The Kyungu is the divine king of the Ngonde, the eastern counterpart of the Nyakyusa Lwembe. Unlike Lwembe he combined ritual pre-eminence with real political paramountcy, ruling from Mbande Hill above the Karonga plain, where the Kyungus were installed and buried. His vitality, the 'breath' that sustained the land, made his person sacred and hedged him with avoidance; when his powers waned tradition required that he be killed rather than allowed to die naturally. He performed the ceremonies of national purification and tended the royal fire, and traced his descent from the founding hero Ngulube.