Angola Ndongo Kingdom
A Roman Catholic church in Luanda, built by the
Portuguese
Courtesy Richard J. Hough
Shortly after Cão made his initial contact with the
Kongo
Kingdom of northern Angola in 1483, he established links
farther
south with Ndongo--an African state less advanced than
Kongo that
was made up of Kimbundu-speaking people. Their ruler, who
was
tributary to the manikongo, was called the ngola
a
kiluanje. It was the first part of the title, its
pronunciation
changed to "Angola," by which the Portuguese referred to
the entire
area.
Throughout most of the sixteenth century, Portugal's
relations
with Ndongo were overshadowed by its dealings with Kongo.
Some
historians, citing the disruptions the Portuguese caused
in Kongo
society, believe that Ndongo benefited from the lack of
Portuguese
interest. It was not until after the founding of Luanda in
1576
that Portugal's exploration into the area of present-day
Angola
rivaled its trade and commerce in Kongo. Furthermore, it
was only
in the early seventeenth century that the importance of
the colony
Portugal established came to exceed that of Kongo.
Although officially ignored by Lisbon, the Angolan
colony was
the center of disputes, usually concerning the slave
trade, between
local Portuguese traders and the Mbundu people, who
inhabited
Ndongo. But by mid-century, the favorable attention the
ngola received from Portuguese trade or missionary
groups
angered the manikongo, who in 1556 sent an army
against the
Ndongo Kingdom. The forces of the ngola defeated
the Kongo
army, encouraging him to declare his independence from
Kongo and
appeal to Portugal for military support. In 1560 Lisbon
responded
by sending an expedition to Angola, but in the interim the
ngola who had requested Portuguese support had
died, and his
successor took captive four members of the expedition.
After the
hostage taking, Lisbon routinely employed military force
in dealing
with the Ndongo Kingdom. This resulted in a major eastward
migration of Mbundu people and the subsequent
establishment of
other kingdoms.
Following the founding of Luanda, Paulo Dias carried
out a
series of bloody military campaigns that contributed to
Ndongo
resentment of Europeans. Dias founded several forts east
of Luanda,
but--indicative of Portugal's declining status as a world
power--he
was unable to gain firm control of the land around them.
Dias died
in 1579 without having conquered the Ndongo Kingdom.
Dias's successors made slow progress up the Cuanza
River,
meeting constant African resistance. By 1604 they reached
Cambambe,
where they learned that the presumed silver mines did not
exist.
The failure of the Portuguese to find mineral wealth
changed their
outlook on the Angolan colony. Slave taking, which had
been
incidental to the quest for the mines, then became the
major
economic motivation for expansion and extension of
Portuguese
authority. In search of slaves, the Portuguese pushed
farther into
Ndongo country, establishing a fort a short distance from
Massangano, itself about 175 kilometers east of Angola's
Atlantic
coast. The consequent fighting with the Ndongo generated a
stream
of slaves who were shipped to the coast. Following a
period of
Ndongo diplomatic initiatives toward Lisbon in the 1620s,
relations
degenerated into a state of war.
Data as of February 1989
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