kingdom · Central and Southern Africa

Kingdom of Lundu

1590 CE – 1800 CE (approx.)

A Manganja kingdom of the lower Shire valley, a southern offshoot of the Maravi confederacy linked to the feared Zimba warriors.

Origins

The Lundu title was held by a branch of the Phiri ruling clan of the Kingdom of Maravi, which settled in the lower Shire valley among the Manganja. By the late 16th century the Lundu was a powerful independent ruler, and Portuguese writers associated him with the Zimba, warrior bands that attacked Portuguese posts on the Zambezi and coastal towns.

Rule and society

The Lundu controlled routes carrying ivory from the interior to the coast near Quelimane and Mozambique Island and drew tribute from Manganja chiefs. Religious authority was closely tied to the Mbona rain shrine at Khulubvi, a cult the Lundu dynasty is said to have taken over and reshaped.

Decline and legacy

The kingdom was brought back under Maravi overlordship by Kalonga Masula in the early 17th century and gradually lost power to chiefs and Afro-Portuguese prazo holders. By around 1800 it had broken up, and 19th-century Kololo and Yao incursions completed its decline.

Few sources survive for this state; details are uncertain.

Lineage

Kingdom of Maravi 1480 CE – 1720 CEKingdom of Lundu

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Cite this page
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Kingdom of Lundu. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/kingdom-of-lundu
MLA
“Kingdom of Lundu.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/kingdom-of-lundu. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Kingdom of Lundu.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/kingdom-of-lundu.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Kingdom of Lundu’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/kingdom-of-lundu (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻