Ambundu

The Ambundu, or Mbundu, are a matrilineal Bantu people of the high plateau north of Angola's Kwanza River, around Luanda, whose ancestors arrived chiefly between the thirteenth and sixteenth centuries. They speak Kimbundu, and their leading kingdom was Ndongo, whose ruler bore the title Ngola, from which Angola takes its name.

When Ndongo challenged Kongo's monopoly on Portuguese trade, war ended in a Bakongo defeat in 1556 and Ndongo's independence; a later alliance with Matamba against Portugal was crushed in 1614. Queen Njinga, an Ngola's daughter, withdrew to Matamba and built it into the region's strongest state and slave exporter.

Ambundu captives made up a large share of the Atlantic slave trade, and Mbundu were among the first Africans landed in Virginia in 1619. Portuguese armies subdued Matamba in 1836, though highland control remained weak for decades.