Month: September 2026

The Lunda Mwadi: Queen Mother and Guardian of the Lunda Empire’s Royal Lineage

| Queen Mothers & Royal Offices |

The Lunda Mwadi was the queen mother of the Lunda Empire, a Central African polity that flourished from the seventeenth to nineteenth centuries. She controlled royal succession, rainmaking, and ancestral ritual, serving as the living embodiment of the matrilineage from which all kings were chosen. This article examines her political, spiritual, and enduring legacy.

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Rain as Revenue: Tribute, Trade and the Political Economy of Rainmaking in Precolonial Africa

| Rainmaking & Ritual Authority |

In precolonial Africa, rainmaking was not only a spiritual practice but a political-economic institution. Rainmaking authorities—often queens and ritual sovereigns—converted control over rainfall into tribute, labour, trade privileges, and diplomatic power. This article examines the evidence, institutions, and transformations of rain-based revenue systems, with particular attention to the Balobedu Rain Queens and comparative cases from the Venda, Shona, and Tswana-speaking polities.

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