African Kingdoms

Bandia of the Ubangi (Bandia Clan State) (Africa)

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The pre-history of Africa contains a far longer period of human habitation than any other area on Earth, thanks to it being the cradle of humankind's evolution. Much of this pre-history involves a great deal of uncertainty in which small windows of opportunity to view events can be gained through archaeology. Even more recent prehistory is shrouded in uncertainty, requiring analysis and archaeology to help define it.

The Bantu people originated in West Africa before they migrated across sub-Saharan Africa, generally helping to spread the African Neolithic as they went. The Bantu languages come from a proto-Bantu language which was spoken in the area of today's Cameroon. Bantu-speakers are part of the Niger-Congo language family which forms the largest branch of the Southern Bantoid group of languages.

Central Africa was poorly defined as a region until the creation of colonial-era territories in the eighteenth century. Before that at least parts of it appear to have been virgin territory, with no recent occupation. A collection of sultanates emerged across the area which today is partially covered by Central African Republic (or CAR) and to its north, but prior to that there was a period of almost two centuries of gradual, increasing movement into the area.

These people were generally Adamawa-Ubangi-speaking peoples such as the Banda (or Bandia) and the Zande-Nzakara (or Azande and Nzakara) in eastern CAR. They settled in largely stateless societies without hereditary or paramount chiefs. The Gbaya (including the Mandjia) in the centre and west of CAR, and the riverine peoples along the River Ubangi (or Oubangui) and River Mbomou in the south had no hereditary chiefs either.

Bantu peoples were also arriving from the west, with others approaching from the south. Others still, under pressure from the Ngombe, were arriving from the south-west. More Sudanese joined this melange a little later, driven out by the Shilluk and the Dinka of Bahr-el-Gazal. The initially-dominant Vou-Kpata were related to these two groups.

(Information by Peter Kessler, with additional information by Richard A Bradshaw & Juan Fandos-Rius, by Doctor Jean Kokide (University of Bangui), from Monographie du Dar-Kouti-Oriental, Edmond A J Boucher (Typescript, 1934, copied and updated from the original by Pierre Claustre), from Dar al-Kuti and the Last Years of the Trans-Saharan Slave Trade, Denis D Cordell (The University of Wisconsin Press, 1985), from Un ancien royaume Bandia du Haut-Oubangui, Eric de Dampierre (Plon, Paris, 1967), from Central African Republic, Pierre Kalck (Praeger Publishers, 1971), from Historical Dictionary of the Central African Republic, Pierre Kalck( Third Edition, Scarecrow Press, 2005), from Un explorateur du centre de l'Afrique, Paul Crampel (1864-1891), Pierre Kalck (L'Harmattan, Paris, 1993), from The New Atlas of African History, G S P Freeman-Grenville (Rex Collins, London, 1991), from Times Atlas of World History (Maplewood, 1979), and from External Links: Encyclopaedia Britannica, and Central African Republic (World Statesmen), and Anne Retel-Laurentin et les Nzakara, Jean-Noël Biraben (Cahiers d'Études Africaines, Vol 27, Notebook 105/106, Démographie Historique, 1987, pp 187-197, and available via JSTOR).)

fl c.1700

Chief of a Bandia clan state along the River Ubangi.

c.1700

Largely freshly-settled territory along the River Ubangi in what today is eastern Central African Republic (CAR) has been occupied during the seventeenth century by the Bandia people (related to the people of the later Nzakara state).

Along with the Bandia, the Zande, the Nzakara, the Bati, the Benge, and the Mbudjaare were all producers of small but highly-recognisable wicker shields which carried elaborate handle boards

These Bandia have been pushed westwards by Nilo-Hamitic Sudanese peoples, at least partially of the Funj sultanate which faces its own disruptions. The Bandia form a tribal state by about 1700. This is located along the River Ubangi - in effect making them the Bandia of the Ubangi - with Ngoungou as their first chief.

Bantu peoples have also been arriving from the west and south. Others, under pressure from the Ngombe, have been arriving from the south-west. More Sudanese join this mix a little later, driven out by the Shilluk and the Dinka of Bahr-el-Gazal.

The Vou-Kpata are originally from the north-east, with relations to the Shilluk and Dinka. In the eighteenth century they dominate a large part of later Nzakara country, and they begin to unite the region's disparate populations.

In the eighteenth century Central African Republic region the Azande were to be found in the Chinko or Singo valley and the Mbomou valley, which corresponds to the later sultanates of Rafaï and Zémio

fl c.1720s?

Son? Successor to the River Ubangi state chiefdom.

fl c.1740s?

Son? Successor to the River Ubangi state chiefdom.

fl c.1760s?

Son? Successor to the River Ubangi state chiefdom.

c.1760

Around this time, the Bandia under Ngoubéngué conquer a significant amount of territory between Ouellé and Mbomou. They organise various conquests and enter Zande territory, subduing the Vungara as they do so.

This period is said to have been marked by the reign of three sons of Ngoubéngué: Lezian, Ndounga, and Kassanga (originator of the Rafaï sultanate). According to tradition they depose Chief Nzakala Koudou, who abandons his throne to the Bandia to settle in the northern part of today's Yalinga region in central-eastern Central African Republic.

Lezian, the first son, and his descendants, Bangoy and Hilou, ruled over the Zande people in the southern part of this territory. They became 'Zande-ised', with their history becoming linked to that of the Zande. Their clan state is said to be located on the right bank of the Ouellé.

Bangui lies on the northern banks of the River Ubangi shown here, which serves in part to divide the modern states of Central African Republic and Democratic Republic of Congo, but in the eighteenth century was the home of several clan states

c.1780

Son. Founder of the Bandia state of Nzakara.

c.1780

Northern areas of Central Africa have recently become increasingly drawn into larger states, mainly sultanates which are influenced by Sudan and the sub-Saharan Islamic holdings. Ndounga oversees the creation of the Bandia clan state of Nzakara following a defeat of the former Nzakara overlords, the Vou-Kpata.