Kulembe

Kulembe was an early polity of the Angolan highlands, lying south of Libolo and inland from Benguela, in country of grassland and woodland watered by the headstreams of the Longa, Kuvo and Ngango rivers. Its people farmed the valleys and herded cattle on the open ground, and villages were built on the higher, defensible ridges above the streams.

The name survives in Portuguese accounts and in the political traditions of neighbouring peoples. The title of the Libolo ruler, Hango dya Kulembe, recalls a link with this older authority. The kingdom's region was among the precursors of the Ovimbundu states that developed on the plateau in later centuries, and its rulers held power through alliances, tribute and the control of trade routes to the coast.