kingdom · Central and Southern Africa
Yeke Kingdom
Origins
Msiri, a Nyamwezi trader from western Tanzania, arrived in Katanga around 1856. By backing local factions against the Kingdom of Kazembe and the Luba Empire, he made himself ruler, with his Yeke followers as the core of a new state centred on Bunkeya.
Rule and society
Msiri's kingdom, known as Garanganze, controlled copper mines and caravan routes to both the Atlantic and Indian Ocean coasts. Ovimbundu and Swahili traders brought guns and cloth in exchange for ivory, copper and slaves. Msiri ruled through relatives, chiefs and warbands; the missionary Frederick Arnot settled at Bunkeya in 1886.
Decline and legacy
In December 1891 Msiri was shot by Captain Omer Bodson of the Stairs Expedition, sent by the Congo Free State. Katanga passed to the Free State, and his successor Mukanda-Bantu became a subordinate chief.
Lineage
On the connections map
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- Yeke Kingdom was conquered by Congo Free State1891 CE
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Cite this page
- APA
- The Epoch Institute. (2026). Yeke Kingdom. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/yeke-kingdom
- MLA
- “Yeke Kingdom.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/yeke-kingdom. Accessed .
- Chicago
- The Epoch Institute. “Yeke Kingdom.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/yeke-kingdom.
- Harvard
- The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Yeke Kingdom’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/yeke-kingdom (Accessed: ).
Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻