Lunda traditions record no large or powerful states until the late 15th century, when the warrior Kongolo entered the region, subdued several small chiefdoms, and founded a centralized state, with its capital at Mwibele. Around this central state a number of satellites proliferated; by the 17th century they had spread into the southern Congo Basin and to what are now parts of Angola and Zambia. The largest of these satellites was Lunda, to the south and west of the Luba state and surpassing it in territory. Its founder, known by the title of Mwata Yamvo (ruler), was a Luba nobleman who married a Lunda princess. The Lunda state expanded westward in the middle of the 18th century and imposed its rule on peoples living near the Kwango River.

Largest of all the Luba-Lunda states was Kazembe, which was founded early in the 18th century, when the last major expansion of the Luba-Lunda complex occurred; migrants from Lunda moved southeastward, establishing a capital in the Luapula River valley to the south of Lake Mweru (in present-day Zambia).

From the outset the Luba-Lunda states were indirectly connected with the Portuguese in Angola, who supplied cloth and other goods in return for slaves and ivory. The Kazembe Lunda, who established their state with the aid of Portuguese arms, soon were exchanging their ivory at the Portuguese trading stations on the Zambezi River. Kazembe continued to flourish until late in the 19th century, when it was colonized by the British.

The once-independent states now are part of the country of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, but the Lunda people continue to recognize a Lunda ruler with ceremonial authority. The last Luba ruler, Kasongo Nyembo, led the state from 1891 to 1917.