Basanginonga
Zande · mortal · Zande traditional religion; continuing · Recorded classification
Basanginonga, also spelled Basenginonga, is the eponymous founder of the Avongara, the ruling clan of the Zande. In the origin narrative preserved in several versions and analysed by Evans-Pritchard, he arose from an older stock and challenged Ngara, the last paramount of the Abakundo dynasty, overcoming and binding him. From this feat he took the name Vongara, understood as 'the one who bound Ngara', and his descendants, the Avongara, became the aristocratic lineage from which Zande kings and princes claimed descent.
Domains
- kingship and dynasty
Powers
- binds the rival paramount
Epithets
- Vongara — the one who bound NgaraE. E. Evans-Pritchard, The Azande: History and Political Institutions (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1971). (primary)
Relations
- enemy: NgaraBasanginonga challenges, defeats and binds Ngara.E. E. Evans-Pritchard, The Azande: History and Political Institutions (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1971). (primary)
Sources
- Basanginonga is the eponymous founder of the Avongara ruling clan; having overcome and bound Ngara, last paramount of the Abakundo, he took the name Vongara, 'the one who bound Ngara', from which the clan-name Avongara derives.: E. E. Evans-Pritchard, The Azande: History and Political Institutions (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1971), appendix on the origin of the Avongara. (primary)