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Also known as Cimbangala, Imbangala

The Imbangala or Mbangala were divided groups of warriors and marauders who worked as hired mercenaries in 17th-century Angola and later founded the Kasanje Kingdom. They served both the Portuguese Empire and its regional enemies at different periods.

Wikidata facts

Instance of
ethnic group
Country
Angola
Show 1 more fact
different from
Bangala

via Wikidata · CC0

~8 min read

Encyclopedic overview

7 sections
Contents
  • Origins
  • Lifestyle and customs
  • Weapons and tactics
  • Relations with Portuguese
  • Later fate
  • References
  • External links

The Imbangala or Mbangala were divided groups of warriors and marauders who worked as hired mercenaries in 17th-century Angola and later founded the Kasanje Kingdom. They served both the Portuguese Empire and its regional enemies at different periods.

==Origins== The Imbangala were people, possibly from Central Africa, who appeared in Angola during the early 17th century. Their origins are still debated. There is general agreement that they were not the same Jagas that attacked the Kingdom of Kongo during the reign of Alvaro I.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Mbangala” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.