IMBANGALA

also spelled Mbangala, warrior group of central Angola in the early 17th century. The Imbangala, sometimes mistakenly identified with the Jaga, probably left the Lunda state of Shaba in the 15th century under a leader entitled kinguri. From their base in eastern Angola, they contacted the Portuguese on the coast in about 1563 and by the second decade of the 17th century had become allied to them in the slave trade. About 1618 the Imbangala established the kingdom of Kasanje between the Kwango and Kwanza rivers and became key intermediaries in the trade between the city of Luanda and the Lunda. Later an opponent of Portuguese penetration of the interior, Kasanje was finally overthrown militarily (191113).