Kasanje Kingdom

The Kasanje Kingdom (1620–1910), also known as the Jaga Kingdom, was a Central African state. It was formed in 1620 by a mercenary band of Imbangala, which had deserted the Portuguese ranks. The state gets its name from the leader of the band, Kasanje, who settled his followers on the upper Kwango River. The Kasanje people were ruled by the Jaga, a king who was elected from among the three clans who founded the kingdom.

History
In the 1650s the intellectuals of Kasanje developed a largely fiction history that sought to give meaning and stability to the state. This history claimed a Zimbo and Tendo Andumba, and their daughter Tendo Anduma as the founding force of the nation.

By the 1650s Kasanje had been making war with many of its neighbors for quite some time. These included Queen Nzinga of Ndongo and Matamba, and also areas called Lubolo, Beebe, Haku and Sango.

Kasanje also had relations with the Yaka Kingdom of the Yaka people. Nbangu a Kutana kwa Mbuku, whose father was the King of Yaka, was for a time a prisoner in Kasanje but later was freed and established more peaceful relations between the states.

In the 1650s Kasanje had six major languages as a result of recent conquests. The conquests continued in this decade with significant taking of areas in Bembe in 1657.

On the south Kasanje bordered a domain called Muzumbu a Kalungu which controlled an area between the Kwanza River and the headwaters of the Cunene River. It appears that Kasanje captured some of the territory of Muzumbu a Kalungu.

There were many Portuguese merchants who operated in Ksanje by the 1650s.

In 1680, the Portuguese traveller António de Oliveira de Cadornega estimated the kingdom had 300,000 people, of whom 100,000 were able to bear arms. However, it is noted that this claim may be exaggerated. The kingdom of Kasanje remained in a constant state of conflict with its neighbours, especially the kingdom of Matamba, then ruled by queen Nzinga Mbande. The Imbangala state became a strong commercial center until being eclipsed by Ovimbundu trade routes in the 1850s. Kasanje was finally incorporated into Portuguese Angola in 1910–1911.

List of kings of Kasanje
The kings of Kasanje are listed below based on a compilation of several different contemporary king lists by Joseph C. Miller.

Location
Kasanje is located on the upper Kwango River in what is now Angola.