Ambundu

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Ethnic map of Angola, settlement area of ​​the Ambundu is marked in light brown

The Ambundu are an ethnic group in Angola who essentially settle in a wide strip of land that includes the capital Luanda and stretches east to the province of Malanje . Their language is the Kimbundu , their self-designation occasionally Akwambundu , rarely Akwakimbundu ("We Mbundu "). Ethnographically they are often referred to as "northern Mbundu", in contrast to the Ovimbundu of Central Angolas , the "southern Mbundu". In terms of numbers, they currently represent about a quarter of the population of Angola. Their most important subgroups are (from west to east) the Luanda, the "real" Ambundu, the Kissama, the Dembo (Ndembu), the Ngola, the Bangala (Imbangala), the Songo, the Chinje, the Minungu and (to the south) the Libolo and Kibala.

origin

Around the middle of the last millennium there were on the one hand various political units ("kingdoms") of the Ambundu, above all the kingdom of Ndongo , on the other hand some of them belonged to the Congo Empire . Very early on they came into contact with the Portuguese "bridgehead" Luanda, which existed as a kind of enclave from the 15th to the 19th century and had various connections to its hinterland. As a result, there was soon "urbanized" Ambundu and the Portuguese language and culture (including writing) began to spread beyond Luanda. Until the 19th century, parts of the Ambundu were actively involved in the slave trade , where people from what is now Eastern Angola went to Brazil and z. T. Central America were sold.

Colonial times

From the middle of the 19th century, the Ambundu gradually came under the control of the Portuguese colonial state, which was formed by Luanda - and the second "bridgehead", Benguela - from the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century, which is now Angola Took possession. Their “cultural assimilation” was therefore the most advanced of all ethnic groups during the colonial period. a. expressed in it that even then a number of “western” intellectuals emerged from their ranks.

Cultural assimilation was only possible in this intensity because the Ambundu invariably converted to Christianity in that phase. Portuguese and Spanish missionaries worked for the Catholic Church in the entire settlement area of ​​the Ambundu from the 19th century . During the same period, the Methodist Church , based in Great Britain and the USA, gained a foothold there, advocating the preservation and further development of the Kimbundu, strengthening the social identity of the Ambundu and becoming a kind of informal spokesman for this ethnic group.

At the same time, however, the Ambundu in the rural areas also had to endure all the pressure of a colonial system that intensified especially from the 1920s onwards. In part of their area, the Baixa de Cassanje , they were even forced to cultivate cotton, a practice that was otherwise not used in Angola.

Anti-colonial resistance and late colonial developments

As a result, from the mid-1950s onwards, anti-colonial resistance was articulated among the Ambundu and the mixed-race population of Luanda associated with them. This was reflected in an unorganized "peasant uprising" in the Baixa de Cassanje in 1961 and the storming of the central prison in Luanda.

In the following period, the MPLA , one of three independence movements that emerged in the 1950s and 1960s, found its support primarily among the Ambundu. In their settlement area, specifically in the south of the Cuanza Norte province , the MPLA set up its first guerrilla base in Angola, which, however, was only able to develop little activity. In the underground, however, the MPLA built a network of cells and sympathizers throughout the Ambundu area, but above all in Luanda.

At the same time, the Ambundu more than any other ethnic group used the opportunities that opened up in Angola in the late colonial period 1961–1974, when the indigenous statute that had been in effect up until then was repealed and all residents of Angola were declared equal citizens of Portugal. The Ambundu took full advantage of the school education opportunities opened up by the 1962 reforms. They used with great success every available opportunity to find jobs (mostly at the lower and middle level) in the then expanding public service and in state-owned companies, at the same time within the military and within the Catholic and Methodist Churches. In both churches, Ambundu achieved the rank of bishop before independence.

Decolonization conflict and civil war

When Portugal announced its intention to withdraw from its colonies at the beginning of 1974, a conflict broke out among the rival independence movements MPLA , FNLA and UNITA , which not least caused considerable damage to the Ambundu. Heavy fighting took place in Luanda and north and east of the capital, especially immediately after its outbreak. The MPLA's assertion here was largely thanks to the (often improvised) military units it recruited from Ambundu. A spontaneous “urban guerrilla” from young Ambundu played a part in the eviction of FNLA and UNITA from Luanda. The troop units that were then deployed in the rest of the country on the part of the MPLA were largely composed of Ambundu. All of this led to a clear identification with the independent Angola, which was proclaimed by the MPLA in 1975. In the development recorded here, there was a close alliance between the Ambundu and the relatively numerous mongrel population in Luanda; A number of Angola Portuguese took part in this, mostly younger people with better schooling.

present

The Ambundu now live to a large extent, probably predominantly in cities, not only in the city and province of Luanda and the partially urbanized areas of the neighboring province of Bengo , but also in Malanje and Ndalatando and smaller towns such as Ambriz , Ambrizete , Caxito and Dondo .

See also

literature

  • David Birmingham, Trade and Conflict in Angola: The Mbundu and their Neighbors Unter the Influence of the Portuguese, 1483-1790 , Oxford: Clarendon, 1966
  • Joseph Miller, Kings and Kinsmen: Early Mbundu States in Angola , Oxford: Clarendon, 1976

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ José Redinhs, Etnias e culturas de Angola , Luanda: Instituto de Investigação Científica de Angola, 1975
  2. ↑ See Joseph Miller, Slaves, slavers and social change in nineteenth century Kasanje , in: Franz-Wilhelm Heimer , Social Change in Angola , Munich: Weltforum Verlag, 1973, pp. 9-30.
  3. ↑ A detailed reconstruction of these events and their roots can be found in John Marcum, The Angolan Revolution , Volume I, The Anatomy of an Explosion (1950-1962) , Cambridge / Mass. & London: MIT Press, 1969.
  4. ↑ See John Marcum, The Angolan Revolution , Volume II, Exile Politics and Guerrilla Warfare (1962-1976) , Cambridge / Mass. & London, MIT Press, 1978
  5. ↑ See Elisete Marques da Silva, Condicionamentos sócio-culturais da escolarização nas zonas suburbanas de Luanda , Luanda: Missão de Inquéritos Agrícolas de Angola, 1972; dies., Social conditions of school attendance and achievement of minors in suburban Luanda: a preliminary test of some hypotheses , in: Franz-Wilhelm Heimer (ed.), Social Change in Angola , Munich: Weltforum Verlag, 1973, p. 193– 210; this., O papel societal do sistema de ensino na Angola colonial, 1926-1974 , Revista Internacional de Estudos Africanos (Lisbon), 16/17, 1992–1994, pp. 103–130 (reprinted in Kulonga (Luanda), special issue 2003 , Pp. 51–82)
  6. ↑ See Franz-Wilhelm Heimer & Elisete Marques da Silva, Political Development and Situation of the Catholic Church in Post-Colonial Angola , Freiburg i.Br .: Arnold Bergstraesser Institute, 1983
  7. ^ See Franz-Wilhelm Heimer , Der Entkolonisierungskonflikt in Angola , Munich: Weltforum Verlag, 1979