Kingdom of Ndongo

The Kingdom of Ndongo (formerly known as Angola or Dongo, also Kimbundu: <span lang="kmb" dir="ltr">Utuminu ua Ndongo, Utuminu ua Ngola</span>) was an early-modern African state located in the highlands between the Lukala and Kwanza Rivers, in what is now Angola.

The Kingdom of Ndongo is first recorded in the sixteenth century. It was one of multiple vassal states to Kongo, though Ndongo was the most powerful of these with a king called the Ngola.

Little is known of the kingdom in the early sixteenth century. "Angola" was listed among the titles of the King of Kongo in 1535, so it was likely somewhat subordinate to Kongo. Its oral traditions, collected in the late sixteenth century, particularly by the Jesuit Baltasar Barreira, described the founder of the kingdom, Ngola Kiluanje, also known as Ngola Inene, as a migrant from Kongo, chief of a Kimbundu-speaking ethnic group. The kingdom was divided into political territories that were independently ruled by sobas, or nobles. The king also took advice from a nganga marinda, a spiritual leader believed to have a supernatural connection to the ancestors.

Titles of nobility also existed within the political system of the Kingdom of Ndongo. The court was called the o-mbala, while the title of the chieftain was referred to as se-kulu, meaning "old father" in the Mbundu language. Similar to Westerner nobility, there was also a count called a di-kanda, a duke was called a mvunda, and a baron was called a mbanza.

Larger kingdoms may have emerged earlier, but in the sixteenth century, most of these regions had been united by the rulers of Ndongo. Ndongo's capital city was called Kabasa (Caculo Cabaça), located on the highlands near modern-day N'dalatando. This was a large town, holding as many as 50,000 people in its densely populated district.

The Kingdom of Ndongo was composed mostly of free commoners, who were called ana murinda, or "children of the murinda". authorizing him to govern the region, bring in settlers, and build forts. Dias de Novais arrived in Luanda by arrangement with Kongo's king Álvaro I in compensation for Portugal's assistance against the Jaga. Quilongo, the king of Angola, renewed the connection with Portugal in 1578. Unable to conquer any territory on his own, Dias de Novais made alliances with both Kongo and Ndongo, serving as a mercenary army.

The First Portuguese-Ndongo War

In 1579, Portuguese merchants who had settled in Kongo, led by Francisco Barbuda, advised Njinga Ndambi Kilombo kia Kasenda that Portugal intended to take over his country. Acting on this intelligence and advice, Njinga Ndambi tricked the Portuguese forces into an ambush and massacred them at his capital.

The following war witnessed a Kongo invasion, which was narrowly defeated in 1580, and a Portuguese offensive up the Kwanza River, resulting in the founding of their fort at Massangano in 1582. Several sobas switched their allegiance to Portugal, and many of the coastal provinces soon joined the colony. By 1590, the Portuguese decided to attack the core of Ndongo and sent an army against Kabasa itself. Ndongo, however, had recently sealed an alliance with nearby Matamba, and the Portuguese force was crushed. Following this defeat, Ndongo made a counteroffensive, and many of the formerly pro-Portuguese sobas returned to Ndongo. But Portugal managed to retain much of the land they had gained in the earlier wars, and in 1599, Portugal and Ndongo formalized their border.

The Imbangala period

During the early seventeenth century, an uneasy peace was held between Portugal and Ndongo. The Portuguese continued their expansion along the Kwanza, founding the presidio of Cambambe in 1602 and attempted, whenever possible, to meddle in Ndongo's politics, especially as it concerned Ndongo's tenuous hold on Kisama and other lands south of the Kwanza River. During their activities in the region south of the Kwanza, the Portuguese came into contact with the Imbangala, a rootless group of nomadic raiders ravaging the country. In 1615, the temporary Angolan governor Bento Banha Cardoso encouraged some Imbangala to cross the river and enter Portuguese service, and with their help, he expanded the colony along the Lukala River, north of Ndongo.

In 1617, the new governor Luis Mendes de Vasconcelos, after first rejecting the use of Imbangala troops, committed himself to the alliance and began aggressive campaigns against Ndongo. Thanks to the help of Imbangala bands commanded by Kasanje, Kasa, and others, he invaded Ndongo, sacked the capital, and forced Ngola Mbandi to take refuge on the island of Kindonga in the Kwanza River. Thousands of Ndongo subjects were taken prisoner, and Mendes de Vasconcelos sought unsuccessfully to create a puppet government to allow Portuguese rule.

Mendes de Vasconcelos' successor, João Correia de Sousa, tried to make peace with Ndongo. In 1621, Ngola Mbandi sent his sister, Nzinga Mbandi to Luanda to negotiate. She negotiated a peace treaty in which Portugal agreed to withdraw its advance fort of Ambaca on the Lukala, which had served as a base for the invasion of Ndongo, return a large number of captive ijiko to Ndongo, and force the Imbangala bands who were still ravaging Ndongo to leave. In exchange, Ngola Mbandi would leave the island, reestablish himself at the capital, and become a Portuguese vassal, paying 100 enslaved people per year as tribute.

However, João Correia de Sousa became involved in a disastrous war with Kongo and, in the aftermath, was expelled from the colony by angry citizens. His temporary successor, the bishop, was unable to execute the treaty, and it was then left to the new governor, Fernão de Sousa, to settle matters when he came in 1624.

The rise of Queen Nzinga

Portugal's failure to honor its treaty took a toll on Ngola Mbandi. In desperation, he committed suicide, leaving the country in the hands of his sister Nzinga, who was to serve as regent for his minor son, then in the protective custody of the Imbangala leader Kaza, who had left Portuguese service and joined with Ndongo. Nzinga, however, only briefly served as regent and had the young son murdered and succeeded to the throne as ruling queen. Some European sources call her Anna Xinga.

Father Giovanni took this opportunity to reopen negotiations with Nzinga, whose legitimacy he questioned. He refused to return the Ijiko and insisted that Njinga first acknowledge Portuguese sovereignty. Although Nzinga was prepared to do this, she would not leave the island until her complete control was established and the Ijiko returned. When the Portuguese refused, Nzinga encouraged them to run away and enter her service. The dispute over the Ijiko led to war in 1626. Sousa's army was able to oust Nzinga from Kidonga but not to capture her.

Sousa felt confident enough at this point to declare Nzinga deposed and convened some sobas who had supported her to re-elect as new king Hari a Kiluanji, lord of the rocky fortress of Mpungo a Ndongo (or Pungo Andongo) in 1626. Still, he died in the smallpox epidemic that broke out as a result of the war and was replaced by Filipe Hari a Ngola.

Nzinga refused to recognize Hari a Ngola, claiming that he was of slave origin and not eligible to reign. She reoccupied Kindonga and began mobilizing the support of all the sobas opposed to Hari an Angola and Portuguese rule, leading to a second war with Portugal. Sousa's army defeated Nzinga again in 1628, forcing her to flee the islands. Nzinga narrowly escaped capture, at one point having to descend into the Baixa de Cassange on ropes with only a few hundred of her followers remaining.

Desperate, Nzinga joined forces with the Imbangala band of Kasanje, who forced her to accept a humiliating position as wife and give up her royal regalia. Nevertheless, she was able to win one of his supporters, subsequently known as Nzinga Mona (or Nzinga's son), away and rebuild her army. Using this support, Nzinga moved northward and captured the Kingdom of Matamba, which became her base, even as she sent a detachment to reoccupy the Kindonga Islands, now sacred because her brother's remains were buried there.

At this point, the history of Nzinga becomes that of Matamba, and her career can be followed in that country.

Ndongo under Filipe Hari a Ndongo's dynasty

400px|thumb|Map of Portuguese Angola

Filipe I served the Portuguese loyally in the following decades, even when the Portuguese made a separate peace with Nzinga in 1639. His troops were the most significant component of the army the Portuguese used to make conquests and consolidate their rule in the Dembos area to the north. When the Dutch invaded Brazil, Filipe served against them, forming the bulk of the forces that defended the rump colony at Masangano, though he suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of Nzinga's army with its Dutch allies in 1647 at the Battle of Kombi.

Following the expulsion of the Dutch, however, Filipe began to feel that the Portuguese were not giving him his full due. He became involved in disputes with them over his subordinates and jurisdiction, even as his forces marched into disastrous wars in Kisama and the Dembos. His son and successor was equally disappointed, especially following the Portuguese treaty with Ndongo, which recognized Nzinga as queen of Ndongo and Matamba in 1657, leaving him feeling dishonored as the only ruler of Pungo a Ndongo. Therefore, in 1670, he revolted, and after a long siege, his fortress fell to the Portuguese army in 1671, thus effectively ending Ndongo as an independent kingdom.

Military

The Ndongo army did not rely on arms such as shields for defense. Instead, its personnel were trained to be agile to dodge arrows, javelins, and lance thrusts. On offense, the army was trained in fencing. This Central African martial arts was referred to as Sanguar. It was described by a Jesuit witness in the 1570s as;

Professional forces trained for war in the army were referred to as quimbares. Prominent weapons in service of the army included swords and battle axes. Ndongo developed its musketeers starting from the 16th century. In 1585, the army deployed 40 musketeers against Portugal. The Ngola Nzinga fielded 3 Dutch artillery pieces around 1648 in a failed siege of a Portuguese stronghold at Muxima.

Ndongo's army was organized into mass units called mozengos or embalos, divided into sub formations of a center and two wings. The military force could be redivided once more into units called lucanzos that were tasked with special operations. In battle, the gunzes detachment laid out the initial attacks. During campaigns, the Ndongo army could build field fortifications mostly made of wood. According to the research of historian Thornton, in the 1585 campaign against Portugal, the army "constructed four or five forts 'of wood and straw after their fashion' each a day's journey apart to cover their retreat." Ndongo possessed, in addition, a naval force of rivercraft. In 1586, the navy employed 8 "great canoes" across the Lucala River, each possessing some personnel of 80–90 people.

Sources

Ndongo's history is primarily known through the writings of Portuguese missionaries, administrators, and travelers. Much of this work was gathered in the monumental collection of sources, in the original languages

by António Brásio. In addition, several Italian Capuchin missionaries, especially Giovanni Antonio Cavazzi and António da Gaeta, wrote book-length descriptions of the country in the mid-seventeenth century when it split into Nzingha's half and Hari a Kiluanji's half. However, the Capuchin's work included detailed recountings of oral tradition.

António Brásio, ed. Monumenta Missionaria Africana, 1st series (15 volumes, Lisbon, 1952–88)
Antonio de Oliveira de Cadornega, Historia geral das guerras angolanas, 1680-81, ed. Matias Delgado (3 volumes, Lisbon, 1940–42, reprinted 1972)

Notable people

Nzinga of Ndongo, Queen of Ndongo
First Africans in the American colonies, including:
Angela
Anthony Johnson
Emanuel Driggus
John Graweere
Margaret Cornish
Gullah Jack

References

Bibliography

Ilídio do Amaral, O Reino do Congo, os Mbundu (ou Ambundos) o Reino dos "Ngola" (ou de Angola) e a presença Portuguesa de finais do século XV a meados do século XVI (Lisbon, 1996)
David Birmingham, Trade and Conquest in Angola (Oxford, 1966)
Beatrix Heintze, Studien zur Geschichte Angolas im 16. und 17. Jahrhundert: Ein Lesebuch (Cologne, 1996).
Joseph C. Miller, Kings and kinsmen: early Mbundu states in Angola, Oxford, England: Clarendon Press, 1976,
Graziano Saccardo, Congo e Angola con la storia dell'antica missione dei Cappuccini (3 vols, Venice, 1982–83)

External links

Nzingha, Queen of Ndongo (1582--1663)

Social structure