Odonga

Ondonga was a kingdom of the Ovambo people in the floodplain country north of Etosha. Its ruler, the omukwaniilwa, governed with the help of councillors. The kingdom belonged to a network of Ovambo communities whose long-distance trade reached Kaoko, Kavango, southern Angola and central Namibia. In Ondonga tradition, Oshamba is remembered as a place from which other Ovambo communities spread, though the histories of their settlement were more complex.

Royal traditions place Nembulungo lyaNgwedha among the early rulers of Ondonga in the seventeenth century. Later kings held their courts at different settlements: Nangombe yaMvula at Oshamba, and Nembungu lyAmutundu at Iinenge. Around 1820 Nangolo dhaAmutenya succeeded Nembungu; his reign is remembered as a time of greater unity, military strength and prosperity for Ondonga.

The later city of Oshakati lies here.