7. Arab incursions into the Eastern Congo

In this Episode we see Tippu Tip and the Arab traders, after
exhausting the Elephant herds in today's Tanzania,  journey
West across Lake Tanganyika into the Eastern Congo. 
 Ever in need of more ivory they were drawn all the way to the
Lualaba River.    They met the the Tabwe, the Lunda, the
Warua, the Bemba and perhaps documented the first ever written
description of the Luba heartland.  These peoples were
connected by pan-continental trade routes at the end of the 19th
Century.    Through trickery, alliances and ultimately
firepower however they became subdued by Tip and his forces. 
The Arab traders became the rulers of vast swathes of land, with
little interest beyond resources.  But still the odd European
travelers kept coming ...