Mbanza Mpangu

Mbanza Mpangu was the seat of Mpangu, one of the eastern provinces of the Kongo kingdom. Like the other provincial mbanza, it was a chief's residence and a centre of authority, where the ruler, his attendants and their households were gathered. The eastern capitals lay in the fertile Inkisi valley, where settlements linked the Kongo heartland with neighbouring territories farther to the east of the kingdom.

Mpangu had once been a separate power. According to an account recorded in the late sixteenth century, it was first an ally of Kongo and was later conquered from Nsundi. Its incorporation formed part of the growth of a kingdom whose rulers governed through provincial authorities as well as their own court at Mbanza Kongo.