Kasesi

Kasesi lies in northern Moxico, in the inland country of rivers, woodland and cultivated clearings. Farming, hunting and fishing drew on varied resources across the region, and the seasonal rains set the rhythm of planting and travel. Villages were spread along the streams, with fields cleared from the woodland around them.

Lunda political traditions reached parts of this broad interior, while communities kept their own institutions and leaders. Trade routes carried ivory, wax and captives through a chain of intermediaries toward the western markets. Portuguese claims on the coast did not at first produce direct rule over the interior, which remained a patchwork of chiefdoms with their own alliances.