Long Distance Trade and the Luba Lomani Empire

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Periodical article

Title:	Long Distance Trade and the Luba Lomani Empire
Author:	Wilson, Anne
Year:	1972
Periodical:	The Journal of African History
Volume:	13
Issue:	4
Pages:	575-589
Language:	English
Geographic term:	Congo (Democratic Republic of)
Subjects:	history Luba polity long-distance trade Peoples of Africa (Ethnic Groups) History and Exploration
External link:	https://www.jstor.org/stable/180755
Abstract:	The expansion of Luba Lomami is generally considered to have occurred in the early 18th century. Severe structural deficiencies inhibited its further expansion and, in the mid-19th century, caused it to disintegrate, Suggested here however is that the expansion of Luba Lomarni did not occur until the late 18th or early 19th century. Principal motive for further expansion was the need to capture new sources of ivory and, to a lesser extent, slave-yielding lands. Luba Lomami's success can be attributed to its proximity to the Bisa trade route, its relatively centralized political structures, the availability of viable areas of expansion, and the existence of suitable mechanisms to incorporate the conquered chiefdoms. In about 1870 the terms of the long-distance trade turned against Luba Lomami. External pressure weakened the political structures. The empire disintegrated and, in about 1890, the rump of the state became tributary to the trader-state of Msiri. Notes, map, summary.