Kongo

Kongo

Kongo, pronounced KAHNG goh, was an African kingdom that lasted from the 1400's to the early 1700's. It included parts of what are now Angola and Zaire and, probably, a small part of Congo. The Kongo had a well-organized government. By 1500, the Kongo was divided into six provinces, each ruled by a governor. The king, called the Mani-Kongo, had political and religious power. He had no standing army, so he needed a strong personality to keep the kingdom together. Mbanza, near what is now Damba, Angola, was the capital.

Portuguese explorers reached the Kongo in 1482. They converted some Kongolese, including King Nzinga a Nkuwa, to Christianity. At first, relations between the two groups were good. Kongo's location at the mouth of the Congo River ensured that it could provide Portugal with copper from the mineral-rich Congo basin, while the Europeans gave Kongoís rulers technology and support to strengthen his kingdom.

However, the relationship was unequal. Portugal maintained control of trade and ensured that exchanges were always in its favor. Beginning in the early 1500's, the Portuguese enslaved many Kongolese and made them work in Portuguese colonies. King Nzinga Mbemba (also called Afonso I) asked King John III of Portugal to stop the slave traders, but John did nothing.

By the early 1600's, Portugal's insatiable demand for slaves had undermined the authority of the Kongolese kings and the kingdom began breaking apart. Kongolese chiefs, encouraged by Portuguese traders, rebelled. Some provinces declared their independence. Portugal invaded the Kongo in 1665. The invaders defeated the king's forces and killed him and many members of the nobility. By 1710, the kingdom had broken up into several small provinces. After that date, Europeans exported 15,000 slaves a year from the area.

Excerpt adapted from the "Kongo" article, The World Book Encyclopedia © 1999