Angola: Kongo, Mbundu and Lunda kingdoms (1614-1700)

Updated October 2005

The expansion of the Portuguese settlement in Luanda led to conflicts over land between them and the Kongo in the period after the death of Alvaro II in 1614. Although the Portuguese captured many slaves in the war that followed, the trading network into the interior was disrupted. The Kongo themselves, disillusioned with the Portuguese, became increasingly inward looking and xenophobic (Library of Congress 1989b).

Internal disaffection within the Kongo state led to conflicts over succession at the centre and an inability of the central authority to assert its authority of the component parts of the kingdom at the periphery. Local rulers were able to usurp control over trade, which had previously been the prerogative of the Kongo king, resulting in declining revenues for the central government. In this way the Kongo kingdom began its long, slow disintegration (Library of Congress 1989b, Accord 2004).

From 1560 onwards conflict between the Portuguese and the Ndongo kingdom progressively escalated; many Mbundu migrated east to escape the conflict, establishing the Matamba and Kasanje polities. The sister of the Ndongo ruler Ngoli Bbondi, the extremely able Nzinga, headed a diplomatic initiative to resolve the conflict and stabilize relations between the two powers. Her effort bore fruit for Portuguese recognition was granted to the Ndongo in 1621 and aid was given to Ndongo to repel Lunda incursions (Library of Congress 1989c, 1989d, 1989e, Wikipedia 2005).

In 1624 Nzinga usurped the throne and, unable to secure Portuguese recognition of her position, found herself at war with Portugal. Driven from Ndongo by the Portuguese, she fled east where she subjugated the Matamba kingdom. From this base she assembled a coalition of states in 1635, which included Matamba, Ndongo, Kongo, Kassanje, Dembos and Kissamas, with which she was able to keep the Portuguese at bay (Library of Congress 1996a, 1989e).

The Portuguese (now subordinate to the Spanish crown) were embroiled in European conflicts, and Luanda was occupied by the Dutch in 1641. Nzinga, accordingly, formed an alliance with the Dutch and invaded Portuguese dependency of Ndongo. In 1648 the Brazilians, alarmed by the cut off of the flow of slaves from Angola, recaptured Luanda from the Dutch. Nzinga retreated once more to Matamba from where she continued to thwart Portuguese efforts at penetrating the interior (Wikipedia 2005, Library of Congress 1989e).

The Ndongo, unhappy with Portugal's failure to reward their loyalty, rebelled and allied themselves with Nzinga. In 1659, with both sides wearied by years of war, Nzinga made peace with Portugal and attempted to rebuild her war ravaged kingdom. On her death in 1663 the alliances she had built fell apart and in 1671 the Portuguese besieged, captured and fortified Pungu-a-Ndondong, the capital of the Ndongo. They killed the king and installed a vassal on the throne in his place (Library of Congress 1989d, Wikipedia 2005).

References

ACCORD 2004 "Chronology" Accord 15, [www] http://www.c-r.org/our-work/accord/angola/chronology.php [opens new window] (accessed 15 May 2008).

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 1989b, "Kongo Kingdom" IN Country Study: Angola [www] http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+ao0014) [opens new window] (accessed 16 Oct 2007).

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 1989c, "Ndongo Kingdom" IN Country Study: Angola [www] http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+ao0015) [opens new window] (accessed 16 Oct 2007).

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 1989d, "The Defeat of Kongo and Ndongo" IN Country Study: Angola [www] http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+ao0016) [opens new window] (accessed 16 Oct 2007).

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 1989e, "Matamba and Kasanje Kingdoms" IN Country Study: Angola [www] http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+ao0017) [opens new window] (accessed 16 Oct 2007).

WIKIPEDIA 2005, "Nzinga of Ndongo and Matamba", [www] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nzinga_of_Ndongo_and_Matamba [opens new window] (accessed 16 Oct 2007).