The African Kingdom, an intriguing and unique traditional institution, resides in the heart of Bolivia, a country in Latin America. This kingdom, which might seem anachronistic in the 21st century, depicts resilience, cultural preservation, and the assertion of identity among nationals of African descent, the Afro-Bolivians.
Nestled in the verdant region of Yungas, Bolivia, the African Kingdom is one of the last surviving kingdoms in the Americas. This unique community has preserved its cultural and spiritual heritage, maintaining traditions deeply rooted in African ancestry. Led by a monarch, the Afro-Bolivian Kingdom upholds practices such as the worship of Òrìsà deities, with shrines dedicated to these powerful spirits. These rituals and Òrìsà ceremonies connect the community to their ancestral roots.
The Trans-Atlantic slave trade forcibly displaced millions of Africans, who were transported on slave ships and sold into servitude across the Americas. This diaspora spread Black communities across the Caribbean and Latin America, in places like Barbados, Belize, Brazil, Colombia, Cuba, Jamaica, and the United States.
Bolivia, a country in central South America with diverse terrains ranging from the Andes Mountains to the Amazon Basin rainforest, is another place with an African settlement.
The La Paz, Bolivia’s capital, is the highest capital city in the world at an elevation of 3,690 meters. Its cold, thin air often leaves visitors gasping for oxygen and experiencing altitude sickness, known locally as soroche. However, if you travel 100 kilometers northeast of La Paz into the sub-tropical Yungas valleys, you will discover a series of quiet villages hidden in the forest, connected by a network of dirt roads.
In these villages, amidst the native tapirs, jaguars, and spectacled bears, lies a remarkable and largely unrecognized community: the Kingdom of the Afro-Bolivians. This spiritual capital of thousands of Bolivians of African descent is one of the last remaining kingdoms in the Americas, existing for nearly 200 years.
The Kingdom of the Afro-Bolivians has about 2,000 inhabitants, mostly farmers living on small land plots where they grow coca, citrus, and coffee. In Mururata, a village of around 350 people, the community thrives with free-range chickens roaming the dirt roads, children playing in the streets, and men and women working the land. Some villagers sit in front of their tin-roofed homes, greeting passersby and waiting for the first stars to appear at dusk.
Afro-Bolivians are descendants of enslaved West Africans brought by the Spanish between the 16th and 19th centuries to work in the mines of Potosí. This city, once more populated than London in the early 17th century, saw the deaths of roughly 8 million enslaved indigenous South Americans and Africans over a 300-year period due to the brutal working conditions. According to Uruguayan journalist Eduardo Galeano, these mines claimed countless lives through overwork, malnutrition, and exposure to extreme cold.
The Afro-Bolivian Royal House (Spanish: la Casa Real Afroboliviana) is a ceremonial monarchy within the Plurinational State of Bolivia. This monarchy , same as the indigenous African traditional system ; the Obaship in the Ancient Yoruba does not interfere with the country’s presidential republic system. However, the kingdom maintains the African tradition and spirituality . It venerates Sango , the Yoruba deity of Justice as its very important deity. Òrìşà worship is prominent in the kingdom till present moment.
The kingdom located in Mururata, a village in the Yungas region, the monarchy serves as a customary leader for the Afro-Bolivian community. The kings are also refered to as Obas , and they believe to have come from Ile-Ife , the Yorùbá Ancestral home.
The powers of the Afro-Bolivian king resemble those of a Yoruba traditional king, representing the Afro-Bolivian community. The current monarchs are King Julio Pinedo and Queen Angélica Larrea.
The members of this royal house are descendants of an ancient African tribal monarchy brought to Bolivia as slaves. The founding monarch, Uchicho, of alleged Kongo , Yorùbá and Senegalese origin, was brought to the Hacienda of the Marquis de Pinedo in the Yungas region of what is now La Paz Department.
The enslaved Africans from the West Africa recognized him as a prince from the ancient Kingdom of Kongo , noting the royal tribal marks on his torso. He was crowned in 1823 and succeeded by Bonifaz, who adopted the surname of Pinedo, the plantation owner. Bonifaz was followed by Don José and then Don Bonifacio, born in 1880 and crowned in 1932.
After Bonifacio’s death in 1954, the house was led by his oldest daughter, Doña Aurora Pinedo. Due to the lack of a male heir, the kingdom remained without a king for 38 years until Aurora’s oldest son, Julio Pinedo, was crowned in 1992. His wife, Angélica Larrea, became queen upon his ascension.
The Royal House was officially recognized by the Bolivian state in 2007, with Julio’s public coronation by the authorities of the La Paz Department. King Julio has a son, Prince Rolando, born in 1995. As of 2021, Prince Rolando was studying law at the Universidad de Los Andes in La Paz, preparing for his future role as king. He has expressed his ambition to continue his father’s efforts to make the Afro-Bolivian community more recognized and visible.
Often referred to as the African Kingdom of Yungas, the kingdom maintains a deep connection to the Orisa, the deities of the Yoruba religion and spirituality
The spirituality of Afro-Bolivians in Yungas is characterized by the worship of Orisa, who are revered as powerful deities governing various aspects of the natural and spiritual world. These deities include Ògún, the Òrìṣà iron ; Yemanja , the Yorùbá goddess , and Sàngó , the Òrìṣà of thunder and lightning, among others.
Shrines dedicated to the Òrìsà can be found throughout the kingdom, serving as sacred spaces where rituals and ceremonies are performed. These shrines are central to the community’s spiritual life, providing a place for offerings, prayers, and communication with the divine. The presence of these shrines defines the influence of African spirituality in the daily lives of Afro-Bolivians.
Through festivals, music, dance, and oral traditions, the Afro-Bolivian community in Yungas continues to honor their ancestors and sustain their cultural identity. This spiritual practice not only connects them to their African background but also enriches the diverse cultural landscape of Bolivia.
