The Sira or Shira people, the Eshira, are a Punu ethnic group of Gabon primarily living in the forests and grasslands south of the Ogooué River and west of its tributary the N'Gounié.
From the 6th to the 18th century they migrated from Nubia via Uganda and DRC into their actual area, after wars with other groups.
During the 19th century they traded Copper, and were highly regarded for their tobacco and raphia cloth.
[citation needed] Paul du Chaillu travelled through Eshira areas in 1858 and 1864, and recorded that each clan controlled its own affairs.
Mulenda of the Kamba clan was the most important of the chiefs; he owned 300–400 slaves, and died of smallpox in 1885.