Zaire Non-Bantu-Speakers of the Northern Savannas and Forest
Fringe
Figure 9. Distribution of Principal Ethnic Groups
Source: Based on information from Jan Vansina, Introduction
a l'ethnographie du Congo, Kinshasa, 1966.
Northwestern and north-central Zaire, more specifically
the
subregions of Ubangi and Mongala in Équateur Region, have
been
occupied by speakers of the eastern section of the
Adamawa-Eastern
language family since their arrival in the seventeenth or
eighteenth century
(see
fig. 9). They are classed into
three major
ethnic groups, namely the Ngbandi, the Ngbaka, and the
Bandaspeaking groups (of which the Mbanja are the most
important).
Conflicts and migrations have dispersed these groups to
some
degree; the Mbanja in particular do not occupy a
contiguous
territory.
Northeastern Zaire, specifically in the subregion of
Bas-Uele
and the northern portions of Haut-Uele--both in
Haut-Zaïre--is
peopled by a heterogeneous group called the Zande, also
speakers of
the eastern section of the Adamawa-Eastern language
family. The
Zande are sometimes divided into two sections: to the
east, the
Vungara and to the west, the Bandiya. Each section has
taken its
name from the clan providing the ruling house in the areas
included
in it. The Vungara are the larger of the two, and the
following
sketch has been based on data from them.
The Zande emerged as a people in the eighteenth and
nineteenth
centuries when groups of hunters, probably divided into an
aristocracy called the Vungara and commoners called the
Mbomu,
penetrated the area and subjugated the Bantu-speaking and
AdamawaEastern -speaking peoples they found there. The dynamic of
the
conquest was influenced by the rules of succession to the
monarchy
among the Vungara. A man took his father's throne only
when he had
vanquished those of his brothers who chose to compete for
it. One
or more of the losing brothers, a prince or princes
without land or
people, then undertook to find and rule a previously
unconquered
people. This process continued through the nineteenth
century until
a large area and a wide assortment of peoples had been
dominated by
the Zande Vungara. The outcome was a rich mixture of the
cultures
of conqueror and conquered.
Most of the peoples speaking Central Sudanic languages
entered
the forest north and northeast of the Congo River basin.
The
Mangbetu and the Mamvu are the most important of these
groups. Like
the Zande, the Mangbetu established states incorporating
other
peoples and established distinctions between aristocrats
and
commoners. Also like the Zande, their influence extended
beyond
their realm to neighboring groups. The Mamvu, grouped by
one source
together with the Mangutu, Mvuba, and Balese into a larger
Mamvu
cluster, were characterized by small-scale political
units; the
Balese and the Mvuba are even said to have lacked chiefs.
In the far northeast, in the highlands area northwest
of Lake
Albert and bordered by Uganda and Sudan, live a collection
of
groups that speak languages from each of the four language
families
found in Zaire. In general, they traditionally constituted
smallscale polities based on a system of patrilineal descent
groups. The
one exception are the Alur, the only significant group in
Zaire to
speak an Eastern Sudanic language. The Alur, most of whom
live in
Uganda, erected fairly large-scale states but with a
simple
administrative structure. Chiefs were seen as primarily
religious
figures controlling rain and interceding with the
ancestors.
Politically, their main task was moderating and limiting
conflict
between lineages. Their fertility and peacekeeping roles
made them
attractive to neighboring groups and helped the Alur to
expand and
dominate the commoner groups. The indigenous people came
to think
of Alur chiefs as capable of putting a stop to
interlineage feuds
and invited nearby chiefs to send them a ruler. It was
largely in
this way rather than by conquest (as with the Zande and
Mangbetu)
that Alur chieftainship expanded.
In general, the peoples stretching from the far
northwest to
the far northeast stood on the sidelines during the
ethnically
based competition that characterized the independence and
postindependence periods. Remote from the chief urban
centers and
penetrated rather late by missions and modern education,
they have
only recently become engaged in the Zairian polity and
economy.
Although Mobutu is of Ngbandi origin, he is more commonly
seen in
Kinshasa and elsewhere as a man of Équateur Region, rather
than as
an ethnic Ngbandi or man of the far north.
Data as of December 1993
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