Kingdom of Kongo
former African kingdom located in west central Africa
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The Kingdom of Kongo was a kingdom located in central Africa in northern Angola, the western part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Republic of the Congo, and the southern part of Gabon. At its greatest size it reached from the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Kwango River to the east, the Congo River to the north, and the Kwanza River to the south. The kingdom was made up of many provinces ruled by the Manikongo, the Portuguese version of the Kongo title Mwene Kongo, meaning "lord or ruler of the Kongo kingdom", but its sphere of influence reached to neighbouring kingdoms, like Ngoyo, Kakongo, Loango, Ndongo, and Matamba, the latter two located in Angola.
Kingdom of Kongo Wene wa Kongo or Kongo dya Ntotila Reino do Congo | |||||||||||||||
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1390[1]–1914[2] | |||||||||||||||
![]() The "Kingdom of Congo"
(now usually rendered as "Kingdom of Kongo" to maintain distinction from the present-day Congo nations) | |||||||||||||||
Status | Sovereign kingdom (1390–1857) Vassal of the Kingdom of Portugal (1857–1910) Subject of the First Portuguese Republic (1910–1914) | ||||||||||||||
Capital | Mbanza-Kongo (São Salvador), Angola[3] | ||||||||||||||
Common languages | Kikongo, Portuguese | ||||||||||||||
Religion | Bukongo Roman Catholicism Antonianism (1704–1708) | ||||||||||||||
Government | Monarchy | ||||||||||||||
King | |||||||||||||||
• c. 1390–1420 (first) | Lukeni lua Nimi | ||||||||||||||
• 1911–1914 (last) | Manuel III of Kongo | ||||||||||||||
Legislature | Ne Mbanda-Mbanda | ||||||||||||||
History | |||||||||||||||
• Conquest of Kabunga | 1390[1] | ||||||||||||||
1622 | |||||||||||||||
1623 | |||||||||||||||
29 October 1665 | |||||||||||||||
1665–1709 | |||||||||||||||
• Reunification | February 1709 | ||||||||||||||
• Vassalage | 1857 | ||||||||||||||
1884–1885 | |||||||||||||||
• Abolishment[4] | 1914[2] | ||||||||||||||
Area | |||||||||||||||
c. 1650 | 129,400 km2 (50,000 sq mi) | ||||||||||||||
Population | |||||||||||||||
• c. 1650 | appx 500,000 | ||||||||||||||
Currency | Nzimbu shells and Lubongo (Libongo, Mbongo), Mpusu cloth | ||||||||||||||
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Today part of | Angola Democratic Republic of the Congo Republic of the Congo Gabon |
References
change- ↑ Tshilemalema, Mukenge (2001). Culture and Customs of the Congo. Greenwood Press. p. 18. ISBN 0-313-31485-3.
- ↑ Alisa LaGamma, Kongo: Power and Majesty, Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2015
- ↑ Mbanza-Kongo, named São Salvador in the late-16th century; reverted to the name Mbanza-Kongo in 1975
- ↑ Nassoro Habib Mbwana Msonde, A Revised History for Advanced Level and Colleges: Part One, Xlibris Corporation, 2017