Bayombe

Bayombe lies in the plateau country of eastern Kongo, where wooded uplands fall toward rivers and cultivated clearings. Its people were the Lele, also called Bashilele, who traditionally lived in the Kasai river region. Lele villages farmed cassava, maize and groundnuts in the clearings, and hunted in the forest for antelope and small game. Iron tools, cloth and salt moved between villages along the forest paths.

The Lele are closely related to the Kuba, whose kingdom developed on the Kasai and Sankuru rivers and was known for its elaborate woodcarving, cloth and royal court. Lele and Kuba communities traded and intermarried, and the authority of local chiefs rested on kinship, ritual and control of land.