Nkole is one of the two royal brothers exiled by Mukulumpe who lead the founding migration of the Bemba from Kola across the Luapula. After Chiti is killed by Mwase over the abduction of Mwase's wife, Nkole avenges him and dies soon afterwards, reputedly from the smoke of the funeral fires. The brothers' burial place at Mwalule became the permanent royal necropolis, central to the ritual kingship described by Richards.