Kazembe

also spelled Cazembe,

the largest and most highly organized of the Lunda kingdoms (see Luba-Lunda states) in central Africa, and the title of all its rulers. At the height of its power (c. 1800), Kazembe occupied almost all of the territory now included in the Katanga region of Congo (Kinshasa) and in northern Zambia. Apparently created about 1740 by an exploring party from western Lunda, the kingdom rapidly increased in size and influence through the conquest and annexation of neighbouring states. After 1850, however, disputed succession led to civil war, and the kingdom was finally destroyed about 1890 by attacks from eastern tribes.

During the existence of Kazembe there were nine kings with the name Kazembe. The greatest of these was Kazembe II, known as Kaniembo (reigned c. 1740–60), who conquered most of the territory that the kingdom eventually occupied, extending citizenship to those he conquered and establishing the complicated network of tribute and trade that held the vast kingdom together. His grandson, Kazembe IV, known as Kibangu Keleka (reigned 1805–50), encouraged contacts with Portuguese traders from Angola, and Kazembe became an important centre of trade between the peoples in the central African interior and the Portuguese and Arabs on the eastern coast.