Ndembo

Ndembo lies in the wooded hills northeast of Luanda, among the small chiefdoms known collectively as the Dembos. Their rulers, often bearing the title ndembo, governed Kimbundu-speaking communities and could be joined in loose alliances. These chiefdoms acknowledged the claims of larger powers such as Kongo, Matamba and Portuguese Angola, while retaining considerable autonomy. In the late seventeenth century Kahenda grew in influence among them as the power of neighbouring Mbwila declined.