The Kingdom of Kongo

Encompassing parts of modern day Angola, the DRC, Republic of Congo, and even southern parts of Gabon, the Kingdom of Kongo was founded in 1390 by Lukeni lua Nimi. It first began as a confederation before embarking on empirical ambitions that saw the kingdom absorb or subjugate adjacent kingdoms. The kingdom had 6 provinces and 4 vassal states. Its total population has been estimated to be around 2 million people.

Its capital city was called Mbanza Kongo, and was located in modern day Angola. The city was renamed Sao Salvador in the in the late 16^thcentury, a name that stuck till Angolan independence, when its old name came back into use. The manikongo (king of Kongo) was elected by powerful officials following the demise of the previous king, so there were no automatic successions.

The kingdom was visited very early on by the Portuguese, who succeeded in converting many inhabitants of the kingdom into Christianity. This interaction also allowed delegations of the Kongo to travel to Portugal and Portuguese colonies such as Brazil. Young Kongo nobles stayed in Europe for as long as five years (this was in the 15^th century), learning Portuguese and Christianity.

Among the most known rulers of Kongo was Afonso I (Nzinga Mbemba), during whose reign Portuguese presence and dominance increased, starting with a Portuguese settlement in Luanda, leading to the formation of the colony of Angola.

Slave trade being conducted by the Portuguese was instrumental in bringing the kingdom to an inglorious end, as it became depopulated by the growing demands for slaves, and attempts to fight off the Portuguese resulted in the total subjugation of the kingdom. The Kongo Kingdom holds the dubious distinction of being one of the major conduits of the slave trade, which lasted about four centuries, and resulted in the relocation of millions from the hinterland.

The battle of Mbwila (aka Ulanga), on October 29 1665, fought between Portugal and Kongo over Portugal’s burgeoning colonial aspirations on Kongo territory, and in which Portugal  emerged victorious, marked the watershed moment in which the kingdom ceased to exist as a unified entity.

The kings who reigned after were mere puppets with an increasingly smaller territory to govern, as colonial powers swooped in on Kongo, but the kingdom managed to survive until 1914, when it was totally crushed by Portugal and absorbed into Angola, then still a Portuguese colony.

By Matengo Chwanya

Sources: Africa federation, Nairaland, Africaspeaks, Britannica

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