndulu Ombala ya Ndulu | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Status | Kingdom | ||||||
| Capital | Ndulu-Yolosima | ||||||
| Common languages | Umbundu Portuguese (minority) | ||||||
| Ethnic groups | Ovimbundu | ||||||
| Demonyms | Ndulu, Andulo, Ondulu, Onduran | ||||||
| Government | Absolute monarchy | ||||||
| |||||||
| Today part of |  Angola | ||||||
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Most of what is known about the early history of Ndulu comes from oral traditions recorded by historians and ethnographers. These traditions preserve accounts of royal genealogies, migrations and political relationships, but they do not provide a continuous chronology. As a result, the dates and sequence of some early events remain uncertain. Gladwyn Murray Childs's 1970 study of the chronology of the Ovimbundu kingdoms is one of the main sources used to reconstruct Ndulu's early history.[1]
History
Origins
Ndulu's origins are preserved in several Ovimbundu traditions. One tradition recorded by Childs connects the kingdom with the wider ancestral traditions surrounding Feti, a figure who appears in the origin stories of several peoples and kingdoms in the central Angolan highlands.[2]
Another tradition emphasizes the role of hunters in the establishment of Ndulu. Maria da Conceição Neto identifies Ndulu as one of the Ovimbundu kingdoms whose foundation traditions are associated with a hunter. In this tradition, Katekulu Mengo is described as an elephant hunter.[3]
According to the traditions recorded by Childs, Katekula Mengo and his wife, Ukungu, settled at a place called Ndulu-Yolosima. Their son, Cikolongonjo, later expanded the family's influence and became associated with the establishment of Ndulu as a kingdom.[2]
The details of these accounts vary between traditions. They are therefore generally used by historians as evidence of how the Ovimbundu remembered their origins and royal lineages, rather than as a precise record of events and dates.
The Ovimbundu kingdoms
Ndulu was part of a wider group of Ovimbundu kingdoms in the central Angolan highlands. There was no single centralized Ovimbundu state. Instead, the region was divided among a number of kingdoms, each with its own ruler and political traditions.
Among the kingdoms associated with this political system were Bailundo, Wambu, Viye, Ngalangi, Ciyaka, Cingolo, Sambu and Kalukembe. Their histories were closely connected, with traditions describing migrations, marriages, alliances and conflicts between ruling families.[1]
The boundaries of these kingdoms were not necessarily fixed. A ruler's authority could extend over settlements and communities whose relationship with the royal court changed over time. The territory traditionally associated with Ndulu should therefore not be treated as having the same kind of fixed borders as a modern state.
Portuguese expansion
Portuguese expansion into the interior of Angola increasingly affected the Ovimbundu kingdoms during the 18th century. Portuguese forces became involved in conflicts between the kingdoms and attempted to extend their influence into the central highlands.[4]
Ndulu was connected to the political struggles involving its neighboring kingdoms, particularly Bailundo. Childs's account places Ndulu within the wider network of Ovimbundu states affected by Portuguese military expansion during this period.[4]
The surviving evidence for Ndulu's relations with the Portuguese is limited, and some accounts are based on oral traditions recorded considerably later. Individual episodes should therefore be treated with caution unless supported by contemporary documentary evidence.
Geography
Historical Ndulu was located in the central highlands of Angola, in the region corresponding broadly to modern Bié Province. It is closely associated with the modern municipality of Andulo, although the boundaries of the present municipality do not necessarily correspond to those of the historical kingdom.
The central highlands were an important agricultural region and were connected to trading routes leading toward the coast and other parts of the Angolan interior. Ndulu's position placed it within the wider network of communities and kingdoms that developed in the highlands.[1]
Economy
The economy of Ndulu was based largely on agriculture, with hunting, livestock keeping and trade also playing important roles.
Hunting has a particularly prominent place in the kingdom's origin traditions. The story of Katekula Mengo as an elephant hunter reflects the wider importance of hunting in Ovimbundu traditions concerning the origins of political authority. Successful hunters could acquire wealth and followers, helping them establish influential settlements and ruling lineages.[2][3]
The wider Ovimbundu region was also involved in long-distance trade. Ivory and other products from the interior entered regional trading networks, although the precise role of Ndulu in these networks is difficult to establish from the surviving sources.
Rulers
The early succession of Ndulu is not completely known. Oral traditions preserve the names of several rulers, but the evidence is not sufficient to produce a complete list with reliable dates.
The traditions recorded by Childs include:
Katekula Mengo (also Katekulu Mengo), an elephant hunter associated with the origins of Ndulu. Cikolongonjo, the son of Katekula Mengo and Ukungu, who is traditionally associated with the establishment of Ndulu as a kingdom. Kakulukusu, traditionally identified by Childs as the sixth ruler of Ndulu. The succession between these figures is not sufficiently documented to establish a complete chronology.[1]
Historical significance
Ndulu was one of several kingdoms that made up the political landscape of the precolonial Ovimbundu highlands. Its history illustrates the importance of kinship, migration, hunting and warfare in the formation of political communities in central Angola.
Its foundation traditions are also useful for understanding how Ovimbundu communities remembered the origins of their ruling families. The association of Ndulu with an elephant hunter is similar to traditions found in the histories of other kingdoms in the region.[2]
The history of Ndulu is difficult to reconstruct in detail because the surviving evidence is uneven. Much of the early material was preserved orally and was recorded by researchers at different times. Different versions of the same tradition may therefore give different accounts of the kingdom's origins or royal genealogy.
Legacy
Ndulu remains associated with Andulo, a municipality in modern Bié Province. The kingdom is also remembered as part of the traditional history of the Ovimbundu and the central Angolan highlands.
Although Ndulu has received less attention in historical literature than kingdoms such as Bailundo and Wambu, it forms part of the same interconnected political history. The surviving traditions provide evidence for the relationships between the various Ovimbundu kingdoms and for the ways in which their communities understood their own origins.
See also
Ovimbundu Andulo Kingdom of Bailundo Kingdom of Viye Huambo Ngalangi
Notes
References
Bibliography
Childs, Gladwyn Murray (1970). "The Chronology of the Ovimbundu Kingdoms". The Journal of African History. 11 (2): 241–248. doi:10.1017/S0021853700009968. Childs, Gladwyn Murray (1949). Umbundu Kinship and Character: Being a Description of the Social Structure and Individual Development of the Ovimbundu of Angola. London: Oxford University Press. Neto, Maria da Conceição (2012). In Town and Out of Town: A Social History of Huambo (Thesis). SOAS, University of London.
See also
References
- Childs, Gladwyn M. (1964), "The Kingdom of Wambu (Huambo): A Tentative Chronology", The Journal of African History, vol. 5, no. 3, Cambridge University Press, pp. 367–379, doi:10.1017/S0021853700005077, JSTOR 179973