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The Luba Empire. The Luba empire (c. 1585-1889) dominated the savanna woodlands of what is now the southeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, and its model of sacred kingship shaped political life across a vast region. Luba tradition traces the state to a hero named Nkongolo, a cruel red-skinned king, who was overthrown by the hunter Mbidi Kiluwe from the east; their story, told in epic cycles, explained the origin of Luba kingship, in which power was legitimized by sacred blood and royal spirits called bopwe.
Around 1585 the Luba king Kongolo's successors, and then the great conqueror Kalala Ilunga, expanded the state from its heartland near the Lualaba and Lomami rivers. At its height the empire stretched hundreds of kilometers, held together by a court of titleholders, provincial governors drawn from the royal clan, and a system of tribute in salt, iron, copper, ivory, and labor. Luba prestige was so great that the founders of neighboring states, including the Lunda empire to the south, claimed kinship with the Luba royal line.
The empire faced new pressures in the nineteenth century. Swahili-Arab traders from the East African coast pushed deep into the interior seeking ivory and slaves, and Luba provincial chiefs gained power at the center's expense. From the 1860s the state fragmented as rival princes fought for the throne and outside raiders armed with guns destabilized the countryside. By 1889 the last effective Luba king had lost control, and the empire dissolved into warring chiefdoms that fell to Swahili warlords and then to the Congo Free State.
The Luba empire left a deep mark on Central Africa. Its language became a lingua franca of the region, its royal titles and symbols were borrowed far beyond its borders, and its art, especially its sculpted stools, bow stands, and female figures embodying royal spirit mediums, is counted among the masterpieces of African art. The very idea of sacred kingship in the southern savanna carried the Luba imprint for centuries.
Metropolitan Museum of Art: The Luba and Lunda Empires
Britannica: Luba-Lunda States
Encyclopaedia Africana: Luba Empire
Wikipedia: Luba Empire