Bunkeya
| Bunkeya | |
|---|---|
 Map showing Msiri's kingdom, with Bunkeya as capital, and the route taken by the Stairs Expedition of 1891 / 1892 |
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| Coordinates: 10°23′51″S 26°58′05″E / 10.397434°S 26.968059°ECoordinates: 10°23′51″S 26°58′05″E / 10.397434°S 26.968059°E | |
| Country | Democratic Republic of the Congo |
| Province | Lualaba Province |
Bunkeya is a community in the Lualaba Province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is located on a huge plain near the Lufira River. Before the Belgian colonial conquest, Bunkeya was the center of a major trading state under the despotic ruler Msiri.
In the later 19th-century, Bunkeya was the capital of Msiri, the son of an East African trader. Msiri's father had been in the business of buying copper ore in Katanga and transporting it to the east coast of Africa for resale. As a young man Msiri remained behind in the region as his father's agent. He became leader of a group of Bayeke people, and established a state that extended from the Luapula River south to the Congo-Zambezi watershed, and from Lake Mweru in the east to the Lualaba River in the west. Based on Bunkeya, the state controlled a huge central-African trading network, mostly dealing in slaves but also in ivory, salt, copper and iron ore. Traders came to Bunkeya from the Zambezi and Congo basins, from Angola, Uganda and Zanzibar. The Arabs from the east coast bought guns and ammunition, which Msiri used to maintain his position.
The German scientist Paul Reichard was the first European to reach Bunkeya, arriving on 20 January 1884. He was followed by Capello and Ivens, two Portuguese explorers seeking a trade route to link Angola and Mozambique. In February 1886 the Scottish missionary Frederick Stanley Arnot arrived at Bunkeya unccompanied and without food or trade goods. Msiri welcomed him and let him settle, but discouraged him from teaching his religion.
Later, several other missionaries joined Arnot. In 1887, William Henry Faulknor, a young Canadian from Hamilton, Ontario who had joined the Plymouth Brethren evangelical movement, arrived at Bunkeya. Another member of the Brethren, Dan Crawford, arrived in 1890 and was to be a witness to Msiri's assassination. Msiri employed Faulknor and other missionaries as "errand boys", symbols of his influence, while Faulknor taught and converted a small group of redeemed slaves.
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