At its greatest extent, it reached from Mithimoyi in central Moxico to the Cuando Cubango Province in the southeast, bordering Namibia.

[2] The Mbunda tribe left what is now South Sudan around the year 1400 due to a poor climate.

They began to move through many areas looking for red sand due to it being similar to their original home in South Sudan.

[3] The kingdom began to expand southward around the time of their twelfth and thirteenth monarchs (Kathangila ka Mukenge and Yambayamba Kapanda).

As they continued to expand southward, they arrived at the Lungwebungu River, and soon after they set Lumbala N'guimbo as their capital city.

Mwene Katavola II Musangu later tried to marry a Chokwe slave named Nyakoma who was owned by the Chokwe Chief Mwa Mushilinjinji, who denied Mwene Katavola II Musangu to marry Nyakoma at Luwe.

After this treaty, things became more peaceful and the Mbunda began to focus on harvesting cassava, maize and rice.