Viye (also known as Bié, Bieno, or Bihe) was one of the traditional Ovimbundu kingdoms, located in the central plateau of Angola.
The kings of Viye, particularly in the late 1700s and early 1800s, contested with their nobility in a mutual effort to gain supremacy.
[5] In 1797, Portuguese trader João Nepomucena Correia described that the kings of Viye had a group of wholly dependent servants (known as mocotas), drawn from the slaves held by his predecessors, among others.
[5][6] Subjects paid taxes in cattle and chickens, grains, corn, beans, potatoes, manioc, and pumpkins.
When Kopeta returned to the elephant, he found it had disappeared and followed the tracks it had left behind, eventually leading him to the village of Etalala on the right bank of the Kukema River.
Kopeta abandoned the search for the elephant and returned to Etalala, where the ruling oSama agreed to build him a village of his own.
Later in life, Kopeta grew ill and Viye ran to a spring to fetch water for his ailing father.
A certain ruler of Viye was appointed to settle judicial matters, pay subsidiary kingdoms and tributes.
According to oral traditions at the time, the ancestors of the rulers of Viye arrived about '300 years ago'.
After some time, the fighting came to an end and a group left those lands and migrated across the Cuanza, in Malemba and Kisendi.
The enthronement ceremony of a king involved eating a "bearded man of a different nation" (Cannibalism was a custom done by Imbangalas).
[7][5] A fourth oral tradition is transcribed by Serpa Pinto, who lived in Viye in the late 1800s, with some slight differences.
All oral traditions agree Viye's origins are in Humbi, located in the modern-day Huíla province.
[4] Ulundo, the third king of Viye, is credited with expanding the kingdoms borders, particularly southwards toward Cuquema River.
The Portuguese had him baptised, and when they waged war against Bailundu in 1774, they brought Kangombe with them and aided him in overthrowing his brother.
[5][6] Oral traditions provided by Serpa Pinto suggest instead that, during the reign of Jahulu, nobles travelled to Luanda with several loads of ivory and asked the local governor to free him.
[4] Kangombe waged wars on his neighbours during his reign, relocating peoples into his realm and expanding his territory.
[4][5] The conflict between Viye and Bailundo largely stalled during the latter half of the 1800s, in-part due to the influence of Christian missionaries.
The king fled and attempted to resist capture, however, the Portuguese threatened to destroy Viye if he did not give himself up.