the Founding Paramount

First-ancestor / founder-hero tier (mortal). The Bemba have no rich high-god myth-cycle beyond Lesa, so Chitimukulu supplies the people's foundational tradition. The crocodile-clan (bena ng'andu) migration legend traces the paramountcy to him.

Domains

• kingship
• ancestral spirits

Powers

• lead the people out of Luba country
• Leads the bena ng'andu out of Luba country to found the Bemba paramountcy
• Succeeds to the mipashi (guardian spirits) of his matrilineal ancestors

Epithets

• Chitimukulu Bemba · Chitimukulu · title'the Great Tree', title of the Bemba paramountRoberts, Andrew D. (1973). A History of the Bemba. (secondary)

Sources

• Chitimukulu (Chiti the Great) is the eponymous founding leader and perpetual title of the Bemba paramountcy, hero of the migration tradition from Luba.: Roberts, A. D. (1973). A History of the Bemba: Political Growth and Change in North-Eastern Zambia before 1900. London: Longman. (secondary)