Kongo (historical kingdom)
The Kingdom of Kongo was a significant historical nation-state located in west-central Africa, existing from the late 14th century until the early 20th century. At its zenith in the 16th century, it extended over 1,600 miles, incorporating regions of modern-day Angola, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Gabon. Kongo was notable for being one of the first African kingdoms to engage formally with Europe, welcoming Portuguese explorers and missionaries, which led to the adoption of Christianity and the establishment of a tradition of literacy among its nobility.
The kingdom was founded around 1380 through a coalition between local leaders and became an organized state with a structured political system. Its capital, Mbanza Kongo, served as the political heart of six provinces that paid tribute to the king. As the kingdom became entwined in the transatlantic slave trade, its economy shifted significantly, marking a complex interaction with European powers over the ensuing centuries.
However, internal strife, shifting alliances, and colonial pressures led to a decline in its power by the 17th century. The kingdom was ultimately partitioned during the Scramble for Africa and lost its sovereignty, becoming a territory under Portuguese authority by the early 20th century. Despite its dissolution, the legacy of Kongo remains a vital part of Africa's historical tapestry.
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Kongo (historical kingdom)
The kingdom of Kongo was a west-central African nation-state that existed from the late fourteenth century into the early twentieth century. At its height in the sixteenth century, the kingdom stretched for more than 1,600 miles across an area that encompassed parts of modern-day Angola, the Republic of the Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Gabon. Kongo was the first nation in the region to establish formal relations with Europe and one of the first to accept Christianity. Its embrace of Western visitors and culture allowed it to become one of the most well-documented kingdoms in precolonial Africa.
Brief History
Archaeological evidence suggests that an iron- and steel-making culture existed in west-central Africa by about 350 B.C.E. and that a social and political structure had developed by 100 C.E. The exact origins of the Kongo kingdom are not historically documented, though oral tradition states it was formed around 1380 from an alliance between Nimi a Nzima, ruler of Mpemba Kasi, and Nsaku Lau, of the kingdom of Mbata. The leaders agreed that the descendants of Nimi a Nzima would rule the new kingdom, which was called Kongo after the ethnic Kongo people who lived in the region. Lukeni lua Nimi, the son of Nimi a Nzima, became the first manikongo, or king, and established the capital of Mbanza Kongo in what is now northern Angola.
In the fifteenth century, the kingdom grew into a nation of six provinces: Mpemba, Mbata, Nsundi, Mpangu, Mbamba, and Soyo. It also included four subordinate feudal states: Loango, Cacongo, Ngoye, and Ndongo. These provinces were ruled by hereditary chiefs who owed allegiance and paid tributes to the king in Mbanza Kongo. About 1483, Portuguese explorer Diogo Cão arrived off the coast of west-central Africa and encountered the Kongo people at the mouth of what the Portuguese would call the Congo River. The Portuguese were impressed with the advanced culture and government structure of the kingdom, and within a decade, Portugal had sent missionaries, soldiers, and diplomatic representatives to Kongo.
The leaders of the kingdom were equally enamored with European culture. Many children of Kongo nobles were sent to Europe to be educated, establishing a tradition of literacy that lasted for centuries. In 1491, king Nzinga a Nkuwu converted to Christianity, taking the Portuguese name João I. João died in 1509 and was succeeded by his son, Mvemba a Nzinga. He was also baptised a Christian and took the name Afonso I. The name of the capital was also changed from Mbanza Kongo to São Salvador.
Afonso began diplomatic relations with Portugal, the Netherlands, and the Vatican and also established a system of trade with Europe. Initially, Kongo's main exports were ivory and gold, but by the sixteenth century, Kongo became involved in the transatlantic slave trade. Slavery was not a foreign concept to the kingdom; captives taken in war had long been used as labor by kings and nobles. The king protected his people from enslavement, but the military might and expansion of the kingdom provided more than enough captives to meet the European desire for slaves. As a result, Kongo increased its involvement in the trade until slavery became the driving economic force in the kingdom.
Overview
The kingdom reached its height by the late sixteenth century, growing to include about 1,685 miles of territory from the Kwango River to the east, the Dande River to the south, the Congo River to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west. The centrally located capital was able to protect the kingdom from political unrest in the outlying provinces, but it did little to stop internal rivalries from eroding its stability. In 1570, Portuguese troops helped the king hold off an invasion from the east. By the early seventeenth century, however, other European explorers began to arrive, and the king allied himself with the Dutch, making enemies of his former Portuguese allies.
Shifting allegiances led to political upheaval and a series of civil wars within the kingdom. In 1665, the Portuguese defeated the Dutch-backed Kongo forces at the battle of Mbwila, resulting in the assassination of King Antonio I. From 1665 to 1678, eight kings gained power in Kongo and were deposed. The longest-ruling king in the period remained in control for only four years. The fighting and instability created chaos in the kingdom, and in 1678 São Salvador was overrun and abandoned. The new capital was moved south to the province of Mbamba.
In the early eighteenth century, a nationalistic religious movement led by a young girl named Dona Beatriz attempted to restore the kingdom to its former glory. Beatriz claimed to be possessed by the spirit of Saint Anthony, a Catholic saint, and preached that the Kongo nation should be reunified and São Salvador once again made the kingdom's capital. Beatriz and her followers repopulated the capital in 1706, before she was captured and executed by the king. In 1709, the capital was moved back to São Salvador, but the Kongo monarchy that returned was no longer a strong, centralized force.
Warlords, merchant princes, and clan leaders began to exert power and whittle away at the weakened kingdom, which struggled to maintain control. For much of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, European powers battled for control of Africa and its vast natural resources. In 1884 and 1885, these powers met in Berlin, Germany, to partition much of the continent into colonial holdings. The Kongo kingdom was divided among the Portuguese, French, and Belgians. The Portuguese were granted the region that included São Salvador, and the kingdom of Kongo survived in name as a territory subordinate to the Portuguese. In 1914, Kongo forces staged a revolt against the Portuguese, but the rebellion was put down. In response, the Portuguese abolished the Kongo monarchy and merged the kingdom with the nation of Angola.
Bibliography
"African Kingdoms." The History Files, www.historyfiles.co.uk/KingListsAfrica/AfricaAngola.htm. Accessed 13 Oct. 2016.
Bortolot, Alexander Ives. "Dona Beatriz: Kongo Prophet." The Metropolitan Museum of Art, October 2003, www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/pwmn‗4/hd‗pwmn‗4.htm. Accessed 13 Oct. 2016.
"Brief History of the Kingdom of Kongo." Federation of the Free States of Africa, www.africafederation.net/Kongo‗History.htm. Accessed 12 Oct. 2016.
"DR Congo Country Profile." BBC.com, 10 Aug. 2016, www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-13283212. Accessed 12 Oct. 2016.
Kisangani, Emizet Francois, and Scott F. Bobb. Historical Dictionary of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Scarecrow Press, 2010.
LaGamma, Alisa. Kongo: Power and Majesty. Yale University Press, 2015.
"Republic of Congo Country Profile." BBC.com, 15 Apr. 2016, www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-14121191. Accessed 12 Oct. 2016.
Stilwell, Sean. Slavery and Slaving in African History. Cambridge University Press, 2014.